ATP Masters Series 1000: Rome

[matt_897]

The non-stop tennis season continues in Rome this week after Nadal defeated Ferrer 6-2, 7-5. Watched the match Ferrer is playing solid tennis, up to the best tennis he was playing back in 07 but of course Nadal is too good. Anyway, here is the draw for Rome:

[1] NADAL, Rafael ESP vs BYE
SEPPI, Andreas ITA vs QUERREY, Sam USA
SODERLING, Robin SWE vs GRANOLLERS, Marcel ESP
[Q] CRIVOI, Victor ROU vs [14] BLAKE, James USA
[9] TSONGA, Jo-Wilfried FRA vs GASQUET, Richard FRA
ALMAGRO, Nicolas ESP vs GULBIS, Ernests LAT
FISH, Mardy USA vs ANDREEV, Igor RUS
BYE vs [6] VERDASCO, Fernando ESP

[4] MURRAY, Andy GBR vs BYE
KIEFER, Nicolas GER vs [Q] MONACO, Juan ARG
CHELA, Juan Ignacio ARG vs ROCHUS, Christophe BEL
[WC] CIPOLLA, Flavio ITA vs [15] CILIC, Marin CRO
[12] GONZALEZ, Fernando CHI vs CHARDY, Jeremy FRA
TIPSAREVIC, Janko SRB vs ACASUSO, Jose ARG
BENNETEAU, Julien FRA vs MELZER, Jurgen AUT
BYE vs [7] DAVYDENKO, Nikolay RUS

[5] DEL POTRO, Juan Martin ARG vs BYE
HANESCU, Victor ROU vs TROICKI, Viktor SRB
[Q] GIMENO-TRAVER, Daniel ESP vs [Q] YOUZHNY, Mikhail RUS
KUNITSYN, Igor RUS vs [10] WAWRINKA, Stanislas SUI
[13] ROBREDO, Tommy ESP vs SAFIN, Marat RUS
KOHLSCHREIBER, Philipp GER vs BOLELLI, Simone ITA
[WC] STARACE, Potito ITA vs MONTANES, Albert ESP
BYE vs [3] DJOKOVIC, Novak SRB

[8] SIMON, Gilles FRA vs BYE
[WC] FOGNINI, Fabio ITA vs [WC] VOLANDRI, Filippo ITA
[Q] ZVEREV, Mischa GER vs BERDYCH, Tomas CZE
MATHIEU, Paul-Henri FRA vs [11] FERRER, David ESP
[16] STEPANEK, Radek CZE vs SERRA, Florent FRA
[Q] BELLUCCI, Thomaz BRA vs LOPEZ, Feliciano ESP
[Q] HERNYCH, Jan CZE vs KARLOVIC, Ivo CRO
BYE vs [2] FEDERER, Roger SUI

The missing notables are Roddick, Nalbandian (hip issue) & Monfils. Again, the obivous pick is Nadal, he shouldn't of used too much energy up in Barca, wasn't tested really and had the walkover in the QF. Very good draw to start off with as well. Other things to watch out for is whether Federer contiunes to play his poor tennis, he'll win his 2nd round match (imagine if he lsot to Karlovic on clay), Stepanek or Lopez in round 3, I think he'll be beaten by Ferrer in the quarters, i honestly think Ferrer is playing too solid tennis for roger at the moment, that's if he contiunes to play this crap tennis from MC.

Djokovic will also be looking to make the final again, he seems to be playing some better tennis now. A matchup with Wawrinka in the quarters, i think he'll do it again and make the final. Murray must be annoyed he's on the same side of the draw as Nadal again, Davydenko is also there playing some good tennis (even though he waS smashed by nadal in that barca SF).

It all starts at 9pm tonight (I'm not sure if it's on fox tonight, but there's always live streaming). Looking to watching Blake on clay, always good for a laugh, love too see him win a match.

 

[SBI]

Is Roddick injured? I thought it was only MC that was non-compulsory.

Can't see Nadal losing here. He'll crush Blake if he makes it that far (probably Granollers), and will be too good for the likes of Verdasco/Tsonga/Almagro in the quarters. I reckon Almagro will take Tsonga out in the second to set up a pretty interesting third round clash against Verdasco (who might have his troubles with Andreev).

Would expect one of Murray or Davydenko from the second section; I think Davydenko can avenge his MC loss with some more match fitness. Again, though, Gonzalez could cause him some troubles in the third. Murray has got a bit of a soft draw until the quarters and I can't see him losing to Cilic.

Bottom half looks set up for Federer-Djokovic; but with Federer's form you wouldn't be at all surprised to see him bow out to Ferrer or Simon earlier than that. I reckon Wawrinka will take out JMDP in the third as well. I think Djokovic is going to set up another final with Nadal, but he's not defending all his points this year as Rafa will be too good.

 

[SBI]

Oh, and any danger of Gulbis winning some time soon? He's in real trouble of just falling away into obscurity and outside direct qualification to these tournaments (if he isn't already).

 

[pepsi]

Anyone else here do the Pick the draw comp on the ATPtennis.com site? I ranked 700th out of 15000 in Monte Carlo. It's a good comp to play.

Onto Rome, gotta love the Clay court season. It goes from Monte Carlo, to Barcelona, To Madrid, to Hamburg and finally Paris. Some amazing cities and brilliant tennis. Also we are in a good time zone to see some tennis which is always good. I think Foxtel coverage starts tomorrow night.

Nadal only has 2nd round points to defend after being defeated by Ferrerro in the 2nd round last year. I expect him to win though this year, he had a great run in Barcelona and he is playing well and with confidence.

Will be interesting to see how Federer fares, I hope he can rebound. I would really like to see him regain some confidence in his game and on the clay. He has been a great champ and I hope he can win the French Open this year. He deserves at least 1 in his career, but he will need to get one quick.

Djokovic played very well in Monte Carlo, as well as Murray. They are so close in the rankings and Murray could overtake him here. Expect both to go well.

 

[matt_897]

Anyone else here do the Pick the draw comp on the ATPtennis.com site? I ranked 700th out of 15000 in Monte Carlo. It's a good comp to play.

Yeah, i think i'm about 10000th because i forgot MC had a sunday start, was annoyed about that. Good fun.

I think Roddick's injury might be he hates clay Not sure why he isn't playing, still on his honeymoon i guess.

Gulbis is screwed once RG comes around with those QF points to defend, just anothe rplayer to waste a bucketload of talent with a useless brain.

 

[Karbo]

Classic James Blake on clay... rolled in straight sets by a guy ranked 112 in the world.

 

[matt_897]

Classic James Blake on clay... rolled in straight sets by a guy ranked 112 in the world.

Yeah, he really is playing horribly, he is probably my favourite player to watch when playing well, sad he's is turning into the way he is.

Horrible weather today, looks like the conditions we have been having in meblourne for the last couple of days. Starace/Montanes played half of their match in the rain. Fun match to watch that won, Montanes won 7-6, 6-4 but Starace had 5-1 in that first set TB, and some of the points towars the end played in the rain were incredible, that shot starace did to save the first mp was a bizarre little crosscourt slice off his toes while both players were at the net

 

[matt_897]

Geez, this weather forecast isn't looking good, rain predicted for most of the week, today and tomorrow should be the worst though.

 

[JuddyBuddy]

Classic James Blake on clay... rolled in straight sets by a guy ranked 112 in the world.

Thats the last time I put money on Blake. Geez, he's unreliable.

 

[Drummond]

2nd clay court Masters 100 event got underway last night. And keep in mind I haven’t seen any results so some of the matches I talk about might have already been completed (I would check results but taped last nights action and don’t want to spoil the results)!

Nadal is a three time champion at this event and if he is successful for a 4th time he will set a record for most titles. He is coming off yet another clay court title, this time at Barcelona as he defeated fellow countryman David Ferrer in a high quality affair. First up he faces either Seppi or Querrey. Even though Seppi is an out and out dud he should win and proceed to then get pumped by Rafa. Blake is already out of his quarter, no big upset because he’s horrible on clay although somehow he was a Quarter Finalist here last year. The other quarter of this section is very interesting with some big name players. Almagro/Gulbis should be good, although in saying that Gulbis will probably continue playing rubbish tennis and lose in straights. On paper this is the pick of the first round matches as both reached the Quarters at the French Open last year. How about the battle of the countrymen, Tsonga and Gasquet? Tsonga isn’t much of a clay courter either so Richie should win or at the very least put in a better effort than he did here 12 months ago. Verdasco is showing good signs on the surface and might be Nadal’s QF opponent, or even Igor Andreev.

Statistically this is one of Roger Federer’s least successful MS events so it’ll be interesting to see how he fares. He won’t have troubles with Hernych or Karlovic, in fact I don’t really see anyone until the Quarters giving him much grief. That’s when things should start getting interesting as he will probably face David Ferrer who is coming off an impressive week in Barcelona and this is his best surface. He reached the Semi’s in 2005 but otherwise Rome hasn’t been a successful place for Ferrer but I’d suspect that’s due to change. I pick Ferrer to knock off Federer in the Quarters.

Novak Djokovic is the defending champion as he defeated Stanislas Wawrinka in the final. His draw is though, with probably Montanes first up and Robredo in the 3rd round. There will likely be a rematch of the 2008 final in the Quarters as I don’t see Del Potro doing much damage on this surface just yet. If Djokovic continues on from his outstanding from in Monte Carlo then see him advancing to face Ferrer in the Semi’s.

The attention of the remaining quarter will be in regards to the improvement of Murray on clay. He has just the one win from 4 starts at Rome so he will be looking to improve that record. I’d say Monaco looms first up with and possibly Cilic in the 3rd round, nothing Murray shouldn’t be able to handle. Gonzalez is in pretty reasonable form but in most likeliness Davydenko will complete the final quarter final match-up.

Prediction: Nadal

No further explanation required. He lost early here last year due to blisters on his feet and also his hands so he will be looking to rectify that. Anyone know what his current winning streak is on clay? I’d say he’s building a nice little streak once again and I see him adding 5 matches to whatever it currently stands at. There is more fun in predicting his opponent and just like at Monte Carlo I’ll say Djokovic. If he can maintain that form he is a challenge for even Nadal.

 

[matt_897]

Another Safin choke, this time it's 6-2, *4-1 up to lost 2-6, 7-6(5), 6-2. It's getting beyond ridculous

 

[Kaan]

Ah Safin, why do you do this? My favourite player on tour

 

[Drummond]

Safin. What a joke. Up a double break in the second set and he somehow finds a way to lose. That’s now Miami, Monte Carlo and Rome where he has been up a double break and managed to throw it away. He was up 4-1 in the second, lost his serve but held to love in his next service game. Then he served for it at 5-4 but played a loose game which allowed Robredo back into the game. He had another chance in the tiebreak as he was up 5-4 with two serves to come but once again let it slip.

The third was always going to go the way of Robredo as Safin was flat and knew he had ruined his chance. On the penultimate point someone in the crowd yelled out just as Safin was about to receive, it put him off, he complained and Robredo had match point. The match ended in a pretty sour note as Safin allowed the serve to pass by handing Robredo the win. Pretty pathetic from Safin really to not even attempt to return serve and he let his frustrations show all day and he let the minutest things irritate him. For almost two sets he played pretty good tennis, hit his backhand well but as the match wore on he started to make simple errors and Robredo started to play a bit more attacking. Good thing Safin is retiring at years end because there’s not much left in the tank.

Cilic destroyed Cipolla but the Croatian is pretty frustrating to watch. He has great power, angle and has a big serve but it’s as though he doesn’t comprehend the significance of some points. He doesn’t know when to play safe and often pulls the trigger far too early. Not sure where Cipolla is ranked but it wouldn’t be too high, he tries but has one of the weakest serves I’ve seen on the pro tour.

Wawrinka played somewhat of an average game against Kunitsyn but managed to advance in straight sets.

 

[Deledio2Conca]

Murray looks like he's going to be upset by Monaco....geez.

 

[CHBench]

1-6 6-3 7-5

He copped a tweak in his groin in the second, but i dont think it hampered him too much. Murray was cruising..bad loss.

 

[matt_897]

God, i wonder about Murray at times, his tactics were awful today, so passive and some really dumb shots. Would of love for him to take over Novak at no.3 this week.

Federer a set and a break up against karolovic and look good to win.

Verdasco in a 3rd set against Mardy Fish of all people. Watched the game Verdasco lost his serve for the set, and there were some bad errors fro fernando.

 

[Drummond]

I’ve noticed that a lot of players are willing to give up these days. Blake at Miami, Monfils and Kohlschreiber at Monte Carlo, Safin (albeit slightly different) and now Bolelli. The latter really did put in a pitiful showing in front of his home crowd and as a result got the jeers at the end and rightfully so. What’s wrong with players these days, why won’t they compete right until the end? There is no shame in losing but there is in giving up.

Blake’s the worst culprit, in probably half the matches he’s losing he’ll completely give up and he often yells out in frustration as if implying he can’t do a thing right. It’s a cop out IMO and shows a lack of respect for your opponent. Don’t try and make it as though you’re losing because you’ve having a bad game when 90% of the time it’s simply because your opponent is too good. Just something I’m becoming frustrated with.

Fish/Andreev was an entertaining game and I was real surprised to see Fish pull through as I thought Igor would wear him down. He should’ve won as he was up a break towards the end of the 3rd set and had a game point to go up 5-3. Fish chucked his racquet down and it looked as though he would fall apart but he managed to get the break back and wrap up the match not long after. Got really annoyed with Fish hitting his racquet against his shoes a million times after every point though. Big win for Fish on his least preferred surface though.

Disappointed to see Sam Querrey lose, he's probably my favourite American for whaever reason. Seems like a nice, easy going lad and he's a fighter. Clay is obviously his worst surface and he didn't do a bad job to win a set.

And Juan Monaco isn't half bad on clay, not an entirely shocking loss for Murray. I haven't watched it yet but it'll be interesting to see the reasons behind the loss. He was probably too passive instead of going for his shots like he did towards the end of the match against Nadal. It’s no coincidence that’s when he played his best tennis.

One day behind, not bad at this stage with a whole day at home tomorrow to catch up.

 

[matt_897]

Results from last night:

Djokovic def. Del Potro 6-3, 6-4
Federer def. Zverev 7-6, 6-2
Nadal def. Verdasco 6-3, 6-3
Gonzalez def. Monaco 2-6, 6-3, 6-4

Pretty expected results. Del Potro again showing his flaws against a top player. His forehand was woeful and Djoko was able to exploit his movement. Zverev gave Roger a test in that first set, he's obivously playing the best tennis of his life. He's a lefty with a solid game and likes to come into the net, it worked for the first set but in the second Roger got his return game going, reading the serve and volley and won it fairly comfortably. Tomorrow will be interesting, I think Djoko will win again, Roger needs this badly though.

Verdasco gave Nadal some challenge, his forehand was really working well for a while, early in both sets, had numerous bp's in the 2nd but couldn't take them and eventually Nadal wore him down. Rafa should beat gonzalez fairly comfortably tonight.

 

[matt_897]

Federer has done it yet again....

 

[matt_897]

Yeah, the results last night:

Djokovic def. Federer 4-6, 6-3, 6-3
Nadal def. Gonzalez 6-3, 6-3

Federer lead 6-4, 3-1 and break points to have a double break, again in the 3rd he had 3-1 in the third. Every time we see it, his groundies, this espically his backhand just fall apart from nowhere. It's like he is not awake. Serve fell apart as well. Djoko fought hard but he's going to get smashed by Nadal tonight, i can't see it going to 3 sets again.

 

[JuddyBuddy]

And Rafa continues on his merry way. He's unstoppable at the moment. 5 titles for the year. Can't see anyone getting near the number 1 ranking for a hell of a long time.

 

[matt_897]

yeah 7-6, 6-2. Novak fought hard to come from a break down twice in that first set but there is just no way to keep up a level of tennis to be required to win, might of been a different story if he played a bettter TB.

 

[Drummond]

Well I’m up to the final, fair effort really. Well technically I’m up to the 2nd Semi but I’m going to assume Nadal wins but I’ll watch that shortly. In the past for whatever reason I hadn’t really enjoyed the Rome Masters much but I think it’s been a great tournament and the tennis has been of a higher standard than at Monte Carlo IMO.

Federer v Djokovic was an odd affair really and I fully expected Djokovic to win comfortably. However that’s not how it unfolded and in the end he was probably lucky to escape. He came into the game playing excellent tennis as he completely wiped Robredo off the court (who put in an insipid performance…) and comfortably accounted for Del Potro. Speaking of which, I still don’t rate him much. High on power but not much else, I still find it hard to believe he beat Nadal at Miami which I never got around to seeing. When he’s in the zone he’s extremely tough to beat but he has no game plan, no variety and I don’t like his attitude. But getting back to Djokovic, he was coming into the SF with great form whereas Federer had a cakewalk draw to this point.

Federer took the first set as he played pretty well but Novak played his worst tennis of the week. Played tentative and made too many errors. Second set started disastrously as he fell behind a break of serve but recovered to level the match. The third was a repeat of the second, again falling behind a break but managed to recover and eventually break serve at 3-3 to go on and take the match. A pretty heartbreaking loss for Federer and another one at the hands of the ‘Big 3’. It would be tough to take because he lost despite Novak for the most part playing below his best. One thing is for certain though; Djokovic is the 2nd best clay courter in the world these days. IMO the best return of serve in the game, exceptional athlete and his strength is one of the main reasons why he has so much success on the clay.

There have been a few great matches; go back a few days to Melzer/Gonzalez and that was probably the pick of the matches for mine. Melzer served and volleyed on most points and had a lot of success at the net and hit some of the most amazing shots you’re likely to see. Gonzo was at his best, in more ways than one, as he smashed his racquet in the first set. He broke it while smashing it on the ground but thought the job wasn’t done yet as he put it into two pieces while smashing it against his knee. Then he went and places the racquet into the bin. Ah Gonzo, gotta love him. But his antics weren’t quite done yet, in the third set Melzer served and Gonzo made an error but was sure it was a let but no call came. He complained, smashed his racquet on the net to see if it would cause a reaction. Two points later a let was called but both players didn’t think it was. Gonzo stood there for 5 seconds applauding the umpire with the funniest look on his face, was priceless. Overall though the game was such high quality, both players hit more winners than UE’s and it was 3 of the most enjoyable clay court tennis.

I also enjoyed the first set of Gasquet/Verdasco as the first 10 games were of the highest standard. Unfortunately though they cut coverage to show Nadal v Soderling, I realise Rafa is #1 in the world but I know which match I would’ve preferred to see. In the end Verdasco won in straight sets as Gasquet started making too mans errors towards the latter stages.

Good week of tennis, really looking forward to Madrid and then the big one, the French Open.

 

[Vdubs]

I wonder why Fed bothers playing on clay--he was embarrassing last year and Rafa is even more unbeatable now. Until Fed gets a coach, gets stronger and fitter, I fear his reign in the top 4 is fast dwindling. Sampras never bothered. Maybe Fed should just focus on Wimbledon and the US, though Nadal will likely get both anyway. Murray and Djokovic have passed him too. Sad end.

 

[SBI]

On a bitter note, Stosur has crashed out in straight sets the first round of the women's draw to a Kazakh qualifier.