Roberto Bautista Agut will face Marton Fucsovics in the first match of the Qatar Open. The match will start on February 21 at 16:30 UK time.
Bookmaker Ratings: Prediction #1 – Handicap (-4) for Bautista Agut – 1.82.
Bookmaker Ratings: Prediction #2 – Total Games Under 22 – 1.72.
Bookmaker Ratings: Prediction #3 – 1st Set Games Over 9.5 – 1.86.
Bautista Agut was last year’s winner in Doha, so he has quite a few ranking points to defend here this season. Expect to see the Spaniard perform at his best in these events.
Fucsovics took part in the Montpellier tournament a fortnight ago and did not appear in the second-round match against Sinner due to an injury of some sort. In such circumstances, Marton will find it extremely difficult to face the tough Bautista Agut, who plays well on the backline.
It should be noted that this season Bautista Agut performed well on the Adelaide courts in January. As part of that event, he reached the final, where he lost to Kwon Soon-woo (2-6, 6-3, 6-7).
Roberto had a poor showing in Rotterdam last week, dropping out after the first round. However, his opponent was not the easiest one to face right away. Bautista Agut lost to Hubert Hurkacz (5-7, 7-6, 6-7) in a match where two of the three sets were tie-breaks.
In the second set, Bautista Agut rebounded from Hurkacz’s three match points. However, the Pole still snatched victory on the tie-break of the deciding set.
Before that, Roberto crashed out of a tournament in Montpellier, losing straight away to 18-year-old Frenchman Arthur Fils (3-6, 4-6,).
Bautista Agut is the reigning Qatar Open champion.
Bautista Agut has won 13 of his last 14 matches in Doha.
Fucsovics already can boast of one trophy won this season. Earlier in the year, Marton won the Challenger in Canberra, in the final of which he outplayed Leandro Riedi (7-5, 6-4).
Marton, meanwhile, did not play last week and before that he managed one round in Montpellier.
The Hungarian beat the Frenchman Geoffrey Blancaneaux (7-5, 5-7, 6-0) before he was due to face Jannik Sinner but was unable to take the match due to an injury.
Fucsovics also played two Davis Cup matches in early February, losing to Frenchmen Ugo Humbert and Adrian Mannarino.
Fucsovics reached the quarter-finals in Doha in the 2020, 2021 and 2022 seasons.
Fucsovics has lost four of his last five matches.
Type of Court – Indoor Hard
Speed of Court – 6/10
Roberto Bautista Agut’s Rating – 24
Roberto Bautista Agut Wins/Losses in 2023 – 7/5
Marton Fucsovics’s Rating – 75
Marton Fucsovics Wins/Losses in 2023 – 8/4
In 3 of Fucsovics’ last 5 matches, more than 9.5 games have been played in the first set. We offer to bet on “1st Set Games Over 9.5” with odds of 1.86.
Roberto Bautista Agut leads with a score of 2-1 in the head-to-head encounters. The last time they met was at the Halle Open in 2022. In that match, Bautista Agut defeated Fucsovics (6-2, 3-0) after the withdrawal.
The match will be played in Center Court, Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex, Doha, Qatar.
We recommend checking out the odds for the Qatar Open: Roberto Bautista Agut vs Marton Fucsovics at 1xBet and VBET.