Internazionali d’Italia Daily Preview: Rain Causes a Chaotic Schedule on Tuesday - UBITENNIS

Internazionali d’Italia Daily Preview: Rain Causes a Chaotic Schedule on Tuesday

By Matthew Marolf
5 Min Read

With several third round ATP matches carried over from Monday due to rain, and all ATP fourth round matches to be completed on Tuesday, some players will be forced to play twice on the same day.

Tsitsipas/Sonego, Tiafoe/Musetti, and Zverev/Wolf are all yet to be completed, meaning the winners be play again on Tuesday.  Previews of Tsitsipas/Sonego and Tiafoe/Musetti can be found in yesterday’s preview here.  But with more rain in the forecast throughout the day on Tuesday, will any matches take place at all?

If the skies allow, ATP fourth round action on Tuesday will be headlined by six-time champion Novak Djokovic facing British No.1 Cam Norrie.  Meanwhile, the first two WTA quarterfinals are scheduled for Tuesday, as well as two WTA round of 16 matches rescheduled from Monday, which includes two-time defending champion Iga Swiatek’s fourth round contest.

Throughout the tournament, this preview will analyze the day’s two most prominent matches, while highlighting the other notable matches on the schedule.  Tuesday’s play begins at 11:00am local time.


Novak Djokovic (1) vs. Cameron Norrie (13) – 11:00am on Center Court

Djokovic is 19-3 this season, after missing Indian Wells and Miami due to his vaccination status, and missing Madrid due to an elbow injury.  Novak vocalized his frustration with the court condition on Center Court after his three-set win on Sunday over Grigor Dimitrov, and the expected wet conditions on Tuesday will likely not please him.  This is his 17th consecutive appearance at this tournament, where he has reached the final in 12 of his 16 prior appearances.

Norrie is 25-8 in 2023, though most of those wins came within the first two months of the year.  Heading into Rome, he had lost five of his last seven matches.  But Cam won his first two matches of this fortnight in straight sets, at an event where he had never advanced out of the second round in three previous appearances.

Djokovic is 2-0 against Norrie, with victories on a hard court and grass.  Last year at Wimbledon, Novak defeated Cam in the semifinals, in perhaps the biggest match of the Brit’s career to date.  On Tuesday, Djokovic is a considerable favorite to beat Norrie on a third different surface.


Veronika Kudermetova (11) vs. Qinwen Zheng (22) – Fifth on Pietrangeli

Kudermetova defeated consecutive seeds in Anastasia Potapova and Marie Bouzkova to reach this quarterfinal.  She achieved her first WTA 1000 semifinal just two weeks ago in Madrid, and is looking to match that result.  Veronika is now 17-10 this year, and would debut inside the top eight if she reached the final, which would be a new career-high and guarantee her a better seeding at Roland Garros.

Qinwen 16-8 this season, and is into her second WTA 1000 quarterfinal, after first achieving that result last summer in Canada.  She is yet to face a player ranked higher than No.64 in the world during this event.  Zheng will debut inside the top 20 on Monday, and would move into the top 16 with a win on Tuesday.

Qinwen claimed their only previous meeting, which was extremely tight.  Last fall in the semifinals of Tokyo on a hard court, she prevailed in a third-set tiebreak.  But in their rematch on clay, Kudermetova should be favored based on her recent success in Madrid.


Other Notable Matches on Tuesday:

Francisco Cerundolo (24) vs. Jannik Sinner (8) – Sinner is now 28-6 on the year, while Cerundolo is just 16-12.  Jannik leads their head-to-head 2-1, with all three matches occurring last year on a hard court.

Beatriz Haddad Maia (12) vs. Anhelina Kalinina (30) – Haddad Maia is yet to drop a set through three matches.  Kalinina upset Madison Keys on Monday 6-4 in the third.  Kalinina is 3-0 against Haddad Maia at all levels, which includes a three-set victory last year in Miami.


Tuesday’s full Order of Play is here.

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