Clear number for the Djoker?
After missing the last Masters tournament in Madrid due to an elbow injury, Novak Djokovic made his comeback at the Foro Italico in Rome. As the top seed, the Serb reached the last 16 with two wins, where he will now face a serious clay court player in Cameron Norrie. Nevertheless, our tip for Novak Djokovic against Cameron Norrie is clearly leaning towards the Serbian superstar.
It should be noted that the Briton just won a clay court tournament in Rio de Janeiro in February, in the final of which he defeated the high-flyer Carlos Alcaraz, of all people, who will take over the lead in the ATP world rankings again after the Italian Open. Against the Djoker, however, Cameron Norrie has always suffered a clear defeat in two encounters so far. Consequently, our prediction for Novak Djokovic against Cameron Norrie is that the Serb will advance.
Cameron Norrie has already staged a number of strong comebacks. However, it will be extremely difficult against a dazzling Djoker, who recently showed no signs of being affected by his recovered elbow injury and already defied a thigh injury at the Australian Open 2023. In this context, there is a lot of value in betting on a correspondingly short match, whereby we are betting on a two-set victory for the veteran.
Novak Djokovic – statistics & current form
Current world ranking: 1
Position in the seedings: 1
The 35-year-old Serb Novak Djokovic got off to a perfect start in 2023. The Djoker won all of his first 15 singles matches in the new year, which brought him overall victory at a preparatory tournament in Adelaide as well as triumph at the Australian Open 2023.
Nole has been suffering from an elbow injury since his early elimination from the Monte-Carlo Masters and the Srpska Open in Banja Luka. In the meantime, however, the world number one is back to his old self again.
Won 19 of his 22 singles matches in 2023
At the Masters Rome, which Novak Djokovic has won six times in his career – including just his overall victory last spring – the 35-year-old advanced to the last 16 in commanding fashion with wins over Tomás Martín Etcheverry and Grigor Dimitrov.
These were already his singles victories number 18 and 19 in the new year, which were offset by just three defeats. Now the world number one will face a British challenger, against whom he has won his two singles matches so far with relative ease.
86,8% of all singles matches won at the Italy Open
The odds are now clearly in favour of Novak Djokovic against Cameron Norrie, who has the highest win percentage of all Masters tournaments in the eternal city. Nole won 66 of his 76 singles matches at the Italian Open in Rome – a win rate of 86.8%.
It has to be said that the last match against Grigor Dimitrov did not go without a set loss, which was also due to the fact that the Serb, who is usually so confident on his own serve, surrendered three service games.
Cameron Norrie – Statistics & current form
Current world ranking: 13
Position in the seedings: 13
The 27-year-old Cameron Norrie, who was actually born in South Africa but has had British citizenship since May 2013 and competes under the flag of the United Kingdom, was already considered an all-rounder in his junior career.
However, the man from Johannesburg recorded his first successes on hard court. In 2021, he won the Indian Wells Masters on this surface and secured his first and, to date, only major title on the ATP Tour.
Only won ten of 37 singles matches against Top 10 players
Meanwhile, Cameron Norrie’s more recent successes have come on the clay court. In February, he won the tennis tournament in Rio de Janeiro on this surface, where he defeated none other than the shooting star Carlos Alcaraz 2-1 in the final after trailing 0:1 (5:7, 6:4 and 7:5).
Admittedly, it was one of only ten victories from 37 singles matches against opponents from the top 10 of the ATP world rankings. Nevertheless, this triumph showed that the 27-year-old is once again a force to be reckoned with in the new year.
First time in the last 16 at a clay-court major
The Briton primarily brings potential for improvement to clay-court Major tournaments. In the run-up to the Masters Rome 2023, Norrie has never before progressed beyond the third round of a clay-court major, something he now achieved for the first time after a commanding 2-0 victory over Márton Fucsovics (6-2, 7-6).
It was striking that he allowed just two opponent break points in this victory. Less positive, however, was that both of these break points were converted by his Hungarian opponent. In order for Novak Djokovic’s hopes of reaching the quarter-finals against Cameron Norrie to come true, the 27-year-old will need a little more resilience.
Novak Djokovic – Cameron Norrie Direct comparison / H2H-balance
Head to head: 2:0
The two athletes have faced each other twice so far and Novak Djokovic prevailed on both occasions. On the indoor hard courts of the ATP Finals 2021, the Djoker managed a very easy 2:0 victory (6:2 and 6:1), before there was also a 3:1 victory for the Serb in the semi-finals of the Wimbledon Championships (2:6, 6:3, 6:2 and 6:4). Now both athletes clash for the first time on clay.
Novak Djokovic – Cameron Norrie Tip
When it comes to Novak Djokovic vs Cameron Norrie, the betting odds swing very clearly in the direction of the Serb, who has won the Italian Open six times in his career in 2008, 2011, 2014, 2015, 2020 and 2022 and has a strong annual record of 19 wins from 22 completed singles matches. The Serb is also 2-0 up in head-to-head matches and now clashes with an opponent who has consistently struggled with top-10 players at a win percentage of just 27%.
The forecast for Novak Djokovic against Cameron Norrie is accordingly clear for the Serbian superstar to reach the quarter-finals, especially as his British challenger in Rome has only six wins from nine completed singles matches and has always failed in the second round in his past three appearances.
