Rome R2 previews and picks: Djokovic vs. Almagro, Ferrer vs. Gasquet

Novak Djokovic and David Ferrer will kick off their French Open campaigns on Tuesday. They are set for respective meetings with Nicolas Almagro and Richard Gasquet.

(1) Novak Djokovic vs. (PR) Nicolas Almagro

Djokovic will be returning from a short break when he takes the court on Tuesday at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia. The world No. 1 has won all three of the Masters 1000 events in which he has participated this season: Indian Wells, Miami, and Monte-Carlo. He then skipped Madrid; thus Djokovic has not played since beating Tomas Berdych in a three-set Monte-Carlo final on April 19.

The top-seeded Serb is 3-0 lifetime against Almagro at the ATP level. Their only previous clay-court encounter came seven years ago in the quarterfinals of this same Rome tournament, where Djokovic was cruising 6-1, 1-0 when Almagro retired. They most recently faced each other at the 2012 Indian Wells Masters, with the Spaniard succumbing 6-3, 6-4. Almagro is down at No. 174 in the world because of a 2014 foot injury, but he is slowly rounding into form with 12 match victories this season–including a 6-4, 6-3 ouster of Luca Vanni on Sunday. Although the underdog is no pushover, a well-rested Djokovic is unlikely to be seriously tested.

Pick: Djokovic in 2 losing 5-7 games

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Richard Gasquet vs. (7) David Ferrer

Ferrer and Gasquet will be squaring off for the 12th time in their careers when they collide on Tuesday. The head-to-head series stands at 11-3 in favor of Ferrer, who–not too surprisingly–is 2-0 at Gasquet’s expense on clay. Ferrer prevailed 6-4, 6-2 way back in 2004 at the Stuttgart event and 7-6(4), 6-3 three seasons ago in Rome. Gasquet, on the other hand, has defeated the Spaniard twice in succession. The Frenchman scored a 6-3, 6-1, 4-6, 2-6, 6-3 upset in the 2013 U.S. Open quarterfinals before getting the job done 6-3, 6-4 that fall in Beijing.

Ferrer is a stellar 29-6 on the year but has cooled off just a bit since a blistering start. The world No. 8 is coming off a semifinal setback against Pablo Andujar in Barcelona and a routine straight-set loss to Kei Nishikori in Madrid. Gasquet advanced to the second round by dismissing Italian qualifier Thomas Fabbiano 6-1, 7-6(0) on Monday. The world No. 21 is 17-5 for his 2015 campaign with a recent red-dirt title in Estoril. Gasquet is playing well, but he would have much better chance in this one on either a fast hard court or grass.

Pick: Ferrer in 2

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