United Cup 2025: Stefanos Tsitsipas vs Pablo Carreno Busta preview, head-to-head, prediction, odds and pick
Match Details
Fixture: (GRE) Stefanos Tsitsipas vs (ESP) Pablo Carreno Busta
Date: December 28, 2024
Tournament: United Cup 2025
Round: Group Stage
Venue: RAC Arena, Perth, Australia
Category: United Cup
Surface: Outdoor hardcourt
Prize Money: US$11,170,000
Live Telecast: USA - Tennis Channel | UK - Sky Sports | Canada - TSN, RDS
Stefanos Tsitsipas vs Pablo Carreno Busta preview
Greece's Stefanos Tsitsipas will face Spain's Pablo Carreno Busta in the group stage of the United Cup 2025.
Tsitsipas led Greece to the United Cup quarterfinals at the start of 2024, and then bowed out in the fourth round of the Australian Open. This caused him to exit the top 10 for the first time since 2019. After some decent results over the next few weeks, he tasted greater success on clay.
Tsitsipas won the Monte-Carlo Masters for the third time in four years, and was the runner-up at the Barcelona Open the following week. He also reached the quarterfinals of the Italian Open, the French Open and the Paris Olympics. Following a first-round exit from the US Open, he started to play well towards the end of the season.
The Greek progressed to the fourth round of the Shanghai Masters, followed by quarterfinals in Basel and Antwerp, as well as the Paris Masters. He concluded the season ranked No. 11 with a 45-22 record.
Carreno Busta returned from an injury hiatus in 2024. His best results were a third-round showing at the Cincinnati Open, and a semifinal finish at the Winston-Salem Open. He kicked off his campaign at this year's United Cup with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Kazakhstan's Alexander Shevchenko.
Carreno Busta then returned to play the mixed doubles match with Yvonne Cavalle Reimers. They rallied from a set down to level the score but came up short in the match tie-break as they were beaten 7-6 (4), 6-7 (2), 10-7 by Shevchenko and Elena Rybakina.
Stefanos Tsitsipas vs Pablo Carreno Busta head-to-head
Tsitsipas has a perfect 3-0 record against Carreno Busta. He won their previous encounter at the French Open 2021 in straight sets.
Stefanos Tsitsipas vs Pablo Carreno Busta odds
(Odds will be added once they're available)
Stefanos Tsitsipas vs Pablo Carreno Busta prediction
Carreno Busta, and Spain, find themselves in a tough situation after going down 2-1 against Kazakhstan. While he won his singles tie, he couldn't get over the hump in mixed doubles, and they lost the women's singles match as well. He and his team need to beat Greece to remain in the competition.
However, it is going to be an uphill battle for them. Carreno Busta has lost all three of his previous matches against Tsitsipas in straight sets, even though they were fairly competitive. The Spaniard has gone 1-3 against top 20 players since his return, and has a 33-70 career record against them.
Tsitsipas and Greece have always made it out of the group stage of the United Cup so far, going to the semifinals in 2023 and the quarterfinals this year. The trend is likely to continue, starting with his win over Carreno Busta.
Pick: Stefanos Tsitsipas to win in straight sets.