The seeds come into play on Friday at the 2024 ATP Italian Open in Rome. World No. 13 Taylor Fritz takes on Italian legend and 2018 quarterfinalist Fabio Fognini. How much danger can the 36-year-old still cause to a Top 20 player? As always, we here at LWOT share our thoughts on all the matches. We split the day’s 16 matches between four articles. The other three articles feature Casper Ruud vs Miomir Kecmanovic, Novak Djokovic vs Corentin Moutet, and Alexander Zverev vs Aleksandar Vukic. Who do you think will come out on top?
ATP Rome Day 3 Predictions
Ben Shelton vs Pavel Kotov
Head-to-head: First meeting
Ben Shelton took a different approach to his clay season this year, starting in Houston and then playing pretty much only the biggest events in Europe. His loss to Alexander Bublik in Madrid was a bit of a disappointment and the American just didn’t trust his baseline game enough to try to rally. That leaves him in an interesting spot ahead of this clash with Pavel Kotov. If he’s not willing to use his athleticism again, he might get outplayed off the ground.
Prediction: Kotov in 3
Mariano Navone vs Luciano Darderi
Head-to-head: Navone 3-2
This is becoming a pretty crazy rivalry with five matches since October already. The two on the Challenger Tour last year were absolute classics, but this year it’s been straight sets every time they played. Mariano Navone took the last two, including the semifinals in Cagliari just six days ago. As such it’s tough to go against him, but it was a pretty decent match with Luciano Darderi maybe giving him a bit too much initiative. It would take a big effort from the Italian to tie the head-to-head again.
Prediction: Navone in 3
Jordan Thompson vs Thiago Monteiro
Head-to-head: 1-1
Thiago Monteiro was granted a dream draw in Rome with struggling Gael Monfils and Jordan Thompson, the weakest clay player of the 32 seeds. The Brazilian seems to be very high on confidence right now after his Madrid run, which included perhaps the best match of his career against Stefanos Tsitsipas. Thompson has posted some wins on clay over the years with grit and determination, but this is on Monteiro’s racket.
Prediction: Monteiro in 2
Taylor Fritz vs Fabio Fognini
Head-to-head: 1-1
Taylor Fritz made it to the semifinals in Madrid, but he was also one of the players who excelled in the faster conditions. His record at this venue over the years has been pretty poor with just two main draw wins in six appearances. This is a fairly nice draw though with Fabio Fognini’s career slowly coming to an end. The Italian already found some home crowd magic to beat Daniel Evans on Thursday and will need plenty more of it here.
Prediction: Fritz in 3
Main Photo Credit: Susan Mullane-USA TODAY Sports
