Almost all of the players have begun their play at the tennis stadium in Rome. The remainder will get going today and here at LWOT we will have previews and predictions for all of the day’s play. Who will make it on through to tomorrow?
Rome Day 4 Predictions
Diego Schwartzman vs Marcos Giron
Head-to-head: Giron 1-0
The conditions of the match I feel favor the Argentine here. The last time they met was on an indoor hard court, which much more suits Giron. Here Schwartzman isn’t as disadvantaged by his serve and is able to get around the court much more impressively to give his opponent very little chance of making winners. Giron was a lucky loser to get here and it would be a surprise if he got any further. Giron has a 39% win ratio on clay in the last year, with Schwartzman’s up at 67%. Expect Schwartzman to break Giron’s serve consistently and this should help him level up that head-to-head record.
Prediction: Schwartzman in 2
Laslo Djere vs Stan Wawrinka
Head-to-head: First meeting
Stan Wawrinka managed his first tour victory since Australia 2021 with a big win over Reilly Opelka last time out. That is probably the type of match the Swiss would prefer at this stage and his big diesel engine kicked into gear by the third set. Being able to break the Opelka serve twice in that set showed us that he still retains a lot of his skill and also stamina.
However, Djere is a very competent clay court player. The Serbian has won titles on this surface and is likely to provide a very different challenge to the one Opelka posed to Wawrinka. It would be a great achievement by Wawrinka to win back-to-back matches but that achievement may have to wait until he has had more match practice and more court time.
Prediction: Djere in 2
Sebastian Baez vs Alexander Zverev
Head-to-head: first meeting
I would first of all predict that this match is likely to be tighter than many will suggest. Baez is unlikely to melt down in the cauldron of playing a big match early on. His showings at the Next Gen Finals late in 2021 showed that he than turn up to events and play with a degree of freedom.
Having said that, if Zverev plays the way that he did against Stefanos Tsitsipas in Madrid then we are in for a good match. Zverev’s serve will be crucial. He ahs the chance to take the match out of the Argentinian’s hands with his powerful and accurate serves. Whilst Madrid is s big hitters paradise with the altitude helping the bigger servers, the German should still be able to take the time out of Baez’s groundstrokes with his heavy ball.
Prediction: Zverev in 3
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