There’s no pause for breath in tennis at the moment, with the men’s Madrid Masters final still to play, the Internazionali BNL d’Italia starts in Rome.
Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray (my 20/1 e/w tip at the start of the Madrid Open) will battle it out in the final in Madrid, with Nadal (4/11 at Coral) expected to dispose of the Brit (5/2 at bet365) on his favoured clay surface. In the women’s tournament, a series of shocks saw Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova dumped out in the semi-finals, with Simona Halep also knocked out in the second round. That left Petra Kvitova to clear up in the final against the unseeded 29-year-old Svetlana Kuznetsova – dropping just three games in the process.
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Regardless of the outcome in Madrid, there’s one clear favourite in Rome for the men’s title, and that is the returning Novak Djokovic (11/10 at bet365) – who opted out of the Madrid Masters in order to rest.
The Serbian appears unbeatable at the moment, winning every tournament he has entered this year. However, if Rafael Nadal (5/2 at BetVictor) can build on his improving form, he provides the biggest threat to Djokovic on clay.
Nadal holds the records for the most titles at the Italian Open, winning the tournament seven times since 2005. The only other player to have won in that period is, of course, Djokovic, who has won here three times – including last year’s edition in which he defeated the Spaniard in the final.
This year’s tournament could be a repeat of the 2014 final too, with Djokovic and Nadal on opposite sides of the draw. Standing in Djokovic’s way to the final is a tough potential quarter-final clash with Kei Nishikori (10/1 at Betfred), while Andy Murray (16/1 at Betfred) could meet him in the semis. In the bottom half of the draw, Nadal could meet Federer (14/1 at 888sport) in the last four – if all goes expected and they see off Stanislas Wawrinka (40/1 at 888sport) and Tomas Berdych (24/1 at 888sport) respectively in the quarters.
Best Bet: Rafael Nadal to win – 5/2 at BetVictor
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Serena Williams (5/2 at Betfred) has won back-to-back titles in Rome and, after losing her first match in 2015 in Madrid, she’ll be eager to bounce back ahead of the French Open and secure a title here.
Williams is lined-up for a potential semi-final clash with either Sharapova (6/1 at BetVictor) or Caroline Wozniacki (33/1 at SkyBet) but, given the unpredictably of the women’s game this year, that could easily change. On the other side of the draw, other likely finalist candidates are Simona Halep (5/1 at bet365), Eugiene Bouchard (80/1 at 888sport), or Madrid winner, Petra Kvitova (12/1 at BetVictor).
Outsider Tip: Eugiene Bouchard to win (E/W) – 80/1 at 888sport)
