Serbia

Hamad Medjedovic

Russia

Daniil Medvedev

The favourite will have no problems. The Russian will win

Russian Daniil Medvedev will play against Serbian Hamad Medjedovic in the third round of the Masters in Rome. The match will take place on 13 May. Medjedovic has won two consecutive matches at the ATP main draw level for the first time this year. Earlier in the season, the Serb missed several months due to injury. His first relatively successful performance was at the Masters in Madrid. In the Spanish capital Medjedovic not only qualified, but also won one match in the main draw - after defeating Aleksandar Kovacevic, he was stopped by Jiri Legecka. The winner of last year's Youth Final in Rome also overcame qualification at the 1000th event, after which he scored great victories over Alexey Popyrin and Alejandro Davidovic-Fokina. Medvedev started the tournament with a 7-5, 6-4 victory over Britain's Jack Draper. Djokovic's protégé won the Youth Open, Nadal announced his return and Erika Andreeva reached the final in Andorra. Before the match, there were fears that the Russian would not be able to play to his full potential due to an injury sustained in Madrid, but as it turned out, he was already fine. After the game, Medvedev confirmed that he had recovered in time: "The last two days before the tournament I gave 100 per cent in training. So in a way I wasn't worried, but it's nice to finally play a match and make sure that I'm ready. I didn't have any pain, and I'm happy about that too. However, Medvedev complained a lot about the conditions - the court is slow, the balls are heavy and it's almost impossible to hit a forehand. Even in such conditions Daniil is ready to fight for the title in Rome for the second year in a row. His victories over Popyrin and Davidovic-Fokina clearly show that the Serb is ready to compete with many top-100 players, but not with Medvedev. The favourite will succeed. You can bet on the Russian to win.