Italian Open in Rome, quarter-finals, Friday, 13.05.2022
How realistic is it that Italian tennis fans in Rome will cheer for one of their countrymen on Sunday? The Italian Open has now reached the quarter-finals, with quite a few stars still in the running.
Now the absolute top matches begin, on Friday the 13th, hopefully not an unlucky day for anyone, the number 5 will meet the number 13, for example.
Read in my Tsitsipas Sinner Tip what makes me rather bet on the Greek in this match.
If Matteo Berrettini is already absent from his home tournament in Rome, can at least one of his compatriots step into the breach? Jannik Sinner is the man the public has confidence in.
The 20-year-old never made it past the round of 16 in his three previous appearances in the Eternal City, but now he has finally made it into the top eight. Everything is not working out yet, but on balance he is doing very well here.
After his 6-4, 6-3 opening win over Pedro Martinez, he had to face Fabio Fognini. Although the veteran had already had problems against Dominic Thiem, Sinner did not manage to defeat his much older colleague outright.
In the end, the scoreboard showed a 6-2, 3-6, 6-3. Not even 50% of his first serve was successful, he should not allow himself such mistakes against Stefanos Tsitsipas. In the round of 16, Sinner was able to improve a little bit.
He beat Filip Krajinovic 6-2, 7-6, but had to go to his limits in the tiebreak. 76% on first serve, a single break allowed, SO he has to play if he really wants to have a chance at the semis.
He has already dueled with his Greek rival a few times. But Tsitsipas is clearly in the lead with 4:1. In the quarter-finals of this year’s Australian Open, for example, he celebrated a convincing 6-3, 6-4, 6-2.
It is also good for the direct comparison that three of the four duels took place on clay and two, as luck would have it, in Rome. Tsitsipas won in 2019, Sinner in 2020 – who has the edge on Friday?
Sinner has not yet been able to reach a semi-final this year, while Tsitsipas has. In Madrid, he was defeated in this round by Alexander Zverev, in Barcelona by Carlos Alcaraz, but in Monte Carlo he stood at the top.
The Greek’s results read stronger than those of his Italian rival, especially the matches against eye-level opponents Tsitsipas loses much less often. In Rome, however, he certainly has to contend with problems.
His tournament started with a 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 against Grigor Dimitrov, then he beat Karen Khachanov 4-6, 6-0, 6-3. The 23-year-old took an inexplicable time-out in each case, but his quality prevailed in the end.
The Italian Open is not yet one of his absolute favourite tournaments. In 2019, after defeating Jannik Sinner, he reached the semi-finals, but lost to record champion Rafael Nadal. Last year, he was eliminated after a tough battle against Novak Djokovic.
My Sinner Tsitsipas Tip
Both Jannik Sinner and Stefanos Tsitsipas have shown a weakness or two in Rome.
This year he wins a lot more matches against the top stars, while Sinner is almost always eliminated in the quarter-finals. But since I can imagine a tough fight, I recommend the following tip:
Tsitsipas wins at over 17,5 Games!
