ATP Buenos Aires: Frances Tiafoe vs Jaume Munar 3/4/2021 Tennis Prediction

Eighth seeded Frances Tiafoe of the United States faces unseeded Spaniard Jaume Munar in the Round of 16 at the 2021 Buenos Aires ATP Event in Argentina. The match is scheduled to be played on Thursday March 4th, 2021 at a time yet to be determined. They have played each other twice before with Munar winning on each occasion. 

Can he continue his winning streak over the American and advance to his first ATP Quarter-Final in two years? 

Jaume Munar is currently ranked #106 in the world but has been ranked as high as #52. He has had a strong start to the year in 2021, capturing two back to back Challenger Tour titles. He will be looking to re-establish himself on the ATP Circuit and a strong performance here will go a long way towards that as he will re-enter the top 100, making him eligible for the majority of ATP 250 events. He came through the qualifying relatively unscathed, and was impressive in the First Round with a straight sets win over Facundo Diaz-Acosta. While he has never lost a set to Tiafoe, their careers have gone on different paths since and he has not faced an opponent of his caliber in quite some time. That being said, he will be very confident in his ability to win here due to that record and the fact that it is on his favored surface of clay. 

Frances Tiafoe is currently ranked #62 and is seeking a good year in 2021 to get his ranking back into the top 30. After a strong showing at the Australian Open where he had chances to upset world number one Novak Djokovic he will be very confident heading into the clay court season. It is not his favored surface by any means but he has had some success on the surface. His heavy topspin forehand is a huge weapon on this surface and he will be looking to be aggressive and take control over the defensive minded Munar. He had an extremely comfortable win over Facundo Bagnis in the First Round in a match that was potentially tricky. With his current form he is considered the heavy favorite in this match. 

Despite the vast difference in their rankings, this match should be very close. I am going with the underdog here. Munar has never dropped a set to Tiafoe and while the American is the better player overall, on this surface I am giving the edge to the Spaniard. Jaume Munar to win in three sets