Diego Schwartzman vs Denis Shapovalov: Rome Masters Preview and Prediction

Eighth seed Diego Schwartzman sets up a tantalizing showdown against 12th seed Denis Shapovalov in the semifinals of the Rome Masters tonight. 

Schwartzman stunned the King of Clay, Rafael Nadal, in the quarterfinals. With his clever drop shots and deft backhands, he extracted 30 unforced errors from Nadal as he notched up his first win in 10 meetings against the Spaniard. 

On the other hand, Shapovalov fought hard in a three-set win over Grigor Dimitrov in the quarterfinal. The Canadian utilized his booming big-serve clocking a winning percentage of 80 to get his first win over Dimitrov. It was also his 100th victory on the ATP tour. 

Head to Head record

Both Schwartzman and Shapovalov are meeting each other for the first time on the tour. "He's playing really well since we came back in the U.S, he was playing good, it's going to be really tough, but I think if I play like today I'm going to have chances," said Schwartzman praising Shapovalov. 

Both players are chasing their first Italian Open final and a crack at the top 10 of the rankings simultaneously. 

While Shapovalov will rely on his wide-swing serve to get a lot of free points, Schwartzman would depend on his on-the-rise rockets from the baseline. Shapovalov would have to keep his groundstrokes consistent in the long rallies and try to break Schwartzman's serve. 

Shapovalov is aiming to reach his second ATP Masters final after falling short in the Paris Masters last year. "Definitely very happy with the result today and this week overall, I've had a lot of difficult matches and dealing with jet lag and the body fatigue, it's not easy, I'm really happy with the way I've been able to overcome that," said Shapovalov sounding positive with his game. 

The youngster has controlled his aggression and become patient and smarter on the court by working hard with his coach Mikhail Youzhny. 

If Schwartzman dishes out a spectacular performance like the one against Nadal, Shapovalov will be in for a rather long night. 

Prediction - Diego Schwartzman to win in three sets 

Featured image credits: apnoticias.pe