A blockbuster quarterfinal contest in Rome on Friday pits Stefanos Tsitsipas against Jannik Sinner. Madrid runner-up Alexander Zverev is trying to go one step farther this week as he continues his campaign against Cristian Garin.
(10) Jannik Sinner vs. (4) Stefanos Tsitsipas
Tsitsipas vs. Sinner is becoming an annual occurrence on the clay-court swing, and more often than not it happens in Rome. Friday at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia will mark their third meeting at this Masters 1000 event in the last four years. Tsitsipas cruised 6-3, 6-2 when Sinner was just emerging on tour in 2019 before Italian earned revenge with a 6-1, 6-7(9), 6-2 victory in 2020. They also faced each in the 2020 Barcelona semifinals, which saw the Greek get the job done 6-3, 6-3. Their most recent encounter came at this year’s Australian Open, where Tsitsipas took a 3-1 lead in the head-to-head series by prevailing 6-3, 6-4, 6-2.
Unsurprisingly, Sinner is flying the Italian flag by himself this week. Fabio Fognini was the only other player to reach the second round and Sinner disposed of his much older compatriot 6-2, 3-6, 6-3. The world No. 13 has also defeated Pedro Martinez and Filip Krajinovic in straight sets. Tsitsipas made a quick turnaround after reaching the Madrid semifinals (lost to Alexander Zverev) to beat Grigor Dimitrov (saved two match points) and Karen Khachanov in three sets. Tsitsipas looks far from dominant this week and has been playing a ton of tennis, plus Sinner will have a raucous crowd behind him. This is a great chance for the 10th seed to treat his fans to an upset.
Pick: Sinner in 3
Cristian Garin vs. (2) Alexander Zverev
Zverev is coming off a runner-up performance in Madrid, where he is a two-time winner, and he is also a former champion in Rome (2017). The third-ranked German has visions of another title having played his way into the quarterfinals this week with impressive straight-set defeats of Sebastian Baez and Alex de Minaur.
Up next for Zverev on Friday is a second meeting with Garin, who won their first matchup on clay via a 6-4, 5-7, 7-5 decision three years ago in Munich. Garin had pretty much been hopeless in 2022 prior this week with an 8-11 record, but has made a much-needed trip to the quarterfinals by beating Francesco Passaro, Emil Ruusuvuori, and Marin Cilic. A steep step up in competition will likely be the end for the 45th-ranked Chilean, who needed two hours and 56 minutes to outlast Cilic on Thursday.
Pick: Zverev in 2
Love the Sinner prediction! Agreed, Sinner in 3