These two players have never met before. For Djokovic, this is very much a similar matchup to what he faced in the second round of Madrid Masters last week (against Kyle Edmund). Though the Serbian starts as the favorite, Basilashvili, playing to the best of his ability, has got the weapons to hurt Novak Djokovic on current form.
Novak Djokovic, who is short of confidence at the moment, got a dream first round draw and he made the most of it by comprehensively defeating Aleksandr Dolgopolov (playing only his tenth match of the season), 6-1 6-2.
It was the Serbian’s second-easiest win of the season having previously beaten compatriot Dusan Lajovic, 6-0 6-1, in the first round of Monte Carlo Masters.
The four-time Champion of Rome Masters, Novak Djokovic, has never lost a second-round match here in his previous 12 appearances. The last and only time he did not get a first-round bye here in Rome was way back in 2006 when he made his debut and failed in the qualifying stages.
Former world #1 Novak Djokovic has entered six tournaments (excluding Rome) so far in 2018 and surprisingly, only twice he managed to progress beyond the second round, in the Australian Open and Monte Carlo Masters.
Failing to defend his runner-up points in Rome this week could see the Serbian drop further in the rankings (currently ranked #18). After winning the title here in 2014 and 2015, Djokovic finished as the runner-up for two consecutive years in 2016 and 2017.
Nikoloz Basilashvili defeated the qualifier and talented Italian Filippo Baldi in three sets to progress into the second round of Rome Masters on his debut appearance, 6-4 4-6 6-4.
It was the Georgian’s third three-set win of the week having previously defeated Marius Copil and Julien Benneteau in the qualifying stages.
After going through a seven-match losing run during February and March, Nikoloz Basilashvili made three consecutive quarterfinal appearance in the clay events at Marrakech, Tunis Challenger, and Budapest.
Tennis Prediction: Novak Djokovic 2-0 SET
Odds: 1.45
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