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Match details
Fixture: Frances Tiafoe vs Facundo Bagnis
Date: 2 March 2021
Tournament: Argentina Open 2021
Round: First round (Round of 32)
Venue: Buenos Aires, Argentina
Category: ATP 250
Surface: Clay court
Prize money: $329,550
Live telecast: USA - Tennis Channel | India - Eurosport
Frances Tiafoe vs Facundo Bagnis preview
USA’s Frances Tiafoe will take on home favorite Facundo Bagnis in the first round of the 2021 Argentina Open on Tuesday.
This is the second ATP 250 event to take place in Argentina this season, after the Cordoba Open just last week. And it is interesting to see that Tiafoe has prioritized a claycourt tournament over the fast hardcourt tournaments in Europe.
Even though the American has had the best results of his career on hardcourt, he is a skilled player on clay as well. Tiafoe has seven final appearances to his name on this surface across the ATP, Challenger and Future tours combined.
In fact, the last time Tiafoe made the final of an ATP event, it was on clay - at the 2018 Estoril Open.
The 23-year-old has had a decent year so far, putting together a quarterfinal run at the Delray Beach Open. But he was then ousted in the first round of the Melbourne 2 event by Corentin Moutet.
At the Australian Open, Tiafoe could only make it as far as the second round. The American lost to Novak Djokovic, but not before putting up an excellent fight for most of the four sets.
Facundo Bagnis, meanwhile, has played in five events since the Australian Open qualifiers, where he lost in the first round. Most of these events have been on the Challenger tour, where Bagnis didn't find much success.
But at the recently-concluded Cordoba Open, Bagnis went on a six-match winning streak before losing in the semifinals. The Argentine came through three rounds of qualifying in Cordoba and dropped just three sets throughout the event.
Frances Tiafoe vs Facundo Bagnis head-to-head
The head-to-head between Frances Tiafoe and Facundo Bagnis is currently 0-0 as they have never faced each other on the tour.
Frances Tiafoe vs Facundo Bagnis prediction
World No. 62 Frances Tiafoe is the favorite on paper, but he comes into this fixture woefully short on claycourt match practice. Facundo Bagnis, on the other hand, has been playing on this surface for almost a month.
Bagnis is undoubtedly the more established claycourter between the two, having reached a whopping 30 finals on this surface at the Challenger and Futures level. That said, Bagnis has been playing non-stop for over a week, and fatigue could creep in.
Tiafoe, on his part, is unlikely to face such issues but he might struggle to find his footing on clay in the initial stages of the match. Once Tiafoe finds his groove though, his firepower should be enough to subdue the Argentine.
Prediction: Frances Tiafoe to win in three sets.
