Rome Masters 2013 (Internazionali BNL d'Italia)

[Denis]

Draw will be made availible here:

http://www.atpworldtour.com/posting/2013/416/mds.pdf

 

[Denis]

Nadal ends up in Ferrer's quarter. Again. In Djokovic half too (that should be fun). Dimitrov and Haas in Federer's quarter. Murray and Del Potro paired together.

Wawrinka is in Djokovic's half. Nadal has the easiest draw I think.

 

[Didi]

Interesting draw, some notes:

- a possible Djokovic-Nadal clash in the Semis to decide about Nadal's seed for Paris
- Wawrinka and Berdych in Nole's quarter
- Nadal vs. Ferrer in the QF should be telling about 4th/5th scenario for Paris
- Fed's quarter stacked with Haas, Dimitrov, Simon and Tsonga
- possible Murray - Delpo QF on clay, sounds good

 

[brokenshoelace]

Nadal ends up in Ferrer's quarter. Again. In Djokovic half too (that should be fun). Dimitrov and Haas in Federer's quarter. Murray and Del Potro paired together.

Wawrinka is in Djokovic's half. Nadal has the easiest draw I think.

Ferrer in the QF + Djokovic in the semis = Easiest draw? I'd hate to see the toughest draw.

 

[Denis]

Nadal ends up in Ferrer's quarter. Again. In Djokovic half too (that should be fun). Dimitrov and Haas in Federer's quarter. Murray and Del Potro paired together.

Wawrinka is in Djokovic's half. Nadal has the easiest draw I think.

Ferrer in the QF + Djokovic in the semis = Easiest draw? I'd hate to see the toughest draw.

Well yes. He's got no competition up to the quarters and in stead of facing Djokovic, Murray or Federer he gets Ferrer. Semis is tough yes. If Djokovic makes it. Remember he is seeded 5.

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I think Federer got the toughest draw. Haas, Dimitrov, Tsonga as potential opponents until quarters. Possibly Del Potro in the semis.

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I must say it is fairly balanced, but in the nuance of things I think Nadal has an easier draw than the other members of the Big 4.

 

[brokenshoelace]

Nadal ends up in Ferrer's quarter. Again. In Djokovic half too (that should be fun). Dimitrov and Haas in Federer's quarter. Murray and Del Potro paired together.

Wawrinka is in Djokovic's half. Nadal has the easiest draw I think.

Ferrer in the QF + Djokovic in the semis = Easiest draw? I'd hate to see the toughest draw.

Well yes. He's got no competition up to the quarters and in stead of facing Djokovic, Murray or Federer he gets Ferrer. Semis is tough yes. If Djokovic makes it. Remember he is seeded 5.

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I think Federer got the toughest draw. Haas, Dimitrov, Tsonga as potential opponents until quarters. Possibly Del Potro in the semis.

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I must say it is fairly balanced, but in the nuance of things I think Nadal has an easier draw than the other members of the Big 4.

---

---

Keep in mind, this is a Masters event. Meaning you only play 2 matches before getting to the QF. As such, I tend to judge a draw's difficulty from the QF onwards as the first two matches are seldom anything difficult (there are exceptions of course, including this very tourney, where Novak might have to play Wawrinka).

Ferrer is a better clay courter than Murray. I don't think that much is deniable. And yeah, Rafa owns him, but he owns almost everyone on this surface. And let's not sell him too short, he's JUST troubled Nadal. Was two points away from winning the match in straights, in fact. Him + Novak in the semis is in my mind, a much tougher draw than Roger's (keep in mind, I admit this is somewhat moot since this is Nadal on clay we're talking about, while Roger isn't playing particularly well).

Anyway, the whole issue for Nadal IMO is avoiding Novak until the final. He won't be doing that.

 

[Denis]

^ True. I must say it was just my first impression. It's fairly balanced, although I do think Federer might be prone to an upset with the quality of players in his quarter. Nadal didn't get into Djokovic quarter and he can handle Ferrer. I guess if you only look from Nadal's perspective it would have been better if he would have gotten Murray in the quarters and Ferrer in the semis. But you need to compare his draw to the others. Again, the draw is balanced, but I think Nadal got the overall better draw compartively speaking.

---

Potential threats up to the final:

Djokovic: Wawrinka, Nadal, Berdych
Nadal: Djokovic, Wawrinka
Murray: Del Potro, Dimitrov, Tsonga, Federer, Haas
Federer: Dimitrov, Haas, Tsonga, Del Potro, Murray

 

[tennisville]

1] Novak Djokovic vs bye
Qualifier vs Martin Klizan
Matteo Viola vs Alexandr Dolgopolov
Stanislas Wawrinka vs Qualifier
Marin Cilic vs Qualifier
Kevin Anderson vs Jurgen Melzer
Denis Istomin vs John Isner
[6] Thomas Berdych vs Bye

[4] David Ferrer vs Bye
Horacio Zeballos vs Fernando Verdasco
Albert Ramos vs Qualifier
Philipp Kohlschreiber vs Milos Raonic
Janko Tipsarevic vs Viktor Troicki
Jarkko Nieminen vs Qualifier
Fabio Fognini vs Andreas Seppi
[5] Rafael Nadal vs Bye

[7] Juan Martin del Potro vs Bye
Xavier Malisse vs Qualifier
Juan Monaco vs Benoit Paire
Julien Benneteau vs Nicolas Almagro
Kei Nishikori vs Paolo Lorenzi
Jeremy Chardy vs Feliciano Lopez
Marcel Granollers vs Nikolay Davidenko
[3] Andy Murray vs Bye

[8] Jo Wilfried Tsonga vs Bye
Jerzy Janowicz vs Qualifier
Marcos Baghdatis vs Grigor Dimitrov
Sam Querrey va Richard Gasquet
Tommy Haas vs Mikhail Youznhy
Filippo Volandri va Gilles Simon
Radek Stepanek vs Potito Starace
[2] Roger Federer vs Bye

 

[Sundaymorningguy]

Oh My Baby Fed landed in Papa Fed's side of the draw!

 

[brokenshoelace]

Oh My Baby Fed landed in Papa Fed's side of the draw!

What happens if they have children together?

 

[Denis]

Oh My Baby Fed landed in Papa Fed's side of the draw!

What happens if they have children together?

The second coming of the GOAT, and the day of reckoning for all tennisfans.

 

[Front242]

Tommy Haas will probably rip poor Fed a new one if they meet at Rome. I'd actually love to see them play on clay again. Don't believe we have since the great match at RG '09 where one point that Fed saved pretty much changed the whole match. Tough for Tommy who looked to be close to winning in straight sets.

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If Fed does well here I'll be impressed 'cos that's a very tough draw. Especially how his form is right now. He better be practicing hard the next few days.

 

[DarthFed]

Tommy Haas will probably rip poor Fed a new one if they meet at Rome. I'd actually love to see them play on clay again. Don't believe we have since the great match at RG '09 where one point that Fed saved pretty much changed the whole match. Tough for Tommy who looked to be close to winning in straight sets.

---

If Fed does well here I'll be impressed 'cos that's a very tough draw. Especially how his form is right now. He better be practicing hard the next few days.

---

Having watched both play a fair amount of times this year I see no reason to expect Federer to beat Haas at this point, crazy as it sounds. He just got blown out by Nishikori on a court that plays pretty well for him. But Fed has to make a move at some point and some point soon. Going into Wimbledon looking like the #20 player in the world will give him rest but absolutely no confidence.

 

[Front242]

Tommy Haas will probably rip poor Fed a new one if they meet at Rome. I'd actually love to see them play on clay again. Don't believe we have since the great match at RG '09 where one point that Fed saved pretty much changed the whole match. Tough for Tommy who looked to be close to winning in straight sets.

---

If Fed does well here I'll be impressed 'cos that's a very tough draw. Especially how his form is right now. He better be practicing hard the next few days.

---

Having watched both play a fair amount of times this year I see no reason to expect Federer to beat Haas at this point, crazy as it sounds. He just got blown out by Nishikori on a court that plays pretty well for him. But Fed has to make a move at some point and some point soon. Going into Wimbledon looking like the #20 player in the world will give him rest but absolutely no confidence.

---

Maybe it's all part of a somewhat f***ed up cunning plan to go in under the radar looking like the world #20 as you say and turn it on when no one's expecting it. I live in hope Seriously though, he's looking bad right now and fingers crossed it can only get better. I mean it can't get much worse. Hopefully. At least admitting to the press that's he's disappointed in his play and headlines that he's basically playing crap might make him try hard. He hates to be written off. And pretty sure he hates bad losses too like anyone with pride. Still think if he get s a favourable draw at RG the best of 5 format will help with tuning up his game a lot. He's played just 2 matches in 7 weeks. Fresh is one thing, total lack of match play is a another and a huge downside.

 

[DarthFed]

Tommy Haas will probably rip poor Fed a new one if they meet at Rome. I'd actually love to see them play on clay again. Don't believe we have since the great match at RG '09 where one point that Fed saved pretty much changed the whole match. Tough for Tommy who looked to be close to winning in straight sets.

---

If Fed does well here I'll be impressed 'cos that's a very tough draw. Especially how his form is right now. He better be practicing hard the next few days.

---

Having watched both play a fair amount of times this year I see no reason to expect Federer to beat Haas at this point, crazy as it sounds. He just got blown out by Nishikori on a court that plays pretty well for him. But Fed has to make a move at some point and some point soon. Going into Wimbledon looking like the #20 player in the world will give him rest but absolutely no confidence.

---

Maybe it's all part of a somewhat f***ed up cunning plan to go in under the radar looking like the world #20 as you say and turn it on when no one's expecting it. I live in hope Seriously though, he's looking bad right now and fingers crossed it can only get better. I mean it can't get much worse. Hopefully. At least admitting to the press that's he's disappointed in his play and headlines that he's basically playing crap might make him try hard. He hates to be written off. And pretty sure he hates bad losses too like anyone with pride. Still think if he get s a favourable draw at RG the best of 5 format will help with tuning up his game a lot. He's played just 2 matches in 7 weeks. Fresh is one thing, total lack of match play is a another and a huge downside.

---

His plan from here on out is to be fresh for slams and play a reduced schedule to help in that regard. Playing like crap is not a part of his plan I'm afraid.

Roger will no longer care about being #1 again but he is smart and knows the huge importance of staying top 4 as long as possible. Now he has to start worrying about that. A couple more poor showings and it is possible he drops to #5 after RG though I still think with Wimbledon seeding he'd be at least #4.

 

[huntingyou]

His plan from here on out is to be fresh for slams and play a reduced schedule to help in that regard. Playing like crap is not a part of his plan I'm afraid.

Roger will no longer care about being #1 again but he is smart and knows the huge importance of staying top 4 as long as possible. Now he has to start worrying about that. A couple more poor showings and it is possible he drops to #5 after RG though I still think with Wimbledon seeding he'd be at least #4.

Well said!

There is no magic switch......Roger at the very least needs to put in good showings at the MS events so he can have the confidence and match-ready mentality to win the whole thing at the slams.

 

[Front242]

Well that's it exactly. He's doing crap at even the masters events so he has no match play and low confidence. Currently in a major slump. Freshness helps him physically sure but he's playing very poorly by his standards. Hope it improves a lot soon. It needs to.

 

[Srini]

It's a very tough draw for Rafa considering he needs to face Novak to defend his title. Tough one for Novak too. There are no easy draws for Fed these days, not because if the draw itself but because of the way he is playing. He is too inconsistent and vulnerable against any of the top 7-8, except for Ferrer.

 

[Front242]

The way he's playing, if he loses to Nishikori (who by Fed's own admission didn't have to play anywhere near his best to win) who isn't known to be a good player on clay unlike Ferrer, he'll most certainly lose to Ferrer. He's bound to at some stage I reckon. Even guys he's owned in the past are starting to beat him.

 

[calitennis127]

Djokovic v. Federer in the final....mark it down as Cali's prediction.