Novak Djokovic returns to competition after two months away, and the timing could matter. The Serb, who turns 39 next week, saw his chances for a 25th major title improve during his layoff. With Carlos Alcaraz absent in Rome and Paris, Djokovic arrives in the Italian Open with fresh optimism. He begins an abbreviated Roland Garros build by facing 20-year-old Croat Prizmic, a rising player who favors a feisty, physical style well suited to clay. The pair met at the Australian Open, a match Djokovic won in four sets. Djokovic will need a fast start to match Prizmic’s energy. Winner: Djokovic. Estimated start time: 8:10 a.m.

Carlos Alcaraz’s absence also shifts attention to other emerging names. When March began, Jodar was an unknown ranked outside the Top 100; two months later he is the 32nd seed in Rome. In that span the 19-year-old Spaniard captured an ATP 250 title, reached a 500 semifinal, produced a strong showing against Jannik Sinner and delivered some jaw-dropping ground-stroke m.p.h.s. Those results helped cement his status as the ATP’s Next Big Thing. He opens against 52nd-ranked Borges, a steady Portuguese veteran who likes clay and creates angles from both wings. They have never met on tour. Winner: Jodar. Start time: Not before 5:00 a.m.

On the women’s side, Karolina Muchova remains a dangerous dark horse when healthy thanks to a varied game. Her opponent, Anastasia Potapova, may be evolving. The rangy Russian always had the ball-striking skills but lacked emotional equilibrium until last week. Potapova’s semifinal run in Madrid included a win over Elena Rybakina and lifted her ranking from 97 to 38. Muchova reached a clay final in Stuttgart last month and held a 4-1 edge in their head-to-head. This match will test whether the recent Potapova can take the next step. Winner: Muchova. Estimated start time: 6:10 a.m.

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Episode 19 of The Big T features a long conversation with Lorenzo Musetti that ranges from his upbringing to the state of Italian tennis and his approach to shotmaking. Musetti reflects on growing up in football-and-motorsport obsessed Italy, how his father introduced him to tennis, and the difficult transition from junior standout to ATP Tour contender.

“They want to try and copy our method,” Musetti says of Italian tennis—which is experiencing new heights of success. He credits Jannik Sinner’s rise to world No. 1 as a clear inspiration for a new generation of players across both tours.

Petchey makes the case that Musetti has the most attractive game in men’s tennis, leading to a discussion of how Musetti has developed his shot-making and all-court creativity over the years. Sinner defeated Zverev for the ninth consecutive time to win Madrid—the Italian’s fifth consecutive ATP Masters 1000 title.

I think there’s a big gap between Sinner and everybody else, and I think there’s a big gap between Alcaraz, myself, maybe Novak and everybody else. Alexander Zverev, after his 6-1, 6-2 loss to Sinner in the Madrid final

The episode also examines rising WTA talent Hailey Baptiste and her recent stretch of results. It took a monumental two-set effort from Mirra Andreeva (6-4, 7-6 (8)) to end Hailey Baptiste’s run in the Madrid semifinals—one that included victories over Jasmine Paolini, Belinda Bencic and world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka. Baptiste was seeded 30th in that WTA 1000 tournament and she is No. 32 this week in Rome. Now ranked 25th on tour, Petchey thinks it might be a year away for Baptiste to be “a genuine contender at Roland Garros,” but he warned that no high seed will want to see her name opposite theirs.

Petchey saw Baptiste up close while coaching Emma Raducanu at this year’s BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells. “She’s playing unbelievable tennis,” Petchey told Raducanu, as they walked off the practice court. “At some point, it is gonna click huge for Hailey.”

New episodes drop every Wednesday. Episode 19 of The Big T is available on streaming platforms, with select segments and bonus content accessible via the podcast’s app.

Novak Djokovic returns to the clay swing this week at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia, marking his latest European clay-court start outside of the COVID-19-shifted 2020 schedule. The six-time Rome champion is seeded No. 3 and landed in the same half of the draw as Alexander Zverev.

Djokovic missed the 2025 edition at the Foro Italico, ending a run of 18 consecutive main-draw appearances. The 38-year-old most recently competed in March, when he was edged out in the fourth round of the BNP Paribas Open by Jack Draper. He cited a right shoulder injury for his subsequent withdrawal from the Miami Open, a decision that began a stretch in which he missed three Masters 1000 events.

This delayed arrival in Rome is notable for Djokovic: on four occasions his season-opening appearance on clay has culminated in a title. A year ago, after opening losses in Monte Carlo and Madrid, he captured his 100th tour-level title at Geneva and followed that with a semifinal showing in Paris.

The backdrop to Djokovic’s return includes Jannik Sinner arriving off another ATP Masters 1000 triumph as he heads into his Rome homecoming. Djokovic halted Sinner’s bid for a third successive Australian Open title in January. After dropping his Doha quarterfinal to Jakub Mensik, Sinner has since compiled a 23-match win streak and surpassed 14,000 rankings points for the first time.

With Rome the final opportunity to influence Roland Garros seedings, the ATP Top 5 remains unchanged heading into the tournament. Carlos Alcaraz is out for the clay swing with injury, and the players positioned to benefit for crucial seed bumps are No. 3-ranked Alexander Zverev and No. 5-ranked Felix Auger-Aliassime. Zverev did himself a favor by reaching the Mutua Madrid Open final, widening his lead over Djokovic to 1,105 rankings points. Zverev also has 200 points to defend from his 2025 Rome quarterfinal result.