The South American clay season kickstarted with the Ecuador Open on Monday this week, hosted in Quito. The next tournament scheduled for the South American swing is the Argentina Open, hosted in Buenos Aires. With Austria’s Dominic Thiem leading the field, let’s have a look at the draw.

The Usual Suspects

Defending champion Alexandr Dolgopolov withdrew from the tournament, as did Marin Cilic, who was scheduled to play for the first time in Buenos Aires. There are several clay court specialists gracing the draw, such as Pablo Carreno Busta, Albert Ramos Vinolas, and Fabio Fognini, who will be looking to make it deep into the draw. However, 2016 champion Dominic Thiem is the heavy favorite. His game suits clay best and he was the only player to beat Rafael Nadal on clay last year, so it wouldn’t be surprising to see him make a deep run here.

Diego Schwartzman is playing his first tournament after losing to Rafael Nadal in the Australian Open.

The Underdogs

There are several clay court specialists in the draw, and with the tournament being the start of the clay season for many players, it’ll be a deciding ground for the rest of their clay season. Leonardo Mayer, who won last year’s German Open, is known to silently move across the draw and win big tournaments without much mention of him. Federico Delbonis reached his first ATP Final by beating Roger Federer in Hamburg in 2013, and like Mayer, is a silent threat who could very well win the tournament.

Pablo Cuevas, the seventh seed, is a more well-known player who could make a dent in the draw as well.

First Round matches to watch

Pablo Cuevas vs Gael Monfils

Monfils is unseeded for the tournament because of his injury-riddled 2017. Both players have a game more suited to clay and are primarily defensive baseliners. Expect a match with long, drawn-out rallies and a three-set cracker of a match.

Federico Delbonis vs Florian Mayer

One unseeded threat meets the other! The disruptive German has also penetrated deep into draws in tournaments where he wasn’t expected to make a deep run. While Delbonis is a clay court specialist, Mayer is an all surface player who plays very well on clay. It’ll be an interesting match, with Mayer’s unorthodox forehand and Delbonis’ huge serve.

Interesting fact!

Diego Schwartzman, Leonardo Mayer, Horacio Zeballos, and Guido Pella are all Buenos Aires residents, where the tournament is being held.

Prediction

Seeing that it is the first clay tournament for several players in the draw, it is difficult to make a concrete prediction. There are several clay specialists in the draw who can disrupt the field and in the past have done precisely that. Dominic Thiem and Fabio Fognini seem to be the best picks, with the Italian clay specialist reaching a final in the surface every year since 2012.

What do you think? Let us know in the comments below.