 Stefano Stizipas vs Borna Cioric is a fourth quarter final for the men's Rome Open for 2023. Both guys have had to work hard to get to the stage. Cioric changed to the tournament as the number 15 seed and would have a buy in the first round. In the second round he'd take on the unseeded Montero and he'd have to fight to get through in three, four, six, seven, six, seven, six. In the third round he'd take on the unseeded Bayena and again he'd have to play a tie break but this time get through in straights, seven, six, six, one. In the fourth round he'd take on the qualifier Marijan who had just taken out Elcaraz in one of the biggest upsets of the year and after dropping the first set, Cioric would have to fight back to win three, six, six, four, six, three to advance to the quarter final. Stizipas entered the tournament as the number five seed and would get a buy in the first round. Second round he'd take on Borgas which is no problem getting through in straights sets, six, three, six, three. In the third round he'd take on Senego and after a rain delay in the match going over two days Stizipas would get through in straights, six, three, seven, six. In the fourth round he'd take on the number 18 seed Musetti in a match that would start at midnight due to delay. There's no problem for Steph getting through in straights, seven, five, seven, five to advance to the quarter final. These two guys have played five times before with Cioric leading the head dead three, two but Stizipas did win their last match at the United Cup earlier in the year which seemed to turn the tide on this rivalry. Cioric is going to win this one, he needs to be very defensive and try and get everything back. Stizipas was very aggressive against Musetti and it looked very, very good. He's also going to be clean because Musetti wasn't that clean against Stizipas. He had a lot of errors and that's how Stizipas got the win there so if Cioric is clean and can get everything back he might be able to get through. Stizipas is going to win this one, he needs to play like he did against Musetti. Aggressive and just hit as many balls as possible and hopefully Cioric gets a little nervous. Now these guys have both been in this situation before in these big quarter finals so there's no real experience but this is on a clay court so you would think it would be advantage Stizipas. This is always such a fun match up and for some reason whenever we watch these guys there always seems to be a little bit more than just a rivalry on the court. Little bit of beef perhaps. I think Stizipas is going to win this one in three sets. I reckon it's going to be an epic but I think the clay courts are going to favour Stizipas and he's going to get through but let me know down in the comments below who thinks making the semis.