🎾 ATP Marrakech: Carreño Busta vs Lalami Laaroussi – Match Preview

🎾 ATP Marrakech: Carreño Busta vs Lalami Laaroussi – Match Preview

🧠 Form & Context

🟨 Pablo Carreño Busta

• 🧬 Veteran pedigree: Former top-10 player with 376 career wins on clay and seven ATP titles.
• 🔁 Comeback mode: 16–8 in 2025 after returning from injury, including a QF at the Girona Challenger.
• 🎾 Clay comfort: 2–2 on clay this season with solid showings against Cilic and Gakhov.
• 🇲🇦 Marrakech memory: Reached the QFs in his last appearance here in 2016.

🟥 Younes Lalami Laaroussi

• 🌱 Wild card story: Ranked outside the top 1000, gets in as Morocco’s local hope.
• 📈 Futures-level success: 12–6 in 2025 with most matches at ITF level. Lifetime 49–36 on clay.
• 🎓 Steep challenge: Second-ever ATP main draw match. Lost R1 here in 2023.
• 🏟️ Crowd factor: Will have full home support, which may inspire a strong start.

🔍 Match Breakdown

This is a clear experience gap match. Carreño Busta brings proven quality and clay-court resilience, while Lalami is stepping up several tiers from Futures-level events.

The Spaniard’s topspin, depth, and tactical control should keep the Moroccan pinned deep behind the baseline. Unless PCB has an off day, he should dominate the tempo and exploit Lalami’s lack of high-level experience.

For the Moroccan, this is a valuable developmental opportunity, but expecting a close contest would be optimistic given the mismatch in tour level and experience.

🔮 Prediction

Pick: Carreño Busta in straight sets

The crowd may energize Lalami early, but Carreño Busta’s structure, strategy, and ball tolerance should guide him through comfortably.