Rome R2 previews and predictions: Federer vs. Zverev, Ferrer vs. Garcia-Lopez

Unless he is felled once again by physical problems, Roger Federer will take the court against Alexander Zverev on Wednesday in Rome. Second-round action also features a battle between fellow Spaniards David Ferrer and Guillermo Garcia-Lopez.

(3) Roger Federer vs. Alexander Zverev

There will be a 15-year age gap when Federer and Zverev go head-to-head for the first time in their careers in round two of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia on Wednesday. The 34-year-old Federer has already withdrawn from four tournaments this season–Rotterdam and Dubai because of a knee injury, Miami due to illness, and Madrid last week as a result of a back issue. Speculation is running rampant that Federer may not be able to play in Rome or–if he does suit up–will be less than 100 percent. By his standards, the second-ranked Swiss is a relatively disappointing 31-15 at this event and is still in search of his first title.

Zverev gave himself a shot at the 17-time Grand Slam champion by crushing Grigor Dimitrov 6-1, 6-4 on Monday. The 19-year-old German is 17-11 for the season with semifinal showings in Montpellier and Munich in addition to a fourth-round performance in Indian Wells. He is an impressive 7-3 so far during this European clay-court swing. Zverev is capable of taking matters into his own hands with his heavy-hitting game, but the result of this one will likely be predicated almost entirely on Federer’s health. If the third seed is 100 percent, he should be able to shake off some rust and add much-needed matches to his schedule in advance of the French Open.

Pick: Federer in 3

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Guillermo Garcia-Lopez vs. (9) David Ferrer

It will be an all-Spanish affair when Ferrer and Garcia-Lopez square off for the ninth time in their careers and for the second time in as many weeks on Wednesday evening. Ferrer is dominating the head-to-head series 9-1 and has won eight in a row at his countryman’s expense after prevailing 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 in the Madrid opening round.  The 34-year-old is 5-0 against Garcia-Lopez on clay, with his only setback coming on the grass courts of Wimbledon in 2005 via a 6-3, 6-2, 7-6(7) decision.

Ferrer was at a home-court disadvantage in his opener on Tuesday, but he managed to scrape past Italy’s own Filippo Volandri 4-6, 7-5, 6-1. This is just the world No. 9’s second tournament of the clay-court swing, because withdrew from Monte-Carlo citing a calf injury. Garcia-Lopez is an even 13-13 for his 2016 campaign following a 6-1, 7-6(2) victory over Fabio Fognini on Monday. The 32-year-old is 0-8 in his last eight matches against top-10 opponents and 0-11 in his last 11 efforts against players in the current top 10. Ferrer got better and better as his contest with Volandri progressed and he should parlay that momentum into a more routine defeat of Garcia-Lopez this time around.

Pick: Ferrer in 2

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