Daniil Medvedev will be looking to bounce back from a Madrid injury when he opens in Rome against Jack Draper on Saturday. Madrid runner-up Felix Auger-Aliassime is getting his fortnight started against Botic van de Zandschulp.
Jack Draper vs. (2) Daniil Medvedev
It could be a question of who will be the only man left standing at the end of the match when Medvedev and Draper square off for the first time in their careers at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia on Saturday. Medvedev suffered a hip injury that forced him to retire from his Madrid quarterfinal contest against Jiri Lehecka last week; Draper–although having no obvious physical ailments right now–can spontaneously combust at any moment.
All things being equal, Medvedev should have an edge over Draper on any surface other than grass. The 40th-ranked Brit would like to keep points as short as possible with Medvedev on the other side of the net, but that is a difficult task in slow conditions on the red clay of Rome. Although Draper did well to defeat Borna Coric 7-5, 6-1 on Thursday, Medvedev is sure to put far more returns in play than Coric–a tactic the fourth-ranked Russian executes by standing many meters behind the baseline. Medvedev played well in Madrid prior to getting injured and should have the upper hand in this one if he is 100 percent.
Pick: Medvedev in 2
[yop_poll id=”1104″]
(18) Felix Auger-Aliassime vs. (Q) Botic van de Zandschulp
Heading into May, both Auger-Aliassime and Van de Zandschulp needed to win some matches in the worst way–and that is exactly what they are doing. Going into the Madrid Masters, Auger-Aliassime was a modest 11-10 for the year and had not yet reached a final. However, the Canadian ended up as one of the finalists–losing to Andrey Rublev in a tight three-setter. It is true that Auger-Aliassime benefited from two retirements and one withdrawal, but at the same time he posted an impressive 6-4, 7-5 victory over Casper Ruud.
Van de Zandschulp is a dreadful 9-12 on the main tour in 2024 and even lost in round one of a Challenger event at the end of April. Nonetheless, Rome has already been a productive tournament for the 112th-ranked Dutchman. He successfully qualified for the main draw and then outlasted fellow qualifier Nicolas Moreno de Alboran in a third-set tiebreaker on Thursday. The result is a fourth meeting with Auger-Aliassime, who leads the head-to-head series 2-1. Rome’s No. 18 seed is a player who really feeds off momentum; when things are going well for him, they tend to go really well. Look for Auger-Aliassime to build on his Madrid efforts with another strong showing in Rome.
Pick: Auger-Aliassime in 2
[yop_poll id=”1106″]
WWW?
Happy Medvedev made it!