For the second week in a row, a combined ATP Masters 1000/WTA 1000 event will be staged. The men’s singles draw features nine of the world’s top 10, with Novak Djokovic returning to competition after skipping last week’s Madrid Open. The women’s singles draw includes eight of the WTA top 10, with Serena Williams making her 2021 clay court debut.
A day after Italian No.1 Matteo Berrettini was the runner-up in Madrid, many of Rome’s most interesting matchups involve Italian men playing in their home country. Italian No.2 Jannik Sinner made his first impression in the sport two years ago at this event, when as a wild card ranked 263rd in the world, he upset Steve Johnson in front of a raucous crowd. Now Sinner is ranked inside the top 20, and on Monday faces France’s Ugo Humbert for the first time. Italian No.3 Fabio Fognini won a Masters event two years ago in Monte-Carlo, and will play a four-time Masters finalist, Kei Nishikori. Also, 19-year-old Italian Lorenzo Musetti made a thrilling run at this event when it was held last September, coming through qualifying the defeat both Nishikori and Stan Wawrinka. He’ll take on a newly-anointed Masters champion, Hubert Hurkacz.
On the women’s side, two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova, reigning Roland Garros champion Iga Swiatek, and teenage phenom Coco Gauff will all play their first round matches. And the women’s Italian No.1, Camila Giorgi, will do battle with recent Guadalajara champion, Sara Sorribes Tormo.
Throughout the tournament, this preview will analyze the day’s two most prominent matches, while highlighting the other notable matches on the schedule. Monday’s play begins at 10:00am local time.
Fabio Fognini vs. Kei Nishikori – Second on Grand Stand Arena
Nishikori is 2-1 against Fognini, and 1-0 on clay. They haven’t played in over four years, and Kei’s clay victory came at the 2016 Madrid Open. In Rome, Fognini actually has a losing record in his career. Like many players, he struggles under the pressure of competing on home turf. Nishikori has performed well in Rome, reaching the quarterfinals or better four of the last six years. Since the tour restart last summer, both men have extremely similar records: Fognini is 12-14, and Nishikori is 11-13.
But Kei’s form has been consistently improving since missing a full year of action. His last three losses have all come at the hands of top players: Stefanos Tsitsipas, Rafael Nadal, and Sascha Zverev. Fognini meanwhile has been as unpredictable as ever, even getting defaulted last month in Barcelona for verbal abuse while playing the 147th-ranked player in the world. Based on recent form, and the country this match is being played in, Nishikori should be favored.
Hubert Hurkacz (15) vs. Lorenzo Musetti (WC) – Not before 7:00pm on Grand Stand Arena
It was only five weeks ago when 24-year-old Hurkacz won the biggest tournament of his career, defeating four top 20 players on his way to the Miami Open title. Since leaving Miami and transitioning to clay, he’s just 1-2, and he’s a meager 4-5 on this surface since last season. But it was eight months ago at this event where he earned an impressive win over one of 2020’s best performers, Andrey Rublev.
That was the same week as Musetti’s breakout run in this city. The very next week in Forli, Italy, Lorenzo won a Challenger title on clay. After reaching two further Challenger finals to start 2021, he advanced to the semifinals of Acapulco, upsetting Diego Schwartzman, Frances Tiafoe, and Grigor Dimitrov. Unlike his fellow countryman Fognini, Musetti seems to embrace playing in Italy. Considering Hurkacz is suffering from a Miami hangover, and considering Musetti’s formidable one-handed backhand, I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Italian teenager pull off another upset in Rome.
Other Notable Matches on Monday:
Jannik Sinner vs. Ugo Humbert – Sinner was the runner-up of the Miami Open in March, and reached the semifinals of Barcelona a few weeks ago. Humbert won two ATP titles in 2020, but is only 7-9 in 2021.
Petra Kvitova (11) vs. Magda Linette – Kvitova is a three-time champion in Madrid, yet is 7-7 lifetime in Rome. Linette is just 1-4 this year, as she underwent knee surgery in January. Both of their prior encounters went to Kvitova in straight sets, though they’ve never played on clay.
Iga Swiatek (15) vs. Alison Riske – Swiatek has won nine of her last 10 matches on clay, dating back to her French Open title last fall. The only loss came last week at the hands of world No.1 Ash Barty. This is a rematch from the same round in Madrid, a match where Iga easily prevailed 6-1, 6-1.
Yulia Putintseva vs. Coco Gauff – Putintseva reached the quarterfinals of this event last year, with wins over top 10 seeds Petra Martic and Elena Rybakina. This is only Gauff’s tenth career tour-level match on clay, though she advanced to the quarterfinals in Charleston last month. This is their first head-to-head meeting.
Sara Sorribes Tormo vs. Camila Giorgi – Giorgi is just 4-4 on the year, and her only main draw win at this event came seven years ago. But she did defeat Sorribes Tormo last November on a hard court in Linz. The 24-year-old Spaniard is an impressive 15-6 in 2021.
Alexader Bublik vs. Marin Cilic – Bublik just surpassed Cilic in the rankings with his run to the Madrid quarterfinals, debuting inside the top 40. They met at this same event last September, when Cilic won 6-4 in the third.
Monday’s full Order of Play is here.
