Preview: Nadal & Tsitsipas Meet Again, Djokovic Takes On Schwartzman In Rome

Rafael Nadal and Stefanos Tsitsipas will square off for a second straight Saturday – this time in Rome with a place in the Internazionali BNL d’Italia final on the line.

In the Rome night session, World No. 1 Novak Djokovic will meet Argentine Diego Schwartzman. Djokovic won a record-tying 33rd ATP Masters 1000 title on Sunday in Madrid. Schwartzman will be appearing in his first ATP Masters 1000 semi-final. All four semi-finalists have made it to the weekend without dropping a set.

Nadal has a chance for revenge on the #NextGenATP Greek after his shocking semi-final loss last week at the Mutua Madrid Open. The Spaniard leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head 3-1, including a semi-final victory at this year’s Australian Open. The World No. 2 has been in brutal form from the first ball in Rome, dropping just six games to reach the semi-finals and recording a 6-0 set in all three of his victories.

He also has experience at this juncture of a Masters 1000 tournaments on his side. Nadal is appearing in a record 71st Masters 1000 semi-final and is trying to reach his 50th Masters 1000 final (33-16), while Tsitsipas is looking to reach his third final at this level.

The eight-time Rome champion seeks his first title of the season. Nadal recorded semi-final showings this clay season at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters, Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell and Madrid. But while Nadal gave high praise to Tsitsipas, he is confident he can turn the tables on Saturday.

“The theory is always easy, but the execution is much more difficult,” said Nadal. “Tennis is a simple sport. After a lot of years here, I know what happened last week and I’m going to try to do it better tomorrow.”

Tsitsipas became the youngest player to beat Nadal on clay and looks to join Djokovic (2011 Madrid and Rome) as the only players to beat him in back-to-back clay tournaments. Although he was aided by a walkover quarter-final win over Roger Federer, Tsitsipas has been in top form this week and advanced to the last four without dropping a set.

Consistency has been the Greek’s mantra throughout 2019. He has more ATP Tour match wins (29) and more finals (4) than anyone this season. The 2018 Next Gen ATP Finals champion (d. De Minaur) had to go through qualifying last year in Rome when he arrived at No. 43 in the ATP Rankings, but if he can beat Nadal on Saturday, he’ll move to No. 5 on Monday.

Djokovic leads his FedEx ATP Head2Head against Schwartzman 2-0, but they haven’t played in two years. The Serbian has put in a heroic effort by winning two matches on Thursday and then saving two match points to topple Juan Martin del Potro in an epic quarter-final.

Read & Watch: Djokovic Saves 2 MP Against Del Potro

Schwartzman has enjoyed a milestone week by defeating a Top 6 player for the first time in Kei Nishikori and reaching his first Masters 1000 semi-final. He now looks to beat Top 10 opponents in back-to-back matches for the first time in his career. The Argentine has been stellar in return games this week, leading the tournament with 18 breaks of serve (out of 36 games).

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

— ATP Tour (@ATP_Tour) May 18, 2019

The doubles semi-finals will also take place on Saturday. Top seeds Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo face third seeds Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah in the final match on Campo Centrale, while fifth seeds Oliver Marach and Mate Pavic square off with sixth seeds Raven Klaasen and Michael Venus on Pietrangeli.

ORDER OF PLAY – SATURDAY, MAY 18, 2019

CENTRALE start 12:00 noon
WTA match
Not Before 2:30 pm
ATP – [8] Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE) vs [2] Rafael Nadal (ESP) 
Not Before 5:00 pm
WTA match
Not Before 8:00 pm
ATP – [1] Novak Djokovic (SRB) vs Diego Schwartzman (ARG) 
ATP – [1] Lukasz Kubot (POL) / Marcelo Melo (BRA) vs [3] Juan Sebastian Cabal (COL) / Robert Farah (COL) 

PIETRANGELI start 12:00 noon
2 WTA matches
Not Before 6:00 pm
ATP – [5] Oliver Marach (AUT) / Mate Pavic (CRO) vs [6] Raven Klaasen (RSA) / Michael Venus (NZL)