Pascal Della Zuana /Icon Sport

Miomir Kecmanovic vs Brandon Nakashima: ATP Rome – First round

Two players on the verge of the top 50 will face each other in the first round of the ATP Rome.

Miomir Kecmanovic Profile

Miomir Kecmanovic is 58th in the ATP rankings, while his career high was No. 27 in the world. The Serbian is 10-13 for the season and 3-4 on clay courts.

Kecmanovic is coming off a 6-4, 6-1 loss in the second round in Madrid. The week before, he lost to Pedro Martinez in the second round in Bucharest.

Kecmanovic’s best result this year was the round of 16 at the Australian Open, where he lost to Carlos Alcaraz, and the quarterfinal in Acapulco, where he lost to John Draper.

This is the sixth appearance for Kecmanovic in Rome, and he has never gone further than the second round.

Brandon Nakashima Profile

Brandon Nakashima is 72nd in the rankings, and his career high was No. 42 in the world. The American is 32-12 for the season and 10-4 on clay surfaces.

Nakashima defeated Jesper De Jong and Nerman Fatic in the qualifiers to reach the main draw in Rome.

Last week, he reached the quarterfinals of the Aix de Provence Challenger, where he lost to Roman Safiullin.

Earlier this year, Nakashima won the title at the Tenerife Challenger and made it to the final in Koblenz.

Head-to-Head Kecmanovic leads 1-0

• Kecmanovic vs Nakashima 6-2, 6-4 (2022 ATP Los Cabos, quarterfinal)

Prediction and Conclusion

Both Kecmanovic and Nakashima have fallen off the top 50 in the ATP rankings and are eager to get back there. Kecmanovis is not having his best season, as he has a losing record, and consistency is something he struggles with every single year. Nakashima has had a couple of impressive wins so far in the year, including the one against Andrey Rublev in Barcelona, and this may be the tournament that will get him back where he belongs. The American had to go through the qualifiers to get to this point, but he will not stop here and will move on to the second round, beating Kecmanovic today.