2017 champion and fourth seed Alexander Zverev opens his campaign to reclaim the Internazionali BNL d’Italia on Tuesday against Italian Matteo Berrettini. Stan Wawrinka, runner-up in 2008, is also in action on Day 3 against David Goffin, while ninth seed Marin Cilic meets Italian wild card Andrea Basso and twelfth seed Daniil Medvedev takes on Nick Kyrgios.

Who will win the latest @FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting between these players?

— ATP Tour (@ATP_Tour) May 13, 2019

Zverev and Berrettini also faced off in the Round of 32 last year in Rome, a match the German won in straight sets. Berrettini has since won two clay-court titles, most recently in April at the Hungarian Open in Budapest. Zverev has struggled for form and posted a 6-7 record since reaching the final in Acapulco (l. Kyrgios), but the German rebounded last week with a quarter-final showing at the Mutua Madrid Open.

Wawrinka leads his FedEx ATP Head2Head with Goffin 3-1, but they haven’t played in three years and never faced each other on clay. The 34-year-old Swiss star defeated Kei Nishikori en route to a quarter-final finish last week in Madrid. Goffin has had an up-and-down season and arrives with a 9-11 record in 2019, but the Belgian recorded semi-final showings this year in Marseille and Estoril.

Cilic reached his first quarter-final of the season in Madrid, but had to withdraw before his match against Novak Djokovic due to food poisoning. The Croatian will be a heavy on-paper favourite against Basso. The 25-year-old, currently ranked No. 416 in the ATP Rankings, is competing in his first ATP Tour main draw.

Medvedev’s outstandingly consistent season has included several milestone moments on clay. He defeated World No. 1 Novak Djokovic en route to his first ATP Masters 1000 semi-final at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters and finished runner-up in Barcelona (l. to Thiem). The Russian also reached the final in Brisbane (l. to Nishikori) and clinched the title in Sofia (d. Fucsovics). Kyrgios won his first ATP Tour title in 15 months this March in Acapulco (d. Zverev), but that is the Aussie’s only trip to a quarter-final this season.

Second-round matches will also take place on Tuesday. Sixteenth-seeded Italian Marco Cecchinato squares off with German Philipp Kohlschreiber and thirteenth-seeded Croatian Borna Coric meets British qualifier Cameron Norrie.

ORDER OF PLAY – TUESDAY, MAY 14, 2019

CENTRALE start 11:00 am
WTA match
ATP – [12] Daniil Medvedev (RUS) vs Nick Kyrgios (AUS) 
ATP – [4] Alexander Zverev (GER) vs [WC] Matteo Berrettini (ITA) 
Not Before 7:30 pm
WTA match
Not Before 9:00 pm
ATP – Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER) vs [16] Marco Cecchinato (ITA) 

GRANDSTAND start 11:00 am
ATP – David Goffin (BEL) vs Stan Wawrinka (SUI) 
ATP – [9] Marin Cilic (CRO) vs [WC] Andrea Basso (ITA) 
2 WTA matches
ATP – After Suitable Rest – Matteo Berrettini (ITA) / Fabio Fognini (ITA) vs Kyle Edmund (GBR) / Neal Skupski (GBR) 

PIETRANGELI start 11:00 am
WTA match
Not Before 12:00 noon
ATP – Richard Gasquet (FRA) vs Jeremy Chardy (FRA) – TBF 16 64 00
WTA match
ATP – Grigor Dimitrov (BUL) vs Jan-Lennard Struff (GER) 
ATP – [14] Nikoloz Basilashvili (GEO) vs Laslo Djere (SRB) 
Not Before 7:00 pm
ATP – [13] Borna Coric (CRO) vs [Q] Cameron Norrie (GBR) 

COURT 1 start 11:00 am
WTA match
ATP – Roberto Bautista Agut (ESP) vs [11] Karen Khachanov (RUS) 
WTA match
ATP – Pablo Cuevas (URU) / Juan Martin del Potro (ARG) vs Karen Khachanov (RUS) / Marc Lopez (ESP) 
ATP – Jean-Julien Rojer (NED) / Horia Tecau (ROU) vs [7] Bob Bryan (USA) / Mike Bryan (USA) 

COURT 2 start 11:00 am
ATP – [Q] Taylor Fritz (USA) vs Guido Pella (ARG) 
ATP – Diego Schwartzman (ARG) vs [Q] Yoshihito Nishioka (JPN) 
WTA match 
ATP – Guido Pella (ARG) / Diego Schwartzman (ARG) vs Rajeev Ram (USA) / Joe Salisbury (GBR) 
WTA match 

COURT 3 start 11:00 am
ATP – Radu Albot (MDA) vs [Q] Benoit Paire (FRA) 
Not Before 1:00 pm
ATP – Frances Tiafoe (USA) vs Joao Sousa (POR) 
ATP – [WC] Filippo Baldi (ITA) / Andrea Pellegrino (ITA) vs Jurgen Melzer (AUT) / Dominic Thiem (AUT) 
ATP – Maximo Gonzalez (ARG) / Horacio Zeballos (ARG) vs Jeremy Chardy (FRA) / David Goffin (BEL) 

COURT 4 start 11:00 am
2 WTA matches 
ATP – Wesley Koolhof (NED) / Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE) vs Denis Shapovalov (CAN) / Fernando Verdasco (ESP) 
2 WTA matches 

Italian Fabio Fognini continued his march toward a Top 10 breakthrough on Monday, defeating former World No. 5 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-3, 6-4 to reach the second round of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia.

The 10th seed made his best run at the Foro Italico last season, advancing to the quarter-finals before falling to eventual champion Rafael Nadal in three sets. He made a strong start under the lights against 17-time ATP Tour champion Tsonga, outmanoeuvring the Frenchman in baseline rallies to move on after one hour and 23 minutes.

““To play first round against Jo – [it was a] really tough match, because of course he was injured. He had surgery on the knee. He tried to recover his best performance, but at the same time I knew that it could be really dangerous,” Fognini said. “I’m happy, of course, happy because especially for me here, it’s always tough to play. But I’m happy about my performance, happy to be again in the second round in Roma.”

Tsonga had won four of the pair’s five FedEx ATP Head2Head meetings, with Fognini triumphing in their most recent encounter at the 2017 BNP Paribas Open. But the Italian is in some of the best form of his career, capturing his first ATP Masters 1000 title at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters, and he saved five of the six break points he faced against Tsonga. Fognini will next face the player who beat him at Indian Wells, Moldovan Radu Albot, or French qualifier Benoit Paire.

With a big effort this week, Fognini could potentially crack the Top 10 of the ATP Rankings next Monday for the first time. If he does so, Fognini will be the third Italian man to reach the milestone, as well as the oldest player to do so for the first time since 38-year-old Ken Rosewall and 35-year-old Rod Laver on 23 August 1973, the first week of the ATP Rankings.

“I came in here with my best [ATP] Ranking… it’s not too far from the Top 10. The way I am playing, I feel confident,” Fognini said. “I know that if I play like that I can do something big. But at the same time I know that it’s difficult, every day is different, every match is different. Every match, it’s really complicated.”

Tsonga is still on the comeback trail after missing seven months of the 2018 season after undergoing left knee surgery last April. The Frenchman, who fell to World No. 262 last November, is already back inside the Top 100 after lifting the trophy at the Open Sud de France in February.

Spanish qualifier Albert Ramos-Vinolas upset 15th seed Gael Monfils 6-3, 6-1 in 61 minutes, breaking the Frenchman’s serve on all four chances he earned. It is the 31-year-old’s second Top 10 win of the season, and he will try to beat Argentine Diego Schwartzman or Japanese qualifier Yoshihito Nishioka to reach the third round

Rio de Janeiro champion Laslo Djere cruised past Kazakh Mikhail Kukushkin 6-3, 6-4 without facing a break point. The Serbian will next play 14th seed Nikoloz Basilashvili.

World No. 1 Novak Djokovic made history on Sunday when he won the Mutua Madrid Open, tying Rafael Nadal’s record of 33 ATP Masters 1000 titles. This is the first time Djokovic and Nadal have been tied atop the Masters 1000 trophy leaderboard since Monte-Carlo last year, when Nadal earned his 31st title at this level to move one ahead of Djokovic.

At this week’s Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome, where Djokovic is a four-time champion, he will have an opportunity to stand alone by claiming a record 34th Masters 1000 trophy. The last time Djokovic solely held the record was from 2016 Madrid through 2017 Madrid, where Nadal evened up the Masters 1000 title standings again.

Djokovic, who now owns 53 Big Titles — a combination of Grand Slam, Nitto ATP Finals and Masters 1000 crowns — could also match Federer’s record of 54 in Rome. That would be the first time that either the World No. 1 or Nadal have tied the Swiss star’s Big Titles mark.

The Serbian accomplished even more with his triumph in the Spanish capital, though. Djokovic strengthened his record for rate of Big Titles won. The 31-year-old on average has emerged victorious at a rate of 3.3 events played per Big Title, leading Nadal (3.5) and Federer (4.2).

“I know how to do that strategically with my team, how to raise the intensity of training and so I could actually be at my best for Slams. But, at the same time, I don’t like to underestimate or undermine these [Masters] 1000 event tournaments. They are the biggest tournaments we have in our ATP Tour,” Djokovic said. “In contrary, I want to peak at these as well.

“I really like to be in the moment and give my best whatever tournament that I’m playing on, whatever match I have to face.”

Djokovic has used his recent Big Title winning spree — he has claimed six of the past 12 — to earn and solidify his spot atop the ATP Rankings. This week, Djokovic leads World No. 2 Nadal by 4,170 points. And with Nadal defending 3,000 points at Rome and Roland Garros compared to Djokovic’s 720 points, the 31-year-old will have a chance to firm up his advantage even more as he tries to tie Pete Sampras’ record by finishing year-end World No. 1 for the sixth time.

Did You Know?
Djokovic has now won at least two Big Titles in eight of the past nine seasons. The Serbian won a record 10 Big Titles in 2015; no other player has claimed more than eight in a year.

Current and Former Champions’ Big Titles Won (Records Since 1990)

* Becker’s four other Grand Slam titles came before 1990.
** Edberg’s three other Grand Slam titles came before 1990.

Borna Coric, the No. 13 seed, was made to work hard on Monday at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome for his 6-7(4), 6-3, 6-4 win over #NextGenATP Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime. With his first victory at the Foro Italico, the Croatian will now play Australia’s John Millman or British qualifier Cameron Norrie in the second round.

Coric led his 18-year-old opponent 4-2 in the first set, but was made to pay for a slow start in the tie-break. He won the first three games of the second set and broke in the opening game of the decider en route to victory in two hours and 30 minutes.

Auger-Aliassime, at No. 30 in the ATP Rankings, is the youngest player in the Top 30 since Lleyton Hewitt (at No. 22) in 1999.

Elsewhere, 2010 Rome semi-finalist Fernando Verdasco knocked out Kyle Edmund of Great Britain 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 in two hours and 23 minutes for a clash against fifth-seeded Austrian Dominic Thiem.