Daniil Medvedev and Stefanos Tsitsipas will be among the seeded players in action when round two of the Rome Masters begins on Friday. They are set for respective meetings with Cameron Norrie and Alexandre Muller.
(LL) Cameron Norrie vs. (10) Daniil Medvedev
Medvedev and Norrie will be going head-to-head for the the fourth time in their careers when they collide in round two of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia on Friday. All three of their previous encounters have gone Medvedev’s way; 6-3, 6-1 at the 2019 Shanghai Masters, 7-5, 6-0 at the 2022 Los Cabos tournament, and 7-5, 6-1 at the 2024 Miami Masters.
A move from hard courts to clay should help Norrie; after all, Medvedev is a self-proclaimed hard-court specialist. Norrie’s heavy-topspin forehand works well on the red stuff, although his flat backhand is not quite as effective as it is on grass or a slick hard court. The 91st-ranked Brit is already on his second life in Rome, having lost to Dusan Lajovic 6-1, 4-6, 6-3 in qualifying before getting a lucky-loser spot in the main draw. Norrie made the most of his opportunity by beating Christopher O’Connell 6-3, 6-2 on Wednesday. This could be competitive, but Medvedev is coming off a quarterfinal result in Madrid and he is a former champion of this tournament (2023)–so he should have enough to advance.
Pick: Medvedev in 3
Alexandre Muller vs. (18) Stefanos Tsitsipas
This is Tsitsipas’ favorite time of year, and so far the European clay-court swing has been unspectacular. The world No. 19 advanced to quarterfinals in Monte-Carlo and Barcelona before losing to Lorenzo Musetti for a second time in the span of three tournaments in the Madrid third round. Tsitsipas is 16-7 lifetime in Rome with one runner-up showing, two semifinal finishes, and two quarterfinal performances.
Up first for the No. 18 seed on Friday is a second meeting with Muller. They previously squared off this past fall in Shanghai, where Tsitsipas got the job done 6-3, 7-5. Muller certainly won’t be taken lightly in the rematch–especially not on clay. Nine of the Frenchman’s 16 main-tour wins in 2025 have come on clay, including a runner-up effort in Rio de Janeiro, a third-round appearance in Madrid, and a 2-6, 6-3, 7-6(5) victory over Jiri Lehecka on Wednesday. As well as Muller is playing, he doesn’t have huge firepower and would probably need Tsitsipas’ backhand to go off the rails in order to win this match. But the one-hander is usually most stable on a relatively slow court.
Pick: Tsitsipas in 2
