Bolelli is higher ranked than his italaian counterpart here, with a difference of about 30 places in the standings. For Starace, he is more of a clay court player compared to Bolleli who have achieved mixed results this year. Both of this players had actually played pretty well in the last few weeks, with Bolelli going almost all he way in Monte Carlo and Starace at Barcelona. However, i have a slight doubt about Bolellis ability in this tricky clay surface and I think he is not one of the versatile players on the tour.

Judging by past head to head meetings between the pair, Starace have gotten the better of Bolelli with a record of 4-1 including qualifiers. The more important fact worth looking at is that Starace have won all four meetings on clay against his countryman. With Boleeli just making the transition to clay 1 or 2 weeks ago, I think Starace can cause a surprise by beating him in this close encounter between two close pals.

Potito Starace @ 2.38 with betfred