It's been a while since Italians had a top male player. Back in the golden age of pro tennis, in the mid 1970s, the Foro Italico, site of the Internazionali BNL d'Italia, once called the Italian Open, was a raucous arena filled with rowdy Italians. Whistles could sometimes lead to throwing of coins. Such was
What a difference a surface makes. Nadal had been coming off a series of losses in the US where his opponents would serve well enough to hold serve and then go for big enough shots that Nadal would struggle to hold his own serve. In Indian Wells, Ljubicic lost rather handily in a first set,
Italian tennis has seen better days, at least, on the men's side. The women seem to be doing fine. Once, players like Adriano Pannatta would give Bjorn Borg all he could handle on clay. Today, Andreas Seppi is the highest ranked Italian player at 47. Seppi is a solid clay courter. Steady enough to hit
Everyone knew this would be a tough opener for Federer, regardless of who he faced. On the one hand, he could face Marcos Baghdatis, the guy who beat him in Indian Wells. On the other, Ernests Gulbis, who everyone said could be the next great player as long as 3-4 years ago. Hard to believe
Perhaps the most anticipated of the first round match, if you can call a first round "anticipated", was a first round match between Ernests Gulbis and Marcos Baghdatis. For most players, even players that play in the main draw of a Masters 1000 event, winning a title, possibly 2 in a year, is considered a
Once called the Italian Open, Rome now has a rather ponderous name: Internationalzi BNL d'Italia, which makes sense except BNL. Once, it was a challenge to get top players to play the clay circuit. Players like Connors and McEnroe often skipped right to the French, unwilling to take their lumps playing grueling points that weren't
For those of you who doubted Nadal was back, he's back with a vengeance. Verdasco started off nervous, then had few answers for Nadal. Everytime he'd come back and tie things up, Nadal would win another point, get another break. Nadal wins over Verdasco, 6-0, 6-1. The question is how his form will hold up
Rafael Nadal showed that he's still master of clay dispatching fellow Spaniard, David Ferrer, 6-2, 6-3 in the semifinals of Monte Carlo. He will face fellow Spaniard, Fernando Verdasco in the finals. Verdasco had a surprisingly easy match over number 1 seed and number 2 ranked player, Novak Djokovic, winning 6-2, 6-2 showing Djokovic has
Although the event is held in mostly French-speaking Monte Carlo, the tournament has taken on a Spanish flair. Spaniards Rafael Nadal and Juan Carlos Ferrero met in the quarterfinals. Nadal finally got something more than a token challenge against Ferrero, but still won rather handily, 6-4, 6-2. David Ferrer edged Philipp Kohlschreiber 7-5, 7-6(1). The
Today marks 3rd round action in Monte Carlo and the Spaniards are having a great day. Rafael Nadal, despite his prowess on clay, has apparently never double-bageled an opponent. He came close to doing this in his route over German, Michael Berrer, up 6-0, 4-0 in less than an hour. Berrer managed to win a
