Jannik Sinner
Home favourite Jannik Sinner will face rookie Alexander Shevchenko in the third round of the Italian Open
Alexander Shevchenko is an emerging star on the ATP tour and he is all set to lock horns with one of the superstars of the sport. Shevchenko won his first Qualifying round match against Oleksii Krutykh but lost the second qualifier to Arthur Fils.
However, the Russian progressed to the main draw of the competition by virtue of being the ‘Lucky Loser’. In his first-round encounter, Shevchenko registered an impressive 6-3, 6-4 victory against Argentina’s Sebastian Baez. It remains to be seen if the 22-year-old continues his dream run in the tournament or falls short against the much-fancied Sinner.
Jannik Sinner is back in action on the ATP tour after missing the Madrid Open due to injury. Sinner has had a great year so far and has 1 ATP title in his kitty – Open Sud de France. Besides winning a title, the Italian has finished runners-up twice and reached the semis of two other events so far in the season. This is Sinner’s first tournament after recovering from injury and he would aim to maintain the same rhythm for the remainder of the season.
Sinner is the No.8 seed in Rome and received a ‘Bye’ in the Round of 128. He won his opening encounter in a dominating fashion against Australia’s Thanasi Kokkinakis to set up a clash against Shevchenko. Sinner is loved in Italy and he would look to use the home support to his advantage and go deep into the tournament. There are high expectations from the Italian and it remains to be seen if he can live up to the billing on home turf.
Date – Monday, 15th May
Court Type – Clay outdoor surface
Telecast – Tennis Channel
Start Time – 12:00 am IST
Location – Foro Italico
Match details – Round of 32 match
Shevchenko and Sinner have never played each other before on the ATP tour. This is the first professional head-to-head clash between the two players. On paper, Sinner is the outright favourite both in terms of form and rankings. However, one can certainly not rule out the promising Russian and he is expected to put up a tough fight. Despite that, we are predicting a straight sets victory for the eighth seed Jannik Sinner.
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