Wk.20- Departing the Eternal City

Hey Y'all. Galileo here.

Two of the biggest rivalries in tennis clashed in the Rome finals. It is clear, though, that in both these rivalries, one player finds it much easier to dominate than the other. Based on the evidence of the past few weeks, Nadal and Williams (S not V) are the heavy favourites to lift the Coup des Mousquetaires or Lenglen. I think Nadal is going to romp to a seventh -or is it eighth now?- French Open. I can't really see him losing a set anywhere unless he meets Djokovic. On an overcast day, with Djokovic playing his best, he may be able to take Nadal to five but surely no more. I think Nadal is the heavy, heavy favourite.

On the women's side, Serena should be the heavy favourite, as well. There's just something that holds me back there. A niggling feeling. This is Paris, and somehow she never finds a way to win here. Imagine a worst case scenario here draw-wise. Schiavone, Kuznetsova, Jankovic, Stosur, Kerber, Azarenka, Sharapova. That won't happen but it would be just Serena's luck to get that draw. If she gets a draw like that, then I would hesitate to make her favourite. All those players know how to beat her and on clay they would have a real shot, too. I think she will win, but really anything could happen.

Murray has just withdrawn from the French, and that means it is good news for Granollers, Simon, Gasquet, Ferrer and Federer. They all move up one seeding bracket. Granollers made his first and only slam fourth round last year at the French. He was seeded 20 then. With Murray out, his new seeding gives him more of a shot to equal that feat. Simon made the 4th at the French in 2011. He has a real shot to make that round once again being seeded 16th. If Gasquet does the business and achieves his seeding, he will make a maiden French Open quarterfinal and also a maiden slam quarterfinal outside of that lone Wimbledon semi. He lost to Djokovic in '11 and Murray last year at the French. Ferrer is seeded to reach a second straight semifinal at the French and make it five semifinals out of the last seven slams, too. If he avoids Nadal, Fed should make a sixth final here.



*WEEK 20 CHAMPIONS*
ROME, ITALY
S: Rafael Nadal def. Roger Federer 6-1/6-3
D: Bryan/Bryan d. Bhupathi/Bopanna


PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Rafael Nadal, ESP
...Nadal thrashed homeboy Fognini in his opener before playing the mercurial Gulbis. He came back to win 1-6, 7-5, 6-4. It was a great match and it showed yet again how hard it is to beat him on the clay. It is virtually impossible to put him away and Gulbis will rue missed chances. He then showed yet again that Ferrer cannot stay with him on the clay. Despite yet another great match played by Ferrer, he ended up going down. Nadal then sent Berdych packing before disposing of Fed in two straight sets. If Nadal doesn't win the French Open then we may as well sit back and await the rapture, for surely if he doesn't the rapture is upon us.
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RISER: Benoit Paire/FRA & Roger Federer/SUI
...Paire made certain he would be a seed at the French with this performance. He looked good all week and he is finally living up to his early potential. In his first two rounds, he edged Monaco and Benny before beating Delpo in two tight sets. He then comprehensively beat Granollers losing just one game. In the end, though, Federer put an end to his run in two tight sets. Before that, Federer beat Starace and Simon 6-1, 6-2 in his opening two rounds. Afer that, he beat talented young pole Janowicz 6-4, 7-6 and then defeated Paire in a similar scoreline to reach the final. Both had great weeks and it looks like they are both getting back on the right track, too. Federer made his first 2013 final which means out of the Top 10, only Berdman hasn't reached a final.
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SURPRISE: Tomas Berdych, CZE
...Back-to-back Masters semifinals, combined with Murray's withdrawal, give him the fifth seed at Roland Garros. He should have beaten Stan, but Nadal on clay was too much of a stretch for him. He didn't actually play a bad match but Nadal was just too strong. He has now reached the semifinals at every Masters except Canada. He has only got fourth round points to defend at Paris. If he wins the tournament and the top four seeds all lose within the first two rounds, he could move up the rankings. Whatever happens, though, he will be able to make up serious ground on the top four so long as he doesn't crash and burn.
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VETERAN: Fernando Verdasco, ESP
...He is getting to the twilight of his career now. He will be unseeded in Paris and is therefore a dangerous floater. However, I don't think he can do much more than push the top guys for a set and half. Not anymore. He has played well over the past few years but seems finally to be winding down.
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COMEBACK: Ernests Gulbis, LAT
...He has completed the comeback trail now surely. All he needs to do now is crack the top twenty and make the 4th round at a slam. That should be the next step. He won't need to play qualies much anymore and he can definitely make inroads at the French and Wimbledon with kind draws.
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NEW FACE: Jerzy Janowicz, POL
...He beat the French one and two back-to-back before going down respectably to Fed in the quarters. Throw in a victory against proven dirt-baller Giraldo and that is a good week. It is only his second Masters quarter and he has fully earned it.
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DOWN: Novak Djokovic, SRB
...Djokovic was up 6-2, 5-2 and still lost. That is what I refer to as 'Doing a Dementieva' or doing a choke-job. Not great and his confidence will be rock bottom afterwards. This was not a great result for him and his number one ranking isn't looking as strong as it was.
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1. Rome QF - Berdych d. Djokovic
...2-6/7-5/6-4. A big upset and Djokovic will be shaken by this, but not for long. I don't know how you can be 6-2, 5-2 and still lose but somehow the Djoker managed it.
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2. Rome QF - Nadal d. Ferrer
...6-4/4-6/6-2. What can Ferrer do? Please send him your suggestions via email or Facebook...
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3. Rome 2nd Rd. - Ferrer d. Verdasco
...5-7/7-5/6-3. Perhaps this was Verdasco's last chance to beat a top four player. This was a really high quality affair with great rallies and Ferver was back to his best for some of this, too.
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*2013 ATP FINALS*
8...RAFAEL NADAL (6-2)
5...David Ferrer (2-3)
3...Novak Djokovic (3-0)
3...Andy Murray (2-1)
3...Stanislas Wawrinka (1-2)

*ALL-TIME ATP TITLES*
109...Jimmy Connors
94...Ivan Lendl
77...John McEnroe
76...Roger Federer*
64...Pete Sampras
62...Bjorn Borg
62...Guillermo Vilas
60...Andre Agassi
57...Ilie Nastase
56...RAFAEL NADAL

*ALL-TIME ATP CLAY TITLES*
45...Guillermo Vilas
41...RAFAEL NADAL
40...Thomas Muster
30...Bjorn Borg
30...Manuel Orantes




=DUSSELDORF, GER=
=SF=
Monaco [3] d. [7] Troicki
Haas [2] d. [4] Kohlschreiber
=FINAL=
Haas [2] d. [3] Monaco

=NICE, FRA=
=SF=
Mathieu d. [3] Querrey
Monfils [WC] d. Andujar
=FINAL=
Monfils [WC] d. Mathieu

...I really can't pick this. Anything could happen.

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