Andy Murray's potential run to the Rome Masters final
Saturday 14 May 2016 22:36, UK
Andy Murray has a great chance of another Masters final in Rome having been placed in the opposite half of the draw to Roger Federer, Rafa Nadal and Novak Djokovic.
The British No 1, who has dropped to third in the world rankings despite his run to the Madrid final last week, will be seeking a good week to boost his chances of second spot in the seedings for the French Open.
So in a tournament where he has never gone beyond the semi-final and with preparations for Roland Garros entering their final stages, we look at who could Murray face as he looks to better last year, where he withdrew before his match with David Goffin in the third round.
Third Round - Roberto Bautista Agut
Bautista Agut is one of six players with multiple titles this year and is up to No 17 in the world rankings, not far off his career best of 14 a couple of years ago.
However, after winning in Auckland and Sofia in the first months of the year he has yet to find his best form during the Masters season - losing in the last 32 at Indian Wells and the last 16 in Miami, Monte Carlo and Madrid.
Despite his Spanish roots he is more of a hard-court threat than clay specialist and Murray would not expect to have too much trouble having won both of their previous meetings without dropping a set.
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Quarter-Final - Tomas Berdych
A repeat of last week's last-eight encounter with the Czech would do very nicely for Murray, who seems to have the world No 8's measure at the moment, winning the last four meetings. Berdych has yet to go beyond the semi-finals of any event this year.
Murray was barely troubled last week in Madrid, coming through 6-3 6-2, and we expect more of the same this week provided Berdych comes through a tough third-rounder against either Jack Sock or David Goffin.
Semi-Final - David Ferrer
Stan Wawrinka is Murray's seeded semi-final opponent and while we can't rule out the Swiss, his form doesn't hint at another last-four spot.
So we will go with ninth seed Ferrer to emerge from the quarter to set up a 20th career meeting with Murray, who has a 13-6 record in the head-to-head.
Murray has won the last six, including a four-set quarter-final victory at this year's Australian Open - however on clay Ferrer has a 4-1 record with Murray's only win coming at the French Open quarter-final last year.
The 34-year-old Spaniard showed flashes of his best in Madrid despite a 7-6 7-5 defeat to Tomas Berdych in the last 16 and we think he could make a surprise run to the last four in a weak quarter of the draw.
Final - Novak Djokovic
Yep, it's him again. It has to be Novak Djokovic, although the world No 1 is likely to have to get through Nadal in the quarter-finals and Federer in the semi-final.
As if Djokovic wasn't already in ominous enough form, he has a record 29 Masters titles and is a four-time Rome winner, including each of the last two years.
And as we know Murray was beaten in Madrid by Djokovic, a defeat which means the Serb has won their last four meetings and 12 of their 13 encounters since Murray's Wimbledon triumph in 2013.
Another worrying trend which Murray must try to buck is that he has yet to win a clay-court encounter between the pair, the Serb has won all five previous meetings on the red dirt, including their one previous Rome meeting, a three-set win for Djokovic on his way to the title in 2011.
You can follow all the action from Rome on Sky Sports throughout this week right up to the final on Sunday.
