Tennis lovers have three interesting ATP 250 finals to look forwards to today as the 250 tournaments ahead of next week’s Madrid Masters 1000 comes to a close. In Istanbul we have Dimitrov, who seems to have find his form again, against the short but talented Schwartzman who loves playing on the red dirt, in Munich home-favorite Kohlschreiber has battled through to his fifth final at the tournament but has a stern test in swash-buckling Thiem, in Estoril we have an all Spanish final with Almagro going up against Carreno Busta.
All great match-ups! Here are my humble predictions:
ATP 250 final Istanbul Open
Dimitrov and Schwartzman have never played before. They year has not been that great for either player really so here’s the chance to change the trend. Schwartzman is ranked #87 at the moment but has potential for more. However, this is his first final and experience counts big-time in finals. Dimitrov will surely feel more confident based on that and the bookies follow suit giving punters 1.30 on Dimitrov winning. I also believe he will, in straight sets, something like 6-4 7-5.
Pick: Dimitrov.
ATP 250 final BMW Open Munich
Dominic Thiem has won most matches on the ATP Tour in 2016. Yes, even more than Djokovic. He already has two titles under his belt and plays his best tennis on clay. However, Kohlschreiber has won the Munich Open twice and is hitting the ball really well at the moment making this a tough match to pick. Bookies think Thiem is the slight favorite and I agree – this year can be the start of something big for the young Austrian. It will take him three sets however.
Pick: Thiem
ATP 250 final Estoril Open
Everyone who follows tennis knows that Nicolas Almagro can murder a tennis ball. However, the ball doesn’t always land on the line or even close to it. He often looks like an angry bee-swatter who went too far in his search for honey. When his game works, he can beat everyone and his victory against cocky Kyrgios yesterday was impressive. Today he meets another young gun, although not quite as young anymore, the clay-court specialist Carreno Busta. Carreno Busta has beaten Paire and Simon earlier in the week so he’s in great form, but the question is if he can withstand the Sith lord power of Almagro? Another tough one to pick, but the sportbooks think Almagro is the favorite. He has the experience for sure, but I’ll go out on a limb and say that Carreno Busta will win his first ATP tour title in three sets thanks to less mistakes.
Pick: Carreno Busta
