A couple of Italians do not have favorable draws at their home Masters 1000 event on Wednesday. Rome’s second-round schedule pits Fabio Fognini and Matteo Berrettini against Madrid finalists Dominic Thiem and Alexander Zverev, respectively.
Fabio Fognini vs. (6) Dominic Thiem
Thiem and Fognini will be going head-to-head for the third time in their careers when they clash in round two of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia on Wednesday afternoon. Both of their previous encounters have resulted in beatdowns issued by Thiem; 6-3, 6-0 on the red clay of Munich in 2015 and 6-3, 6-2 at last summer’s Cincinnati Masters. Fognini at least has home-court advantage this time around, but that is not necessarily a good thing–and not simply because Thiem is either the second or third-best clay-courter in the world right now. Even after drubbing Gael Monfils 6-3, 6-1 on Monday, the 21st-ranked Italian is still a mere 8-10 lifetime in Rome and has never advanced to the quarterfinals.
Previously solid but unspectacular throughout the 2018 campaign, Thiem pulled off the most spectacular feat of all last week–beating Rafael Nadal on clay. The eighth-ranked Austrian stunned Nadal 7-5, 6-3 in the Madrid quarterfinals, but his up-and-down trend continued when he eventually lost to Alexander Zverev 6-4, 6-4 in the title match. With two full days of rest, Thiem should be able to make a quick start against Fognini and take the crowd out of it.
Pick: Thiem in 2
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(WC) Matteo Berrettini vs. (2) Alexander Zverev
Zverev will also be kicking off his Rome campaign on Wednesday. The 21-year-old German captured his third career Masters 1000 title in Madrid and that is not the lone reason why he should be feeling good about his chances this week. He is the defending champion of this tournament, lifting his first Masters trophy last spring before also triumphing on the hard courts of Montreal.
It may take someone like Nadal or Thiem in the final to stop Zverev in Rome. Berrettinini, on the other hand? Probably not. The 103rd-ranked Italian obviously needed a wild card to get into the main draw and he made the most of it by upsetting Estoril finalist Frances Tiafoe 6-3, 7-6(1) on Monday. It was just the third ATP-level match win of Berrettini’s career (he previously earned victories in Doha and Budapest as a qualifier on both occasions). Picking up a fourth will be way too tough of a task for someone who has never played against an opponent in the top 25 of the rankings.
Pick: Zverev in 2 losing 5-7 games
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WYG?
Berrettini is a solid player with nothing to lose so I give him 8-10 games but still falling in two. And I got fog in three as well
Thiem vs Foggy the more interesting match of the two. Foggy usually plays well in front of home crowd so Thiem must play his best to get the win, Thiem in three.
Sasha in two.
I love how Fog is coming to the net at the right times in this match. This has been a fun match to watch, and Fabio could definitely win it. Speaking of talent, he has to be one of the most talented guys on tour. Not the mentally toughest, though.
Fognini is delightful to watch on he’s on,imo.If only he could focuse himself on tennis and was commited with training,he would have been a solid top 10 for a long time.
Thiem definitely has two ways of play:either he shows up hitting the lines all time like he did against Rafa or he’s spreading all over the place,with tons of unforced errors,like we saw today. That’s in fact a very risky game,however we could witness some moments of brilliance today from Fabio,he deserved the win!
The Fab Fabio showed up,he’s got natural talent in spades.And a natural entertainer, at least in front of his home crowd