BEWARE of a fresh Rafael Nadal who will line-up for the first time in 2020 since he won the ATP 500 Acapulco event in February. The Spanish star will return to Rome to line up in Masters 1000 event in a stacked field that is even stronger than the US Open. Nadal is no stranger to the event, having won it nine times and reached the final twice more – in other words, there is not a year that goes by where Nadal does not make it to the final.

Being back on clay, Nadal is deserving favourite and the man to beat. Questions will be raised about his lack of preparation, with arguably his two greatest rivals in Rome – Novak Djokovic and Dominic Thiem – having plenty of match practice leading into the event. Djokovic was sensationally booted out of the US Open for hitting a linesperson in the neck, while Thiem has found his career-best form again going deep at Flushing Meadows.

Djokovic will have had the opportunity to return to Europe early to practice on the clay, something Nadal has been able to do the entire time since opting not to take up the American circuit. Not that the world number two needs any practice on clay. Thiem will be the clear third favourite, and even one that Djokovic would be nervous about on the surface, whilst you can never discount Daniil Medvedev, Alexander Zverev or Stefanos Tsitsipas.

Matteo Berrettini and Fabio Fognini are the two best local hopes, and playing in Rome on clay is where they will excel the most. With 19 of the top 20 players in the world – only the injured Roger Federer is missing – the Rome Masters is set to be massive. Much like the US Open and given the tight time schedule, there have not been any qualification and instead all the wildcards and qualifier spots have been handed to Italian players. Whilst seeing Jannik Sinner and Lorenzo Sonego in action will be great, it means the likes of sub-200 ranked Italians are getting in over the likes of Marin Cilic and John Millman who miss the automatic cutoff of the 56-player draw.

Players currently flying under the radar include Stan Wawrinka – who has been warming up on the Challenger Tour – and Cristian Garin who will be thankful to be back on clay after some challenging times at the US Open. Other clay courters who are always dangerous include Filip Krajinovic, Roberto Bautista Agut and Karen Khachanov.

Rewinding to last year, Nadal knocked off Djokovic 6-0 4-6 6-1 in the final, with Tsitsipas and Diego Schwartzman making the semi-finals. A fit Juan Martin del Potro pushed the Serbian star to three sets in the quarters, with Nadal brushing aside Fernando Verdasco, Schwartzman taking care of Kei Nishikori, and Federer pulling out of his quarter final with Tsitsipas.