Mikhail Kukushkin vs Marcel Granollers-Pujol Tennis Prediction

The Spaniard leads the H2H 2-0 including winning their only previous meeting on clay, at Tangier challenger 2008. However, there isn’t much between these two players at the moment, and anyone could win this evenly poised first-round contest.

Marcel Granollers-Pujol News

The former World #19 Marcel Granollers-Pujol will be playing his first main draw match on tour since Beijing 2017 when he takes on Mikhail Kukushkin in the first round of ATP Barcelona this Monday.
The Spaniard stepped down a level and started competing at the Challenger events to find his form, and it worked to an extent as he won two Challenger titles in January, Bangkok 2 and Bangkok 3. However, he struggled in the recent weeks and was even forced to retire during his first round match at Barletta Challenger a few weeks back.
Granollers-Pujol attempted to enter the main draw of Dubai and Monte Carlo but failed in the qualifying stages against Alexei Popyrin (QR1) and Andreas Seppi (QR2). He will now enter the main draw of ATP Barcelona with a wildcard.
Marcel Granollers-Pujol has won over 300 matches on clay so far in his career (328/248), which also earned him three clay titles on tour, in Houston 2008, Gstaad 2011 and Kitzbuhel 2013. Additionally, he also owns three more clay titles in the Challenger Circuits. However, constant fitness issues have impacted his performance in the recent years, and at 32-years-old, it’s going to be difficult for him to produce such performances again.

Mikhail Kukushkin News

After failing to help Kazakhstan progress to the semifinal of Davis Cup World Group earlier this month (lost to Marin Cilic on clay), Mikhail Kukushkin entered Monte Carlo where he lost his first round of qualifying match against Marco Cecchinato in straight sets.
Kukushkin, who won a title at Irving Challenger last month, is currently on a seven-match losing run on tour and the last time he won a match at this level was against Laslo Djere in the second round of ATP Pune.
This is Granollers-Pujol’s 17th consecutive appearance in Barcelona while Kukushkin has entered this tournament seven times in the past, but neither of them has progressed beyond the round of 16.

Tennis Prediction: Marcel Granollers-Pujol
Odds: 1.73