There’s hardly any reasons why Kyrgios won’t win this one. He’s in great form right now as the Australian’s reached at least the quarterfinal round in four of his last five tournaments, including three semifinal exits and a pair of wins over World No. 2 Novak Djokovic.
Kyrgios should also be well rested here after opting to pull out of the Monte Carlo Masters. However, he’s yet to play on clay this season, which is pretty much his only disadvantage against Marcus Baghdatis, whom the current World No. 17 dominated—6-2, 6-1—in their only head-to-head meeting in Miami last year.
Baghdatis is still looking to get himself going after recently returning from injury. He’s lost his last three matches overall, with one being against a player ranked well outside the top 100.
The 31-year-old also doesn’t have pleasant memories in Madrid, where he’s been booted out in the opening round in his last three participations—with the latest of which against Gilles Simon last year, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4.
Plus, having only played seven matches thus far this season, it’s really hard to see Baghdatis get by here against Kyrgios, who, on the other hand, been playing at his peak level.
Writer’s Prediction
Kyrgios (-800) gets the comfortable win, 6-3, 6-2.
