We still don’t know who wins the 2022 Madrid Open and yet we’re already witnessing action at the ATP Rome Masters. Four singles main draw matches are scheduled for Sunday and, as always, we here at LWOT will be offering our predictions for every match. But who will advance?
ATP Rome Day 1 Predictions
Filip Krajinovic vs Frances Tiafoe
Head-to-head: Krajinovic 2-1 Tiafoe
Frances Tiafoe scored his only win over Filip Krajinovic via retirement and lost their sole clay-court meeting at the 2019 French Open in five sets. The American finished runner-up at Estoril, but survived a number of tight matches there and his forehand can still be a bit suspect on clay. Meanwhile, Filip Krajinovic has struggled to get going this year, winning one match in three clay events thus far. It feels like a toss-up, but the Serbian’s level is probably not as low as the results suggest. Slower clay-court conditions should also favor him in this matchup.
Prediction: Krajinovic in 3
Embed from Getty Images
Francesco Passaro vs Cristian Garin
Head-to-head: first meeting
Usually extremely good in smaller ATP clay-court events, this season has been a huge struggle for Cristian Garin. The Chilean got to the semifinals at Houston and won a match at Madrid, but suffered five other first-round exits on the dirt. Francesco Passaro was a sensation at the Sanremo Challenger, where he qualified and ended up finishing as the runner-up to Holger Rune. The Italian kept up the good form and won the pre-qualification tournament to get here. Garin’s lack of form gives him a chance here, but it might still be too tough to beat the Chilean without a huge attacking weapon.
Prediction: Garin in 3
Embed from Getty Images
Marin Cilic vs Matteo Arnaldi
Head-to-head: first meeting
Matteo Arnaldi also secured his wildcard through the pre-qualifying event. The 21-year-old has established himself as a dangerous competitor at the Challenger level this year, making a run to the semifinal at Split and coming close to beating a few established players. The difference between his usual opposition and Marin Cilic might be quite stark though. Arnaldi is a very good retriever, so he could theoretically catch the Croat on a day when he’s just spraying errors a bit too much. However, Cilic looked solid enough in Madrid for that to appear unlikely.
Prediction: Cilic in 2
Embed from Getty Images
Lloyd Harris vs Aslan Karatsev
Head-to-head: Karatsev 1-0 Harris
A match between two players who have been struggling to live up to their 2021 campaigns, which included them meeting in the final in Dubai. Aslan Karatsev won just two matches in his last nine events, while Lloyd Harris won two rounds at Barcelona, but these are his only clay-court wins so far. The surface favors the Russian, who’s wildly inconsistent but much more experienced on the dirt. With his power, he’s got the ability to hit through any court, regardless of how slow it is.
Prediction: Karatsev in 3
Main photo:
Embed from Getty Images
