Novak Djokovic vs Alejandro Tabilo Prediction & Betting Tips - ATP Italian Open

Prediction published on 11/05/2024, 03:46  by Steve Ashfield | Modified on 11/05/2024 at 04:47 in ATP Italian Open Predictions

Top seed Novak Djokovic will hopefully have fully recovered for this third round match against the 29th seed Alejandro Tabilo. The top seed was struck on the head by a bottle while signing autographs and fell to the ground. He'd just beaen lucky loser Corentin Moutet in round two of this Italian Open outdoor clay court tournament. Djokovic has won this tournament on six previous occasions between 2008 and 2022. However, it's the month of May and the world number two is yet to win a tournament this year. This is only his second clay court tournament of the year and the other saw him reach the last four in Monte Carlo. He's top of the world rankings but only 12th in the Live ATP Race based on points earned this year. The winner of this match will take on either 20th seed Francisco Cerundolo or the 16th seeded Karen Khachanov in round four.

While Djokovic is yet to win a tournament this year, his opponent has won two titles. Tabilo won a hard court event held in Auckland and last week won a clay court Challenger Tour tournament in Aix-Provence. He also recently got to the last four in Bucharest and in South America was the runner-up in the Chile Open. He's 25th in the live rankings and 20th in the ATP Race. This is his first appearance in this Masters tournament and in round two he beat Yannick Hanfmann in straight sets. This is far tougher of course but we go for over 19.5 games to be played in this match.