There should be plenty of entertaining action on day four at the ATP Rome Masters with 13 second-round matches on the slate and a number of star names set to be in action. As ever, we here at LWOT will be offering our predictions for every match on the schedule, including Dominic Thiem vs Marton Fucsovics and Matteo Berrettini vs John Millman. But who will reach the third round?
We also have predictions for the rest of the day’s matches, between two other articles. One features Denis Shapovalov vs Stefano Travagila and the second features Marin Cilic vs Stefanos Tsitsipas.
ATP Rome Masters Day 4 Predictions
Roberto Bautista Agut vs Cristian Garin
Head-to-head: first meeting
It is something of a surprise that this is the first meeting between this pair, with both Roberto Bautista Agut and Cristian Garin well-established at the top of the men’s game. The Spaniard has been in indifferent form so far this season, at least by his high standards, but he made an assured start to his campaign at the ATP Rome Masters, beating the American qualifier Tommy Paul in straight-sets, 6-3 6-4. However, he will likely face sterner resistance against Garin.
The Chilean arrived in the Italian capital after reaching the quarterfinals in Madrid, where he scored an impressive upset win over second seed Daniil Medvedev. He opened his account in Rome with a 7-5 6-2 win over the big-hitting South African Lloyd Harris and he may well like his chances of back that up against Bautista Agut. The Spaniard is not at his best on the clay, with his flat groundstrokes lacking the penetration they have on faster surfaces. Against a player of Garin’s quality, that could be fatal to his chances.
Prediction: Garin in 3
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Alexander Zverev vs Hugo Dellien
Head-to-head: Zverev 1-0 Dellien
Alexander Zverev comes into this match as the heavy favourite, particularly as he is riding a five match winning streak after his triumph in Madrid last week, but this may not be entirely straightforward for the German. Hugo Dellien is ranked outside the world’s top 125, but he has been playing some good tennis this week. The Bolivian beat Jaume Munar and Aljaz Bedene for the loss of only a handful of games in the qualifying before battling past Adrian Mannarino in the first round of the main draw.
He also took Zverev the distance in their only previous meeting, which came two years ago in the quarterfinals in Geneva. That being said, Zverev has made strides in the two years since, making improvements to his serve and forehand. Surely full of confidence after his run to the title in Madrid, which included a victory over Rafael Nadal, and having had the chance to rest, he should prove far too strong for Dellien if he plays anything like his best tennis.
Prediction: Zverev in 2
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Jannik Sinner vs Rafael Nadal
Head-to-head: Nadal 1-0 Sinner
Last month, Jannik Sinner stepped on to court to face Novak Djokovic, presumably hoping to catch the Serbian cold in the world #1’s first clay-court match of the season. Instead, he delivered an error-strewn display to end up on the wrong side of a 4-6 2-6 defeat. He will surely be hoping to deliver a better performance when he has his second shot at an all-time great up against Rafael Nadal. Unfortunately, the Spaniard is even more effective on the clay than Djokovic. To the tune of 12 French Open titles.
Sinner has faced Nadal on the clay before, losing to the world #3 in straight sets in the French Open quarterfinals last season. Sinner hung with Nadal in the early stages, forcing a tiebreak in the first set, but Nadal pulled away thereafter, ultimately recording a 7-6 6-4 6-1 win. Although this has not been the most productive start to a European clay-court swing for Nadal, he is still the world’s best clay-courter and it is hard to see Sinner getting much closer to him than he did last year in Paris.
Prediction: Nadal in 2
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