Stefanos Tsitsipas will look to rebound from his early loss at the Madrid Masters as he takes on tricky German Jan-Lennard Struff. Holger Rune will also be in Saturday action against upcoming talent Luca Nardi.
(6) Stefanos Tsitsipas vs. Jan-Lennard Struff
Stefanos Tsitsipas was on fire at the start of the spring clay-court swing. The Greek star flew trough the draw at the Monte-Carlo Masters. He defeated perennial clay-court juggernaut Casper Ruud in the final for his first 1000 title of the 2024 season. He also made a run to the final in Barcelona the following week and again ran into Ruud, although he came up just short that time.
The world No. 8 bowed out in his first match in Madrid, so he comes into Rome relatively well-rested. That’s the good news. The bad news is that he immediately runs into a legitimately red-hot Jan-Lennard Struff in his first match. Struff won his first-ever ATP tournament a few weeks ago in Munich. He lost in the round of 16 in Madrid last week but pushed Carlos Alcaraz to the absolute limit, eventually conceding in a third-set tiebreaker.
Except for Rafael Nadal’s match against Hubert Hurkacz, this is the most intriguing showdown on Saturday’s docket. Both players are in good form and both are eyeing a deep run ahead of the French Open. Furthermore, the head-to-head is an even 3-3 going into tomorrow’s match. Of even more interest is that Struff won their only two previous encounters on the dirt.
Look for a three-set battle with at least one tiebreaker. I’m calling Tsitsipas to edge this one, but if Struff wins it won’t be an upset despite the fact that Struff is ranked 34th in the world and Tsitsipas eighth.
Cheryl pick: Tsitsipas in 3
Ricky pick: Struff in 3
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(10) Holger Rune vs. Luca Nardi
Like Tsitispas, Holger Rune kicks off his bid in Rome against a dangerous early-round opponent in Luca Nardi. The 20-year-old Italian is teetering on the edge of having a big breakthrough. He raised eyebrows in Indian Wells as a lucky loser who knocked out Novak Djokovic in the second round. Nardi also won the Challenger event in Naples (on clay) at the end of March.
It has been a mixed bag for Rune in 2024. The brash Danish star made the quarters in Monte-Carlo and the semis in Munich, where he lost to eventual champion Struff. It’s bad luck for Rune to draw Nardi for his first match. The youngster will be playing in front of an appreciative home crowd–and the truth is that Rune has had a little difficulty with consistency of late.
Cheryl pick: Nardi in 3
Ricky pick: Nardi in 3
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I think Rune will end his run of poor results now and build up some form before Roland Garros with a good tournament in Rome
I hope you are right about Rune ending his poor run!
But I have never seen Nardi play.
Woot! Holger Rune wins!
All-day tennis for me!
Rubles tells how ill he was in Madrid. He had a severe case of tonsilitis!
Omg, I used to get those painful infections until I finally allowed my tonsils to be removed! I was in my thirties 😀 Scared to have them cut out. I lost too much weight afterward. Jim Courier reports that Andrey wanted baby food-that does sound about right.
It must not have been as painful as one of my episodes with Tonsilitis.
Andrey is screaming his head off at one of his shots vs. Giron as normal, lol.
This is the last match of the day, and it’s a nail-biter for a Rublev fan. Giron is a big fighter.
Rublev wins in the third set, which is the only set I watched. PhewAndrey gets the win, but it was so close that last set.
Cerundolo v Khachanov should be a cracker.