When you subscribe we will use the information you provide to send you these newsletters. Sometimes they'll include recommendations for other related newsletters or services we offer. Our Privacy Notice explains more about how we use your data, and your rights. You can unsubscribe at any time. Sign up forfor news on the biggest players and tournaments Thiem was one of the favourites to win the Italian Open and was placed in the same quarter as Nadal and half as Federer. The Austrian beat Federer in Madrid and was confident of putting on a similar display should they have crossed paths in Rome. But Fernando Verdasco pulled off a big shock by beating Thiem in their second-round clash this afternoon. The tie was due to be played yesterday but had to be postponed because of the heavy rain.<doc-sep>Djokovic with French Open market support Novak Djokovic lifted the Madrid trophy yesterday evening with a relatively routine victory over Stefanos Tsitsipas, winning in straight sets and without facing a single break point. Coupled with Rafa Nadal's elimination at the hands of Tsitsipas in the previous round, has seen market support for Djokovic ahead of the French Open. He stands now at 3.309/4 in from around 4.407/2 for the second Grand Slam of 2019, with Nadal still market favourite, but drifting to 3.002/1 at the time of writing. First round continues in Rome on Monday However, prior to Roland Garros, the big names still have to negotiate the Rome Masters with this being the last event for most to get some competitive court action in advance of Paris, which begins in a fortnight. Conditions here are likely to be slower than that in Madrid - all clay courts on the main tour tend to be - and look a touch above medium-paced for the surface. Today's action sees 11 first-round clashes, following the five which began round one yesterday morning and as is often in the case for the bigger Masters tournaments, there's some decent-looking match-ups even at this early stage. Coric with advantage over Auger-Aliassime Opening proceedings at 10am UK time is Borna Coric and Felix Auger-Aliassime, and I'm surprised to see Auger-Aliassime chalked up as the 1.9720/21 favourite. Both players have very high potential and given Auger-Aliassime's age, he could quite conceivably have massive future upside, but today, I'm more concerned with the here and now. Both this season and 12 month clay data show Coric to have better numbers than his Canadian rival, so considering him as an underdog looks pretty mandatory. He's coming off the back of an opening round defeat in Madrid, but closer examination of that loss against Lucas Pouille gives us more confidence - he was 1/13 on return break points against the Frenchman (Pouille was 3/6) and therefore it's reasonable to consider this a negative variance defeat. Coric as a marginal underdog is today's recommendation. Question marks over Gasquet in advance of Chardy clash Moving through the card, several of the later matches on the schedule look difficult to price up. Injury-hit Richard Gasquet would normally be a decent prospect at 2.305/4 against countryman Jeremy Chardy - a player who he's beaten regularly in the past - but these days it's tough to know where the Frenchman's game is at. Anything possible with Tsonga v Fognini This is also the case for Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, taking on Fabio Fognini. Monte Carlo champion Fognini is currently 1.454/9 on the Exchange, which in normal circumstances would look rather short. However, the market is clearly defensive on Tsonga and with fairly good reason. The veteran retired in Monte Carlo a month ago against Taylor Fritz, when a set and break down, and we've only seen him in action in one event since then, where he played the Bordeaux challenger. After a solid win against Viktor Troicki in his opener, he struggled. A fairly tight win priced at around 1.101/10 against the extremely limited Hugo Nys was far from a vote of confidence, and then he was beaten in straightforward fashion when starting at around 1.162/13 by Filip Horansky. It's impossible to know Tsonga's condition in advance of this round and against an opponent capable of meltdown himself, this is probably a match best left alone. Ramos capable of competing against Monfils The final match I want to discuss today is Albert Ramos against Gael Monfils, with Monfils a heavy 1.374/11 market favourite. I think Ramos could keep this closer than the market suspects - he had a solid win over Jaume Munar in qualifiers and does possess a decent longer-term record on his favoured surface, although he's struggled in the last year or so. However, in the last 18 months, Monfils hasn't impressed on the dirt either, running at around a 100% combined serve/return points won percentage. Against a player already acclimatised to the slower conditions here, the market is perhaps seduced by Monfils' reputation as opposed to anything that he's achieved of note on the surface recently. *** Follow Dan on Twitter @TennisRatings<doc-sep>Serena Williams and Venus Williams will face each other in the second round of the Italian Open, a clash that constitutes the first meeting between the two siblings on European clay for 17 years. Serena fell behind 3-1 in the first set before opening her clay court season with a routine 6-4, 6-2 win over Swedish qualifier Rebecca Peterson on Monday in the first round of the Italian Open. After a shaky start, she began to take control with her baseline power on a windy day at the Foro Italico. When she ran down a passing attempt from Peterson and replied with a cross-court winner to break for a 5-2 lead in the second set, she let out a scream and bent over as she pumped both of her fists. Serena was playing for the first time since withdrawing ahead of her third-round match at the Miami Open in March because of a left knee injury. The last time she had played in Rome was when she won the last of her four Italian Open trophies in 2016. Venus, who won her only Rome title 20 years ago, defeated Elise Mertens 7-5, 3-6, 7-6 (4) after more than three hours, requiring nine match points before eliminating her Belgian opponent. The Williams sisters’ last match on red clay came in the 2002 French Open final, won by Serena. In their last match in Rome, Venus won their second career meeting way back in the 1998 quarter-finals. “That’s crazy,” Serena said. “I vaguely remember that, so I don’t really remember ... We play each other a lot. Seems like every tournament nowadays we meet early. It is what it is.” Serena is now a 37-year-old mother and Venus is 38. “It doesn’t change at all. We’re just as fierce, Venus is just as fierce,” Serena said. “We both really want to get some match play. We’ll both do the best that we can.” Serena leads the career series 18-12. “I know that she’s going to play really well and compete really well,” Venus said. “That’s a given.” Meanwhile, Johanna Konta will face American Sloane Stephens in the second round after a straight-sets win over her compatriot Alison Riske. Konta took fewer than 90 minutes to defeat Riske 6-4 6-1 in the first round on Monday. The British No 1 beat 2017 US Open champion Stephens in Brisbane in January, their only previous meeting. Others advancing on the women’s side included Dominika Cibulkova, Katerina Siniakova and Yulia Putintseva. In the men’s draw, Kyle Edmund bowed out after a first-round defeat to Fernando Verdasco. Edmund took the first set 6-4, but Spaniard Verdasco hit back to win the second and third 6-4, 6-2 and wrapped up victory in two hours and 23 minutes. The 2010 Rome semi-finalist, who converted five of the 16 break points he earned against the Briton, will meet fifth seed Dominic Thiem in the second round. In other action, 13th-seeded Borna Ćorić rallied past Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-7 (4), 6-3, 6-4 in a clash of two of the top young players on tour. Auger-Aliassime struggled with his serve, hitting seven double-faults to Ćorić’s one.<doc-sep>
Published 05/16/2019, 2:08 PM PDT After a rainy day in Rome, the play in the Italian city resumed with incessant tennis action on all courts of Foro Italico. Most of the ATP and WTA players played two matches today and compensated for yesterday’s prolonged wait to hit the tennis courts. The Austrian, Dominic Thiem lost 6-4, 4-6, 5-7 to the Spaniard, Fernando Verdasco. ADVERTISEMENT Article continues below this ad The NextGen clay-courter, Thiem was to have expected a deep run at the Italian Open 2019 and he was drawn in the same half as Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. In Madrid last week, he played a thespian match against the Swiss World Number three, where he faced two match points and later pulled off the rabbit out of the hat. Dominic Thiem After his second round exit, World NUmber four, Dominic Thiem fumed at the Rome Masters organizers. Despite being aware of the weather conditions of the city yesterday all the players were asked to come for their matches to their respective courts and they had to wait all day because of the rain. ADVERTISEMENT Article continues below this ad “I don’t like anything how we’ve been treated players in this tournament,” Dominic Thiem ranted. “Yesterday was not acceptable. They told us to be here at seven in the morning and everyone knew it was going to rain all day”. Dominic Thiem was furious with the organizers of the Italian Open 2019. “They also knew there was going to be a game and the way to the hotel took an hour and a half. I could not get treatment because if not, I would not have been able to sleep and they put me to play today at 10 am. It’s unacceptable. I’m very angry”, Dominic Thiem added. Dominic Thiem On the other ATP courts, the ‘Big Three’ of tennis move into the quarterfinals of the Italian Open 2019. Followed by Juan Martin del Potro, Fernando Verdasco, Kei Nishikori, and Diego Schwartzman all booked their quarterfinals berths after playing two consecutive matches on the Italian sludge.