Monte-Carlo champion Rafael Nadal and Madrid winner Alexander Zverev are part of the third-round schedule on Thursday in Rome. They are set for respective showdowns against Denis Shapovalov and Kyle Edmund.
(1) Rafael Nadal vs. Denis Shapovalov
A grand total of three active players have winning records against Nadal; Novak Djokovic is 26-24, and after that nobody who has faced the Spaniard more than twice is better than .500. Dustin Brown is 2-0 and Shapovalov is 1-0, having pulled off a 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(4) upset last summer in Montreal. Nadal will have a shot at revenge when they meet again in round three of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia on Thursday, and this time he gets to play on clay at a tournament he has won on seven occasions. Bouncing back from a Madrid quarterfinal loss to Dominic Thiem, Nadal began his bid for an eighth rome title and improved to 15-1 on clay in 2018 when he trounced Damir Dzumhur 6-1, 6-0 on Wednesday.
An in-form Shapovalov, who is building confidence on the slow stuff, should provide a tougher test. Having never previously won an ATP-level match on clay, the 10-year-old Canadian made a run to last week’s Madrid semifinals before succumbing to eventual champion Alexander Zverev. Getting right back in business in Rome, Shapovalov booked his spot in the last 16 thanks to three-set defeats of Tomas Berdych and Robin Haase. Nadal will undoubtedly pound the world No. 29’s one-handed backhand with a steady diet of topspin forehands and fatigue could set in sooner rather than later for Shapovalov.
Pick: Nadal in 2 losing 5-7 games
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Kyle Edmund vs. (2) Alexander Zverev
Perhaps the hottest player on tour other than Nadal, Zverev is riding a 10-match winning streak, boasts a 13-1 record in clay-court tournaments this season, and is 19-3 in his last 22 matches overall heading into Thursday. The 21-year-old German is a borderline Masters 1000 specialist, with three such titles–including last week in Madrid and last year at this same Rome event. Zverev kicked off his title defense with a 7-5, 6-2 victory over Italian wild card Matteo Berrettini on Wednesday night.
Up next for the world No. 3 is a third career contest against Edmund, who is 0-2 lifetime in the head-to-head series. Their first encounter ended in retirement at the 2016 Nice tournament after they split the first two sets, and Zverev more recently prevailed 6-3, 7-6(3) last fall in Beijing. Already a much different player now, Edmund enjoyed a breakthrough at this year’s Australian Open (semifinals) and his clay-court resume includes a runner-up finish in Marrakech and a quarterfinal performance in Madrid. The 19th-ranked Brit maintained momentum by beating Malek Jaziri and Lucas Pouille earlier this week. Displaying impressive clay-court prowess, Edmund should have a good opportunity to take advantage of an opponent who has played a ton of recent tennis and may be eager to focus on the French Open.
Pick: Edmund in 3
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who ya got?
Rafa in two losing 8-10 games and Zverev in two
Rafa rolls and sascha wins in 3
Htrain!
Ricky picking Edmund over Sasha? I’m surprised considering Sasha’s serve wasn’t broken in how many sets! Unless Edmund plays light out tennis and wins in TB sets, I think Sasha will win in straight sets.
His serve and groundstrokes looked formidable and both could bail him out of troubles time and again. I think only a TOP form Rafa or a formidable Djoko of the past could break Sasha’s serves (given their unbelievable ROS) for the win.
I think Sasha > Thiem now on clay; his problem is not having the consistency to do well in BO5 matches, maybe it’s his fitness or stamina issues? He’s getting physically stronger it seems so he may make further inroads at the slams starting this year.
Zverev won 2 tournaments in a row, and is playing on fuels/far from his best.
If Edmund and Zverev plays like they did in first round, Edmund will win in 2 sets. But knowing the spirit of Zverev, it will most likely be a 3 setter, but Edmund will win.
Ricky, Shapo is a lefty, how would Rafa pound his SHBH with Rafa’s topspin FH? Maybe you’re saying Rafa doing his FH DTL to Shapo’s BH?
Shapo has a great CC SHBH that caught Haase time and again, so Rafa pounding Shapo’s SHBH would either be topspin FH DTL or CC BH to Shapo’s SHBH. Rafa camping more to his BH corner may neutralise Shapo’s CC BH and maybe Rafa could hit some DTL shots off both wings too to keep Shapo guessing.
Shapo tends to hit many UEs, even though he also hit many winners, but his UEs > winners, in fact much more so Rafa maybe could also take advantage of that.
You give Ricky way too much credit. He just assumed he’s a righty.
Or he means Rafa will hit topspin forehands down the line. Pretty sure Rafa can hit his forehand anywhere with vicious topspin.
Rafa in two with atleast one breadstick . Zverev in 3
I expect Rafa to win this in two sets. Shapo is very explosive,but given the surface and the conditions in Rome,he’ll have an hard time trying to hit trough Rafa and will make many unforced errors,he’s still to find a controlled agression on his game.Plus,his return game isn’t that good so the only way he can keep the scoreline close is with is dangerous serve,but he’ll need high percentages of first serves.
I don’t expect Zverev to lose to Edmund,he has been rock solid so far and Edmund is not that consistent. However,I’m expecting Zverev to lose before the final,three tournaments going all the way to the final seems a bit too much for me and he probably is start feeling it physically.
Stay focused, remain confident, be strong and enjoy the battle, Rafa!
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DdY2t6MWAAAbbJk.jpg
Rafa will win this time but I don’t think it would be an easy match, I could be wrong but SHAPO should win 6 or more games 🤣.
D. Shapovalov was amazing in Montreal
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=RxzQhL1KP4I
but this time Rafa will/should/might win 😂.
Zverez in 3
Nadal in 2
Yay! Fognini made in 2 straight sets over Gojowczyk. First quarterfinal in Rome Masters and he’ll get to face the great Rafa 😀
Ahem…well most likely.
Rafa in 2. Shapo gets a couple games.
Edmund is on fire but so is Zverev. A. Zverev in 3
Edmund over Zverev is the worst pick of all time. Altitude helped him reach quarters in Madrid catching Goffin on a bad day (and Nole on a bad almost two years and running).
Horrible pick really. To be the worst pick of all time. (And Ricky has had some really terrible picks in the past so that’s saying something.)
So, just for the record then, Sasha FTW in 2.
LOL, well said, Hawkie! Sascha FTW in 2.
Edmund is going to win tho.
I like the Edmund pick even though I’m not a fan of his. He is a tough task for as many high level matches that Zverev has won thus far. It’s really a coin flip.
I don’t know if I agree with the Kholschreiber pick. Why keep fading Nishikori? He seems to be able to eek out wins even with his sushi wrist.
Well, I wasn’t sure how far Kei would go. I did pick him over Dimitrov – but that was more about believing Dimitrov isn’t focused on winning these days.
Kei could certainly beat Kohls. I’m a big Kei fan. But i picked Kohls over Kei – because the German is strong and match fit.
Rafa has missed too many break chsncrs here. That will only give Shapo confidence.
CHANCES! I hate autocorrect!
Rafa’s ROS is poor today; why is he not adjusting his return position when he’s not returning the serves well? Should try take the serve a bit earlier and not hit too hard!
Rafa finally gets the break.
Shaps is serving explosively like he’s got nothing to lose just like what Gulbis does against Rafa.
Rsfa has not lost a point on his serve. That is good stuff.
Now he lost a point. But Rafa holding easily so far. This kid Shapo just seems to try and hit the opponent off the court.
That’s how Shapo plays, NNY. He goes for broke and wants to win points ASAP. He’s too aggressive imo, should learn from his idol Fed, controlled aggression without going for broke, and that’s why Fed is known for his precision tennis, something Shapo really needs to learn.
lucky,
Yes, you make a very good point. It just looked to me like Shapo was trying to simply out hit Rafa with no defense and no finesse. I guess that’s why I am not that impressed with him so far. He’s got talent, but it’s raw and undisciplined. He seems one- dimensional. He had no answers for Rafa’s great serving, movement and aggressive play.
I agree about Fed’s controlled aggression, that is a great way to put it. There is a big difference between that and what Shapo does.
as expected
Shapo hangs on because of his serve and Rafa not capitalising on so many BP chances. Rafa just hit as hard as possible for the returns, not varying the way he returns.
Rafa wins the first set. I will take it.
Shapo DF’s away the break of serve.
What is Shaps arguing about?
Shaps can hardly make contact with Rafa’s serves.
I wonder what Shaps ROS % is in this match.
Shapo was arguing about how much time elapsed when the chair umpire went to check the mark on his serve and realized he made a mistake. He thought that too much time had gone by. But it’s really just about losing this match.
GSM, Nadal
64 61
Vamos!
Ruthless Rafa! Beautifully done!
Vamos Rafa!
Rafa playing like this is such a pleasure to watch.
Shapo now knows what it is like taking Rafa’s topspin balls on clay, certainly very heavy, much heavier than when it’s on the HCs when Rafa hits it flatter.
I like this aggressive Rafa, will have to keep it up when facing Foggy next; Foggy certainly a tough opponent in his own backyard.
Omg, Fognini is about to get straight EMBARRASSED in front of his home crowd! Someone better warn him that it ain’t 2015 anymore haha. I’ll guess 6-2, 6-1. Fabio ain’t gettin’ more than 3 games. Not tomorrow.
Great win for Rafa! This will be very satisfactory for him.
For me, too. Rafa always says it’s not about revenge but I’m not that high-minded! For the record, after his loss to Shapo in Montreal Rafa said that Shapo is a good player but he, Rafa, was not playing well that day. Not what he usually says after a match, but it was true, I think. Rafa didn’t play well until halfway through the USO when he said he stepped it up during the Mayer match.
I meant to say – satisfying for Rafa!
Well done!
😀
Fognini in front of The Colosseum. Should be a great match.
You are not the real Jim Courier are you? 😀 I hope…
great no. entertaining yes.
Now Shapo knows where he stands vs Rafa on clay. It’s a hard truth to face. He’s got a lot of work to do. But I like watching Shapo play tennis.
I can’t get excited about Edmund. He’s good, he’s probably a nice kid but his tennis is blah. Nothing personal. Was never a fan of Courier tennis either – which is what Edmund appears to resemble. Nice man, it seems tho, Courier.
Go Sascha!
short match. Very important for Rafa not to get into gruelling battles.
Congrats to me on such an easy pick.
Congrats Hawkie!!
Thanks rc!
Yay Sascha!! Tough 2nd set.
Sascha v Goffin 😀 QF