Familiar foes Roger Federer and Tomas Berdych will meet again on Friday in Rome. Novak Djokovic and Kei Nishikori are also aiming for a spot in the semifinals.
(6) Tomas Berdych vs. (2) Roger Federer
Federer and Berdych will be facing each other for the 20th time in their careers when they do battle in the quarterfinals of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia on Friday. The head-to-head series stands at 13-6 in favor of Federer, who most recently prevailed 6-4, 6-0 earlier this season in Indian Wells. After losing two in a row to Berdych in 2012 and 2013, the Swiss has managed to get the job done on two straight occasions. The two players have squared off only once on clay in the last nine years, with Federer improving to 3-0 lifetime against Berdych on the slow stuff after scoring a 3-6, 7-5, 7-5 victory in the 2012 Madrid final (blue clay).
Berdych just barely managed to book his spot in the last eight as he outlasted Fabio Fognini 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(2) on Thursday. The fifth-ranked Czech preceded that thriller with a more routine defeat of Italian wild card Matteo Donati. Berdych is now 32-8 on the year and has reached at least the quarterfinals in all nine of his tournaments. Federer decided to play in Rome after losing early in Madrid to Nick Kyrgios and so far it appears to be a good decision. The world No. 2 did not drop a set while taking out Pablo Cuevas and Kevin Anderson, although he gave back two breaks against Anderson in their second frame. Federer should be able to continue his winning ways against a familiar opponent who spent two hours and 34 minutes on court in round three.
Pick: Federer in 2
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(1) Novak Djokovic vs. (5) Kei Nishikori
Djokovic got a minor scare from Thomaz Bellucci during third-round action on Thursday but he pulled out a 5-7, 6-2, 6-3 victory to earn a place in the Rome quarterfinals. The top-ranked Serb has won all three of the Masters 1000 events in which he has participated this season: Indian Wells, Miami, and Monte-Carlo. He then skipped Madrid for some rest before getting back in gear this week with wins so far over Bellucci and Nicolas Almagro–who also took a set before going down 6-1, 6-7(5), 6-3.
Up next for Djokovic is a sixth career meeting with Nishikori, who has advanced with straight-set defeats of Jiri Vesely and Viktor Troicki. The head-to-head series stands at 3-2 in favor of Djokovic, who won their only previous clay-court encounter 6-1, 6-4, 6-4 at the 2010 French Open. They most recently faced each other last fall in the semifinals of the year-end championship, with Djokovic getting the job done 6-1, 3-6, 6-0. While the top seed has been far from dominant through two matches in Rome, Nishikori showed some vulnerability against both Vesely and Troicki. The No. 5 seed will make this competitive, but Djokovic will be determined to seal the deal in two following a pair of three-setters.
Pick: Djokovic in 2
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