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Mixed martial arts Thursday Tennis Best Bet: ATP Estoril, Hubert Hurkacz vs Bernabe Zapata Miralles
Hubert Hurkacz vs Bernabe Zapata Miralles Best Bet: Thursday, April 6th
Well, we’ll have two bets going on Thursday from the men’s action across the world. John Isner and Gijs Brouwer’s match has been postponed until Thursday, thanks to rain wiping out almost the entire day of play in Houston on Wednesday.
For Thursday’s best bet, let’s look at the match in Estoril between Hubert Hurkacz and Bernabe Zapata Miralles.
In this article:
- Hubert Hurkacz vs Bernabe Zapata Miralles Preview
- Hubert Hurkacz vs Bernabe Zapata Miralles Best Bet
Hubert Hurkacz vs Bernabe Zapata Miralles Preview
April 6th, 15:00 (UK Time)
It’s a bit odd to see Hurkacz playing in Portugal this week for a few reasons.
For starters, he wasn’t originally on the entry list. He’s also coming off a long stretch of big hard-court events – his bread and butter – so to play the first week after Miami, the first week on clay at a smaller event and the week prior to another Masters 1000 event in Monte Carlo.
What gives? Why play this week and add more tennis to the schedule?
To me, it can only mean the Polish No. 1 knows he needs to work on his game and find some form. It’s an implicit admission that he is in extremely poor form and needs to work through it.
There is no reason to play the one week you have between a pair of Masters 1000 events.
The fact is, he hasn’t found many wins, played five tiebreaks in his five sets in Miami and really shouldn’t have reached the third round in which he fell to Adrian Mannarino (he had to save five match points in his first match against Thanasi Kokkinakis).
Well, that’s not the best recipe for success, especially against a through-and-through clay-court player in Zapata Miralles.
The Spaniard makes you play a ton of balls, and though he doesn’t possess a load of power from the baseline, he can hit a really heavy forehand with a lot of topspin.
With Hurkacz’s primary weapon in his serve being somewhat neutralised by the slower pace of clay courts, and his counterpunching forehand more used to pushing back power than heavy topspin, along with his more awkward movement on clay courts, I’m surprised to see the man that’s only in as an emergency substitution as a huge favourite in this match.
Zapata Miralles is more adept on clay courts, more suited for prolonged rallies and matches, and doesn’t feed Hurkacz the kinds of balls from the baseline that the big server would prefer.
Hubert Hurkacz vs Bernabe Zapata Miralles Best Bet
I suppose I understand why Hurkacz is the favourite. After all, he is the world No. 12, has a monster serve and wins his fair share of close contests.
That said, considering the form, the situation by which he finds himself in this tournament and the schedule next week, plus the matchup concerns on his worst surface against a grinder that can really push him, I can’t give him credit for being an overwhelming favourite.
I’ll back Zapata Miralles to keep things close, as well as win the match outright at the odds on offer.
- Selection: Over 22 Games
- Best Odds: 1.98 (Pinnacle)
- Stakes: 2/10
- Bonus: Zapata Miralles to win at 3.15 odds with Unibet, using 1/10 stakes.
Odds as at 2:30 am on April 6th, 2023. Odds may now differ.
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