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JJ Wolf vs Bernabe Zapata Miralles: ATP Rome – qualifiers

Two players who had a solid run at the ATP Rome last year will face each other in the first qualifying round.

JJ Wolf Profile

JJ Wolf is 101st in the ATP rankings, and his career high was No. 39 in the world. The American is 2-10 for the season and 1-4 on clay.

Wolf is coming off a 6-2, 6-1 loss to world No. 743 Joe Schwaerzler in the first round of the Savanah Challenger. That was his fourth consecutive loss after failing in the openers in Tallahassee and Sarasota and the second round in Houston.

Besides Houston, Wolf won a match only in the Miami qualifiers this season.

Last year in Rome, Wolf reached the third round after beating Hugo Grenier and Hubert Hurkacz, and then he lost to Alexander Zverev.

Bernabe Zapata Miralles Profile

Bernabe Zapata Miralles is 178th in the ATP rankings, and his career high was No. 37 in the world. The Spaniard is 8-14 for the season and 7-9 on clay court.

Zapata Miralles lost in the qualifiers of the last two tournaments. In Madrid, he lost to Camilo Ugo Carabelli, and the week before in Barcelona, he lost to Gianluca Mager.

At the beginning of April, Zapata Miralles made it to the final of the Barcelona Challenger, where he lost to Nick Hardt 6-4, 3-6, 6-2, which is his best result this season.

Last year in Rome, Zapata Miralles reached the third round, where he lost to Daniil Medvedev after beating Jason Kubler.

Head-to-Head Wolf leads 1-0

• Wolf vs Zapata Miralles 6-1, 2-0 (2023 Paris Masters, qualifiers)

Prediction and Conclusion

Both players are having a terrible start to the season and are looking to turn things around in Rome. Wolf has won only two matches in 2024, while Zapata Miralles also has a losing record, and it’s been weeks since his last win. Both players played pretty well last year in Rome but will have to go through the qualifiers to each go into the main draw. Zapata Miralles is the one who prefers playing on clay and has a 315-186 career record on this surface, while Wolf is only 15-17. Given that, Zapata Miralles is the favorite and will win this match.