ROGER FEDERER IS ON THE WEDNESDAY SCHEDULE IN ROME TENNIS MASTERS & RAFAEL RAFA NADAL TO FACE KOHLSCHREIBER

Written by: Staff on 10th May 2016

ROGER FEDERER IS ON THE WEDNESDAY SCHEDULE IN ROME TENNIS MASTERS & RAFAEL RAFA NADAL TO FACE KOHLSCHREIBER

epa04749772 Roger Federer of Switzerland celebrates after beating Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic in their quarter final match of the Italian Open tennis tournament at the Foro Italico in Rome, Italy, 15 May 2015. EPA/ALESSANDRO DI MEO |

By Ricky Dimon

Roger Federer is expected to kick off his campaign at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia on Wednesday afternoon. Assuming physical problems do not once again get in the way, Federer will go up against Alexander Zverev as second-round action concludes. Rafael Nadal, Milos Raonic, and Nick Kyrgios are also aiming for spots in the last 16. Ricky previews Wednesday’s best matchups and makes his picks.

(3) Roger Federer vs. Alexander Zverev

There will be a 15-year age gap when Federer and Zverev go head-to-head for the first time in their careers. The 34-year-old Swiss has already withdrawn from four events this season–Rotterdam and Dubai due to a knee injury, Miami because of illness, and Madrid last week as a result of a back issue. Speculation is running rampant that Federer may not be able to play in Rome or–if he does–will be less than 100 percent. By his standards, the world No. 2 is a relatively disappointing 31-15 at this tournament and is still in search of his first title.

Zverev gave himself a shot at Federer by crushing Grigor Dimitrov 6-1, 6-4 on Monday. The 19-year-old German is 17-11 for his 2016 campaign with semifinal showings in Montpellier and Munich in addition to a fourth-round finish in Indian Wells. He is an impressive 7-3 so far during this European clay-court run. Zverev is capable of taking matters into his own hands with his heavy-hitting game, but the result of this one will likely come down almost entirely to Federer’s health. If the 17-time major champion is 100 percent, he should be able to shake off some rust and add much-needed matches to his schedule in advance of Roland Garros.

Pick: Federer in 3

Philipp Kohlschreiber vs. (5) Rafael Nadal

Nadal will be looking to recover from a Madrid semifinal loss to Andy Murray when he takes the court on Wednesday. The Spaniard captured back-to-back titles on the clay courts of Monte-Carlo and Barcelona, but his momentum–and his bid for the No. 4 seed at the French Open–suffered a blow last week. Conditions in Rome, however, have always been more suitable to Nadal than they are in Madrid. He is 47-4 lifetime at this event with seven titles.

Spanish tennis player Rafael Nadal hits the ball against British Andy Murray during their Mutua Madrid Open semifinals match played at Caja Magica tennis complex in Madrid, Spain, on 07 May 2016. EPA/JuanJo Martin

Up first for Nadal is Kohlschreiber, who is a dreadful 1-12 in their ATP-level head-to-head series. The nine-time Roland Garros champion is 4-0 at Kohlschreiber’s expense on clay with set scores of 6-2, 6-3, 6-1, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4, 6-3, and 6-3. They just met in Barcelona, where Nadal had no trouble coasting through a semifinal affair. Kohlschreiber set up this rematch by cruising past Inigo Cervantes 6-4, 6-2 on Tuesday afternoon. The 26th-ranked German is 20-9 for the year and 12-4 in his last 16 matches, but he is a futile 0-21 in his last 21 non-retirement efforts against top-10 opponents.

Pick: Nadal in 2

(10) Milos Raonic vs. Nick Kyrgios

Raonic and Kyrgios will be facing each other for the fifth time in their careers on Wednesday. The head-to-head series stands at 2-2, but Raonic won their only previous clay-court contest 6-3, 7-6(1), 6-3 two years ago at the French Open. They split a pair of Wimbledon battles in 2014 and 2015 before Kyrgios extended his winning streak against the Canadian to two by getting the job done 6-4, 7-6(4) two months ago in the Miami quarterfinals.

Both big hitters are coming off Monday wins over Italian wild cards, although they took much different routes to victory. Kyrgios blitzed little-known Salvatore Caruso 6-1, 6-2, while Raonic scraped past a more established competitor in Marco Cecchinato 6-4, 4-6, 6-4. Despite not being at his very best, the 10th seed improved to 24-5 for a year in which he has not yet lost prior to the quarterfinals of any event. Kyrgios is 20-6 and has reached at least the quarterfinals in five of seven tournaments in 2016. The 20-year-old may be more reliable from the baseline than his opponent, but Raonic boasts an even bigger serve and his current match toughness may be unequaled by anyone except Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray. This could be a scenario in which Kyrgios wins as many if not more total points only to see Raonic win the bigger points.

Pick: Raonic in 3