Third-round competition at the Rome Masters gets underway on Sunday, when an all-seeded showdown features Tommy Paul and Luciano Darderi. Dino Prizmic, who upset Novak Djokovic on Friday, meets Ugo Humbert.
(16) Tommy Paul vs. (18) Luciano Darderi
Paul and Darderi will be squaring off for the third time in their careers when they clash in round three of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia on Sunday. Both of their previous encounters have gone Paul’s way — 6-3, 6-4 at the 2024 Paris Olympics and 6-4, 7-6(2) at the 2024 Montreal Masters.
Clay is the only real chance that Darderi has in this matchup, which is why his Olympics result against Paul is especially alarming. The 20th-ranked Argentine was on fire during the 2025 post-Wimbledon clay swing and played well again in February, but he has never done much on the European circuit. Darderi is 4-6 in his last 10 matches even after beating Yannick Hanfmann 6-4, 6-4 on Friday. Paul, who opened with a 6-4, 6-2 rout of Aleksandar Vukic, looks like the superior player right now regardless of surface.
Pick: Paul in 2
(31) Ugo Humbert vs. (Q) Dino Prizmic
Prizmic picked up the biggest win of his career by beating Novak Djokovic 2-6, 6-2, 6-4 in the Rome second round. It did not entirely come out of nowhere, though, as the 20-year-old Croat has been playing the best tennis of his career. Prizmic finished runner-up at last month’s Monza Challenger and reached the Madrid third round as a qualifier. The world No. 79 preceded his upset of Djokovic with a pair of easy qualifying wins and a 6-4, 6-3 first-round victory over Marton Fucsovics.
Up next for Prizmic on Sunday is a first-ever meeting with Humbert. It’s somewhat surprising that the 33rd-ranked Frenchman won even a single match in Rome (6-3, 6-2 over Vit Kopriva). He is 52-59 lifetime on clay, which has always been by far his worst surface. It’s never easy to follow up such a monumental result with another strong performance, but in Prizmic’s case it should be such a sizable mismatch on clay that what transpired on Friday night shouldn’t be a big factor.
Pick: Prizmic in 2