Alexander Shevchenko vs Carlos Alcaraz Prediction & Betting Tips - ATP Mutua Madrid Open

Prediction published on 25/04/2024, 10:17  by Steve Ashfield | Modified on 26/04/2024 at 02:00 in ATP Mutua Madrid Open Prediction

Carlos Alcaraz begins his bid to win the Madrid Masters for the third successive year. The second seed takes on unseeded Alexander Shevchenko in round two of this outdoor clay court tournament. For the winner there's a match in the last 32 against either 28th-seeded Lorenzo Musetti or unseeded Thiago Seyboth Wild. No player (not even Rafael Nadal) has won this title three times in a row. The Spaniard has only won one title this year. That was the Indian Wells hard court event in March. This is the first clay court tournament in Europe this year for the world number three. He did play in South America with his best peformance being a semi-final in Buenos Aires. Alcaraz did play in Rio but pulled out of his match after just two games.

Alexander Shevchenko is ranked 59th in the world but was a career-high 45th in February of this year. He had a tough match in the first round (Alcaraz received a bye) needing three sets to beat Arthur Rinderknech, losing the middle one. If he can cause a shock in this match he'll reach the third round in Madrid for the second successive year. Current form on clay has been poor with three successive losses before his first round win here. Only twice this year has he won two or more matches in a tournament. We don't see that happening here and tip Alcaraz to win in straight sets.