Rome boasts a monster quarterfinal lineup on Friday, headlined by top seed Novak Djokovic facing Stefanos Tsitsipas. Second seed Rafael Nadal is taking on his recent Madrid vanquisher, Alexander Zverev.
(1) Novak Djokovic vs. (5) Stefanos Tsitsipas
Last fall Stefanos Tsitsipas clawed his way back from a two-set deficit at the French Open to push Novak Djokovic to five sets. The Serb won that match in the end, but Tsitsipas proved that he has plenty of fight and determination. The Greek is playing better tennis now than he was then, making their quarterfinal match on Friday all the more tantalizing.
Djokovic’s matches this week have been fairly routine, but the difficulty level is about to make some considerable jumps. Tsitsipas won the Monte-Carlo Masters and he made the final in Barcelona. His clay-court season thus far is the best on tour. The Serb may also have less motivation than he had in the past. Recently, he said “Now, after achieving the historic No. 1 ranking for the longest weeks at number one, it’s going to be a relief for me because I’m going to focus all my attention on Slams, mostly.”
He’ll still need match play, but he’ll perhaps be less willing to leave it all on the court outside the majors. With the way Tsitsipas has been playing and moving, this one has all the makings of an upset.
Cheryl pick: Tsitsipas in 3
Ricky pick: Tsitsipas in 3
(2) Rafael Nadal vs. (6) Alexander Zverev
Things have become more complicated for Nadal on the dirt than they usually are. The Spaniard, who normally skates through the early stages of a tournament, has been pushed mightily in Rome. It’s true that his draw wasn’t favorable, with Jannik Sinner and Denis Shapovalov as his first two opponents–but he’s been on court for more than five hours so far. His form against Sinner was good, but he struggled on serve against Shapovalov and had to pull out the win after being down two match points in the third set.
Alexander Zverev just posted his first clay court-win over Nadal last week in Madrid. The two men met in the quarters there, as well. While the altitude in Madrid tends to favor bigger servers like Zverev, it is still a clay-court tournament and defeating Nadal on this surface under any circumstances is still a notable accomplishment.
Zverev didn’t look particularly strong in his three-set win over Kei Nishikori. Midway through the second set, the German was down a set and a break. He managed to find his way to the win, but he looked off-kilter for much of the match.
With a more traditional clay court, Nadal is still the favorite to advance–but the second seed will have to make more first serves than he has been all week. Zverev isn’t as likely to let off the hook the way Shapovalov did in the round of 16.
Cheryl pick: Nadal in 3
Ricky pick: Nadal in 2
I agree with the first match analysis and prediction. IMO Tsitsipas has a superior clay court game, but of course Djokovic knows much better how to win matches when he really wants to. The Greek is more than capable to win fair and square against the Serb, especially on clay. I don’t expect Novak to be too motivated this week, although he might want to test his limits before RG starts.
I do expect Rafa to be fully waken up and pretty fired up after yesterday’s game. He will also want to break Zverev’s casual streak against him. With the Russian not being too fresh by his own admission and the match starting not long after he finished the last one (18 hours or so I think) Nadal should wrap this up rather quickly. Logically Zverev should pay for his Madrid wins today, but Rafa is not yet 100% so a surprise is always on the cards for now.
Tsitsipas has a great chance. He’s playing better than Nole in Rome so far, just look at his serve statistics, clearly better than Djoker’s.
Novak 2-1
Rafa 2-1
People are still sticking their heads with the big 3. It is over, Sasha will beat Nadal again regardless of the court surface. I think everyone has forgotten that Nadal was on the brink of defeat to Shapo. He played nearly 3.5 hours to survive the match. It is over for Nadal. Let celebrate the new era.
Appreciate your courage and honesty.
Well I never understood why some people prefer new things which are clearly inferior to the older ones which they already got. Boredom I guess. In this case the change will be for the worse so I hope that it comes at late as possible. In any case the future does not belong to the likes of Zverev which is already an underachiever. You can start looking for excuses to use them next times he crashes early from a GS (RG, then Wimbledon). He’ll never be half the player the “Big 3” are even now as they are fading. We’ll probably have a weak era again. Hopefully Domi, Tsitsi and soon Jannick and maybe Casper, Felix can hold off the assault of big hitters from the Russian labs.
Cristian,
Bravo! Well said!
😉
Cristian,
Bravo! Well said!
😉
Sorry again fir the duplicate comment.
Be calm, be focused, be confident, be strong, Rafa!
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/E1VhE3zX0AA2LZs?format=jpg
Damn, Opelka is unbeatable atm.
So far Opelka beat an almost retired veteran, an injured wildcard, a big hitter who happened to play two good matches on clay this year and some journeyman today. Like many pointed out, his quarter of the draw was a joke so we’ll se how unbeatable he is tomorrow. Spoiler: he will lose unless he continues to be incredibly lucky and faces an exhausted/injured opponent. IMO this guy should not be playing tennis at all. He makes Karlovic look gracious and very skilled.
Zverev seems fried physically.. will probably be fried mentally if rafa gets set 1.. so crucial the first set for rafa
Hmm 4-0 up in 16 mins seems so familiar
Looks like nadal made a disaster in that game.. so far the match following the shapo script😨
Zverev has found his range.., now .. that was a crucial bp saved to avoid getting broken.. hope rafa has no damage done after the tumble.. wonder how he took it from 15-30 and bp down..
But match has the same line as against shapo
In montreal shapo defeated rafa and lost to zverev… dont wnat the symmetry to repeat
At least stops the streak of sets against zverev
This is quite a sloppy match.
Zverev has unreal power.. really zoning in now
Omg rafa… saves three bps and holds in own service games… saves 3 game points and breaks in zverevs service game
Will be gobsmacked if rafa does not drop serve again
Once the rally gets going getting the prime djokovic vibes the way zverev is crushing the bh in both directions
Now two bps again
Dug out of another hole… rafa doing rafa things on clay so far- winning the big moments while not being that much better than the opponent
Another break would be nice
Wow o wow… 3 next gen in a row.. this match was more impressive than sinner considering how his serve held up
Rafa really gives his fans heart attacks service game after service game! He almost has to save BPs in all his service games in the second set. Thankfully he still wins in straight sets! It’s such a torture watching him plays these days, even on clay!
Into the SF and Opelka next; another big server! Rafa’s serve is so shaky these days, struggling to hold serve so often!
And Opelka has not been broken all week. I think Rafa will be happy with this week’s progress. 3 very tough opponents, he would be battle tested before RG for sure !
Amazing that Rafa won that match! He’s got to be exhausted. It’s not even 24 hours since his marathon squeak vs Shapovalov.
Strangely, I’m not too worried about Opelka. His wins so far have been against guys that are not great returners or great players. Rafa IS a great returner, especially on clay. Just hope his body holds up!
At least Rafa’s fighting spirit is getting a great workout this week.
Hello Ramara,
During the rain delay, Tennis Channel has been showing the Delbonis v Opelka match. I try to avoid watching gigantic players but had a peek at Opelka. Feeling confident enough to say, do not worry Rafans. Rafa will soundly beat Opelka.
Thanks, RC! For all the sound and fury from the young’uns, I have a feeling the final will come down to…ta daaaa… Nadal v Djokovic! lol
Hello, Marilyn!
Thanks for your reply. Not feeling too optimistic about Novak right now. The Tennis Channel commentators are making it worse.
Gosh, Tsitsipas is too good.
Nothing so bad that the TC commies can’t make it worse!