
The ATP Rome Masters first round match between Alexei Popyrin and Chris O’Connell features as Bettingpro.com.au’s best bet for Wednesday May 10.
Bet Of The Day May 10 – read on below for our reasoning behind today’s best bet.
Key Points
- O’Connell has won seven of his last 10 matches on clay
- O’Connell beat Zverev on clay in Munich in straight sets a few weeks ago
- It’s taken top 10 players to beat O’Connell in his last two tournaments
- Slower conditions in Rome suit O’Connell’s game more than Popyrin
- Popyrin has just two top 100 wins on clay so far this season
We’re off to the Rome Masters for today’s best bet as Alexei Popyrin and Chris O’Connell collide in an all-Aussie battle in the opening round.
Not too often we see two Aussies squaring off in a clay Masters 1000 event, so good chance for both players to advance here.
O’Connell is viewed as the slight underdog by the bookies, but we think he has the edge in these conditions.
The Rome clay courts are very slow, which certainly suits O’Connell’s game more than Popyrin, who likes faster surfaces that compliment his big serve and groundstrokes.
O’Connell prefers to grind away from the baseline and he will be able to get the ball back in play more often on these slower courts.
O’Connell has also been in great form so far on European clay and comes into this clash having won seven of his last 10 matches on the surface.
It’s taken top 10 players in Taylor Fritz and Holger Rune to eliminate him from his last two tournaments, while he’s also scored big wins over the likes of Alexander Zverev, Ugo Humbert and Filip Krajinovic over the last few weeks.
Popyrin suffered a defeat to Quentin Halys in the opening round of Madrid and although he’s improved on his disastrous season last year, he’s yet to really do anything of note since the Australian Open.
O’Connell is the more natural clay courter and has the form on the board to edge this contest.
BET OF THE DAY MAY 10 👇