The entire slate of fourth-round action at the Rome Masters will be showcased on Tuesday, when Novak Djokovic and Jannik Sinner are among those taking the court. Djokovic awaits Cameron Norrie, while Sinner is taking on Francisco Cerundolo.
(24) Francisco Cerundolo vs. (8) Jannik Sinner
Only one Italian man has ever won the Internazionali BNL d’Italia (Adriano Panatta in 1976), but Sinner has a realistic chance to end the drought. The 21-year-old is up to No. 8 in the world on the strength of a 28-6 record this season that includes a title in Montpellier, runner-up performances in Miami and Rotterdam, and semifinal showings in Indian Wells and Monte-Carlo. Sinner earned his spot in the Rome fourth round by beating Thanasi Kokkinakis in straight sets and Alexander Shevchenko in three.
Up next for the eighth seed on Tuesday is Cerundolo, who trails the head-to-head series 2-1 and only defeated Sinner via first-set retirement at the 2021 Miami Open. The 31st-ranked Argentine has thoroughly underwhelmed on clay in 2023, with a 7-7 record on this surface heading into Rome. He needed three sets against both Yibing Wu and Gregoire Barerre, who are clay-court novices at best. None of that inspires any confidence against Sinner, who will likely continued his title quest without much trouble.
Pick: Sinner in 2
(1) Novak Djokovic vs. (13) Cameron Norrie
Djokovic and Norrie will be going head-to-head for the third time in their careers on Tuesday. Both of their previous meetings have gone Djokovic’s way; 6-2, 6-1 at the 2021 Nitto ATP Finals and 2-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 in the Wimbledon semifinals last summer.
Both guys are complete all-court players, so the surface should not have any impact on the outcome of their matchup. Norrie has enjoyed plenty of success on clay over the years, but he hasn’t done much on it since winning the Rio de Janeiro title earlier this season at the expense of an injured Carlos Alcaraz. The 13th-ranked Brit has advanced in Rome with straight-set victories over Alexandre Muller and Marton Fucsovics, while Djokovic has defeated Tomas Martin Etcheverry in straight sets and Grigor Dimitrov in three. Although the world No. 1 is nowhere near his best at the moment, his relatively tough tests in the first couple of rounds should be a wakeup call.
Pick: Djokovic in 2
who ya got?
Out goes Sinner. Ouch!
Out too goes Rublev.
Novak and Med must be favourites now? Or are they?
The Pain! Not crying about my bracket this time. Ouch, ouch, two of my favorites are gone. At least Medvedev won.
Oddsportal has Novak, Tsitstpas, Rune, Ruud, then Medvedev. I think it is Novak and Medvedev before Tsitsipas. Rune or Ruud, I like them in there (suddenly Ruud is playing well). He might have been pacing himself.
Cerundolo should be closer than they have him; Marozsan is being underrated.
Oh, no! The grunting Haddad Maia is beating Kalinina. The best of the lot is Rybakina, I think. I didn’t see the WTA matches earlier Swiatek lost too many games to Vekic to be at her best. Not 100% serious about that.
Kalinina made it! She gave it her all to get that win over Beatriz Haddad Maia
Congrats Anhelina Kalinina!