The surface would likely dictate any outcome involving Mackenzie McDonald and Marco Cecchinato, who will square off in round one of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia on Thursday.
Clay is by far McDonald’s worst surface; it is by far Cecchinato’s best. It’s no surprise that McDonald won their only previous meeting on the hard courts of the 2021 Australian Open. The American almost certainly beat Cecchinato on grass, too. On dirt, though, it is likely to be a different story. McDonald is 22-29 lifetime on clay, including 0-4 so far this spring. Cecchinato, once a French Open semifinalist, is the essence of a clay-court specialist. He has won 394 matches on this surface throughout his career across all levels; that’s 372 more than his opponent, for those counting. It should also be noted that the Italian is coming off a second-round performance in Madrid as a qualifier.
Throw in the fact that Cecchinato has home-court advantage for Thursday’s showdown in Rome and it’s hard to see this one even being competitive.
Pick: Cecchinato in 2
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