MONTE-CARLO, MONACO - APRIL 17: Joe Salisbury of Great Britain (L) and Rajeev Ram of USA with the winners trophy after their win over Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah of Columbia in the doubles final during day eight of the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters at Monte-Carlo Country Club on April 17, 2022 in Monte-Carlo, Monaco. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)
Zeballos and Granollers will take on second seeds Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury in the quarter-finals of the Italian Open
Horacio Zeballos and Marcel Granollers are experienced doubles pair and have been in decent touch this season. They started their Italian Open campaign with a bang, defeating fifth seeds Pavic/Mektic in a thrilling encounter decided by the third set tie-breaker.
The Argentine-Spanish duo then got the better of Shelton/Evans in straight sets 6-1, 7-6. Zeballos and Granollers have both experience and form on their side which makes them a really formidable pair. However, they will have to be at their best to have any chance of winning their next encounter against second seeds Ram and Salisbury.
Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury are seasoned campaigners, but they haven’t been quite up to the mark so far in 2023. They are coming into this tournament following a shock first-round exit at the recently concluded Madrid Open. The British-American duo is yet to win any silverware this season and they will be desperate to turn things around in Rome. However, they will definitely face a tough challenge from the in-form duo of Zeballos and Granollers.
Ram and Salisbury have shown glimpses of their class at the Italian which is a really positive sign. They began their journey with a clinical 6-3, 6-2 win against 8th seeds Gonzalez and Molteni. In the Round of 16, they faced a tough challenge from Italian duo Vavassori/Pellegrino but showed tremendous grit to come back from a set down and clinch victory. The second seeds are one of the favourites to win the title and it remains to be seen if they can live up to the high expectations.
Date – Wednesday, 17th May
Court Type – Clay outdoor surface
Telecast – Tennis Channel
Start Time – To be Announced
Location – Foro Italico
Match details – Quarter-final
Zeballos/Granollers and Ram/Salisbury have played each other seven times before on the ATP tour. Ram and Salisbury have dominated most of their meetings and leads 5-2 on head-to-head. All the players involved are very experienced doubles players and it promises to be an enthralling clash. Both the pairs are very close to each other in terms of experience and form, making it difficult to predict the outcome of this match. We are expecting an intense contest with Ram and Salisbury eventually edging out their opponents in three sets.
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