Italian Open 2021: Novak Djokovic vs Stefanos Tsitsipas preview, head-to-head & prediction

Match details

Fixture: (1) Novak Djokovic vs (5) Stefanos Tsitsipas

Date: 15 May 2021*

Tournament: Internazionali BNL d'italia 2021

Round: Quarterfinals

Venue: Rome, Italy

Category: ATP Masters 1000

Surface: Red clay

Prize money: €2,082,960

Match timing: 11 am local time, 9 am GMT, 5 am EST

Live telecast: USA - Tennis Channel | UK - Amazon Prime Video

*Note: This match was initially scheduled for 14 May, but a rain interruption has caused it to be postponed to 15 May. Stefanos Tsitsipas was leading Novak Djokovic 6-4, 2-1 when play was halted on the 14th.

Novak Djokovic vs Stefanos Tsitsipas preview

World No. 1 Novak Djokovic will take on Stefanos Tsitsipas in the quarterfinals of the 2021 Italian Open on Friday.

Djokovic brushed aside the challenge of Alejandro Davidovich Fokina on Thursday, winning 6-2, 6-1 in just 70 minutes. With this win, the Serb is now into his 15th quarterfinal at the Italian Open in 15 attempts.

The five-time champion played a very clean game overall, coughing up only 17 unforced errors in comparison to the 30 that Davidovich Fokina racked up. Djokovic also fared better in the winners department, striking 16 to the Spaniard's 11.

However, the most impressive statistic from Djokovic's match was his performance in the return games. The World No. 1 won a mammoth 30 of the 54 points he played on Davidovich Fokina's serve, which suggests he's finally rounding into top form in this clay season.

Stefanos Tsitsipas, meanwhile, defeated home favorite Matteo Berrettini in his Round-of-16 match on Thursday. The Greek won 7-6(3), 6-2 to make it to the last-eight in Rome for the second time in his career.

Berrettini gave Tsitsipas a very tough fight in the opening set, which was level until the latter stages of the tiebreak. But a dubious umpiring call in favor of Tsitsipas (Berrettini felt that the Greek had hit the ball twice on one point) seemed to completely deflate the Italian.

Berrettini racked up 23 winners to Tsitsipas' 16, but the Greek was the more accurate player on the day with a mere seven unforced errors to his name (Berrettini committed 20).

Novak Djokovic vs Stefanos Tsitsipas head-to-head

Novak Djokovic leads Stefanos Tsitsipas by a margin of 4-2 in the head-to-head. They have played twice before on clay - the 2019 Madrid Masters and the 2020 French Open - with Djokovic winning both of those encounters.

Novak Djokovic vs Stefanos Tsitsipas prediction

Novak Djokovic

While Stefanos Tsitsipas has undoubtedly been one of the best players on clay this year, his form has witnessed a dip since the end of the Barcelona Open. Tsitsipas lost early in Madrid and hasn't been at his fluent best against either Berrettini or Cilic this week in Rome.

Novak Djokovic, on the other hand, is seemingly getting better with each match, which doesn't bode well for the Greek. While Tsitsipas has the serve and groundstrokes to trouble the Serb, the latter's return - if on song - could be a big difference-maker on Friday.

This match is tough to call, given that both players have plenty in their arsenal to outdo the other. But Djokovic's clutch play in big moments is likely to tilt the scales in his favor.

Prediction: Novak Djokovic to win in three sets.