Andy Murray is back defending his Rome title from last year. He took down Novak Djokovic in the final, pretty easily as well at the end of the day on the clay. It was Murray’s first ever title at the event and it snapped back to back successes in the Italian capital for Djokovic himself. Now the big guns (minus Roger Federer) are back to compete this week as the season gains momentum towards the French Open 2017.
Rafael Nadal is the man of the moment as he is on a big hot streak of form on the dirt. He landed his first title of the season at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters back in April and hasn’t looked back since, claiming the Barcelona Open and then Mutua Madrid Open as well. He has lost just one of his last sixteen matches now (against Roger Federer in the final of the Miami Open) and with Murray and Djokovic both struggling for a bit of form at the moment, the Spaniard is even money favourite at Bet365 to win in Rome this week.
Nadal has won the Rome title seven times before and with him hitting his stride on clay, the master is really back in business at the moment and it’s hard to see either of the other main challengers topping him. Djokovic hasn’t been close to a title since winning the Qatar Open over Andy Murray back in January. Andy Murray himself hasn’t produced anything since his title in Dubai in February and that should leave the Italian path clean for Nadal and he is the one that everyone will want to avoid in the draw.
But it is Djokovic who gets him in his half of the draw, which means that there could be a repeat of the Mutua Madrid Open semi-final clash between them, which Nadal won. So Andy Murray is on his own in the top half of the draw and really there should be little to stop him winning his quarter of the draw, even if he phones it in a little bit here and there. It should be plain sailing. He could meet Milos Raonic in the quarter and then there is the potential of either Stan Wawrinka or Marin Cilic in the semi finals.
So while the draw is relatively open for Murray, it’s still hard to back him at the moment and certainly even if he gets to the final and meets either Djokovic or Nadal, there is a tough game ahead for him. So it will probably be better to stick with one of the front runners, either Nadal or Djokovic who is 5/1 at bet365 to win the title. At the moment, even though he is playing a lot more games than the other two because of successes, it has to be Nadal all of the way right now. It’s always appealing to go against the favourite, but in this case, it’s hard to. It’s going to take something special to snap Nadal’s momentum at the moment.
ATP Internazionali BNL d Italia Tennis Betting Odds
Rafael Nadal Even money, Novak Djokovic 5/1, Andy Murray 7/1, Dominic Thiem 16/1, Alexander Zverev 16/1, Stan Wawrinka 14/1, Juan Martin Del Potro 18/1, bar 33/1
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