TennisSection previews the 2021 Rome Open as Dominic Thiem (4) meets Marton Fucsovics in the Second Round on Wednesday May 12th, 2021.
Can Dominic Thiem continue his winning ways after his return to the ATP Tour? The number four seeded Austrian had a successful week in Madrid after a long break, will he keep the momentum going into the 2021 Rome Open? Or will the unseeded but talented Marton Fucsovics be in giant-killing mood and cause the massive upset?
Dominic Thiem is the #4 seed here at the 2021 Rome Open, and is currently ranked #4 in the world rankings. After a strong showing in 2020 where he finally won his breakthrough first Grand Slam title at the US Open, he is having a poor season thus far in 2021. After losing in the Fourth Round at the Australian Open, he suffered some shock early-round losses in Dubai and Doha. On his return, he made it to the Semi-Finals in Madrid, a positive result for the Austrian star. When he is fully fit and focused, he is one of the very best players in the world, and will be a serious threat to the title here in Rome as he gears up for an assault on the Roland Garros title. He enters this match against Marton Fucsovics as the heavy favorite, but his opponent is no to be underestimated.
Marton Fucsovics is unseeded here in Rome, and is currently ranked #44 in the ATP world rankings. While he has seen his ranking slide slightly in recent months, he is a very dangerous player that plays an attacking baseline game. The Hungarian #1 was in tremendous form in his opening round match here at the 2021 Rome Open, destroying Yoshihito Nishioka 6-0, 6-2 in under an hour. Fucsovics served extremely well during that match, only facing three total break points throughout. While he enters this match as the huge underdog, Dominic Thiem would be wise to not underestimate the Hungarian, as he has shown what he is capable of. He doesn’t possess the same consistency and firepower as the Austrian #1, but Thiem is not quite back to his best and could be in for a tough time here.
This will be the second time the two players have faced each other throughout their careers, and Dominic Thiem leads the head to head 1-0. They last played in 2019 in Hamburg on clay, with the Austrian coming away with a straight-sets victory. While Thiem has been away from the tour for a while and has not fully come up to speed, I expect him to still come away with the win here. Marton Fucsovics is a very dangerous player but most of his success has come on the faster surfaces, and he does not quite have the firepower to be able to hit through his opponent for an entire match. I don’t think it will be a walk in the park, but expect the experienced Austrian to figure it out and grind out a tough two set win, advancing to the Round of 16 here at the 2021 Rome Open.
Free Tennis Pick and Prediction: Dominic Thiem to win.
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