This is another ATP Rome Masters semifinal that looks like a mis-match on paper, but could well prove to be a competitive clash. Both Lorenzo Sonego and Novak Djokovic will have plenty of motivation to book their place in Sunday’s final, but who will come out on top in the Italian capital?
ATP Rome Masters Semifinal Prediction
Novak Djokovic vs Lorenzo Sonego
Head-to-head: Sonego 1-0 Djokovic
World #1 Djokovic arrived in Rome after a stop-start campaign on the clay that had not yielded the results he would have liked. The Serbian crashed out early at the ATP Monte Carlo Masters, losing to Dan Evans in the third round, before heading to home turf in Belgrade. Unfortunately for Djokovic, that did not bring about the upturn in his fortunes that he would have been hoping for as he lost a three-set thriller in the semifinals to Aslan Karatsev.
But, after electing not to defend his title in Madrid, he has enjoyed a more productive week at the ATP Rome Masters. He opened his campaign against Taylor Fritz, beating the American 6-3 7-6 in a rematch of their five-set battle at the Australian Open earlier this year. He backed that up with a clinical 6-1 6-2 win over Alejandro Davidovich Fokina to return to the quarterfinals. There he edged out fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas 4-6 7-5 7-5 in a see-sawing encounter that was delayed by rain more than once.
Sonego, meanwhile, has been having a dream campaign on home turf. The Italian has put some solid runs together on the clay before, but this surely ranks amongst the finest weeks of his career. In the first round, he proved too strong for Gael Monfils, inflicting a 6-4 5-7 6-4 defeat on the struggling Frenchman. Sonego then beat his countryman Gianluca Mager 6-4 6-4 to set up a third-round clash with a fourth seed Dominic Thiem.
The Austrian has had a difficult start to his year, but he looked to be gathering some momentum after a run to the semifinals in Madrid. But despite holding match points, he could not kill off Sonego, with the Italian eventually recording a memorable 6-4 6-7 7-6 win. Then, after significant rain delays, he beat seventh seed Andrey Rublev from a set down to reach his first semifinal at this level to the obvious delight of the Italian crowd.
He also comes into this semifinal with history on his side, having thrashed Djokovic 6-1 6-2 in their only previous meeting, which came late last season in Vienna. However, to say that Djokovic was not at his best in that match would be something of an understatement, with the great Serbian appearing to have somewhat mentally checked out after securing the year-end #1 ranking. One suspects that he will be rather more competitive in Rome.
He will need to be if he is to get the better of Sonego. The Italian has been playing some superb tennis, dictating from the back of the court and hitting his spots relentlessly with his serve. That being said, after Rafael Nadal, Djokovic is surely the best mover on a clay court in the modern era. He is also a returner without equal. Both men will have to cope with fatigue having played earlier in the day and that could be a factor, but if Djokovic is engaged mentally, he should have just about too much for Sonego.
Prediction: Djokovic in 3
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