There should be plenty of entertaining action on day five at the ATP Rome Masters, even if there are no fans on site to witness it. A number of star names are set to take to the courts at the Foro Italico at this crucial French Open warm-up event and, as ever, we here at LWOT will be offering our predictions for every match on the slate. But who will reach the quarterfinals in the Italian capital?
ATP Rome Masters Day Five Predictions
Matteo Berrettini vs Stefano Travaglia
Head-to-head: first meeting
Stefano Travaglia has picked up two excellent wins already this week, beating Taylor Fritz and Borna Coric. But will he be able to get the better of his countryman Matteo Berrettini? It looks like a tough ask on paper. The Italian #1 played some good tennis in reaching the fourth round at the US Open and appears to have handled the transition on to the clay well. He opened his campaign with a comfortable 7-5 6-1 win over Federico Coria.
Berrettini overpowered the Argentine in that match and he may well feel confident of doing the same against Travaglia. Travaglia can play, particularly on the clay, but this looks like a good match up for Berrettini, with Travaglia’s return game a weakness that the big-serving Berrettini should be able to exploit. Berrettini’s deft touch in and around the net should also serve him well. Expect him to advance to the ATP Rome Masters quarterfinals without dropping a set.
Prediction: Berrettini in 2
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Marin Cilic vs Casper Ruud
Head-to-head: first meeting
Marin Cilic’s ‘worst’ surface throughout his career has been the clay, whilst Ruud has posted his best results on this surface, with the Norwegian having reached three clay-court ATP finals, winning one of them. But although Cilic is more comfortable on grass and hard courts, he is far from incapable on the clay, having twice reached the French Open quarterfinals, and he has looked sharp so far this week, battling past Alexander Bublik before thrashing sixth seed David Goffin 6-2 6-2.
Ruud, meanwhile, opened his account at the ATP Rome Masters with an impressive 6-3 3-6 6-1 win over the 11th seed Karen Khachanov. He backed that up by beating Lorenzo Sonego 6-3 6-4 and he will now surely believe a Masters 1000 quarterfinal is well within his reach. Cilic will not make things easy for him, however, and this match looks likely to go the distance. But Ruud is that much more comfortable on the clay, whilst Cilic has struggled with inconsistency.
Prediction: Ruud in 3
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Lorenzo Musetti vs Dominik Koepfer
Head-to-head: first meeting
This has been a break out tournament for the 18-year-old Lorenzo Musetti. The teenager has already won five matches at the ATP Rome Masters, coming through the qualifying before claiming the scalps of Stan Wawrinka and Kei Nishikori in the main draw. But he faces a potentially difficult day up against Daniel Koepfer, who also came through the qualifying and has beaten Alex de Minaur and Gael Monfils in the main draw.
Make no mistake, this scarcely a less challenging match for Musetti than his wins over former-top-ten stars, despite Koepfer’s comparatively lowly ranking. The German will surely be full of confidence, whilst Musetti will have to guard against nerves and a let down after his excellent opening wins. But it is increasingly hard to go against the Italian young gun, whose powerful groundstrokes should see his sensational run in Rome continue at Koepfer’s expense.
Prediction: Musetti in 3
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Rafael Nadal vs Dusan Lajovic
Head-to-head: Nadal 2-0 Lajovic
Dusan Lajovic’s best results have come on the clay, with the most notable his run to the final at the Monte Carlo Masters and his triumph at the Croatia Open in Umag. However, he faces a stern test up against Rafael Nadal, indisputably the greatest clay court player in history who blasted through US Open semifinalist Pablo Correño Busta in Rome, losing only two games along the way. This will be the third meeting between the pair, with Lajovic yet to take a set off Nadal. And whilst Lajovic may be able to keep it close in the early stages if he’s lucky, expect Nadal to prevail without any problems.
Prediction: Nadal in 2
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