Rome Masters 2020

Nadal made a pretty eye catching comeback trashing PCB 6-1 6-1. Like he’s never been away.

Rome Masters Quarter-finals:
1) 26 year old (#97) vs 33 year old (#01)
2) 24 year old (#08) vs 21 year old (#34)
3) 21 year old (#14) vs 29 year old (#22)
4) 28 year old (#15) vs 34 year old (#02)

Nadal loses in straight sets to Schwartzmann. Goodness.

Diego Schwartzman was well worth the win. He looked like a dwarf compared to Nadal when they bumped rackets at the end - he is 5' 7". He makes even David Ferrer look tall.

Its only in the world of tennis (where 6'6 is commonplace) where Schwartzman is seen as small - his size would hardly stand out in a crowd. I watched him at Wimbledon once - he's a great player to watch - fantastic groundstrokes, good hands at the net with a decent all-court game and excellent temperament - has a game a bit reminiscent of Lleyton Hewitt. He has pushed Nadal hard in some earlier encounters (including a memorable one at Roland Garros) but not quite enough to cross the finish line, so this first win is much overdue.

That said, BBC match report said Nadal was struggling with his serve, and that'll be a real concern ahead of Roland Garros - I expect Team Nadal will be working intensively to iron this out.

Nice to see Shapovalov through to the semis - not really thought of him as a claycourter - does Rome still play faster than other clay tournaments? Djokovic meanwhile had a gritty if unconvincing 3 setter against 97th ranked Koepfer, including some racket smashing.

Surprise defeat for Rafa - or was it? The Spaniard was bound to be a bit rusty and was also hardly pushed in his two previous matches in Rome.

He was broken five times. But far better for him to have a bad match this week than at RG in a few days time.

I would still make Rafa favourite for the French. The five-set formula suits the big boys. The lesser player has to play well for so much longer to defeat them. Say Schwartzman* had been two sets up against Rafa at RG. Rafa would have the opportunity to fight back.

* This is not to detract in any way from Schwartzman's excellent win yesterday.

Schwartzman was fantastic, Nadal was not. Pretty much the tail of the tape.

Djoko thru to the final. Halep will play Pliskova in the women's final.

Djoko will take on Schwartzman who came thru a marathon 3hr 15min battle with Shapovalov.

Simona Halep beats an injured Karolina Pliskova 6-0 2-1 when the Czech retired hurt.
The Romanian finally completes the European clay trifecta - Roland Garros, Madridx2 and Rome.
Halep overwhelming favourite to land second French Open title.

Has anyone been monitoring Kim Clijsters return? I know she lost in the first round of the US Open: 6-3, 5-7, 1-6 against Ekaterina Alexandrova.

Jeff Navarro wrote:Simona Halep beats an injured Karolina Pliskova 6-0 2-1 when the Czech retired hurt.
The Romanian finally completes the European clay trifecta - Roland Garros, Madridx2 and Rome.
Halep overwhelming favourite to land second French Open title.

Main obstacle to a second RG triumph for Halep is her fitness. She has such an energetic, all-or-nothing game that she is prone to injury.

It's been fantastically difficult to predict women's GS victors of late, although the latest Osaka win in New York rather broke the trend of surprise winners.

Djoko wins Rome. Takes the final 7-5, 6-3. No doubt Schwartzman fairly tired at the end.

So what about Nole's chances at RG? I'm still plumping for Rafa. The best hope for others seeking a French crown is if Rafa goes out early. Once he gets three or four wins under his belt he's going to be very difficult to stop.

Title could depend of who of the Big Two does NOT have Thiem in their half of the draw.

Crazy to think in any other era Djokovic would be the greatest clay courter of his generation
1 x Roland Garros/3 x runners up
5 x Rome/5 x runners up
3 x Madrid
2 x Monte Carlo/2 x runners up

But his generation has a chap called R. Nadal.

Definitely think Nadal is the overwhelming favourite. Thiem is second favourite. Djokovic third favourite, hasn’t made the final in Paris since 2016.