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Djokovic, Nadal and Thiem in action on Thursday
The tour’s newest first-time ATP Masters 1000 champion and finalist will be put to the test on Thursday at the Foro Italico, as Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters winner Stefanos Tsitsipas faces Mutua Madrid Open runner up Matteo Berrettini in a third-round blockbuster at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia.

Both players will likely be high on confidence and riding the momentum as they compete in the midst of their most successful stretches of the 2021 season. The Greek player made his long-awaited Masters 1000 breakthrough in Monte-Carlo (d. Rublev). He went on to reach the final in Barcelona, where he pushed Rafael Nadal to three sets in the most competitive final the Spaniard has ever played there.

As a result, Tsitsipas has one eye on the Nitto ATP Finals after climbing to first position of the FedEx ATP Race To Turin – and he’s vowed to make it his mission to stay at the top.



“It’s good news that I’m still there, I’m fighting for it every single week,” Tsitsipas said in a pre-tournament interview. “I didn’t have a very good week last week in Madrid, but so far it’s looking good. I’ve been very consistent, which obviously helps to be in that situation. I’m looking forward to being able to perform the same way, or do even better in the future.”

He’ll face a big test against the resurgent Berrettini, who won his first title of the year at the Serbia Open in Belgrade and used that result as a springboard to reach his maiden Masters 1000 final in Madrid.


The Italian, who was sidelined for a few weeks at the start of the year due to an abdominal injury, might not want to think too far ahead about the Nitto ATP Finals happening in his country at the end of the season. But Berrettini’s results still booked him a spot among the Top 8 positions – another sign of his emphatic return to form.

“I know and I feel that I can play this kind of tennis, this kind of level, I deserve to be here,” Berrettini said after the Madrid final. “When I play and I use my weapons in the right way, all the players are struggling. This is something that makes me confident for the future.

“Obviously everybody looks at the Race, but it's too soon now... The most important thing is to be healthy. Once I'm healthy, I can reach my level, my best level.”


Tsitsipas will take a 1-0 ATP Head2Head lead into their battle on Grand Stand Arena. The Greek player came back from a set down to win in four at the Australian Open in 2019.

Elsewhere in the Eternal City, top seeds Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal are back in action. Last year’s champion Djokovic will take on Spanish qualifier Alejandro Davidovich Fokina – his regular practice partner in Marbella – in the first match of the day on Centre Court. Nadal, who is looking for his 10th Rome crown, will face 13th seed Denis Shapovalov later in the afternoon.

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Madrid champion Alexander Zverev will look to continue his winning ways in the Italian capital. The sixth seed will face a tricky test against Kei Nishikori, whom he defeated en route to the title last week. Zverev improved to a 3-1 ATP Head2Head over Nishikori with that win, and levelled their matchup on clay to 1-1.

Fourth seed Dominic Thiem and seventh seed Andrey Rublev are also in action, while Aslan Karatsev and Felix Auger-Aliassime also feature on Thursday.

How To Watch

SCHEDULE - THURSDAY, MAY 13, 2021
CENTER COURT start 10:00 am
[1] N. Djokovic (SRB) vs [Q] A. Davidovich Fokina (ESP)
WTA - [1] A. Barty (AUS) vs V. Kudermetova (RUS)

Not Before 2:00 pm
[13] D. Shapovalov (CAN) vs [2] R. Nadal (ESP)

Not Before 6.00PM
WTA - [12] G. Muguruza (ESP) vs [5] E. Svitolina (UKR)

GRAND STAND ARENA start 10:00 am
R. Opelka (USA) vs A. Karatsev (RUS)

Not Before 12:00 noon
[9] M. Berrettini (ITA) vs [5] S. Tsitsipas (GRE)
WTA - [9] K. Pliskova (CZE) vs [Q] V. Zvonareva (RUS)
WTA - J. Ostapenko (LAT) vs A. Kerber (GER)

Not Before 7:00 pm
[4] D. Thiem (AUT) vs L. Sonego (ITA)

PIETRANGELI start 10:00 am
WTA - C. Gauff (USA) vs [7] A. Sabalenka (BLR)
WTA - B. Krejcikova (CZE) vs [15] I. Swiatek (POL)
F. Auger-Aliassime (CAN) vs [Q] F. Delbonis (ARG)
[6] A. Zverev (GER) vs K. Nishikori (JPN)
[10] R. Bautista Agut (ESP) vs [7] A. Rublev (RUS)

COURT 1 start 10:00 am
WTA - E. Alexandrova (RUS) vs J. Pegula (USA)
WTA - N. Podoroska (ARG) vs P. Martic (CRO)

COURT 2 start 10:00 am
WTA - [1] S. Hsieh (TPE) / E. Mertens (BEL) vs [ALT] S. Fichman (CAN) / G. Olmos (MEX)
[WC] F. Fognini (ITA) / L. Musetti (ITA) vs [Alt] M. Arevalo (ESA) / M. Middelkoop (NED)
M. Demoliner (BRA) / D. Medvedev (RUS) vs A. Mannarino (FRA) / B. Paire (FRA)
[8] K. Krawietz (GER) / H. Tecau (ROU) vs [Alt] L. Broady (GBR) / A. Murray (GBR)

COURT 4 start 10:00 am
[Alt] A. Behar (URU) / G. Escobar (ECU) vs [7] W. Koolhof (NED) / J. Rojer (NED)
M. Daniell (NZL) / P. Oswald (AUT) vs [2] N. Mektic (CRO) / M. Pavic (CRO)
J. Peers (AUS) / M. Venus (NZL) vs [3] I. Dodig (CRO) / F. Polasek (SVK)
[4] M. Granollers (ESP) / H. Zeballos (ARG) vs L. Kubot (POL) / F. Skugor (CRO)
R. Klaasen (RSA) / B. McLachlan (JPN) vs [5] R. Ram (USA) / J. Salisbury (GBR)

Rafael Nadal has made his displeasure known on the order of play at the ongoing Italian Open tennis tournament. Speaking to reporters after coming out on the winning side of a fiercely-contested third-round battle against home favorite Jannik Sinner, the Spaniard did not hold back on the scheduling of matches at the event.

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Rafael Nadal said he was lucky not to play the third set against Jannik Sinner
The nine-time Rome champion, who is defending his 2020 title this year, voiced his regret over holding the press conference sooner than expected, claiming that he might have to kit up to play at 1 pm (local time) on Thursday.

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“Unfortunately, we have to do the press conference faster than normal because they put me in third shift and that means I might play a 1. Everything is quite fair,” Nadal said.

(Quotes have been translated)


Tennis – ATP Masters 1000 – Monte Carlo Masters – Monte-Carlo Country Club, Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, France – April 14, 2021 Spain’s Rafael Nadal in action during his second round match against Argentina’s Federico Delbonis REUTERS/Eric Gaillard
The 13-time French Open champion, who was broken early on Wednesday and had to dig deep to put it past the rising Italian star, hinted that the poor scheduling leaves him short of adequate recovery time between matches.

He said that he was glad that the match didn’t go the full distance as then it would have left him with even less time ahead of his next against Canadian Denis Shapovalov.

“Sometimes things work like this here and I’m not happy with (it). It is 10 pm and we are here and I have been lucky not to go to the third set. If I play the third set, I have to be ready at 11.30 in case something happens and it seems somewhat exaggerated,” the current World No. 3 said.

Nadal said that more thought needs to go into scheduling matches
Having a go at the director of the tournament, who he said made the scheduling along with “someone from (the) ATP,” Nadal said that he clearly got things “wrong”.


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DIVE DEEPER

WATCH: When Rafael Nadal and Maria Sharapova Practiced Together at Italian Open

about 17 hours ago

While adding that he doesn’t feel the physical effect of the scheduling as yet, better wisdom and more thought need to go into this critical aspect of holding a tournament such as this.

“I do not feel harmed, but the one who has made the schedule, who is usually the director of the tournament with someone from (the) ATP, is wrong. I just say things as I think they are,” the ‘King of Clay’ said.

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In perhaps what led him to hit out publicly over the scheduling, Nadal had picked up a time violation warning from the chair umpire after he ran down the seconds within which to hit a serve.