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Draw:
[1] Nadal v Bye
[Q] Lorenzi v Bellucci
Lopez v Llodra
Kohlschreiber v [14] Youzhny
[11] Fish v Giraldo
Ljubicic v Cipolla
Cilic v Karlovic
[6] Ferrer v Bye
[3] Federer v Bye
Baghdatis v Tsonga
[Q] Andreev v [Q] Riba
Montanes v [16] Gasquet
[10] Monfils v [Q] Nishikori
[Q] Hanescu v Stakhovsky
Monaco v Seppi
[6] Berdych v Bye
[8] Melzer v Bye
Mayer v Golubev
Chela v Isner
Simon v [12] Roddick
[15] Troicki v Davydenko
Starace v Dolgopolov
Malisse v Garcia-Lopez
[4] Murray v Bye
[5] Soderling v Bye
Verdasco v Raonic
Anderson v Querrey
Bolelli v [9] Almagro
[14] Wawrinka v Fognini
Volandri v De Bakker
[Q] Cuevas v [Q] Kubot
[2] Djokovic v Bye
Preview:
Rome is the location for the final clay Masters 1000 before the years second Grand Slam in Paris. Rafael Nadal is the defending champion and has won this tournament a record five times. He owns a 27-1 W/L record at this event is striving for a hat trick of titles and it appears the only man standing in his way is Novak Djokovic. Djokovic tasted success here in 2008 when we defeated Wawrinka in the final and the following year he lost a tight 3 set final to Nadal.
Play began yesterday and the results went mainly according to plan; the only seeded players to fall were Andy Roddick, who was playing here for the first time since 2008, and Mikael Youzhny. It’s been almost two months since Roddick last won an ATP match so defending 3R points at the French might be difficult. Verdasco managed to extract some revenge on Milos Raonic as he defeated the youngster in straight sets. Fernando Verdasco found himself one ranking spot below the seeding cut-off so he will now face 5th seed Robin Soderling, surely the pick of the second round matches.
Rafael Nadal will lose his #1 ranking if he fails to reach the Semi’s and Djokovic claims the title. I can’t see either happening as I think Nadal will win this week. Nadal will likely begin his title defence against Tomaz Bellucci, an extremely tough first round match, but he should win. Tough break that for Tomaz after his breakthrough in Madrdid where he reached the Semi’s. 3R opponent is either Lopez, Llodra or Kohlschreiber, so Rafa certainly didn’t get any favours from the draw here. QF opponent should be David Ferrer who, other than maybe Cilic, has a comfortable draw. There’s no doubt the clay of Rome is more suited to Rafa’s game so I don’t think anyone has a chance of knocking him off before the final, although his draw certainly is challenging.
Novak Djokovic carries an incredible 32 match win streak heading into Rome and his confidence must be unbreakable after his win in Madrid. The only query I would have is whether he’s going to suffer any fatigue after playing the Serbia Open, Madrid and Rome in consecutive weeks. Serbia was a relatively weak field though, so he should have enough in the tank to make a deep run. He faces qualifier Kubot first, then it’s likely 2008 finalist Stan Wawrinka. QF opponent should be either Soderling or Almagro, perhaps even Verdasco who does have a good set of results in Rome. If he makes it as far as the Semi’s he’ll probably be looking at Jurgen Melzer, even though the Austrian hasn’t achieved great results on clay in 2011.
Rome is one of the few titles Roger Federer is missing from his collection but that doesn’t look set to change now. He was R/U in 2003 to Mantilla and again in 2006 in an absolute epic against Nadal. Last year he crashed at the first hurdle, so this presents a good opportunity for him to gain some points. He hasn’t been dealt many favours with the draw as he opens against Tsonga although on this surface it shouldn’t be overly difficult. 3R is likely Gasquet and I just get the sense Richard might pull off an upset here, despite his poor record here. If he does escape those early hurdle’s he’s looking at Berdych in the Quarters and Nadal once again in the Semi’s. Tsonga-Gasquet-Berdych-Nadal, extremely tough path; we’ll get a good indication of how serious Federer is treating this event.
David Ferrer had a major breakthrough at this stage last year when he made it to the final and was competitive against Nadal in a rain interrupted match. He begins against a giant, either Karlovic or Cilic, and should dispatch either. Mardy Fish or Ljubicic likely await in the 3rd, but Nadal will once again end his run in the Quarters. Other than a QF appearance in 2007 Berdych has struggled at this event but he got slightly fortunate in the fact Monfils, the seed in his bracket, had to withdraw through illness. Berdych should make it to the Quarters and collect some nice points.
Andy Murray is the 4th seed and if he can survive the opening test of Malisse his draw gives him the chance to make a decent run. Working against him though is his miserable 2-5 record in Rome which suggests he really isn’t much of a threat here to anyone. There are quite a few interesting matches in the 2nd round including Murray/Malisse, Soderling/Verdasco, Federer/Tsonga and Gasquet/Andreev. There really is great tennis from the get go at these Masters events.
Prediction: Nadal def. Djokovic
It’s hard to see anything stopping Nadal and Djokovic meeting in the final for the fourth Masters tournament of the year. I think the only difference this time around will be the winner; Nadal dominates in Rome and the surface will be much more beneficial to his game as opposed to Madrid. You keep waiting for Djokovic to stumble, but you then watch him play and realise he’s just totally in the zone. Sooner or later he has to lose, but if he maintains his level of play that won’t be before the final.
[1] Nadal v Bye
[Q] Lorenzi v Bellucci
Lopez v Llodra
Kohlschreiber v [14] Youzhny
[11] Fish v Giraldo
Ljubicic v Cipolla
Cilic v Karlovic
[6] Ferrer v Bye
[3] Federer v Bye
Baghdatis v Tsonga
[Q] Andreev v [Q] Riba
Montanes v [16] Gasquet
[10] Monfils v [Q] Nishikori
[Q] Hanescu v Stakhovsky
Monaco v Seppi
[6] Berdych v Bye
[8] Melzer v Bye
Mayer v Golubev
Chela v Isner
Simon v [12] Roddick
[15] Troicki v Davydenko
Starace v Dolgopolov
Malisse v Garcia-Lopez
[4] Murray v Bye
[5] Soderling v Bye
Verdasco v Raonic
Anderson v Querrey
Bolelli v [9] Almagro
[14] Wawrinka v Fognini
Volandri v De Bakker
[Q] Cuevas v [Q] Kubot
[2] Djokovic v Bye
Preview:
Rome is the location for the final clay Masters 1000 before the years second Grand Slam in Paris. Rafael Nadal is the defending champion and has won this tournament a record five times. He owns a 27-1 W/L record at this event is striving for a hat trick of titles and it appears the only man standing in his way is Novak Djokovic. Djokovic tasted success here in 2008 when we defeated Wawrinka in the final and the following year he lost a tight 3 set final to Nadal.
Play began yesterday and the results went mainly according to plan; the only seeded players to fall were Andy Roddick, who was playing here for the first time since 2008, and Mikael Youzhny. It’s been almost two months since Roddick last won an ATP match so defending 3R points at the French might be difficult. Verdasco managed to extract some revenge on Milos Raonic as he defeated the youngster in straight sets. Fernando Verdasco found himself one ranking spot below the seeding cut-off so he will now face 5th seed Robin Soderling, surely the pick of the second round matches.
Rafael Nadal will lose his #1 ranking if he fails to reach the Semi’s and Djokovic claims the title. I can’t see either happening as I think Nadal will win this week. Nadal will likely begin his title defence against Tomaz Bellucci, an extremely tough first round match, but he should win. Tough break that for Tomaz after his breakthrough in Madrdid where he reached the Semi’s. 3R opponent is either Lopez, Llodra or Kohlschreiber, so Rafa certainly didn’t get any favours from the draw here. QF opponent should be David Ferrer who, other than maybe Cilic, has a comfortable draw. There’s no doubt the clay of Rome is more suited to Rafa’s game so I don’t think anyone has a chance of knocking him off before the final, although his draw certainly is challenging.
Novak Djokovic carries an incredible 32 match win streak heading into Rome and his confidence must be unbreakable after his win in Madrid. The only query I would have is whether he’s going to suffer any fatigue after playing the Serbia Open, Madrid and Rome in consecutive weeks. Serbia was a relatively weak field though, so he should have enough in the tank to make a deep run. He faces qualifier Kubot first, then it’s likely 2008 finalist Stan Wawrinka. QF opponent should be either Soderling or Almagro, perhaps even Verdasco who does have a good set of results in Rome. If he makes it as far as the Semi’s he’ll probably be looking at Jurgen Melzer, even though the Austrian hasn’t achieved great results on clay in 2011.
Rome is one of the few titles Roger Federer is missing from his collection but that doesn’t look set to change now. He was R/U in 2003 to Mantilla and again in 2006 in an absolute epic against Nadal. Last year he crashed at the first hurdle, so this presents a good opportunity for him to gain some points. He hasn’t been dealt many favours with the draw as he opens against Tsonga although on this surface it shouldn’t be overly difficult. 3R is likely Gasquet and I just get the sense Richard might pull off an upset here, despite his poor record here. If he does escape those early hurdle’s he’s looking at Berdych in the Quarters and Nadal once again in the Semi’s. Tsonga-Gasquet-Berdych-Nadal, extremely tough path; we’ll get a good indication of how serious Federer is treating this event.
David Ferrer had a major breakthrough at this stage last year when he made it to the final and was competitive against Nadal in a rain interrupted match. He begins against a giant, either Karlovic or Cilic, and should dispatch either. Mardy Fish or Ljubicic likely await in the 3rd, but Nadal will once again end his run in the Quarters. Other than a QF appearance in 2007 Berdych has struggled at this event but he got slightly fortunate in the fact Monfils, the seed in his bracket, had to withdraw through illness. Berdych should make it to the Quarters and collect some nice points.
Andy Murray is the 4th seed and if he can survive the opening test of Malisse his draw gives him the chance to make a decent run. Working against him though is his miserable 2-5 record in Rome which suggests he really isn’t much of a threat here to anyone. There are quite a few interesting matches in the 2nd round including Murray/Malisse, Soderling/Verdasco, Federer/Tsonga and Gasquet/Andreev. There really is great tennis from the get go at these Masters events.
Prediction: Nadal def. Djokovic
It’s hard to see anything stopping Nadal and Djokovic meeting in the final for the fourth Masters tournament of the year. I think the only difference this time around will be the winner; Nadal dominates in Rome and the surface will be much more beneficial to his game as opposed to Madrid. You keep waiting for Djokovic to stumble, but you then watch him play and realise he’s just totally in the zone. Sooner or later he has to lose, but if he maintains his level of play that won’t be before the final.
i was hoping he would make the semis and give rafa another victory.Not to be...he should just shut up and retire.Yesterday after beating Tsonga he was talking about how he is still a force and no one should count him out..yeah roger..take a look at your game now..you are a shadow of a player you used to be.Just retire for your fans before Murray catches up with you
