Paris Masters 2020: Pablo Carreno Busta vs Norbert Gombos preview, head-to-head & prediction

Match details

Fixture: (9) Pablo Carreno Busta vs Norbert Gombos

Date: 5 November 2020

Tournament: Rolex Paris Masters 2020

Round: Third round (Round of 16)

Venue: Paris, France

Category: ATP Masters 1000

Surface: Indoor hardcourt

Prize money: €3,901,015

Match timing: Approx. 4 pm local time, 8.30 pm IST

Live telecast: USA - ESPN / Tennis Channel | India - Sony Six / Sony Liv

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Pablo Carreno Busta vs Norbert Gombos preview

Pablo Carreno Busta has had a good time on tour over the past 12 months, reaching the semifinals of the US Open, the quarterfinals of the French Open and the semifinals at Rotterdam. The 29-year-old is currently ranked No. 15 in the world, and still has an outside chance of qualifying for the season-ending ATP Finals in London.

Pablo Carreño Busta beats Jan Lennard Struff 7-6(3), 6-2 to reach the last 16 in Paris, where he will face Norbert Gombos.Carreño keeps his London chances alive as well. (Looking good to be an alternate, at least...)

— José Morgado (@josemorgado) November 3, 2020

Carreno Busta's next opponent is the 30-year-old Norbert Gombos, who peaked at No. 80 in the rankings in 2017.

After dropping out of the top 250 in October 2018, Gombos has managed to push his ranking up to his current position of No. 105 with a string of decent results. This year, the Slovak has reached the quarterfinals of Montpellier, the second round of the US Open and the third round of the French Open.

Gombos beat David Goffin in the second round of the Paris Masters on Tuesday, and looks set to break back into the top 100 with this run.

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Pablo Carreno Busta vs Norbert Gombos head-to-head

Norbert Gombos at the 2020 French Open

Pablo Carreno Busta and Norbert Gombos have met once on the official ATP tour, with Gombos leading the head-to-head 1-0. The Slovak won their Round of 32 encounter at Montpellier in three sets earlier this year, just before the tennis shutdown.

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Pablo Carreno Busta vs Norbert Gombos prediction

: Pablo Carreno Busta at the 2020 French Open

Pablo Carreno Busta loves playing on hardcourts, and is always ready for a battle from the baseline.

After losing his first match at the European Open and his second match at last week's Vienna Open, the Spaniard has registered two good wins this week at the Paris Masters - over Hugo Gaston and Jan-Lennard Struff. Carreno Busta should be motivated to build on that, and make a deep run in the last Masters 1000 event of the season.

Norbert Gombos has also put in some good performances this week. After winning two matches in qualifying, he beat Marco Cecchinato and No. 8 seed David Goffin in the main draw - both in straight sets.

This is the 5th time in his career that Norbert Gombos wins 2 consecutive ATP Main draw matches.4 of those 5 times he won those back to back matches in France:-2017 Marseille- 2020 Montpellier-2020 Roland Garros-2020 Paris Bercy#RolexParisMasters

— Steph Trudel (@TrudelSteph) November 3, 2020

Gombos, who had never won a Masters main draw match prior to this week, likes to play aggressively when he has the chance to. But he is unlikely to overwhelm Carreno Busta with his power, especially given the Spaniard's defensive skills.

The Slovak will have to play his absolute best tennis to get past Carreno Busta on Thursday, but that is easier said than done.

Prediction: Pablo Carreno Busta to win in straight sets.