The entire fourth-round schedule at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia will be played on Tuesday. Yes, all 16 remaining players will take the court. That includes Carlos Alcaraz, Karen Khachanov, Alex de Minaur, and Tommy Paul.
Here are my picks for two of Tuesday’s best matchups.
(23) Karen Khachanov vs. (3) Carlos Alcaraz
Nobody has enjoyed a more favorable draw so far than Khachanov, but his luck appears to have run out with Alcaraz on the other side of the net. Khachanov beat world No. 135 Roman Andres Burruchaga in the first round and then eased past world No. 101 Francesco Passaro. He will have to do a lot more than that to prove that his form has returned, as Khachanov was just 9-10 for his 2025 campaign heading into Rome.
Unfortunately for the 24th-ranked Russian, he is 0-4 overall in the head-to-head series and 0-9 in total sets. He hasn’t even forced a single tiebreaker. Alcaraz is 3-0 on clay and has won those matches by set scores of 6-1, 6-4, 6-4, 6-0, 6-2, 6-4, and 7-5. The Spaniard has advanced this fortnight with straight-set victories over Dusan Lajovic and Laslo Djere; another such win should be in store for him on Tuesday.
Pick: Alcaraz in 2
(11) Tommy Paul vs. (7) Alex de Minaur
De Minaur vs. Paul is one of the more lopsided and also surprising head-to-head matchups on the ATP Tour. All five previous encounters have gone De Minaur’s way, including a 7-5, 6-4 decision in their only clay-court meeting at this same Rome event three years ago.
The eighth-ranked Aussie is 26-9 overall this year and 9-3 on the red stuff following straight-set defeats Luca Nardi and Hugo Dellien earlier in the Rome draw. In other words, it’s hard to see Paul finally getting over the hump in this particular matchup. Moreover, the American just played a two-hour and 23-minute battle against Tomas Machac on Monday.
Pick: De Minaur in 2
Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand. You can follow him on Twitter at @Dimonator.