Rome Masters Betting

The Rome Masters, or Internazionali BNL d’Italia to give its official title, is the last of three ATP World Tour Masters 1000 events in the tennis calendar and is played during the second week of May at the popular Foro Italico venue in the heart of Italy’s refined capital city.

Despite offering a slightly smaller prize purse than the preceding Masters tournament in Madrid, the Rome equivalent is widely regarded by both players and spectators alike as the most prestigious clay court event aside from the French Open.

And, due to it being staged just a couple of weeks prior to Roland Garros, it is extremely important for participants to perform well in order to get into contention for the second Grand Slam of the year at the end of May.

As it stands, the field is 56-strong with the top eight seeds all receiving a bye through to the second phase.

Many great names of the sport have triumphed at the tournament since its initial inauguration in 1930, when it was known as the Italian Open Tennis Championship and played in Milan, before its switch to Rome in 1934. Incidentally, no tournament was held for a considerable duration between 1936 and 1949 due to the impact of World War Two.

Famous name Budge Patty wasamongst the first few players to lift the title after its resumption in 1950, winning the championship four years on in 1954, whilst the great Rod Laver also took away first prize in 1962 before following up to record a double success nine years later.

Bjorn Borg also claimed two victories at the event in 1974 and 1978, as did the stylish Jim Courier who achieved the feat in consecutive years at the start of the 1990’s.

That brief reference of past winners alone typifies the type of player who generally thrives in Rome, as the courts tend to suit accurate, back of the court, technical players as opposed to powerful, big servers. Like other clay events, the surface often sucks a lot of pace out of the ball and this can make it difficult for certain players to find their range and line.

No player has demonstrated those required skills and attributes to better effect than Rafael Nadal in recent years and the Spanish ace has walked away champion on five occasions since 2005, his remarkable record interspersed just twice by his new big rival Novak Djokovic.

Djokovic’s first success in 2008 was slightly blighted by the absence of an injured Nadal, however the Serbian demonstrated in 2011 that he is now more than an equal match for his Spanish counterpart on clay after recording a straight sets success against the Mallorcan in the final.

That victory wrapped up a sensational Masters double haulin quick succession for Djokovic after winning in Madrid just a few days earlier.

As a betting pointer, Djokovic demonstrated how vital momentum is when two Masters Events are sandwiched so closely together.

After beating Nadal in Madrid, he was full of confidence and crucially carried a huge psychological advantage over his opponent seven days on.

By the time the action reaches Italy, it should start becoming clear as to who is really finding the sweet spot and playing championship winning tennis.

It is, however, paramount that any selection made is tough and full of endurance in order to last the pace to cope with the tournament’s position amidst a gruelling, hectic period of clay court tennis.

Sizeable odds will again be on offer for all players outside the elite band at the top of the rankings, nevertheless those odds are what they are - and despite looking attractive, should be avoided as it is highly unlikely that there will be too many shocks at Foro Italico in the near future.

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