Winston-Salem Open: Pablo Carreno Busta vs. Soonwoo Kwon 8/24/21 Tennis Prediction

Top seeded Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta will face Soonwoo Kwon in the Second Round of the Winston-Salem Open. The match will be played on Tuesday August 24th, 2021.

Number one seed Pablo Carreno Busta is the main title contender here at the Winston-Salem Open in North Carolina. However he has been handed a relatively tough draw, and will face the talented Soonwoo Kwon in the Second Round. Both men will be eager to put in a good performance here as they prepare for the US Open next week. Who will get the win and advance to the Round of 16?

Pablo Carreno-Busta is currently ranked #12 in the world rankings and is the top seed here at the Winston-Salem Open. The Spaniard is known as one of the most consistent performers on the ATP Tour and has been solid recently, reaching the Semis in Mallorca, won the title at the German Open and reached the Quarters in Cincinnati last week. He will be aiming to replicate his success from the 2020 US Open where he reached the Semi-Finals, and was unlucky to not have advanced after being up 2 sets to love against Alexander Zverev. He is drawn against a very difficult opponent in Soonwoo Kwon, and will have to be at his best here to advance to the Round of 16. Kwon was impressive in his First Round win so he could in with a real chance to cause the upset if PCB takes a while to acclimatize to the courts and conditions here in Winston-Salem.

Soonwoo Kwon is unseeded here at the 2021 Winston-Salem Open and is ranked #74 in the world. The South Korean is a very talented player and has been having a solid season so far. However, since his Semi-Final run at Eastbourne he has been having a tough time and will be eager to get his season back on track. After an impressive First Round win over Radu Albot where he was able to dominate from the baseline, he finds himself facing the world number 12 Pablo Carreno Busta and knows that he will be in for a tough time here. The one thing that is going for him is that he has a match under his belt, and will be a little more comfortable in these conditions than PCB. However, he is still a massive underdog here and will have to be at his absolute best to have any chance here.

This will be the second meeting between the two players on the ATP Tour with PCB winning their only meeting this year on clay. It was a very lopsided 6-4, 6-0 score line in Marbella, and Soonwoo Kwon will be eager to put in a better performance this time around. While the Korean was impressive in his First Round win and has had more time to get accustomed to the conditions, I am still backing PCB here. He is one of the best players in the world and is fine-tuning his preparations for the US Open, so it is very unlikely that he will lose to someone ranked over 50 spots below him in the rankings, on his favored surface. I expect a relatively comfortable straight sets win for the Spaniard who will advance to the Round of 16 here at the Winston-Salem Open.