2026 Internazionali BNL d'Italia, Rome, Italy - Masters 1000

[MargaretMcAleer]

Arthur Fils is having a MTO his back seems to be the trouble, he is down 0- 3 against Pellegrino 1st set
Pellegrino 4-0
Sad news Fils retired in his match, it is a wise decision seeing RG is not far away, I hope he can recover in time for RG he has been playing great tennis of late
Pellegrino wins via retirement 4-0

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

I will have to continue Fonseca v Medjedovic match here
Fonseca broke with a great fhand winner down the line, the crowd goes wild
5 all 3rd set
Both players had love service games
6 all TB for the match
Medjedovic has 5 MP his return game has been outstanding and his serve in the TB
Medjedovic d Fonseca 36 63 76(1)

 

[don_fabio]

Arthur Fils is having a MTO his back seems to be the trouble, he is down 0- 3 against Pellegrino 1st set
Pellegrino 4-0
Sad news Fils retired in his match, it is a wise decision seeing RG is not far away, I hope he can recover in time for RG he has been playing great tennis of late
Pellegrino wins via retirement 4-0

Bad news, just as he was getting his old form back.

 

[don_fabio]

I will have to continue Fonseca v Medjedovic match here
Fonseca broke with a great fhand winner down the line, the crowd goes wild
5 all 3rd set
Both players had love service games
6 all TB for the match
Medjedovic has 5 MP his return game has been outstanding and his serve in the TB
Medjedovic d Fonseca 36 63 76(1)

This was a rollercoaster in the 3rd set. Crowd was WILD and engaged. I expected Medjedovic to fold after he failed to serve it out, but surprisingly he was the calmer player in TB and won. Serb is in good form lately on clay.

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

This was a rollercoaster in the 3rd set. Crowd was WILD and engaged. I expected Medjedovic to fold after he failed to serve it out, but surprisingly he was the calmer player in TB and won. Serb is in good form lately on clay.

Yes Don he has had issues with closing out matches, credit to him his focus was great in the TB and he deserved his win, he had to close out the crowd which was difficult at times, yes he has found his form on the clay of late

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

Mensik has the trainer out, landed awkward seems to be a foot issue
Popyrin leading 5-3 1st set
Popyrin 1st set 63
Mensik 2nd set 62
Toilet break
Going 3 sets
Popyrin d Mensik 63 26 64

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

For the life of me,
Why do they allow Bright White Rectangles on the wall behind the baseline?
It would drive me 'insane' a lot of the players have complained about them from day 1 MEH!

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

A bit of better news from Fils, it did appear it was his back again, Fils said ' he felt pain in his hip during the second game, and a matter of not taking any risks before Roland Garros

 

[El Dude]

I hate to say it, but Fonzie is starting to slip a tiny bit in my mind (emphasis so y'all don't freak out on me). If you compare him to Federer at the same age (2001), he isn't that different in terms of results. I mean, Roger didn't win his first 250 until 2001, and his first Masters a year later. But Fonzie seems to lack something mentally and I'm starting to temper my expectations. I still think he'll be really good, even a great, but he just doesn't seem like as sure a thing as he was six months ago. I want to see a bit more growth and I'm not sure he's any better than he was in 2000. Sorry, @mrzz (What are you thinking?).

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

I hate to say it, but Fonzie is starting to slip a tiny bit in my mind (emphasis so y'all don't freak out on me). If you compare him to Federer at the same age (2001), he isn't that different in terms of results. I mean, Roger didn't win his first 250 until 2001, and his first Masters a year later. But Fonzie seems to lack something mentally and I'm starting to temper my expectations. I still think he'll be really good, even a great, but he just doesn't seem like as sure a thing as he was six months ago. I want to see a bit more growth and I'm not sure he's any better than he was in 2000. Sorry, @mrzz (What are you thinking?).

I wont freak out on you yet
Remember when I posted this to you this from Ricardo Piatti., former coach of Jannik Sinner, Sinner went to his academy at 14 yo
A young player playing his first full year on the ATP tour has to compete in at least 150 matches to gain the necessary experience before they can truly compete at the highest level, Piatti did say after 150 matches he would then re-valuate the player to see what is the deficiencies in their overall games. I feel Fonseca has good tactical mind set, has a good overall game, with variety, sometimes his focus lets him down.

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

Popyrin d Mensik 63 26 64
Mensik did have the trainer out for a foot issue and limped back to his seat just before Popyrin served for the 1st set

 

[britbox]

Rome Day 4 Video Highlights

 

[the AntiPusher]

A bit of better news from Fils, it did appear it was his back again, Fils said ' he felt pain in his hip during the second game, and a matter of not taking any risks before Roland Garros

I know he has been tweaking his physical strength conditioning.. Bad back is right there with a bad wrist.. two most delicate parts or areas of the body for a tennis player's body. Hopefully with some REST and antiflam meds he can get it to calm down.. RG is the most brutal slam on the body by far.. Tournament clay court matches can be an exercise of futility ... You cant get the cheap combo points that you can get on hard, grass or carpet because the dirt is an unforgiving opponent to deal with also.. Clay levels the playing field even for someone like our favorite Dr. Evil (Ivo) and tented's @tented favorite player Giant John Isner