Novak Djokovic and Juan Martin Del Potro will bid for quarterfinal spots on Thursday in Rome. They are set for respective meetings with Alexandr Dolgopolov and Benoit Paire. Chris Skelton previews and picks the third-round action.
(1) Novak Djokovic vs. Alexandr Dolgopolov
After a stunningly early exit from Madrid last week, Djokovic looks determined not to let a similar setback happen in Rome. The world No. 1 resolved many of the doubts lingering over his ankle injury by moving with his usual uncanny elasticity in his victory over Albert Montanes. More comfortable on clay than he appeared early in his Monte0Carlo title run, Djokovic has two more matches with which to settle into the tournament before a likely semifinal against Rafael Nadal.
The first of those tilts comes against an enigmatic dark horse who reached this round when Madrid finalist Stanislas Wawrinka withdrew. Dolgopolov has not produced his most electrifying tennis for most of this year, reaching quarterfinals at two small tournaments but winning no more than one match at any Masters 1000 event. His eccentric game can erupt without warning, though, so Djokovic must stay alert.  Dolgopolov can produce virtually every shot in the tennis dictionary from biting backhand slices to jumping forehands, while he has invented a few almost unique to him. The arrhythmic medley of spins, angles, and change of tempo that flow from his racket can befuddle anyone when Dolgopolov executes his high-risk tactics to perfection.
At the 2011 US Open, this underdog befuddled Djokovic deep into a first-set tiebreak before the steadier Serb outlasted him. Dolgopolov’s taste for the spectacular can prove his undoing, for he often forgets to subordinate style to substance and form to function. Examples of matches that he has threatened to win but could not finish include a recent Monte-Carlo three-setter against Juan Martin Del Potro and a three-setter last year in Monte-Carlo against Djokovic. Having won the first set both times, Dolgopolov lost the plot and allowed his elite opponent to regroup, almost always a fatal error. The showman lurking in Djokovic will welcome the chance to answer the Ukrainian’s flair with some imaginative shot-making of his own. But real drama seems unlikely.
Pick: Djokovic in 2
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(7) Juan Martin Del Potro vs. Benoit Paire
Having met Pope Francis in the Vatican City on Wednesday, Del Potro renews his progress through a comfortable section of the Rome draw on Thursday. An early upset and a retirement has claimed the two most notable rivals around him–Nicolas Almagro and Andy Murray–so the route to the semifinals or beyond lies open. That said, Del Potro played only three matches between reaching the Indian Wells final and his opening-round victory this week. He must record a strong result soon to avoid losing the momentum from his consecutive victories over Murray and Djokovic this spring.
Del Potro’s significant clay talents surfaced four years ago when he reached a Roland Garros semifinal, but they have emerged less strikingly since then. He still should hold a surface edge in this first career meeting with Paire, who won exactly one match at each of the five clay tournaments that he played before Rome. But some of Paire’s wins this spring have impressed for a man more accomplished on faster surfaces, while he has tested opponents well above his level. The Frenchman defeated Pablo Andujar in Barcelona a week before Andujar reached the Madrid semifinals, and he pushed Richard Gasquet to three sets in Monte-Carlo before nearly taking a set from Nadal in Barcelona. In Rome, he managed to regroup from a mid-match lull to halt Juan Monaco, a much more experienced dirt devil.
Those mid-match hiccups have cost Paire some winnable matches, illustrating a struggle to sustain his level that recalls Dolgopolov’s flaws. Like the Ukrainian, the Frenchman can produce startling bursts of shot-making, especially from a backhand lethal in any direction. Del Potro may feel uncomfortable and frustrated at times by what his opponent can produce, but the Argentine’s patience should serve him well. Mentally the stronger player, he could break Paire’s resistance once he weathers the first flurry of improbable winners and settles into his baseline rhythm.
Pick: Del Potro in 3
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