Internazionali BNL d'Italia - ATP 1000 - May 11th to May 18th

[Front242]

As predicted I woke up late and missed Haas v Wawrinka. Actually I could've caught some of it but forgot it was on. Doh! Thought Haas would win alright and happy he did. I like both guys but seeing Haas beating top players at his age is something to marvel. Guess that means his shoulder is ok again too which is good news as it was really bothering him again much of this year already.

 

[Murat Baslamisli]

Great wins from Haas and Milos.

 

[kskate2]

Andy takes the opening breaker over Melzer 7-1

 

[Front242]

^ Bummer. Hate seeing such blowout tiebreakers. Haven't been watching tennis so far today. Will tune in later to hopefully see Gulbis blast winners left, right and centre past Ferrer. Not overly overconfident about that happening though, sadly!

 

[Front242]

Then you've missed Ana sending Maria home already.

Ah nice. I saw Ana was 4-1 up in set 1 on live scores on tennis.com. That's made my day

 

[kskate2]

The birthday boy (Andy) comes through in straights, perfecting some trick shots along the way. 7-6 6-4 :celeb:

In other news, after a couple tumultuous games, Nadal grabs the lead from the mad doctor 5-4

T-Berd leads a break over Dimi 4-2

 

[bobvance]

Just turned on the Rafa match to see Rafa try to serve out the set at 5-4...then two double faults and a backhand error? I've never seen Rafa play this badly, not even close. :huh:

 

[brokenshoelace]

The most worrying thing about Nadal's slump during this clay season is that he really hasn't faced any of the heavyweights yet.

 

[brokenshoelace]

This is dreadful to watch. I hope if I won't be having to talk about how Youzhny was too good and make sure I don't bring up how Nadal played poorly in order not to sound like Fed fans.

 

[brokenshoelace]

I've literally seen no improvement from Nadal from Monte Carlo to Barcelona, Madrid and now Rome. Zero. That's four tournaments.

 

[bobvance]

I've literally seen no improvement from Nadal from Monte Carlo to Barcelona, Madrid and now Rome. Zero. That's four tournaments.

Broken, I think he might have regressed if anything. It's bizarre. I don't pretend to be a Rafa fan, in fact I've gotten a lot of pleasure out of rooting against him, but this isn't fun to watch.

 

[kskate2]

Berd and Rafa simultaneously choking. Both served for the set only to be broken and end up in breaker.

 

[brokenshoelace]

Too good from Youzny. Nothing Rafa can do. In fact, he played great but just ran into a better player that set.























































...lol.

 

[brokenshoelace]

I've literally seen no improvement from Nadal from Monte Carlo to Barcelona, Madrid and now Rome. Zero. That's four tournaments.

Broken, I think he might have regressed if anything. It's bizarre. I don't pretend to be a Rafa fan, in fact I've gotten a lot of pleasure out of rooting against him, but this isn't fun to watch.

Poor movement, poor serving, and can't even dictate consistently with the forehand even when he's in control of the rally. Keep in mind, he's playing against a player with a one handed backhand on clay. Hard to explain.

 

[bobvance]

Too good from Youzny. Nothing Rafa can do. In fact, he played great but just ran into a better player that set.





...lol.

We all know about Mikhail's prowess on the dirt so what can Rafa do? Also, I think Rafa really started to feel the pressure after Federer was knocked out and the draw opened up.

 

[Murat Baslamisli]

Maybe Rafa secretly had triplets and he just wants to be with them

That excuse is working great these days...

 

[kskate2]

Speaking of babies Murat, where is Xisca? Are they having problems? Is that why Nadal's game is in the crapper?

 

[kskate2]

Berd bounces back and takes the breaker 7-3

 

[Murat Baslamisli]

Speaking of babies Murat, where is Xisca? Are they having problems? Is that why Nadal's game is in the crapper?

That one is above my pay grade.

 

[kskate2]

^^Broken, Moxie, Tented? Anyone know the answer?