TipResumen

PREVIEW

The court speed in Cincinnati should be one that is enjoyed by Bradley Klahn and he has shown he can perform by coming through the Qualifiers and also win a First Round match here. This is part of a good month on the US hard courts as Klahn was also able to Qualify for the Canadian Masters event last week and also won a First Round match there which is a huge boost to the World Ranking. That all means Klahn should be back inside the top 100 of the World Rankings at the beginning of the US Open and the American is heading back towards his peak Ranking which was earned in 2014. The service numbers will always make Klahn a threat to opponents but he has to find a way to really get something from the return which is more effective than what he has been able to produce so far. In general his return game is not that great, but that has particularly shown up when he has moved up to play main ATP Tour matches and will be a problem when it comes to making real moves up the World Rankings. You would think that facing a server like Pablo Carreno Busta would give Bradley Klahn more of a chance to get into the return games, but the Spaniard has found some love for the hard courts over the last twelve months. A US Open Semi Finalist and reaching the same stage at the Miami Masters underlines that while Carreno Busta has been very good at protecting his serve on this service with an 83% hold percentage. That number is significantly better than previous years and it makes Carreno Busta's life a little easier on the hard courts where he has continued to show his decent return game. Carreno Busta is winning almost 39% of points against the serve on the hard courts and I think it will be the return game which allows him to edge past the American player in this one. I imagine it will be close considering how Klahn can serve, but I think Carreno Busta will find one more break of serve than his opponent and that should be enough to win and cover the number.



PREDICTION

I will back the favourite to win and cover in this Second Round match.