ATP Cup: Pablo Carreno Busta (Team Spain) vs. Fabio Fognini (Team Italy) Tennis Prediction

Pablo Carreno Busta takes on Fabio Fognini in the first semifinal match between Team Spain and Team Italy at the 2021 ATP Cup on Saturday, February 6th 2021. Will Fognini show us some magic as he has done many times throughout the years, or will the solid game of the Spaniard PBC be too much for the Italian?

Fabio Fognini is a bit of a hit and miss player in recent times, sometimes showing up on the court and playing incredible tennis, and other times just not hitting any shots with any will to win. Fognini went 1-1 in his matches in the round robin stage here at the ATP Cup, losing to Denis Novak in 2 sets, and winning against Benoit Paire in 2 sets. Fognini knows that he cannot mess around against Pablo Carreno Busta as he is levels above both of his prior opponents here at the ATP Cup, and he rarely gives anything away easily.

Pablo Carreno Busta has put on extremely solid performances here at the ATP Tour, going 2-0 in the round robin matches and not losing a single set along the way. Pablo Carreno Busta is definitely playing the best tennis of his career and he will want to come out and give Team Spain an early 1-0 lead in this semifinal tie, in the hopes that his teammate RBA gets the job done in the match later against Matteo Berrettini. I believe PBC is definitely the man for the job here, as he can frustrate anyone lower ranked than him with his great return game.

This is going to be the 8th meeting between both players, with Pablo Carreno Busta leading the head to head 7-0. Fabio just does not like to play against the Spaniard as he is not able to get into a comfortable rhythm which helps him cause upsets. Pablo Carreno Busta is a great baseline player and he can compete with the best players in the world on his day. At the ATP Cup, he has also looked like a man on a mission. I do not believe that Fognini can beat PBC with the tennis he has been playing over the last few weeks, and PBC will give Team Spain an early 1-0 lead.