Canadians Denis Shapovalov and Milos Raonic will kick off their Rome campaigns on Tuesday. They are set for first-round meetings with Guido Pella and Adrian Mannarino, respectively.
Guido Pella vs. (12) Denis Shapovalov
Pella endured an eventful stay in the New York bubble–just not on the court. The 37th-ranked Argentine was banned from playing the Cincinnati Masters after his physio tested positive for COVID-19 a few days before the event began. He proceeded to get blow out in the U.S. Open first round by American wild card J.J. Wolf. A return to clay, however, may be just what the doctor ordered for Pella. All five of his ATP finals have come on the slow stuff, including his lone title last season in Sao Paulo.
Up first for the 30-year-old on on Tuesday at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia is a first-ever showdown against Shapovalov. The 21-year-old Canadian is coming off a long and successful U.S. Open, where he made a run to the quarterfinals before falling to Pablo Carreno Busta in five sets. This is a relatively quick turnaround and also a surface change for Shapovalov, whereas Pella played two matches last week in Kitzbuhel.
Pick: Pella in 3
(13) Milos Raonic vs. Adrian Mannarino
Raonic and Mannarino will be going head-to-head for the fourth time in their careers on Tuesday. Two of their three previous encounters have gone the way of Raonic, who most recently prevailed 6-3, 6-4 on the hard courts of Tokyo in 2018. He won their only previous clay-court clash 6-1, 7-6(0), 6-1 at the French Open in 2016.
As that result suggests, Mannarino is barely more than hopeless on the red stuff. The 38th-ranked Frenchman is at his best on grass and he is also quite capable on fast hard courts. Although Raonic also prefers faster surfaces, he is an underrated clay-court player. Given that the 19th-ranked Canadian is also healthy and playing extremely well right now, there is no reason to think this will be anything except one-way traffic.
Pick: Raonic in 2
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For once I don’t pick Pella on clay.He’s been so bad .
Agree. Out of form Pella vs in form Shapovalov. It’s a no brainer for me. Shapovalov should win this easy in 2 sets. Was absolutely confused when I saw Shapovalov as the underdog in this match up, would have expected him to a heavy favourite.
Keen to see how well Davidovich Fokina goes back on his favorite surface.
The conditions this week will have a big effect, v.hot during the day,cool at night