Mirza Basic vs Marco Cecchinato Tennis Prediction
Mirza Basic leads the H2H 3-0, including winning their previous two clay meetings in the ITF Circuits (both in 2011). Though Mirza Basic is enjoying a fine season on tour, Marco Cecchinato is probably the better player on clay which makes him the favorite in this first round clash. That said, this contest could go either way.
Mirza Basic News
Entering his second clay tournament of the season at Monte Carlo last week, Mirza Basic suffered two consecutive defeats, one in the qualifying stages against Stefanos Tsitsipas and another one in the first round (as a lucky loser) against Aljaz Bedene.
This is the second time the Bosnian has suffered back-to-back defeats in a week this season. He previously lost the qualifying match at Miami to Michael Mmoh and again lost the first round match (as a lucky loser) to Yuki Bhambri.
Mirza Basic has so far played five matches on clay in 2018 (on tour) with his only main draw win coming against Robin Haase in Marrakech earlier this month, 4-6 6-4 7-5.
The 2018 ATP Sofia champion, Mirza Basic, entered the qualifying stages here in 2017 but lost the first match to Maximilian Marterer in straight sets (QR1). However, the improved ranking has earned him direct entry into the main draw this time around.
Marco Cecchinato News
After defeating the local talent and wildcard entrant Mate Valkusz in the first qualifying match, Marco Cecchinato suffered a straight-set defeat against Jurgen Zopp in the second qualifying match. Fortunately, the Italian has been offered a lucky loser spot in the main draw of ATP Budapest.
Marco Cecchinato, who will be making his Budapest debut this week, has already played 28 matches on clay this season and managed to win 19 of them (19/9), including his win over Damir Dzumhur (R1) in Monte Carlo last week.
Tennis Prediction: Mirza Basic
Odds: 2.70
