Rome -- Internazionali BNL d'Italia

[VMoe86]

The Draw for the Rome Masters 1000 is out:

Draw

Some interesting first round matches: Sedas vs. Woowhat, Vramvrim vs. Sorauze. Also funny to see: C4iLL likely to face another padawan in R32 and Robbin with some Raonic close to him. I also noticed that polca is making a comeback!

Regarding my draw: If both inseedious and myself get our jobs done this should an interesting R16 match with him.

Good luck to everyone!

[Florian]

I eventually have a terrible draw !! Cool, does it mean i'm playing better ? xD

[inseedious]

Moe at R16 is a bit unlucky, I think I have the skill to constantly reach quarters in master 1000, but I often have bad draws... However, it's a shame that the tourney is started with old rankings because a future final still has to be played yet (deadline 8th May)... I think it's just misrespectful.

[costiiforzaa]

R64: G.Dimitrov def. leonmonstroso(Del Potro) 2/6 7/6(9) 6/3
Well I expected to loose in this match because I cant play vs "no top-spin guys" like Potro, Berdych, Raonic and etc. But I just was great mentally. I dont really remember facts of that match, because it was before 1-2 weeks, but I remember that he got the first set easily. In the second set I broke him, but he rebroke me, so tiebreak. In the tiebreak I was ahead 3-0, but he made a comeback and he had 3 or 4 match points, but I survived. In the third set I broke him 2 times and I was serving for the match on *5/1, I had 2 match points, but he saved them and broke me. I was serving again for the match on *5/3, he again saved 1-2 match points, but I managed to get the match! Really I was very happy for my first win over "no top-spin guys".

R16: TWM-Fox(Federer) def. G.Dimitrov 6/3 3/6 6/3

It was a great match with great rallies and backhands battle! We two werent playing from a while because we have no time, but maybe I had better exp, because Im playing very often last 1-2 days and he not. But against me was Fox! Great mental person!

1st set: He was serving greatly! He broke me early and then I had some break points, but didnt break him. So he won it.

2nd set: The rallies started to become longer and longer. This time I broke him on 4-3* and then I was serving for the set on *5/3 and I won it on 0.

3rd set: It was a really great battle! He was defending greatly and I was trying to past over him! He made some great passing shots, but and I made really very stupid errors! We were playing every single point with a start of 1-2 bars of stamina, but again we had average 20 shots on a point! On 5/2* he had 2 MP, but I saved them. At the end he served very well and tried to broke him, but this short slicing are killing me!!

To sum up: It was great match, with very long rallies with average 20 shots on a point and great backhands battle! It was 1 hour battle! We two were deserving to win the match, but the better mentally won it. I wish good luck to Fox! I think that if he train 1 hour a day he can beat everyone!

[C4iLL]

Clog (Verdasco) vs C4iLL (Verdasco) = 6-4; 6-1.

Well, I think I played a really great tennis , taking huge risk with a very offensive tactic (almost 100% sv on my services) and most of the time it paid, but on a few games it didn't work and he won

First set : at 2-2, 40-a, he won a break with an easy smash from me that went outside... I broke back just afterwards I think, but just after I lost again my service, this time more logically.

At 5-3 I broke again ! But at 5-4 I played a too risky SV tennis and I lost the set.

Second set : I think I had several opportunities to break, but it never suceeded. The score doesn't reflect the opposition as the games often came to 40-a I think. I want to salute his real talent to manage long exchanges and his ability not to give free points.

Anyway, I'm globally very disappointed of this defeat because I really had good sensations today and a good gameplan.
At the end he did 15 faults, me 26 and that made the difference, especially on clay.

[VMoe86]

Since I'm through to the SF, I will give a summary of my path so far. At heart I'm a Federer fan, so it was time to pick him again.

R32 against perrera vamos (Nadal): 6-1, 6-0

He allowed me to dictate play all the time, couldn't hurt me at all with Nadal, since I was running around the BH nicely and hit shoulder height accelerations off the moonballs with which he tried to disturb me. There were longer rallies, but as I said: Hardly any danger for me.

R16 against inseedious (Wawrinka): 6-1, 6-1

The scoreline is harsh, which does not reflect inseedious' level. However, he had a slow start (not so sharp) and was not that used with Wawrinka (some air swings here and there). I was striking the ball very well, returning with good counters (yeah, deep ones, which inseedious is easily annoyed with ), which is very important against a Wawrinka user. He was a bit further behind the baseline, which allowed me to dictate the pace most of the time and I did not make many mistakes, finished points at the net (17 out 20 there). In the second set I got an early break and at 3-0 I broke again, where he kind of gave up afterwards, not running for all balls anymore as he did before. At times inseedious played great points, but could not keep it up for longer periods. Better luck next time (especially with your RG Draw!).

QF against Robbin92 (Haas): 6-4, 3-6, 6-3

That was closer than what Robbin promised me. Robbin had a slow start, since he is only playing tour matches at the moment, so I was the first one to break. I was hitting the ball well, sending Robbin left and right (him having to do the defending) and with my first good return game I broke for a 3-2 lead in the first set. He immediately broke back in one of my worst service games and it was back on serve, him holding for 4-3. I definitely was not comfortable anymore at this moment. Then I got a good service game to hold for 4-4 and was eager to break, because serving to stay in the set reminds me of my last tour match against Robbin (I lost 4-6, 4-6 last year, both sets I was broken at 4-5 when I served to stay in it). He was up 30-0, I think, but somehow I broke and served it out.

Second set I started well, quickly got to a 3-1 lead with one break and when he served at 3-1, we were at 30-30, I attacked at the net (I think he would have gotten the volley, but maybe not do much with it), it desynced, we restarted the point and I made two errors on the next points I think -- he held for a 2-3 from his perspective. Then he caught fire, returning well, playing tactically well and went on to win the next four games (so in total 5 games) -- second set for Robbin it was! In the 2nd set we both had 11 winners, but I had 17 errors, though they were not all unforced, just simply forced because I was too close to the baseline to catch some balls on the run.

The smell of an inofficial bagel coming up gave me enough energy for the third set, where I was looking even more to stay closer to the baseline, giving him no edge. His serve also helped me, he served only 39% First Serves in 3rd set (only winning 22% of those, though ). In the end, I got to a 5-1 lead, serving for the match and for a breadstick. Robbin once again played some great tennis to break here and he held, it was definitely a dangerous situation serving for the match at 5-3 again. Here I think two or three Desyncs happened: One in a neutral rally, one on a 100% winner from Robbin (I gave back that point) and a point where Robbin was getting control of the rally (similar to that situation in 2nd set; we replayed and we can say it evened out). Especially that 100%, happened on 30-15, I gave back to 30-30 and then served an ace right when I needed it. I won a deciding set again, finally!

Good game Robbin! Was another very fun match with you, I think this is an exciting match-up. Good luck for RG and for the Madrid SF! Next up for me is Clog in the SF. My goal for Rome and Madrid was to defend my points from last year (a QF and a SF), which I have accomplished with this victory. Anything else is a bonus and so I will just give my best to make it happen, but looking at our two matches so far -- it's Clog's match to lose.

[C4iLL]

30 winners 25 faults from Robbin with Haas, what a pusher !!!!
Anyway it's the funniest matchup to play Haas-Fed + Haas-Wawrinka, it's like ping pong :=)

[Robbin92]

Before the match I was afraid to get fed ( ) multiple bagels/breadsticks, but winning my first two service games relatively easy was a sign - for me - that I would have some chance in this match. Though overall in the match, I never had the feeling I could win it, only when I got from 5-1 to 5-3 in the third (keeping in mind the 5 games in a row in the second set), but then VMoe played some good tactical points to prevent me of getting more confidence. Vmoe already said everything else about the score progress so I will just say I enjoyed the match very much and congratulate him with the victory!

C4ill- Pushing certainly wasn't my tactic, I played aggresively and attacking whenever I could. Moe played very close to the baseline, so often, with strokes where I normally hit a winner, he got his racquet onto it for an error. More logically distribution of winners/errors would be -10 errors for VMoe and +10 winners for me.

Good luck all remaining contestors!

[VMoe86]

Rome is over: After I got a WO in a SF due to Clog disappearing out nowhere (hopefully ok) I lost the final against Richie.

Richie1308 (Davydenko) defeats VMoe86 (Federer) 6-4, 3-6, 6-3

Richie has obviously been the best player since Australian Open, reaching two Masters 1000 Finals at Indian Wells and Miami, winning at Miami. Congrats to him for winning Rome!

So, this was going to be a tough match, that's how I went into it, but I also believed in my chances. My plan was clear: Hit as many FHs as possible with Federer and serve well. I was definitely aware that Davydenko, who could do real damage already in 1.13 (also in 1.12) looking at how Richie got through his Draw before 1.14, would be a very tough guy to beat in the hands of Richie. From 1.13 to 1.14 he only got a -2% in Speed (compared to -3% for others), got a bit more Power and Precision higher than Power on both wings. The connection was fine except for some moments where Desyncs or freezes happened, but I think my Stamina suffered more from the Desyncs than his.

1st set I started serving, get to 30-0, then I mug around a bit and am broken. He consolidates the break and then I held for the first time, but not putting enough pressure on his serve. He was about to break me a second time for 4-1, but I got out of it -- just to be broken for 5-2 afterwards. Then he probably relaxed a bit and I could get a break for 3-5 with some good hitting, even getting to 4-5. He served it out very well, though, no chance for me.

2nd set I was serving first and the start of it was my best period I think, constantly hitting great shots, running around the BH, getting to a 3-0 lead. It wasn't meant to go without difficulties, he was always there on return, making it tough for me. So I had to save BPs. I got another break and could serve for it at 5-1, even had set point, but somehow I got broken since my IE was at 0% for two points in a row or so, no chance to finish points quickly that way against the Russian ballmachine!

3rd set, the first four games, especially my service games, I did not make the best choices. One break, ok, I thought, you can still comeback. Then I was down 0-3 and faced another BP, and I played a drop shot from such a stupid position, it was a Gulbis moment -- Richie got to it and managed it perfectly, 4-0 for him. Suddenly I got into his service game and broke, held for 2-4. He was up 40-15 I think when serving for a 5-2 lead, I got to deuce and I am dictating a point and I play another stupid drop shot -- he gets to it, hits a drop shot off it that clips the net cord, game point for him. This one really hurt, I felt I was back in the match and make such a stupid shot, I did not hit all match long. Well, he held for 5-2, I held for 5-3 and he was serving for it. First two points he was dominant, 30-0. Next one I get, 30-15, but he gets double match point. I was extremely focused on both of them, he hit only 2nd serves I believe, and I got to deuce. He then won the next two points and won the match, congrats to him!

I am disappointed about my starts in 1st and 3rd set, but overall satisfied with my performance. Another deciding set loss to my list, but that's my story I guess. My next match at Roland Garros can wait a bit, most likely next week on Saturday, possible opponent is butcher -- talk about good draws! Good luck to Richie at RG and I will enjoy some time off from matches.