The
schedule for Sunday, May 12th at the
Rome Open has been revealed. The day will
be led by the ATP world No. 1
Novak Djokovic and the WTA No. 2
Aryna Sabalenka.
On the men's side, the third round will begin with the last 32 players in
competition, while on the WTA side, the last 8 players to qualify for the round
of 16 will be determined.
Our preview
looks ahead to some of the top ties and leading storylines ahead of Day Seven
at the Rome Open and which matches to look out for.
Djokovic and American players headline the Day
Novak
Djokovic will face the world No. 32
Alejandro Tabilo for the first time in his
career. The 24-times Grand Slam champion secured a straightforward victory
against
Corentin Moutet in the opening round and this time he will face an
opponent who comes with a lot of confidence and little to lose. The Chilean
secured his first title earlier this year and has established himself as a
top-40 player in recent months with good results, feeling especially
comfortable on clay courts.
Other
protagonists of the day will be the American players. In an interesting duel,
Taylor Fritz (No. 13) will play against his compatriot
Sebastian Korda (No. 7),
both coming off victories against the locals
Fabio Fognini (No. 92) and Flavio
Cobolli (No. 57). Additionally, the 21-years-old star Ben Shelton (No. 14) will
face Zhinzheng Zhang (No. 56).
On the
Center Court,
Alexander Zverev (No. 5) will close the day against the Italian
Luciano Darderi (No. 54). The Bulgarian
Grigor Dimitrov (No. 19) will also take
to the court against
Terence Atmane (No. 137), while
Karen Khachanov (No. 18)
will face
Francisco Cerundolo (No. 2Djokovic
![imago1044975061h](https://r.testifier.nl/Acbs8526SDKI/resizing_type:fit/watermark:Picture%3A%20IMAGO/width:1280/plain/https://s3-newsifier.ams3.digitaloceanspaces.com/tennisuptodate.com/images/2024-05/imago1044975061h-663ea729bb292.jpg@webp)
Djokovic won the title 6-times in Rome Open: 08', 11', 14', 15', 20', 22'.
Sabalenka
and Collins looking for a spot into the last 16
The world
No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka struggled in her opening match against
Katie Volynets but
accelerated for an impressive comeback after the first set. Rome is the WTA
1000 event where she has achieved the fewest positive results, with just a 5-5
(50%) record, although she reached the semifinals in 2022. The Belarusian won't
have it easy against the Ukrainian
Dayana Yastremska (No. 33)
One of the
most attractive duels of the day will be between the American
Danielle Collins
(No. 15) and
Caroline Garcia (No. 23). Collins has won 16 of her last 17
matches and will face a tough challenge against the Frenchwoman.
Also taking
to the court will be the 2-times champion
Elina Svitolina (No. 19), who has
gone months without a string of good results but feels most comfortable in
Rome, as demonstrated by her dominant debut win against
Sara Errani (6-0, 6-2).
The Ukrainian will face the Russian
Anna Kalinskaya (No. 26).