Serbia

Novak Djokovic

Greece

Stefanos Tsitsipas

The first game is expected to be a hard-fought one. At least 10 games will be played

After Djokovic's failure to play at the Australian Open 2022, the tennis player's game began to decline. This season, Novak has yet to win a single tournament. He lost to Jiri Vesela in Dubai, crushed Alejandro Davidovic-Fokina in Monte Carlo and lost to Carlos Alcaraz at the Madrid Masters. In 2021 Djokovic reached the final in Rome, where he was defeated by Rafael Nadal 5-7, 6-1, 3-6. At the current tournament in the Italian capital the Serb began with a confident win over Russia's Aslan Karatsev (6-3, 6-2), then easily crushed Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland (6-2, 6-2), who recently recovered from a foot injury. In the quarter-finals the Belgrade-born player beat a hard-fought Canadian, Felix Auger-Allassim, 7-5, 7-6. In the semi-finals the world number one overcame Norway's Kasper Ruud in two sets (6-4, 6-3). Tsitsipas suffered only two defeats in 16 matches on the court this season. At the first Masters in Rome, Stefanos beat Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov 6-3, 5-7, 7-6, Russian Karen Khachanov 4-6, 6-0, 6-3 and Italian Yannick Cinner 7-6, 6-2. In the semi-finals, the Athens native won a strong victory over Germany's Alexander Zverev (4-6, 6-3, 6-3). Bookmakers see Djokovic as the favourite. Novak has a vast amount of experience. Let's not forget that the Serb leads 6-3 in head-to-head meetings with Tsitsipas. However, it should be a tough start to the match. The favourite will have to try hard to seize the initiative. Both tennis players will take their serves and try not to make mistakes. The first set is likely to be long. The spectators will not be bored. An interesting confrontation is expected. It is worth betting that at least 10 games will be played in the first set.