Italian Open 2024: Tommy Paul vs Dominik Koepfer preview, head-to-head, prediction, odds and pick

Match Details

Fixture: (14) Tommy Paul vs Dominik Koepfer

Date: May 13, 2024

Tournament: Italian Open 2024

Round: Third Round (Round of 32)

Venue: Foro Italico, Rome, Italy

Category: ATP Masters 1000

Surface: Clay

Prize money: £7,877,020

Live telecast: USA - Tennis Channel | UK - Sky Sports | Canada - TSN+

Tommy Paul vs Dominik Koepfer preview

Fourteenth seed Tommy Paul will square off against Dominik Koepfer in the third round of the 2024 Italian Open on Monday.

Paul received a bye into the second round, where he faced Aslan Karatsev. An early break in the first set sealed the deal for the American, who went on to capture the opener.

Karatsev proved to be no match for Paul in the second set and wilted under pressure. Paul swept the last five games of the match to register a comfortable 6-4, 6-2 win. However, the American's doubles campaign ended in the first round, as he and Taylor Fritz lost to Tomas Martin Etcheverry and Francisco Cerundolo.

Koepfer, meanwhile, beat home favorite Andrea Vavassori 6-4, 6-3 in his opener to set up a second-round showdown with 22nd seed Frances Tiafoe. The German put himself in the driver's seat in the first set, thanks to an early break.

Koepfer served for the set at 5-3 and fended off a break point before claiming the set. Tiafoe didn't put up much of a fight in the second set as the German outplayed him for a routine 6-4, 6-2 victory.

Tommy Paul vs Dominik Koepfer head-to-head

Paul leads Koepfer 1-0 in the head-to-head. He won their most recent encounter at the 2024 Dallas Open in straight sets.

Tommy Paul vs Dominik Koepfer odds

Player	Moneyline	Handicap Bets	Total Games
Tommy Paul	-160	+1.5 (-400)	Over 22.5 (-105)
Dominik Koepfer	+125	-1.5 (+260)	Under 22.5 (-135)

(Odds are sourced from BetMGM)

Tommy Paul vs Dominik Koepfer prediction

Koepfer had bowed out in the first round at his previous four tournaments on clay, so this week has been a welcome change. Now that he has reached the third round in Rome, Paul will aim to go further as he was eliminated at this stage in Madrid as well.

Koepfer has a 7-23 record against top-20 opposition, but three of those seven wins have come this year. However, he's just 1-5 against them on clay. Paul isn't the first player that springs to mind when one thinks of quality claycourters and has struggled a fair bit on the surface.

Paul (17-24) and Koepfer (15-17)'s career records on clay are almost comparable. There's a good chance that the American could stumble, but his overall superior results make him the slight favorite heading into this encounter.

Pick: Tommy Paul to win in three sets

About the author

Rohit is a journalist at Sportskeeda who specializes in covering tennis. Having been with the company for three years, he has proven himself as a formidable force in the field. With a Master's degree in law, Rohit brings his analytical and research skills to the forefront as a journalist. He stays on top of the game by using social media platforms and never misses a match for on-court insights. He values giving credit where it's due, keeping his reporting fair and accurate.

At the outset of his career, Rohit found his niche in writing previews and SEO pieces and it's this expertise that continues to define his role at Sportskeeda. He is particularly proud of one article that garnered an impressive 750k views and surpassed his "wildest dreams." Rohit is not particularly fond of (GOAT) debates and it is one of the reasons why he left the legal world behind. He prefers to view players in "tiers," where they're all esteemed to an extent. However, if pressed to name favorites, he would choose Serena and Venus Williams. The Williams sisters' journey from humble beginnings to the pinnacle of tennis has been his greatest source of inspiration.

When he isn't busy making spot-on predictions about match outcomes, Rohit likes reading, particularly fantasy, sci-fi, and comics. As an X-Men fanatic, he's also passionate about board games and enjoys watching movies in his spare time. And don't be surprised if you catch him silently wishing to the tennis gods for the removal of ad scoring from doubles.

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Edited by Rohit