For the right to meet defending champion Daniil Medvedev in the second round of the Italian Open, Great Britain's Jack Draper and Croatia's Borna Coric square off in Thursday's first-round showdown.
Draper will be making his debut at the Masters tournament this week, while Croatian number one Coric made it all the way to the last eight of the 2023 edition.
Match preview
© Reuters
Still searching for that elusive first ATP Tour title, Draper has at least triumphed in his personal battle to stay fit for the entirety of the 2024 campaign so far and will now take to the Rome clay for the first time at senior level.
Forced to pull out of the 2023 Italian Open amid his injury-hit season, the world number 40 - who achieved a career-best ranking of 37 just two months ago - enters the Italian Open with a positive record for the year so far, prevailing in 12 of his 21 matches on the ATP Tour.
Three of those successes have come on clay, as Draper bested Vit Kopriva and Rudolf Molleker in Munich before bowing to Taylor Fritz's superiority, while he began his Madrid Open campaign by sinking Thanasi Kokkinakis in three sets.
However, for the second time in the space of three tournaments, Draper was no match for the towering Polish figure of Hubert Hurkacz, who had already dumped the 22-year-old out of the Monte-Carlo Masters in three sets and posted a far more straightforward 6-1 7-5 win in the Madrid second round too.
Ever since last year's Monte-Carlo tournament, Draper has followed a pattern of first-round then second-round exits at ATP 1000 level, statistics that do not bode well for his more superstitious supporters as he prepares for his long-awaited Rome baptism.
© Reuters
Standing in Draper's way of a successful Italian Open inauguration is a man with six appearances on the Rome clay already under his belt, and 27-year-old Coric achieved a career-best result in last year's competition, making it all the way to the quarter-finals before coming up short against Stefanos Tsitsipas.
Twelve months later, the world number 55 - named the 2022 ATP Comeback Player of the Year following a shoulder operation - has found consistency hard to come by in the current season, only coming up trumps in six of his 13 matches, three of which came during his run to the Montpellier final in February.
Coric missed out on a fourth ATP title at Open Sud de France, though - falling to Alexander Bublik in three sets - although he did avenge that loss with a surprise 6-1 6-1 thrashing of the Kazakh in Monte-Carlo, certainly his most impressive triumph of the year so far.
However, the Croatian is still yet to advance past the second round of an ATP 1000 event this year and lost at that stage to Alexander Zverev in Madrid, but he already has one Masters crown in the cabinet, taking home the 2022 Cincinnati Open title while ranked 152nd in the world.
Coric became the lowest-ranked player to ever win a men's Masters crown with his success in the United States two years ago and has also saved 65% of the break points he has faced this year, although few can match up to Draper's returning mastery.
Head To Head
Draper and Coric have never squared off against one another on the ATP Tour before, but the latter certainly has age and title-winning experience on his side, even if Draper's winning % for the 2024 season alone is superior.
Draper's left-handed game differs to Coric's right-handed style, though, and the Briton also just shades the physical aspects, standing at 6ft 4in tall compared to the 6ft 2in world number 55.
We say: Draper to win in three sets
While Coric's break points saved percentage is respectable, no player across the entire ATP Tour boasts a better break points converted ratio than Draper, who has taken exactly half of the opportunities presented to him.
The defensive Coric can do his best to wear Draper down from the baseline and has achieved some notable results on clay down the years, but the clinical 22-year-old should earn a second-round date with holder Medvedev.
Ben Knapton
