Rome R2 preview and prediction: Thiem vs. Sousa

Dominic Thiem will look to maintain momentum for what has been an outstanding 2016 season when he resumes his Rome campaign on Wednesday. Standing in his way of the third round is Joao Sousa. Adam Leigh previews the action.

Austrian rising star Dominic Thiem will clash with Portugal’s Joao Sousa on Wednesday as the second round of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia gets into full swing.

The 22-year-old Thiem is in the midst of a breakout year on tour with both the Buenos Aires and Acapulco titles already to his name. Interestingly, though, he owns just two wins over players inside the world’s top 20 on his way to a 30-9 record. He has run up against a string of top-ranked players through the start of the clay-court swing and, accordingly, has only advanced past the round of 16 once since his Acapulco triumph.

Sousa’s underwhelming start to the clay-court season picked up steam last week in Madrid with a run to the last eight. Because the 27-year-old was defending points from this time last year (a final appearance in Geneva), his quarterfinal showing in Spain allowed him to retain his career-high worldranking in the 30s–for a few more weeks, at least.

The two players have met five times previously on the tour, with Thiem holding a 4-1 advantage–including a straight-set win in Davis Cup zonal competition earlier this year. They have similar all-court games, but unfortunately for Sousa, Thiem does almost everything a little better. The Portuguese is more at home indoors, where he can flatten out his forehand and hit through players. Unsurprisingly, his lone win over Thiem came on an indoor surface. Outdoors on the clay, it is very difficult for Sousa to hurt Thiem off either wing and the young Austrian just has too many tools for Sousa to present much of a danger.

Pick: Thiem in 2

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