Pablo Carreno Busta will fancy his chances of claiming a sixth ATP Tour title when he takes on Filip Krajinovic in the final of the Hamburg European Open on Sunday.
The Spaniard has been the second seed at Am Rothenbaum this week and he has certainly lived up to that billing, as he has yet to drop a set in his three matches at the tournament, seeing off Carlos Taberner, Dusan Lajovic and Federico Delbonis with relative ease.
Krajinovic’s route through to the final has been far less straightforward, but the Serbian did claim the scalp of top seed and world number four Stefanos Tsitsipas in the quarter finals, while, like Carreno Busta, he is something of a clay-court specialist.
Sunday’s final will only be the second time the two players have met on the ATP Tour, with Krajinovic winning the previous clash at the semi-final stage of the Stockholm Open in 2019.
That should install plenty of confidence within the sixth seed, but ultimately Carreno Busta’s greater experience of triumphing at the top level should be enough to see him come out on top.
Further Clay-Court Success Expected for Carreno Busta
With two semi-final appearances to his name at the US Open, it could be argued that Carreno Busta is a hard-court specialist, but delve a little deeper and he certainly appears to favour clay.
Five of the 30-year-old’s eight previous ATP Tour final appearances to date have come on clay and he registered his second win on the surface in April when triumphing at the Andalucia Open.
The world number 12’s relatively straightforward passage through to this week’s final also suggests he is the standout player at the event, while he will be bidding to become the 10th Spanish winner of the tournament, following in the footsteps of the likes of Rafael Nadal and Tommy Robredo.
Krajinovic to Fall At Final Hurdle Again
World number 44 Krajinovic certainly underlined his credentials on clay following his victory over French Open finalist Tsitsipas, but he has needed three sets to come through three of his four matches at this week’s tournament.
That could well have drained the Serbian’s energy ahead of the final, and unlike Carreno Busta, he does not have past experience of winning ATP Tour events, as he has lost on all three of his previous final appearances at that level.
The sixth seed has at least proven himself a winner on the ATP Challenger Tour, and it is there where he really established himself as a clay-court specialist, as all 17 of his final appearances at that level came on the surface.
A breakthrough victory on the main Tour may not be too far away for Krajinovic, but is seems unlikely his wait will come to an end on Sunday.
Tough Battle Expected in Hamburg
Carreno Busta will certainly fancy his chances of coming out on top, but after enjoying rather serene progress through to the final, he may face his toughest test against Krajinovic.
As previously mentioned, Krajinovic won the only previous meeting between the pair on the ATP Tour two years ago, while the two players hold a victory apiece from their two respective clashes at Challenger level.
What all three of those contests have in common is that they all went to a deciding third set, which suggests we should be in for another tight match on Sunday.
Krajinovic certainly has experience of coming through those kinds of contests, given the testing nature of his matches this week, but Carreno Busta will have the fresher legs and that should ultimately see him prevail if a deciding set is required.
*All odds correct at time of writing