SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - JANUARY 09: Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain plays a backhand in his final match against Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada during the day nine 2022 ATP Cup tie between Spain and Canada at Ken Rosewall Arena on January 09, 2022 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Brendon Thorne/Getty Images)
22nd seed Roberto Bautista Agut takes on Finnish No. 1 Emil Ruusuvuori in the round of 64 of the 2023 Indian Wells on Friday.
The 34-year-old has so far won 8 matches this season while having lost 6. His best outing came in the Adelaide International 2. Seeded 4th in the tournament, Bautista Agut defeated the likes of Robin Haase, Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, and Thanasi Kokkinakis before going down to Soon-woo Kwon in the final. The Spanish veteran reached the fourth round in the Australian Open. Since then, he hasn’t had any result of note.
Bautista Agut came into the tournament on the back of an exit in the round of 16 in the Qatar Open. He lost to Christopher O’Connell 6-3, 6-7 (5-7), 4-6. Last year in Indian Wells, Bautista Agut lost to Carlos Alcaraz in the round of 32 after beating J.J. Wolf in the previous round.
The talented youngster has not had a memorable start to the season. He couldn’t win a match in the Maharashtra Open and the Adelaide International 2. His first win of the season came in the Australian Open when he beat Max Purcell in the first round. In Montpellier, Ruusuvuori defeated Mikael Ymer in the first round but lost to Maxime Cressy in the following round. In Rotterdam and Dubai, Ruusuvuori lost in the first round while in Qatar, he bowed out in the round of 16 following a loss to Jiri Lehecka.
In the round of 128 in Indian Wells, Ruusuvuori was leading Constant Lestienne 6-4, 4-1 when the Frenchman retired. The 23-year-old had an impressive win percentage of 82 on the first serve. Last year in Indian Wells, Ruusuvuori was ousted in the round of 64 by Diego Schwartzman.
Roberto Bautista Agut leads the head-to-head scoreline 1-0. The win for the Spaniard came in the second round of the 2021 US Open when he defeated Ruusuvuori 6-1, 6-3, 6-2.
Prediction: Roberto Bautista Agut to win in straight sets.
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