Italian Open: Tuesday Matches to Watch

Say bye to the blue and hello to the red, as we head to the red clay courts of the Italian Open this week.

Here are Tuesday's matches to keep an eye on.

Men:

David Nalbandian vs. Andy Murray - We'll see how Murray looks.

David Ferrer vs. Fernando Verdasco - Interesting

Juan Carlos Ferrero vs. Gael Monfils

Sam Querrey vs. Jarko Nieminen - Sam made it through the qualifying.  He has a chance again the Nieminen.

Women:

Christina McHale vs. Maria Sharapova

Venus Williams vs Simona Halep

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova vs. Petra Kvitova - A big match for both.

Jelena Jankovic vs. Sorana Cristea

Anna Chakvetadze vs. Sloane Stephens - 2 qualifiers here, a big opportunity for Stephens.

ATP Tour Match of the Week: Djokovic vs. Murray

Can anyone stop The Joker?  Not so far in 2011, and he has moved into the semi-finals of the Italian Open.

His opponent, Andy Murray.

Djokovic holds a 5-3 lifetime edge over Murray, and Murray hasn't beaten Djokovic since 2009.  The duo has met only once on clay, and that was back in 2008 in Monte Carlo.  Djokovic won that match.

I don't see Murray beating Djokovic on Saturday, but I see a competitive match.  Djokovic in 3 sets.