The History of Men's Tennis (Open Era)

(2)Rafael Nadal d. (1)Novak Djokovic
7-5, 6-3                                    [ 2:20 h ]
Last year due to persistent rain their Roman final was delayed over three hours. It had seemed that this year it would have been delayed an hour longer but the officials at 8 p.m. decided to reschedule on Monday the final between the two best players in the world. The Italian crowd showed its disapproval automatically throwing plastic bottles onto the court covering it in all corners. The next day there was peacefully, albeit the stadium wasn’t fully packed because of the early match start (noon). The current Nadal-Djokovic matches remind me of battles between Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras, and the Nadal-Federer rivalry as well. There’s some kind of synergy between the best players when they face each other, they know that their standard 100% of focus and commitment couldn’t be enough, so they try to give additional 10% which produces breathtaking rallies from start to finish… Nadal had been losing to Djokovic everywhere through 10 months, so obviously he – along with his team – had to find some medicine for all his problems, and I suppose he has found it: he needs to run more around his right side to play inside-out forehands with bigger frequency, obviously it opens more space on his left side, but Djokovic’s forehand DTL is relatively his weakest stroke, thus counter-attacks aren’t easy for him, especially if Nadal makes blistering forehand strokes… There was an exchange of breaks in the middle of the 1st set. Djokovic led 5:4* (30-all) – he was dictating the rally, and perhaps could have finished it with another stroke when the linesman  called ‘out’ Djokovic’s good ball – the Serb caught his head in disbelief. The point was replayed which benefited Nadal, whose determination allowed him to win two consecutive points. In the following game at ‘deuce’ Nadal grabbed two amazingly important points: first he pushed himself to an extreme effort in defense (31-stroke rally), then won a short-circuit at the net with a backhand volley – Djokovic tried to hide his frustration immediately, but broke his racquet on the net-post a few seconds later (he led 40/15 in that game). He lost quickly another two games, it was a 4-game streak for Nadal, so the Serb was theoretically in a good position to break back, although wasted a 40/0 lead in the 2nd game of the 2nd set – Nadal fought off those break points, and another one, with a bunch of powerful serves and forehands. It was the vital point of this final. Djokovic had two more break points in the 4th game but couldn’t capitalize and trying to stay in the match was broken for the third and last time that day, committing a double fault in the end. “I am happy that I won in Rome without losing a set against the best players in the world like Berdych and Ferrer and Djokovic. I will have this trophy in my bedroom. It is a dream. [I have] the confidence I am playing well and this comes when I play at the right level. Hopefully I will keep playing like this.” said the King of Clay, he has collected 49 titles, and once again becomes the leader in terms of number of ‘Masters 1000’ titles – twenty-one (six in Rome). Stats of the match

Doubles final:
M.Granollers/M.Lopez d. L.Kubot/J.Tipsarevic 6-3, 6-2

 # The most ‘1000’ titles in one tournament (since 1990):

8 – Rafael Nadal (Monte Carlo 2005-2012)
6 – Andre Agassi (Miami 1990-2003); Nadal (Rome 2005-2012)
4 – Boris Becker (Stockholm/Stuttgart),  Roger Federer (Indian Wells, Hamburg & Cincinnati)

2nd semifinal:

(1)Novak Djokovic d. (3)Roger Federer          6-2, 7-6(4)                             [ 1:39 h ]

Their first meeting since the 5-set thriller at the US Open last year where Djokovic saved a match point with an incredible return. There were parallel emotions this time in the latter stages of the semifinal, the things concluded in two sets though. The Serb held his first service game after a couple of ‘deuces’ and received a strong support from the crowd chanting “Nole! Nole!“. Apparently he is beloved in Rome. Perhaps this early signal of worshiping the best of the world, intimidated Federer a bit. He lost his serve in the following game and once again at 2:4. Djokovic’s return worked magnificently, many balls were landing on Federer’s weaker backhand side which allowed Djokovic to dictate the vast majority of rallies. The first break of the 2nd set came in the 7th game. Djokovic led 5:3 when the Roman crowd started to cheer for the Swiss. He responded with a forehand on the line facing a match point, withstood two pretty long rallies afterwards, and broke the No. 1 for the first time despite hadn’t had a break point prior to that game! Djokovic stayed cool, two months ago he experienced two similar situations in back-to-back matches in Miami. Since *5:6 (15/30) he won six straight points. Impressed especially in the first tie-breaker point as he prevailed a 25-stroke rally responding from both wings on Federer’s precisely placed shots (it was the only mini-break that night). 3:0, Fed cuts quickly to 3:2, 5:2 after another demanding rallies, 5:4 after Federer’s two hard serves. Forehand on the line and two more match points. The second one in that match was enough, Federer made a casual backhand error on the 4th stroke. Federer on tomorrow’s final: ‘‘It’s going to be an interesting one, especially after what happened in Monaco. Djokovic has pressure to defend his points and his title and Nadal wants to close the points gap with me.” If Nadal wins, he will be seeded No. 2 in Paris which is important because a player seeded No. 3 faces in his section of the draw one of tennis titans, whilst No. 2 opens a possibility to draw Murray.

1st semifinal:

(2)Rafael Nadal d. (6)David Ferrer                 7-6(6), 6-0                             [ 2:06 h ]

The 19th meeting between two best Spanish players – it’s one of the biggest rivalries of the Open era, sadly pretty lopsided. The older Spaniard usually loses, but thankfully has been one of very few players who are able to play competitive matches with Rafa on clay… Ferrer took an early initiative and almost throughout the 1st set optically was the better player, he was getting more points directly after the first serve, he was running less, producing more winners. But Nadal never gives up until he loses the final point, he came back twice from a 1:3 deficit (games, and tie-break), saved a break point at 3:4, and on three occasions was two points away from losing the set: *5:6 (30-all), *4:5 in the tie-break; the third occasion was crucial – Ferrer attacked the net with a good approach-shot (FDTL), then played a good drop-volley, efficient against 90% players on the tour, however, Nadal chased the ball quick as lightning and managed to make a passing-shot which clipped the line. It was the turning point of this semifinal clash. Recently in Barcelona, Ferrer lost two tight sets to Nadal, here was the third one in a row, and I assume a possibility to lose another tight set clipped Ferrer’s wings. He was just a fifth business in the 2nd set except the 4th game where he showed some timid signs of interest. “[It is the] best thing possible after a fantastic time in Barcelona and Monte-Carlo, to keep playing in a clay tournament and then being in the final without losing a set is something fantastic and I am happy,” declared Nadal. “Rome for me is an important tournament and I am here for the seventh time and I couldn’t have imagined this a few years ago.“

# Nadal’s most lopsided H2H’s:

13-1 Fernando Verdasco (+12)
15-4 David Ferrer (+11)
10-0 Richard Gasquet, Paul-Henri Mathieu (+10)
12-3 Tomas Berdych (+9)
18-10 Roger Federer (+8)
13-5 Andy Murray (+8)
8-0 Stanislas Wawrinka (+8)

Quarterfinals

David Ferrer is one of the worst match-ups for Richard Gasquet. The Frenchman has just won 2 out of 17 sets he played against the Spaniard, 14 of those sets he lost, were pretty one-sided. Today they played a tie-break for the first time, in which Gasquet led 4:2 only to lose five points in succession. In the 2nd set things were going towards another tie-break but Ferrer stepped up at 4:3, made three forehand winners in a row to break Gasquet to ‘love’ and finished him off in the following game easily, the final score 7-6 6-3. It was the only quarterfinal on Supertennis Arena, second biggest court in Rome. “[It was a] tough match and I am happy getting into the semi-finals,” said Ferrer, “When I won the first set it was easier and I saw he was more tired than me.”
As the first players on Campo Centrale appeared Rafael Nadal and Tomas Berdych. Their rivalry is similar to that of Ferrer and Gasquet. Berdych can’t find a way to beat Rafa, although had won 3 out of their first 4 meetings. Since then it’s all been Nadal. Today he gained 11th consecutive win (including a 20-sets winning streak!) over the Czech not being close to lose any of those encounters. Berdych led *4:2 in the 2nd set but on a game point committed a double fault and Nadal soon notched a 6-4 7-5 victory in 2 hours 6 minutes. Berdych in each of his last three tournaments was ousted by a Top 3 player. Rafa is bidding to win Rome for the sixth time (Thomas Muster won three times; Ilie Nastase, Vitas Gerulaitis, Bjorn Borg, Andres Gomez, Ivan Lendl, Jim Courier and Novak Djokovic twice). Djokovic had very little trouble in dispatching Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 7-5 6-1. The Serb led respectively 3:0 and 5:0 in these sets. In the 12th game of the 1st set Tsonga staved off a triple set point in spectacular style but on a 4th set point committed a painful double fault (didn’t even risk the second serve) and fell apart. Andreas Seppi had wonderful tournament but was too tired after back-to-back thrillers to play on equal terms the last quarterfinal (started at 10 p.m.) against Roger Federer. The Swiss needed just 54 minutes to get a 6-1 6-2 win. Seppi was stopped by Federer also in his previous best ‘1000’ tournament, as he reached semifinals four years ago (the Italian won then only one game more)… So, the four best clay-court players will face each other in tomorrow’s semifinals, they are gathered together in the final four for the first time. I’m glad Djokovic meets Federer because they haven’t played so far in 2012.

Third round

It was very windy day, the conditions were extremely difficult and bothering the defending champion Novak Djokovic, who plays this tournament in a new outfit (white-blue-red  strips) underlying national colors. As usual he’d presented himself during a night session match in a black version of the new outfit whilst his early match (started at 12 a.m.) against Juan Monaco demonstrated a white one. Monaco [15] who had previously lost all five matches to Djokovic, was hitting the ball very hard today over an hour of play. The stunned Djokovic broke his racquet in the last game of the 1st set (Monaco clinched it on the 5th set point). The Argentine led a set and a break, but couldn’t keep his focus and lost 10 straight points since serving at 2:1 in the 2nd set. In the deciding set D’Joke delivered the final blow at *3:3 (0/30) when he increased his concentration to win 12 out of the next 16 points and the match 4-6 6-2 6-3 in 2 hours 20 minutes. “Mental strength is what is needed, especially when you are playing against a player who has already won two tournaments on this surface this year already and is playing with confidence,” Djokovic stated.
In a much more longer 3-setter (2:58 h) on Supertennis Arena (the second biggest court in Rome) Richard Gasquet avenged three straight defeats to Andy Murray (all in majors) beating the Brit 6-7 6-3 6-2. The crucial game of the match came at one-all in the final set. The serving Gasquet led 40/0 but Murray manufactured three break points, Gasquet [22] eventually took the game after seven ‘deuces’. Both 25-year-old guys were semifinalists last year. In the quarterfinals Gasquet meets one of his toughest opponents – David Ferrer. The Spaniard was twice a game away on return to lose the set before dismissed Gilles Simon 6-0 7-6. Simon was involved in streaks of games won by one player over the course of two days: yesterday he lost five straight games to Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, then won six in a row (coming back from a 0:4 deficit in the deciding set!), and began today’s match with Ferrer losing the first seven games.
Andreas Seppi won an incredible 3-hour-21-minute battle (the longest 3-setter of the year) against Stanislas Wawrinka after three tie-breaks, surviving six match points (three on return)! The Italian player received a tremendous support from the home crowd, Wawrinka on the other hand was booed a couple times for different reasons. Anyway he had the match in his hands, admittedly not in the 2nd set tie-break where Seppi fought off the first m.p. with a service winner. In the deciding set Wawrinka led 5:2 (deuce), then was serving at 5:3 (40/15): on both match points the net-cord halted the ball on his side, first after a shaky forehand, then after a long rally with many slices which Wawrinka wanted to cut with a drop-shot. The Swiss led 6:5* (30/0) afterwards – Seppi responded with three straight forehand winners! Third and final tie-break was amazing, Seppi led 3:0* and quickly lost six points in a row which meant a triple match point against him: the first one, Italian player saved with a cross-court forehand; on another two, Wawrinka missed backhands (net & wide DTL). Another two errors of the Swiss and Seppi could celebrate the biggest ‘best of three’ win of his life on knees. He’s been the first Italian quarter-finalist in Rome since Filippo Volandri in 2007. It’s Seppi’s 200th ATP tournament in career.

# Seppi’s match point down wins:

US Open 2004: R.Schuettler 3-6 4-6 7-6(5) 7-6(1) 6-1 – 2 m.p.
Sydney 2006: L.Hewitt 4-6 7-5 7-5 – 2 m.p.
Australian Open 2007: B.Reynolds 6-1 6-7(4) 6-7(5) 7-6(3) 6-3 – 1 m.p.
Rotterdam 2008: L.Hewitt 3-6 7-6(4) 7-6(4) – 1 m.p.
Nottingham 2008: E.Schwank 6-1 4-6 7-6(7) – 1 m.p.
New Haven 2009: L.Yen-Hsun 6-7(5) 6-3 7-5 – 3 m.p.
Bastad 2010: P.Starace 6-4 3-6 7-6(7) – 1 m.p.
Marseille 2011: R.Haase 5-7 6-4 7-6(2) – 2 m.p.
Rome 2012: S.Wawrinka 6-7(1) 7-6(6) 7-6(6) – 6 m.p.

Back on red clay! Just like a week before without best American players of the previous decade: Mardy Fish, Andy Roddick and James Blake (the latter could enter only the qualifying rounds), but with Andy Murray and Juan Monaco, the players who skipped the experimental tournament in Madrid. So the field in Rome was a bit stronger on Sunday than last week in the Spanish capital. Monaco came back successfully after a very painful injury he suffered at Monte Carlo. The Argentine won his first two round easily, thus seemingly the break in activity won’t affect him like similar injury four years ago when he had been also knocking on the the Top 10, but lost self-confidence after spraining his ankle.
Murray celebrated 25th birthday with a cake after winning the most interesting second round match featured plenty of long rallies with acute angles and perfectly placed drop-shots. The Brit needed 2 hours 37 minutes to overcome David Nalbandian 6-1 4-6 7-5, surviving a 1:3* deficit in the final set. “I was a little bit fortunate at the end but I went for it so,” said Murray, who won the 11th game with the net-cord help and saved a break point in the following game when his backhand clipped the sideline. “Some say you make your own luck.” Nalbandian – very solid player in tight matches throughout his career – lately loses tight matches with high frequency. It has been his sixth tight loss of the season (the third one in which he led 5:4* in the deciding set only to lose the next three games).
Shifting from blue clay to red clay? No problem for Juan Martin del Potro, Tomas Berdych and Roger Federer. Each of these three players participated in five matches in Madrid, went to Rome to adjust quickly advancing to the third round with convincing victories, however, Del Potro still tries to get into the Top 8 which would facilitate him tasks by omitting first rounds in ‘Masters 1000’ on clay. In the first round in Rome he had a tricky opponent in the opener – Mikael Llodra [58], Del Potro won 7-5 3-6 6-4 saving a set point in the 1st set with a service winner. Del Potro and John Isner are the two players the most often involved in tight sets this season. Isner in the 1st round barely avoided a loss to Philipp Kohlschreiber [24]. The tall American was being outplayed badly through almost two sets by ‘Kohli’, but delivered a couple big serves at 3:5 (40-all) and the outlook of the match changed completely since then. Kohlschreiber was broken in the following game not having faced a break point before, and began to lose interest whilst Isner rediscovered his booming serves and forehands to notch a 2-6 7-6 6-2 victory. No doubts that the German has a Top 20 potential but his inconsistency obstructs his climbing in the ATP ranking. He triumphed in Munich but the following two weeks lost first round matches in Spain and Italy, at least one solid result in those tournaments would introduce him to the Top 20. Isner was ousted in his another match by Andreas Seppi [30] – the best local player, one out of five Italians who entered the tournament. Seppi needed 10 break points in the final set to get his only break (2-6 7-6 7-5) in 2 hours 50 minutes. He will probably reach the highest position in career next Monday at the age of 28. 
Juan Carlos Ferrero [47] has finally won first tournament matches in 2012. The former champion of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia (2001) obtained two straight sets wins over higher ranked opponents, Kevin Anderson and Gael Monfils. During a 7-5 6-3 over the Frenchman, Ferrero came back from a 1:4* deficit in the 1st set. Monfils once again displayed an ultra defensive mood. With this attitude there’s no chance he will catch the level of the Ferrer-Berdych-Tsonga-Del Potro quartet.