Italian Open 2025: Aleksandar Kovacevic vs Carlos Taberner preview, head-to-head, prediction, odds, and pick

Match Details

Fixture: Aleksandar Kovacevic vs Carlos Taberner

Date: May 7, 2025

Tournament: Italian Open

Round: First Round (Round of 128)

Venue: Foro Italico, Rome, Italy

Surface: Clay

Category: ATP Masters 1000

Prize Money: €8,055,385

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

Aleksandar Kovacevic vs Carlos Taberner preview

Aleksandar Kovacevic at the Estoril Open 2025. (Photo: Getty)

Aleksandar Kovacevic will face Carlos Taberner in the first round of the Italian Open 2025.

Kovacevic's first tournament on clay this year was the U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships in Houston. He beat Tomas Martin Etcheverry and Corentin Denolly before losing to eventual champion Jenson Brooksby in the quarterfinals.

Kovacevic then lost to Juan Manuel Cerundolo in the first round of the Madrid Open despite claiming the first set. The loss prompted him to drop down to the Challenger level, and he participated in the Estoril Open. His fortunes didn't improve there either, bowing out in the first round with a loss to Luca Nardi.

Taberner has strictly competed at the Challenger level until now. He has mostly competed on clay as well. He won the Murcia Challenger and made the semifinals at another couple of events.

Taberner beat Adrian Mannarino 6-1, 0-6, 6-0 in the first round of the Italian Open qualifiers. He led Jaime Faria 6-0 in the final round of qualifying when his opponent retired due to an injury, thus securing his place in the main draw of the tournament.

Aleksandar Kovacevic vs Carlos Taberner head-to-head

This will be the first meeting between them at the main draw level, so the official head-to-head stands at 0-0. However, Taberner did win their only encounter which took place in the qualifying rounds of the Australian Open 2023 in straight sets.

Aleksandar Kovacevic vs Carlos Taberner odds

Player	Moneyline	Handicap Bets	Total Games
Aleksandar Kovacevic	+160	-1.5 (+320)	Over 22.5 (-110)
Carlos Taberner	-210	+1.5 (-550)	Under 22.5 (-135)

(Odds are sourced from BetMGM)

Aleksandar Kovacevic vs Carlos Taberner prediction

Carlos Taberner at the Sevilla Challenger 2024. (Photo: Getty)

Kovacevic has arrived at the Italian Open on a two-match losing streak at the ATP level and a three-match losing skid overall. He will be making his main draw debut in Rome.

Taberner will also be making his Italian Open debut. This will be his first appearance at the ATP level this year, along with his first Masters 1000 main draw match since the Madrid Open 2021. While he hasn't competed on the ATP Tour this year, he has a 17-8 record at the Challenger level, all on clay.

However, Taberner's previous win at the ATP level came at the Estoril Open 2022. It was also the last time he beat a top 100 player. While he's quite comfortable playing on clay and could give Kovacevic a tough time, the latter should be able to beat a player who hasn't won a match on the ATP Tour in three years.

Pick: Aleksandar Kovacevic 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