Australia’s Alexei Popyrin will face 7th seed Holger Rune in the fourth round of the Italian Open

Popyrin has had a fairy-tale run so far at the Italian Open. He overcame two rounds of qualifiers to progress to the main draw and he has made this opportunity count big time. In the Round of 128, Popyrin got the better of his compatriot Christopher O’Connell before pulling off a major upset against 10th seed Felix Auger-Aliassime. Popyrin emerged victorious 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 in a thrilling clash that lasted over two hours.

The Australian didn’t just stop there and went on to register a comprehensive 7-5, 7-5 victory against Roman Safiullin in the next round. Popyrin has been very impressive so far and it remains to be seen if he can continue his dream run against the much-fancied Holger Rune.

Holger Rune’s form coming into the match at Italian Open

Holger Rune has been one of the most in-form players on the ATP tour currently. He achieved his career-best ranking of World No.7 this year after a string of consistent results. Last month, Rune won his first ATP title of the season at the Bavarian International and he has come into this tournament high on confidence.

Rune received a ‘Bye’ in the Round of 128 and directly played the second-round match against Arthur Fils. He registered a comprehensive 6-3, 6-3 victory to progress to the next round. The Danish star then went on to put up another professional display to seal a convincing 6-4, 6-2 win against local favourite Fabio Fognini. Rune is one of the favourites to go all the way and clinch the title but it remains to be seen if he manages to live up to the high expectations.

Details:

Date – Tuesday, 16th May

Court Type – Clay outdoor surface

Telecast – Tennis Channel

Start Time – To be Announced

Location – Foro Italico

Match details – Round of 16 match

Head to head and Predictions

Popyrin and Rune have never played each other before on the ATP Tour. This is the first professional clash between the two players. On paper, the Rune is the clear favourite going into this match both in terms of experience and rankings. It will be an uphill task for the young Australian in this encounter, but he’s expected to put up a strong fight. We are predicting a win in straight sets for Denmark’s Holger Rune.

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