Rome Masters 1000 match thread

[lydian]

First topic message reminder :

So off we go again and Madrid isn't even done yet!

The home of gladiatorial sport sees the leading claycourters lock battle once again to the wonderful tree-lined backdrop. Rome Masters has been going since 1930 and seen many illustrious winners down the years including, some may not know, the current coach of Stanislas Wawrinka - Magnus Norman back in 2000 who beat none other than Gustavo Kuerten.



Can Nadal win his 7th title? Can Novak win his 3rd? Can Andy break his clay final duck? Can Roger get to another final...he's never won in Rome although held MPs in 2006.

It seems Rome always gives us great matches and interesting player arguments too!

Here's the interactive draw:

http://www.atpworldtour.com/Share/Event-Draws.aspx?EventId=416&Year=2013

[kingraf]

Just breadsticks

[Silver]

Just breadsticks

You must be loving it, mate.

[Jahu]

Will be 2 breadsticks this set. Not bad!!!

[Josiah Maiestas]

IS NADAL INJURED THIS TIME I WONDER?

[LuvSports!]

josiah who do you support in general?

[laverfan]

IS NADAL INJURED THIS TIME I WONDER?

Yes, he has bad knees, so it may be 6-2, not 6-1.

[The Special Juan]

IS NADAL INJURED THIS TIME I WONDER?

Yes, he has bad knees, so it may be 6-2, not 6-1.

Maybe not!!

[Jahu]

Might be 1 after all.

[Josiah Maiestas]

I said 6-1 again, well done Fed great fight you put up

[laverfan]

Can Nadal finish in less than 60 minutes?

[Gerry SA]

My goodness me that double hander from Nadal was unreal

[The Special Juan]

Choke alert

[Guest]

Who fancies a cheeky in play bet?

[Silver]

Nadal only has 12 winners, that's surprising, given the scoreline.

[Josiah Maiestas]

These last 2 games are proof Fed at his peak > Nadal at his peak

[Josiah Maiestas]

Nadal only has 12 winners, that's surprising, given the scoreline.

Once a pusher always a pusher

[The Special Juan]

Maybe not a choke, just a slight hiccup.

[kingraf]

Nadal probably had one of those "This is to easy to be true" moments, which caused a momentary hiccup, before concluding "Oh, I guess it is"

[Silver]

Feel pretty sorry for Federer. I know he's won a lot, but nobody deserves to be battered like that. That's got to sting.

Well played Nadal, and congrats to all the Rafa fans on the boards. 7th Rome title, very impressive

[summerblues]

Well, that was quick. Well done Rafa. Sadly, I cannot say I find the scoreline particularly surprising.

[antonico]

In winning today, Nadal may have reached a unique milestone: he might be the only player to have won 4 different tournaments at least 7 times each: The French Open, Monte Carlo, Rome and Barcelona. That's astounding.

[Guest]

Rafa wraps up what was ultimately apart from a 5 minute spell a routine thrashing, peak forms no good if you cant do it for very long.

[michael_o]

Nadal only has 12 winners, that's surprising, given the scoreline.

Once a pusher always a pusher

Yes, dreadful player. Only 8 straight Finals and 6 titles so far this spring.

[The Special Juan]

Well done Nadal. No idea how anyone played, all I can say is well done again.

[Guest]

Man JM ive gotta start pushing, cos this pushers making probably the greatest ever attacker look like a mug

[JuliusHMarx]

Man JM ive gotta start pushing, cos this pushers making probably the greatest ever attacker look like a mug

Well, yeah, if you can do it, then do it

[JuliusHMarx]

At some point we need to stop calling this a rivalry. Its quite simple, really. On clay Nadal WILL win, on grass its worth a watch. Indoors, hard Federer will look so good fools will put money on him Winning the next eight slams. Outdoor hard, Nadal will still win.

Funnily enough, I was thinking that earlier (although it was Federer v Roddick). When does a rivalry stop being a rivalry?

Are you thinking about Djoko vs Rafa

[Silver]

At some point we need to stop calling this a rivalry. Its quite simple, really. On clay Nadal WILL win, on grass its worth a watch. Indoors, hard Federer will look so good fools will put money on him Winning the next eight slams. Outdoor hard, Nadal will still win.

Funnily enough, I was thinking that earlier (although it was Federer v Roddick). When does a rivalry stop being a rivalry?

Are you thinking about Djoko vs Rafa

Heh, yeah. These things ebb and flow.

[Josiah Maiestas]

Really surprising result. Expected Federer to atleast choke one set, didn't even get the chance

[The Special Juan]

At some point we need to stop calling this a rivalry. Its quite simple, really. On clay Nadal WILL win, on grass its worth a watch. Indoors, hard Federer will look so good fools will put money on him Winning the next eight slams. Outdoor hard, Nadal will still win.

Funnily enough, I was thinking that earlier (although it was Federer v Roddick). When does a rivalry stop being a rivalry?

Are you thinking about Djoko vs Rafa

I'll tell you after the 02

[kingraf]

Silver- the Fedal rivalry hasnt ebbed and flowed, its largely flowed in one direction.

[The Special Juan]

Exact same scoreline for both the men's and women's finals. Last time that happened anywhere?

[JuliusHMarx]

At some point we need to stop calling this a rivalry. Its quite simple, really. On clay Nadal WILL win, on grass its worth a watch. Indoors, hard Federer will look so good fools will put money on him Winning the next eight slams. Outdoor hard, Nadal will still win.

Funnily enough, I was thinking that earlier (although it was Federer v Roddick). When does a rivalry stop being a rivalry?

Are you thinking about Djoko vs Rafa

I'll tell you after the 02

Assuming Djoko doesn't keep putting multiple contact lens in his eyes

[JuliusHMarx]

Silver- the Fedal rivalry hasnt ebbed and flowed, its largely flowed in one direction.

On clay, yes it has, off-clay a lot closer. But it's all about match-ups. Del Potro, Murray and Djoko, for example, all have a game that is more of a threat to Rafa than Fed's game. SHBH against a spinny lefty is asking for trouble.

[lorus59]

Who would now pay to see a Nadal/Federer match on clay any more? It is like watching the movie, Titanic over and over. The iceberg always sinks the ship.

[Silver]

Silver- the Fedal rivalry hasnt ebbed and flowed, its largely flowed in one direction.

I just typed up a long response to this, but I've since erased it. I'll just say 'I agree with Julius' and be done with it. However, I will say that the negativity surrounding Federer on this forum is pretty disheartening. And as probably one of the more diplomatic Federer fans, it's bringing me down. I'll likely jump off here for a while until RG starts.

Congratulations to Rafa, a fantastic tournament for him and excellent level of play in the final. He's definitely favourite for Roland Garros now, and it caps a wonderful comeback to the tour.

[JuliusHMarx]

Who would now pay to see a Nadal/Federer match on clay any more? It is like watching the movie, Titanic over and over. The iceberg always sinks the ship.

Who would anyone pay to see Rafa play on clay apart from Djoko?
The quality of Rafa's tennis alone is surely worth the price of admission regardless of any scoreline.

[Henman Bill]

Silver- the Fedal rivalry hasnt ebbed and flowed, its largely flowed in one direction.

However, I will say that the negativity surrounding Federer on this forum is pretty disheartening... it's bringing me down.

Duck out for today and by about Tuesday they'll have all recovered. No need to wait until RG.

[kingraf]

Silver, mate it wasnt an insult, I wasnt even denigrating Fed. I was stating a fact, Federer has never lead the Hth, and four of his wins have come in the WTFs, when Nadal is trying to just cross the season line (of course he still has to win those matches). You could maybe make a case for 2007 as the year Federer had a semblence of dominance over Rafa, (3-2), but before (3-6), and after (4-12), its been one way traffic.

[Silver]

Good suggestion, HB. Also, great pair of posts in the other thread by you, I definitely agree with what you said.

Ok kingraf.

[lags72]

Who would now pay to see a Nadal/Federer match on clay any more? It is like watching the movie, Titanic over and over. The iceberg always sinks the ship.

I understand why in the immediate aftermath of this particular match you would make this comment, but the fact remains that it's not always as one-sided as this.

Their previous clay meeting was at RG 2011 when the first three sets were tight, with Federer taking the third. And before that in Madrid it needed three sets for Rafa to come through, albeit pretty comfortably in the end.

In common with many posters, I was only too aware that if they both took their respective semi-final form (Rafa red-hot v Berydch, and Fed struggling far more than he would have done aged say 25, to put away someone like Paire....) into today's encounter then the outcome was always in little doubt.

As regards people paying to see these two (whether on clay or indeed any other surface), I would wager that there will never be anything less than full, or very close to full, stadia for as long as they continue to meet - and which I firmly believe won't be happening much longer. Meanwhile, there will be no shortage of tennis aficionados taking such opportunities as remain to see them while they can .........

These sort of players come around once in a lifetime - maybe even less than that.

[break_in_the_fifth]

Missed the match but I guess I didn't miss much. Disappointing from Fed, I don't understand where his form disappears to all of a sudden when he needs it the most. This hasn't been a rivalry for a long long time. Fed has to play spectacular just to win a point and all Nadal has to do is show up. It's like a human playing a computer at chess.

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