Rome Betting Preview: Jaume Munar vs. Sebastian Korda

Jaume Munar is coming off a dominant 6-2, 6-1 win over Ben Shelton at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia, and the Spaniard will now look to add Sebastian Korda to his list of American conquests. Korda is the 23rd-ranked player on the ATP Tour, and Munar is down at 66th in the rankings. So, this is theoretically a match that Korda should win, Munar’s clay-court experience makes this a bit closer to a pick’em when looking at the betting odds. I honestly think the Spaniard should be something like a -150 favorite.

So, at plus-money odds, I’m grabbing Munar and not thinking twice about it.

Korda beat Munar 6-4, 6-1 in their only previous matchup, but that was a hard-court match that was played back in 2022. It’s completely irrelevant when looking at this battle on clay. Korda isn’t an awful clay-court player by any means, but he’s just 26-23 on the surface at the ATP level. That’s 49 total matches on the dirt. Munar is 70-74 on the clay, which gives him 21 more ATP-level wins than Korda has matches played.

This is a match in which Munar’s experience on the surface should give him a ton of advantages. Also, Munar has added some real muscle over the last year or so, and he did that so that he can go bigger with his serve and have a little more power to finish rallies. Well, the results speak for themselves. His hold percentage is up at 81.1% this season. His previous career high in that category was 74.9%. He’s also 9-9 at the tour level this year, and he has never been at .500 or better when it comes to winning percentage.

I just love Munar’s matchup here, especially when thinking about how this one will be played. Korda is a very talented ball striker, but he’s either scorching hot or ice cold. There’s really nothing in between with him. Well, Munar’s ability to extend rallies, mix up the shots he’s sending back and also just redirect pace should frustrate Korda. That could lead to some bad misses in key moments for the American.

Munar’s simply going to ask a lot of questions of Korda, who has always been talented but can easily be rattled. So, the Spaniard is the right call when looking at the price and conditions in this one.

Pick: Munar ML (+112)