Roberto Bautista Agut and Marco Cecchinato will be facing each other for the third time in their careers when they meet in round two of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia on Saturday. Bautista has won both of their previous encounters; 7-6(0), 6-3 on the indoor hard courts of St. Petersburg in 2018 and 6-2, 6-7(3), 7-5 two years ago at the Madrid Masters.
It’s no surprise that Cecchinato was competitive on clay, as that is his favorite surface whereas Bautista Agut is better on hard courts and grass. The Spaniard had home-court advantage in their most recent meeting, but now it is the Italian who will have that edge. As usual, the Rome crowd was raucous when Cecchinato defeated Mackenzie McDonald 6-3, 7-5 on Thursday.
With a victory already under his belt and Bautista Agut struggling this season (11-12 record), Cecchinato has a good chance to pull off an upset in front of his own fans.
Pick: Cecchinato in 3
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