By Tony Fairbairn
- Aryna Sabalenka [1] v Sofia Kenin [31]
- Arthur Fils [13] v Stefanos Tsitsipas [18]
- Mirra Andreeva [7] v Linda Noskova [30]
ROME, ITALY – Aryna Sabalenka continues her clay court charge when she takes on former Roland Garros finalist Sofia Kenin in the third round of Rome.
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Aryna Sabalenka [1] v Sofia Kenin [31] H2H & Match Fundamentals
| Aryna Sabalenka [1] v Sofia Kenin [31] | H2H: Sabalenka leads 3-1 |
| Rome 2025 | Rome, Italy |
| Clay (O) | Prize Money: €38,313 |
| First on Campo Centrale (10:00 BST) | Sky/Now TV <- Subscription Required |
World number one Aryna Sabalenka continues to prove why she is the best player in the world as she continues to produce incredible form. Fresh off her title in Madrid, Sabalenka continued her dominant clay court form with victory over Anastasia Potapova as the top seed continues to add new things to her game. However, Sabalenka will not get complacent any time soon with eyes set on a first Roland Garros title later this month she knows she will need to continue this high level of play on a consistent basis.
A tricky next match awaits in the form of former Roland Garros finalist Sofia Kenin. The American has had a decent start to the season with a quarter-final in Dubai being followed up by reaching the final in Charleston. The craft, point construction and variety of Kenin can prove to be a challenge for any player to play against on clay with the American having previous success on the red dirt. Now Kenin will hope to revitalise her previous success with another big upset in her sights.
Sabalenka will take the ball early as she aims to rush Kenin’s play but will need to use the drop shot selectively in this contest. Meanwhile Kenin will need to maintain an aggressive court position in order to dictate the contest on her terms. As long as Sabalenka can maintain a high first serve percentage then the world number one should advance to the last 16.
Prediction: Sabalenka in straight sets.
Arthur Fils [13] v Stefanos Tsitsipas [18] H2H & Match Fundamentals
| Arthur Fils [13] v Stefanos Tsitsipas [18] | H2H: Fils leads 3-0 |
| Rome 2025 | Rome, Italy |
| Clay (O) | Prize Money: €52,925 |
| First on GrandStand Arena (10:00 BST) | Sky/Now TV <- Subscription Required |
There is no doubting that Arthur Fils is going to be a massive problem on clay. The Frenchman has already proved that with a Monte-Carlo quarter-final and a Barcelona semi-final on the red dirt this season. However, the 20 year-old will hope to avoid complacency as he looks to bounce back from an early exit in Madrid last week in order to boost his Roland Garros preparations with another deep run at a Masters 1000 event.
The Frenchman will now get to renew his rivalry with Stefanos Tsitsipas next with the Greek in consistent form lately. It’s not the consistent form that Tsitsipas would have liked though as Tsitsipas has struggled to reach the latter stages of tournaments since his run to the Dubai title in February. The 26 year-old has proven in the past he can be a big contender on the clay but now he has to back that up and show that he has the quality to beat anyone on his day which he has struggled to do in recent months.
Fils will look to be aggressive on serve as he will use the forehand to create angles and force Tsitsipas into high-risk shots on the backhand side. Meanwhile Tsitsipas will take the ball early on the forehand in order to test Fils’ patience in long rallies. This will be a good test for Fils but the Frenchman should have too much consistent quality and aggression for the passive Tsitsipas.
Prediction: Fils in three sets.
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Mirra Andreeva [7] v Linda Noskova [30] H2H & Match Fundamentals
| Mirra Andreeva [7] v Linda Noskova [30] | H2H: Andreeva leads 2-1 |
| Rome 2025 | Rome, Italy |
| Clay (O) | Prize Money: €38,313 |
| Fourth on Campo Centrale (Not before 18:00 BST) | Sky/Now TV <- Subscription Required |
The year of Mirra Andreeva continues to get better and better as the youngster as gone from pretender to contender. A comprehensive win over clay courter Emiliana Arango is proof that Andreeva has matured and is in a position where she can compete for titles on a regular basis. Now Andreeva has her sights set on more big titles as she looks to defend her Roland Garros semi-final points from last year.
The next test for Andreeva is 30th seed Linda Noskova who has shown her versatility over the last year. It was a very good start to the season for Noskova who achieved deep runs in Abu Dhabi and Dubai but has since struggled to create consistent form. The Czech Republican will hope her dip in form doesn’t last as she would like to maintain her status as a top 30 player and bids for more deep Grand Slam runs in the future.
Andreeva will look to be aggressive on the backhand side, using the serve to nullify Noskova’s attacking qualities. Meanwhile Noskova will take the ball early, rushing Andreeva’s patient style of play. This will be a good test for Andreeva but the seventh seed should have enough quality to advance to the last 16.
Prediction: Andreeva in three sets.
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