On Thursday, May 9, Tomas Machac and Matteo Arnaldi will clash in an exciting match in Rome. While Machac is 2-0 against Arnaldi, I like the Italian to cover a small game spread in his home Masters 1000 event. Arnaldi, who was born in Sanrem, Italy, will have the crowd eating out of the palm of his hand at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia. And Arnaldi also happens to be a little more proven on clay.
For as much as Machac has already accomplished in his career, he’s just 5-6 on clay at the ATP level. And Machac has never won a tournament on clay, even at the Challenger level. Well, Arnaldi is 13-11 on clay in his ATP career, and he’s 10-8 on the dirt over the last 52 weeks. The Italian has also won five Challenger-level tournaments on clay, so this is a surface that can bring out the best in his game. I think we’ll see that materialize in this contest, especially with the added adrenaline he’ll get from the crowd.
