Rafael Nadal and Juan Martin Del Potro will kick off their Rome campaigns on Wednesday. Nadal is going up against Damir Dzumhur, while Del Potro has an especially intriguing opener on his hands with a red-hot Stefanos Tsitsipas.
(5) Juan Martin Del Potro vs. (Q) Stefanos Tsitsipas
Del Potro has played two matches during this entire clay-court swing as he heads into second-round action at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia on Wednesday. Tsitsipas has already played more than that (three) in Rome alone–and 17 in total dating back to the start of Monte-Carlo qualifying. The 19-year-old from Greece reached round two of that Masters 1000 tournament, finished runner-up in Barcelona to Rafael Nadal, advanced to the Estoril semifinals, lost right away in Madrid, and got a retirement from Borna Coric on Tuesday in Rome on the heels of qualifying victories over Mikhail Kukushkin and Dusan Lajovic. Adding to his heavy workload, Tsitsipas recently played three consecutive matches that ended in third-set tiebreakers (lost to Joao Sousa in Estoril, lost to Evgeny Donskoy in Madrid, beat Kukushkin).
After skipping the start of the clay season, Del Potro returned in Madrid and defeated Damir Dzumhur 6-3, 6-3 before blowing a 4-0 lead in a third-set tiebreaker and losing to Lajovic 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(6). It has otherwise been an outstanding year for the sixth-ranked Argentine, who won back-to-back titles in Acapulco and Indian Wells in addition to a semifinal showing in Miami. This is about as tough of an opener as Del Potro could ask for, but he is well-rested whereas Tsitsipas has to be running on fumes.
Pick: Del Potro in 3
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(1) Rafael Nadal vs. Damir Dzumhur
Nadal and Dzumhur will be squaring off for the third time in their careers on Wednesday. The head-to-head series stands at 1-1, but the underdog’s lone success came via third-set retirement at the 2016 Miami Masters. He enjoyed no such luck earlier this season at the Australian Open, where Nadal coasted 6-1, 6-3, 6-1. A clay-court contest against the Spaniard likely spells even more trouble for Dzumhur, as Nadal recently added titles in Monte-Carlo and Barcelona to his haul. The 31-year-old lost from out of nowhere to Dominic Thiem in the Madrid quarterfinals, but conditions do not suit him as well there and that only gave him more rest for Rome.
Dzumhur earned another shot at Nadal by disposing of Fernando Verdasco 6-3, 6-1 on Tuesday. The world No. 31 from Bosnia and Herzegovina has almost certainly done enough to lock up a French Open seed even though he had been a horrendous 1-7 in his last eight ATP tournament matches going into Rome. His defeat of Verdasco notwithstanding, in this kind of form Dzumhur may struggle to win more than a few games against the No. 1 seed.
Pick: Nadal in 2 losing 3-4 games
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Though I like Tsitsipas, I think Delpo is a bridge too far for him. Delpo may have to work for the win though, so yes, Delpo in three.
Rafa should win this match but don’t know about the number of games. He sometimes starts slow in his first match.
Tsitsipas in 3. Rafa in 2 losing 3-4 games.
Keep calm, stay focused, be confident and enjoy the game, Rafa!
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DdTkSSXX4AA8R77.jpg
Delpo in 3 and Nadal in 2
Zume could win 5-7…maybe….and Tpas is just on a roll….he can beat JDP!
double ouch!
just pick the opposite of the site
Powerful Rafa! Great performance!
Vamos Rafa!
even bigger beatdown than i thought!
did u see umpire help nishikori first set and then Grigor start screaming at umpire saying curse words!
This was nice to see from Rafa. Bouncing back after the loss in Madrid and looking a lot more comfortable in the court in Rome.
Rafa hitting his groundstrokes very well today, no first match nerves, and is also serving well; so glad to see that after that horrible match at Madrid.
Rafa, 6-1 6-1.
Rafa 6-1, 6-0
Dammit! I was only 1 game off haha!
I like Tsitsipas, he may be the next player that I’ll support, after Rafa retires from tennis.
Tsitsipas has a beautiful game, beautiful footwork not unlike Fed’s, but he’s like Rafa, patiently working the point and then strikes when it’s the right time. He has good on court manners as well; I prefer him to Shapo who’s always going for broke.
What Tsitsipas lacks is experience in big matches. Delpo is a top ten player and I believe it’s the first time they meet so Delpo’s raw power is overwhelming for Tsitsipas. Tsitsipas seemed a bit tired nearing the end of the second set and that might be why he wasn’t thinking clearly and just kept going CC with his SHBH no matter what. He had to go through two qualifying matches before getting to the main draw.
Delpo has some nice things to say about Tsitsipas and I agree with him. Looking at how Delpo plays, I think if he can navigate past Goffin, he may beat Sasha in the SF if both get there. Delpo’s big serve and big groundstrokes will go well against Sasha’s.
Sasha did look a bit tired, bending over touching his legs during his match yesterday. Still, he got himself out of trouble each time his opponent tried to attack him, his serve and solid ground strokes were really impressive.