Tommy Paul vs Dominik Koepfer Prediction & Betting Tips - ATP Italian Open

Prediction published on 12/05/2024, 03:50  by Steve Ashfield | Modified on 12/05/2024 at 04:51 in ATP Italian Open Predictions

Tommy Paul is the 14th seed for this year's Italian Open. He's in the third round for the first time ever and takes on unseeded Dominik Koepfer. For the winner of this match, there's a match in the last 16 against either the second seed Daniil Medvedev or qualifier Hadad Medjedovic. The American is 16th in the live rankings but a win here will take him up to 15th. Paul hasn't had a great deal of success in the past in this outdoor clay court Masters tournament. The past two years have seen him knocked out in the second round. He avoided that this year with a straight sets win over Aslan Karatsev. This is only his second clay court tournament of the year, the other saw him lose in the last 32 of the Madriid Masters. He's had three previous matches against Koepfer and leads 2-1. Their only match on clay was on a lower level tour in 2017 with Koepfer winning in three sets.

Dominik Koepfer was ranked 52nd in last Monday's list but is down to 66th in the live rankings. That's because he's defending the points earned when winning the Turin Challenger Tour event on clay last year. The German reached the last eight of this tournament in 2020 but this is the first time he's played in Rome since then. Koepfer has reached the third round without dropping a set. In round two, 22nd seed Frances Tiafoe was beaten by him, the second time this year he's beaten the American. This is a welcome return to form as he'd been beaten in his first match in each of the four clay court events he's played in recent weeks. We go for Paul to win this match.