America's Brandon Nakashima has been playing strong tennis lately. He will face Argentina's Tomas Martin Etcheverry at the 2024 ATP Barcelona tennis tournament in an upcoming match. This will be a round-of-sixteen match in the draw and the ranking points in the late rounds do get very meaningful in this 500-series event. Nakashima is priced at +110 (bet365), making him an underdog in this third-round match at the 2024 Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell. But my Nakashima vs Etcheverry prediction is that the former player will win this match.
Order of Play: Right-click/Open in the New Tab to check match times: subject to change
Brandon Nakashima vs Tomas Martin Etcheverry Head-to-Head Series
The Nakashima vs Etcheverry h2h is 0-0 as these two players have yet to face one another. For current rankings, Nakashima is the No. 87 player on tour. However, that will go up even if he does not win another match in Barcelona. Meanwhile, Etcheverry is ranked 30th in the world at the moment.
On year-to-date rankings, Nakashima is the 35th-best player. That is ten spots better than Etcheverry, who is 45th from the same perspective. That means that Nakashima has played better when isolating matches from the 2024 calendar season.
The Draw: Right-click/Open the link in a new tab for the draw for the 2024 Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell
Brandon Nakashima's Recent Matches and Results
Nakashima has opened his Barcelona event with two strong wins. In the last round, he beat Andrey Rublev in straight sets 6-4, 7-6. Nakashima went 6-0 on aces to double faults, which is a very good service performance on clay.
Nakashima was idle on tour last week while the Monte-Carlo Masters ran. At our last look at the American before Barcelona, he was active in the 2024 ATP Houston draw. He did well in that tournament, making it to the quarterfinal round before losing to Ben Shelton, the tournament's eventual champion. But Nakashima posted a competitive loss in his Houston exit, pushing Shelton to a 5-7, 6-7 result.
Tomas Martin Etcheverry's Recent Matches and Results
Etcheverry had a bye through the first round in Barcelona. In the second round, he beat Nick Hardt 7-5, 6-2. Hardt is a player that I have not previously heard of. He entered this week ranked out of the Top 200.
Last week, Etcheverry was in Monte-Carlo where he won a match against Nicolas Jarry. But then the Argentine drew the eventual champion in the next round, Stefanos Tsitsipas. Etcheverry went down 1-6, 0-6 in the match. That is a very poor line score, even against a quality player. Etcheverry entered clay-court events in Houston, Buenos Aires, and Cordoba this season. He went 5-3 in those events combined.
Nakashima vs Etcheverry Prediction: Nakashima to win
Etcheverry's short-term playing level doesn't look like it will be anything beyond Nakashima's abilities right now. The year-to-date rankings favor Nakashima and he has some wins on clay lately. The American's confidence can only be improving, especially after getting a win over a Top Ten player in the last round. I think the bettors should be on board with the mild upset at +110 (bet365) in this next match.
Etcheverry vs Nakashima prediction: Draw at the 2024 Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell
The winner of this match will have an open quarterfinal match. Roberto Bautista-Agut will face Cameron Norrie in the match nearby in the draw. Meanwhile, Casper Ruud remains alive in this half of the draw but he could be tiring after making the final in Monte-Carlo last week.
Additional reading: All previews for upcoming tennis matches!
