Internazionali BNL d'Italia, Rome - ATP Masters 1000

[MargaretMcAleer]

This is Shorty's first win over Rafa in 10 attempts.

 

[Bonaca]

Sadly we will not see 30:26 this time.

Hopefully they meet in Paris!

 

[Fiero425]

This is Shorty's first win over Rafa in 10 attempts.

....and on red clay at one of his fave events; ROME! Novak has a chance to go ahead with 36 Masters 1000 wins over Nadal's 35!

 

[calitennis127]

Congrats to Diego, he outclassed Bob. Jesus did Bob look old tonight.

Like Novak and David did this year, even Missy Austria.

Like some poster here, I would not call him Shortman, Bigman fits better!

How in the hell did Nadal look old? His movement was excellent. He just missed some forehands today and Schwartzman played out of his mind with winners galore.

We know that hitting winners galore is one of the ways to beat Nadal. Schwartzman did that today and Nadal missed some key forehands.

It was nothing more than that.

 

[Bonaca]

This is a sweet victory for Diego, kind of a little payback for that rain delay in RG when Schwartzman was playing insane and got his momentum stopped.

So truth, so truth. And Bob did fist pumping again on easy mistakes of his opponent, also tried Moon balls. Jesus Christ. This is the goat

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

....and on red clay at one of his fave events; ROME! Novak has a chance to go ahead with 36 Masters 1000 wins over Nadal's 35!

I am not impressed with Novak's form quite frankly, he has done well at Rome in the past,we shall see.

 

[Fiero425]

Sadly we will not see 30:26 this time.

Hopefully they meet in Paris!

I don't need an unnecessary hard fight for Novak before Paris! They know what's what and how they're going to play if they're confident in their game! Rafa's got to be shaken since he doesn't have another warm-up event to get ready!

 

[Bonaca]

How in the hell did Nadal look old? His movement was excellent. He just missed some forehands today and Schwartzman played out of his mind with winners galore.

We know that hitting winners galore is one of the ways to beat Nadal. Schwartzman did that today and Nadal missed some key forehands.

It was nothing more than that.

He was helpless, look at his fucking face.
Just old.

 

[Fiero425]

He was helpless, look at his fucking face.
Just old.

I was thinking a little paunchy, but it could have been his shirt clinging to his stomach since it was so humid!

 

[Bonaca]

I was thinking a little paunchy, but it could have been his shirt clinging to his stomach since it was so humid!

Maybe , just maybe, because he has less hair on his head than his father

 

[don_fabio]

No one expected Diego to rise to this level tonight, but the reason why Rafa played badly is the argentinian, pure and simple. When this little man is playing his best he is a joy to watch.

 

[Moxie]

No one expected Diego to rise to this level tonight, but the reason why Rafa played badly is the argentinian, pure and simple. When this little man is playing his best he is a joy to watch.

I think you have to admit that Rafa was off today...poor serving day, which had nothing to do with Diego, and a lot of UFEs, which is uncommon. Not to take anything away from Schwartzman, who says he played the best match of his life. I don't think that's a big worry, in terms of RG for Rafa. He'll have time to find his serve and his timing...and it's Bo5. As to your previous, it's true that Schwartzman lost his form after the rain delay in Paris a few years back, but he had only one one set. It's a bit of a stretch to think he was going to win it...you may not have meant that, but people do make a lot of how "unlucky" Schwartzman was in that match.

 

[calitennis127]

I think you have to admit that Rafa was off today...poor serving day, which had nothing to do with Diego, and a lot of UFEs, which is uncommon. Not to take anything away from Schwartzman, who says he played the best match of his life. I don't think that's a big worry, in terms of RG for Rafa. He'll have time to find his serve and his timing...and it's Bo5. As to your previous, it's true that Schwartzman lost his form after the rain delay in Paris a few years back, but he had only one one set. It's a bit of a stretch to think he was going to win it...you may not have meant that, but people do make a lot of how "unlucky" Schwartzman was in that match.

Nadal was not that off today. Schwartzman was just playing terrifically well and Nadal missed some high degree-of-difficulty shots at key moments. That’s all this was.

 

[Moxie]

Nadal was not that off today. Schwartzman was just playing terrifically well and Nadal missed some high degree-of-difficulty shots at key moments. That’s all this was.

You're not a very reliable judge of Nadal's play, as you don't think much of it anyway. His timing was off, and he served very poorly. His first and second serve percentages were both below 50% and he only served 2 aces, I think. Nadal missed a lot of shots he usually makes, particularly on clay. "High-degree of difficulty" rather depends on who you're talking about. Schwartzman played great, as I've said, and he didn't back down. All respect to a guy who sees his opportunity and takes it.

 

[Jelenafan]

I’m good with the analysis of Rafa’s condition as old and possibly decrepit. At times I wanted to take a wheelchair on the court for him.

As a harbinger of his chances at the FO this performance pretty much seals it.

Rafa won’t win the FO, I guarantee it. No way , no How.
impossible.

As God is my witness, he will never win the French Open again..

 

[Sundaymorningguy]

I’m good with the analysis of Rafa’s condition as old and possibly decrepit. At times I wanted to take a wheelchair on the court for him.

As a harbinger of his chances at the FO this performance pretty much seals it.

Rafa won’t win the FO, I guarantee it. No way , no How.
impossible.

As God is my witness, he will never win the French Open again..

I would never count Nadal out. I will say I was surprised he didn’t find a way to win. I expected Djokovic to go out before Nadal as Djokovic’s play has been fairly uninspired this tournament.

 

[Fiero425]

I would never count Nadal out. I will say I was surprised he didn’t find a way to win. I expected Djokovic to go out before Nadal as Djokovic’s play has been fairly uninspired this tournament.

You say uninspired! IMO, Djokovic's efforts are nothing short of inspired with all that's going on around him! Are you fk'n kidding me? We need to stop just looking at things so simplistically when smarter individuals know there's more drama surrounding him with being #1, resigning as President of the ATP Player's Council, and perform while forming a new player entity for men and women he's presently President of along with Anderson IIRC! AS much as I dislike Nadal I still give him credit for having to deal with so much around him outside of his passion for playing the game! It's a lot easier for the "also-rans" of the game! Their lives are a lot less complicated, though the rewards aren't as plentiful monetarily!

 

[Moxie]

I would never count Nadal out. I will say I was surprised he didn’t find a way to win. I expected Djokovic to go out before Nadal as Djokovic’s play has been fairly uninspired this tournament.

I'm pretty sure you can tell that @Jelenafan was being sarcastic, and rightly so. I also thought, of the 2, Djokovic would go out first, but it's not really that big of a deal. It's a mere tune-up, and this year more than ever it matters little, since it's the only (big) one on clay before RG. Hey, Thiem went down early in "Cincy" and won the USO, so that's how much of a gauge it is. The prevailing wisdom is that Novak is more susceptible to upset at RG than Rafa, for sure, so let's see how he cleans up his game the next couple(?) of days.

Tomorrow:

Djokovic v. Ruud - They've never played. Ruud is young and, though he's a clay man, I expect him to be overpowered. Question is if he can take a set.
Shapo v. Schwartzman - Interesting. Schwartzman is coming off of the win and the match of his life. Can he find that game again? Shapo is playing more within himself. Schwartzman playing 2 lefties in a row, so at least he'll be on good form geometrically. This should be the SF to watch.

 

[Bonaca]

During the match, the Goat looked helpless at times, while getting outplayed by Diego on his favorite slow clay surface.

 

[backhandslapper]

Not enough tuneup matches before RG in my opinion. Nadal looked rusty. How many clay tournaments did it take him to find his groove on the dirt last year?