Novak Djokovic vs Aslan Karatsev: No Chance for Aslan?

In the second round of the Rome Masters, Novak Djokovic will meet with Aslan Karatsev, the world No. 35. The men have played with each other twice. Aslan even managed to win once against the first racket of the world at Novak's tournament in Belgrade. Let's see how the upcoming fight will develop when Novak Djokovic is quoted as a favorite of the upcoming meeting.

For Novak the Masters in Rome will be the fourth clay tournament of the season. First, he failed in Monte Carlo, where he left after the first match against Davidovich Fokina. Then at a Belgrade tournament he lost to Rublev in the final. In Madrid, Djokovic was stopped by Alcaraz Garfia, a Spanish prodigy who eventually triumphed in his home capital. For a number one ranking, the results are so-so, but the statistics are striking, telling us clearly that Djokovic is gaining form. He was very close to the Masters final in Madrid: winning the first set against Alcaraz and a tie-break in the third game. The Spaniard was stronger, but there is a feeling that Djokovic will do everything possible to win the Rome Masters before Roland Garros, where Nadal also plays. Two important details are also worth noting. First, Djokovic is a five-time winner of the Rome Masters. Second, if Novak does not reach the semifinals in Rome, he will lose the title.

I definitely played very good tennis, I mean, the best that I have played this year. Probably when the disappointment of losing this match passes, I will have a lot of positives to take away from this week.

Djokovic after losing to Alcaraz

As much as last season was successful for Aslan, this year is a failure. Let's skip the twists and turns of the hard spring, let's look at Karatsev's 2022 on-court stats. So the Masters in Rome will be his fourth clay event of the season. Before that he suffered defeats in Monte Carlo, Belgrade and Madrid: to Rune, Otte and Goffin. In Rome Aslan had already played one match, unlike Novak, Karatsev barely, in three sets, but defeated No. 36 Lloyd Harris of South Africa. In the third set the guys played a tie-break which Karatsev won 9-7.

Karatsev is far from a good form, we can see it in Aslan's statistics on the tournaments. Djokovic, on the contrary, improved during the week, as he himself admitted in his interview after the loss to Alcaraz. Plus the surface in Rome for the Serb is comfortable enough, otherwise the Balkan would not have won so many titles in the Italian capital. There is strong evidence that the world number one will have no problem reaching the second round of the Rome Masters. We expect a confident victory for the Serb in a short-lived match. 

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