Day 2 of the Rome 1000 kicks off the first full day of action. The draw features old favorites like Stan Wawrinka and Dominic Thiem, perennial champs like Nadal and Djokovic, and a young rising superstar in Carlos Alcaraz. Below we take a look at three of the day’s matches, including Sebastian Korda vs Botic van de Zandschulp.
ATP Rome Day 2 Predictions
Alejandro Davidovich Fokina vs Ilya Ivashka
Head-to-head: Davidovich Fokina 0-1 Ivashka
Davidovich Fokina should still be feeling confident from his performance in Monte Carlo, despite not playing well in his follow-up tournament. Meanwhile, Ivashka is quietly making a slow surge late in his career, as he has steadily improved over the last year and hit his career high in March, at the age of 28. He has stalled a bit these last six months, though, while Davidovich Fokina is playing his best tennis. The Spaniard loves clay, while the Belarussian prefers other surfaces, and so it’s hard to know what to make of Ivashka’s H2H victory. Despite that, though, Davidovich Fokina looks like the better player.
Prediction: Davidovich Fokina in 3
Sebastian Korda vs Botic van de Zandschulp
Head-to-head: Korda 1-1 van de Zandschulp
This is an interesting match. These two just met on clay in Monte Carlo, with Korda winning, but van de Zandschulp then immediately made the finals in Munich. His run included wins over Miomir Kecmanovic and Casper Ruud, and ended in a retirement in the first set of the final against Holger Rune. Meanwhile, Korda has played well, too, including recent victories over Felix Auger-Aliassime and Carlos Alcaraz (the latter victory looking better and better as Alcaraz appears to be the best player in the world right now). It’s a shame that this is a first round match, as it could be a close fight with very high quality tennis. I like both players at the moment, but on the basis of a recent clay H2H, I have to go with Korda.
Prediction: Korda in 3
Denis Shapovalov vs Lorenzo Sonego
Head-to-head: first meeting
General statistics favor Shapovalov by a little, but I think Sonego could pull this out. He has not had a great year, and isn’t currently inspiring me, but he is an emotional player who is playing at home. Last year he made the semis in Rome, after an excellent run that included victories over Gael Monfils, Andrey Rublev, and Dominic Thiem. Just a month before that run, he had won a title in Cagliari, Italy, one of only two titles in his career. He feeds off of the crowd, and should have full support here in Rome. Shapovalov has played well in Rome himself, totalling nine wins to only four losses, with a semifinal appearance in 2020. But I see the crowd being a huge boost for Sonego, and Shapovalov isn’t inspiring me enough to think he overcomes the supercharged version of the Italian.
Prediction: Sonego in 3
Main Photo from Getty.
