A quarterfinal spot will be at stake when familiar foes Andrey Rublev and Roberto Bautista Agut meet again on Thursday at the Rome Masters. Meanwhile, Alexander Zverev and Kei Nishikori are squaring off for the second straight week.
(10) Roberto Bautista Agut vs. (7) Andrey Rublev
Rublev and Bautista Agut will be facing each other for the seventh time in their careers and for the third time in two months when they clash in round three of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia on Thursday. The head-to-head series could not be more competitive–3-3 overall and 1-1 so far this season. Bautista Agut cruised 6-3, 6-3 in the Doha semifinals before Rublev prevailed 7-6(2), 5-7, 6-3 at the Monte-Carlo Masters. The seventh-ranked Russian is 2-0 against Bautista Agut on clay, having also scored a 6-2, 7-5 victory in the 2020 Hamburg quarterfinals.
Both men have been outstanding in 2021. Rublev is once again one of the best players in the world with a 28-7 match record that includes a title in Rotterdam and a runner-up showing in Monte-Carlo. He opened in Rome with a 6-7(7), 6-1, 6-4 defeat of Jan-Lennard Struff on Wednesday. Bautista Agut is 18-11 this season (18-8 against opponents other than Jannik Sinner). The 11th-ranked Spaniard has advanced in Rome with straight-set victories over Tommy Paul and Cristian Garin. The Rublev-RBA match in Monte-Carlo was one of the best of the year and this one could be something similar, but the 23-year-old arguably has an edge on clay and has been in slightly superior form overall.
Pick: Rublev in 3
Kei Nishikori vs. (5) Alexander Zverev
Zverev and Nishikori just met at last week’s Masters 1000 event in Madrid and now they will do the same in Rome. A 6-3, 6-2 win for Zverev gave him a 3-1 lead in the head-to-head series and propelled him to the Madrid title–the fourth Masters 1000 triumph of his career. The sixth-ranked German got right back in gear to beat Hugo Dellien 6-2, 6-2 on Wednesday.
Nishikori kicked off his week with a 6-3, 6-4 rout of Fabio Fognini and then got a walkover from Pablo Carreno Busta. The world No. 45 from Japan is nowhere near his peak form, but he has at least won more matches than he has lost this year (10-9). The high-altitude conditions of Madrid are better for Zverev in this particular matchup than they are in Rome, so Nishikori should be more competitive than he was last week. Still, Zverev has won 12 of his last 13 sets dating back to Madrid and he should be able to maintain that kind of momentum.
Pick: Zverev in 2
WWW?
Rublev in a very tight 3; Zv cruises…again!
Zverev in 2
Rublev in 3 (maybe in 2, I need to have a close look at it)
RBA v Rublev is pretty much a coin toss. 76 67 76
Zverev is getting tired and Nishikori would want to improve on their last match. Not a good one for 2-0.