Alex Michelsen vs Joao Fonseca Prediction & Betting Tips - ATP Mutua Madrid Open

Prediction published on 23/04/2024, 09:19  by Steve Ashfield | Modified on 23/04/2024 at 10:19 in ATP Mutua Madrid Open Predictions

Alex Michelsen begins his Madrid Masters campaign. He takes on the wild card Jaoa Fonseca with the winner facing the 29th seed Cameron Norrie in round two. This is an outdoor clay court tournament and this isn't the best of surfaces for Michelsen. He lost in the first round of the US Clay Court Championships against the out-of-form Max Purcell. The American then didn't get past the first qualifying round in Monte Carlo. There was some improvement last week when getting to the last 16 in Munich. Michelsen (66th in the live rankings) has had an inconsistent year on all surfaces and only twice has won two matches in a row in a tournament. This is is his first time in Madrid and he's also never played at Roland Garros.

Jaoa Fonseca is down at 244th in the live rankings but the 17-year-old Brazilian ha had some good results on clay this year. Last week saw him get to the quarter-finals in Bucharest and that included him beating Lorenzo Sonego. Other highlights on clay this year include getting to the last eight in Rio and he impressively beat Cristian Garin and Arthur Fils that week. On the Challenger Tour, he made it to the last eight in Buenos Aires and the quarter-final in Madrid. The combined age of these two players is 36 and that's a year younger than Rafael Nadal. We tip Fonseca to win this battle of the teenagers.