Spain's Pablo Carreno Busta celebrates after beating Sebastian Korda of the US in their men's singles match on day five of the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne on January 21, 2022. - -- IMAGE RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - STRICTLY NO COMMERCIAL USE -- (Photo by Paul Crock / AFP) / -- IMAGE RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - STRICTLY NO COMMERCIAL USE -- (Photo by PAUL CROCK/AFP via Getty Images)
Pablo Carreno Busta sealed a comprehensive 6-3, 6-3 victory against compatriot Zapata Miralles in the Barcelona Open
Pablo Carreno Busta put up a stellar show at Pista Rafa Nadal stadium to demolish fellow Spaniard Zapata Miralles 6-3, 6-3 in his opening round match of the Barcelona Open. There was great home support for both the Spanish players and Carreno Busta played some really good tennis to entertain the crowd. Carreno Busta is seeded eighth in the tournament and has certainly put up a performance today to justify his seeding. He will now face 11th seed Lorenzo Sonego in the Round of 16 tomorrow.
Pablo Carreno Busta started the year well, managing to reach the final of the ATP Cup, his first tournament of 2022. However, there has been a dip in form since then and the results have been underwhelming. In the previous tournament – the Monte Carlo Masters, Carreno Busta showed promise and managed to win his first two matches but eventually lost out to second seed Alexander Zverev. Irrespective of that, the Spaniard would look to draw confidence from that performance and carry forward the positive momentum in Barcelona.
Stefanos Tsitsipas is certainly the toughest challenge for Carreno Busta in Barcelona. The Greek is the No.1 seed and is in red hot form. Tsitsipas is coming off a great title-winning campaign in the Monte Carlo Masters.
Stefanos Tsitsipas was in sublime touch at the Monte Carlo Masters. The Greeks looked invincible throughout the tournament and carried forward the positive momentum to win the much-coveted title. Tsitsipas followed up his straight-sets victory against Fabio Fognini in the first round with another comfortable win against Laslo Dere in the next round. He then went on to win against Diego Schwartzman in three sets before brushing aside second seed Alexander Zverev 6-4, 6-2 in the semi-finals. The Greek star then took on the surprise package of the tournament, Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the final. The Spaniard had got the better of top-seeded players like Novak Djokovic and Taylor Fritz in the previous rounds. However, Tsitsipas was too good for the young Spaniard and cruised to a straight-sets win to successfully defend his Monte Carlo Masters title.
Tsitsipas is set to face Ilya Ivashka in his opening round match later today.
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