ATP Buenos Aires: Diego Schwartzman vs Miomir Kecmanovic 3/6/2021 Tennis Prediction

Top seeded Diego Schwartzman of Argentina faces fourth seeded Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic in the Semi-Finals of the 2021 Buenos Aires Open ATP Event. The match is scheduled to be played on Saturday March 6th, 2021 at approximately 1:00pm EST. They have played once before on clay with Schwartzman winning on that occasion. Who will win and advance to their first ATP Final of the year?

Diego Schwartzman is currently ranked number nine in the world and has continued his great 2020 form into this new season. He has reached the Final here without dropping a set, with comprehensive wins over Lukas Klein and Jaume Munar. Schwartzman has displayed his usual brand of counter-punching tennis, switching brilliantly between attack and defense and pairing that with his elite movement. Schwartzman loves this surface as it is much harder to hit through him on clay than it is the faster surfaces, making him incredibly tough to beat. He enters this match as the firm favorite, especially since he is playing at home and will be extremely confident in his chances of lifting the title here at home. 

Miomir Kecmanovic is currently ranked #42 in the world and is known as one of the rising young stars of the ATP Tour. He has rebounded nicely after a poor showing in Cordoba last week, losing to eventual champion Juan Manuel Cerundolo in the Round of 16. He prefers the hard courts but has shown that he is comfortable on clay, and his new coach David Nalbandian has seemingly gotten him to become more patient and work his way into the points. He has had a tough path to the Semis, with a three set win over Thiago Monteiro in the Opening Round before defeating countryman Laslo Djere in two very close sets in the Quarter-Finals. He enters this match as the underdog but definitely has enough quality to take advantage if Schwartzman has an off day. 

While Kecmanovic is a very good player, I don’t think he has what it takes to defeat Schwartzman at home and on clay. If this were a hard court he would have more of a chance, but his power is slightly nullified on this surface, and the main way to defeat Schwartzman is to blast him off the court, something that is not very possible on this surface. Expect Schwartzman to get through in two close sets.