Djokovic Meets Norrie On Bumper Tuesday In Rome

The quarter-final places are up for grabs on Tuesday at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia, where a bumper schedule includes all eight fourth-round matches at the clay-court ATP Masters 1000 and some rain-delayed third-round battles held over from Monday.

Ahead in their postponed matches, fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas, 2017 champion Alexander Zverev and home favourite Lorenzo Musetti will all need to pull double duty to advance to the quarter-finals.

The fourth-round clashes that are already set are headlined by reigning champion Novak Djokovic’s meeting with Briton Cameron Norrie, while Casper Ruud meets Laslo Djere. Italian Jannik Sinner will lead home hopes against Francisco Cerundolo.

ATPTour.com looks at some of the key matchups on Day 7 across the men’s singles draw.

[1] Novak Djokovic (SRB) vs. [13] Cameron Norrie (GBR)

Djokovic has reached at least the quarter-finals in all 16 of his previous appearances in Rome. The Serbian will aim to extend that record to 17 when he meets British lefty Norrie in the fourth round.

The reigning champion Djokovic has done what’s been required so far in Rome, defeating Tomas Martin Etcheverry and Grigor Dimitrov to kickstart his quest for a record-extending 39th ATP Masters 1000 crown. The Serbian will look to move through the gears and find another level when he takes on Norrie in their third ATP Head2Head meeting.

Djokovic leads Norrie 2-0, but will be aware of the 27-year-old’s threat. Possessing endless amounts of stamina, the Briton can be expected to hang tough and grind away on the Italian clay as he seeks his second Masters 1000 fourth-round spot of the season. Norrie, who beat Alexandre Muller and Marton Fucsovics, is currently 10th in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin.

[4] Casper Ruud (NOR) vs. Laslo Djere (SRB)

After a modest season by his standards, Ruud has started to show signs of his best level this week in Rome. The Norwegian, who is a two-time semi-finalist at the clay-court event, swept aside Arthur Rinderknech in his opening match before he edged Alexander Bublik in a third-set tie-break.

Next up is Djere, who leads Ruud 2-0 in their ATP Head2Head series. Four years ago, Djere defeated Ruud on clay in Rio de Janeiro before he sunk the Norwegian in Auckland earlier this season. The 27-year-old Djere, who has yet to drop a set this week in Rome, will be aiming to reach the fourth round at an ATP Masters 1000 for the first time.

[8] Jannik Sinner (ITA) vs. [24] Francisco Cerundolo (ARG)

Home hope Sinner earned two contrasting victories to begin his bid to become the first Italian champion in Rome since Adriano Panatta in 1976. He swept aside Thanasi Kokkinakis but was pushed to three sets in a baseline battle with Alexander Shevchenko at the Foro Italico.

The 21-year-old can expect a similar test of his groundstrokes from the 24th-seeded Cerundolo on Tuesday. The Argentine had not won a main-draw match in the Italian capital prior to this year but has fought through two three-setters to book his last-16 spot. Sinner leads 2-1 in the pair’s ATP Head2Head series, with all three previous meetings coming on hard courts in 2022.

Also In Action…

Carlos Alcaraz conqueror Fabian Marozsan will look to back up his standout win against Madrid semi-finalist Borna Coric, while Andrey Rublev meets German qualifier Yannick Hanfmann. Rublev holds a 12-2 record on clay this season, highlighted by his title run in Monte-Carlo. Australian qualifier Alexei Popyrin, who defeated Felix Auger-Aliassime in the second round, seeks to end the debut run of seventh seed Holger Rune.

A 15th chapter of Daniil Medvedev and Zverev’s ATP Head2Head rivalry will also feature on the Tuesday schedule should the latter complete a third-round victory over J.J. Wolf. Zverev leads the American 6-4, 3-3.

Stefanos Tsitsipas leads Lorenzo Sonego 6-3 in his third-round match. The winner of that clash will play 12th seed Frances Tiafoe or home hope Lorenzo Musetti. The 21-year-old Musetti leads Tiafoe 5-7, 6-4, 2-1 with a break of serve in the deciding set as he looks to join his countryman Sinner in the fourth round.