Barcelona Open 2021: Jannik Sinner vs Roberto Bautista Agut preview, head-to-head & prediction

Match details

Fixture: Jannik Sinner vs Roberto Bautista Agut

Date: 22 April 2021

Tournament: Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell 2021

Round: Third round (Round of 16)

Venue: Barcelona, Spain

Category: ATP 500

Surface: Red clay

Prize money: €1,565,480

Match timing: Approx. 1 pm local time, 4.30 pm IST

Live telecast: USA - ESPN / Tennis Channel | UK - Amazon Prime Video

Jannik Sinner vs Roberto Bautista Agut preview

Jannik Sinner opened his Barcelona Open campaign with a resounding second-round win over Belarus' Egor Gerasimov on Monday. The Italian youngster has now been rewarded with a match-up against Spaniard Roberto Baustista Agut, an opponent that he has already beaten twice this year.

Roberto Bautista Agut

Bautista Agut has himself made a solid start to his claycourt season, having notched up wins over the likes of Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul in Monte Carlo last week. And while he did go down to Andrey Rublev in a hard-fought three-set battle, the Spaniard had a lot to take away from his performance.

He has followed that up with a 6-4, 6-0 opening round win here, and is likely to have his mind set on exacting revenge against Sinner on Thursday.

Jannik Sinner vs Roberto Bautista Agut head-to-head

Jannik Sinner has scored a couple of hard-fought wins over his opponent of the day.

Jannik Sinner leads Roberto Bautista Agut in the head-to-head with a 2-0 margin. In addition to winning their Miami semifinal encounter, the Italian also took a three-set win over his opponent in the third round of the Dubai Tennis Championships.

Jannik Sinner vs Roberto Bautista Agut prediction

Both Jannik Sinner and Roberto Bautista Agut have played some good tennis in the leadup to this encounter. We could well be heading for another tight battle between the two on Thursday.

Sinner on his part will be feeling fairly confident after having already managed to eke out two wins over his opponent this year. Things could, however, translate a little differently on the red dirt, a surface where the Italian's consistency will be tested.

Bautista Agut possesses heavy groundstrokes and sublime movement, but he will have to find a way to take charge of the rallies against Sinner. If he can manage to do that, Bautista Agut might just have enough experience - particularly of playing in these conditions - to be able to flip the script on the 19-year-old in this one.

Prediction: Roberto Bautista Agut to win in three sets.