Italian Open 2014

[Corbon]

Draw
http://www.internazionalibnlditalia.com ... chile1.pdf

Nole could meet Ferrer in the QF and Fed in the SF

Nadal could meet Murray in the QF and Stan in the SF

Also Nole's girl is preggo, expect a marriage after Wimbledon or so

[djarvik]

Murray.

[Lucian86]

I believe Murray can be very competitive on clay as well. I've got the feeling though that he just doesn't care much and doesn't train properly. A little bit like Andy Roddick and the american crew: they know they suck on clay so why bother ? Again, I don't feel Murray is that bad. Sure, it's difficult to beat Rafa and Djokovic but he can compete very well with the other guys. Just make some effort. That's the main issue about the scot. He seems a bit lazy. We know he has great potential (won Us Open, beat Djokovic at Wimbledon last year in 3 SETS, played a couple of finals more, showed that he can beat every guy in the tour) but he lacks continuity because of that. When you reach your peak, to stay there you have to work even harder. He doesn't seem to understand that or he's just too lazy to care.

[Ali-Iqb93]

Murray's semifinal against novak in 2011 in rome is one of the few great performances of Murray on clay or maybe the only performance

[Corbon]

Murray honed his tennis skills on Spanish clay courts in his teens but as an adult he has trained mostly in Florida on outdoor hard courts. Maybe he has forgotten parts of the clay language a bit.

[djarvik]

Federer.

[Corbon]

Can't handle so many kids.

[Coolhand Texas]

I've said this before but fed should have just skipped the whole clay season and go straight to grass.

[Amazing Matheja]

I don't know if Rafa will win this match against Simon (it's the beginning of the 3rd set at the moment when I write this), but what the hell is happenning to Rafa and his FH ?
At first, after those weird loss he had lately, I was so sure it was physical (his back, knees, or something) ! But know I'm starting to agree with some guys saying it's mental !... He struggled against an already injuried Nishikori (2 winning forehand only for Nadal until 6-2, 4-2 for Nishikori, or something like that), and seeing how he struggles (to me, he's struggling) to beat Simon now, I don't recognize Nadal. I'm still thinking he's the favorite for the French, but it's a bit weird... It looks like he can't create his killer lift sometimes !...

Well it's 2-0 in the 3rd for Nadal now ! ^^

Edit : Aaaand ? Nadal won ! ^^ Really strong in the end ! (But how can he struggle against Simon on clay ?)

[djarvik]

I am with you. This was not good showing for Rafa. He should have won Simon much easier on this surface. All the credit to Simon, but Rafa is still looking far from himself. And it does not seem to be physical.

[Amazing Matheja]

...And it does not seem to be physical.

If it's the case, that's the most incredible for me. He played some sooooo insane matchs in terms of "anything you want" mentally...

[djarvik]

True, after all he been through (match-wise) he should be able to bounce back fairly quickly. But at the same time, I think that Wawrinka loss is here to stay. Somehow it affected him.

[Amazing Matheja]

True dat !
Also, about Wav win at the Aussie, maybe it's doing a bit like when Federer lost more and more points/sets/matchs he wasn't used to lose. Players' "fear" started to vanish a bit so they were more confident in their shots, in their gameplan, risking more...
Maybe it's the same here : the players think that if there is a moment to defeat Nadal, it's now. Not helping Rafa to recover ! Physically and/or mentally ! (Mentally ? )

About his forehand, during his injury(ies) maybe he forced a lot his shots, especially his FH... Can it change/affect your moves ?...

[djarvik]

I think FH is a "confidence" shot for a lot of players. Even for me personally, somehow the BH gets less affected by the confidence then FH. IF I feel confident I hit better forehands. I think it stems from the fact that when players are tough tennis, FH is always the "attacking" wing, while BH is more of a "rally" shot. Sure, some players develop rather good backhands, but 99% of them given a chance will still run over that mid court ball to hit the Forehand, that is instinct - attack with FH.

So it is logical that with lack of confidence - that's the shot that breaks down most, or in Rafas case, he simply dials it back a lot and doesn't put on it much, being safe is his comfort zone.

[Amazing Matheja]

...Sure, some players develop rather good backhands, but 99% of them given a chance will still run over that mid court ball to hit the Forehand, that is instinct - attack with FH....

Djoko popped in my mind.

I think that it takes Rafa a lot of time to recover. If it's mental it's like he's paranoid about injuries ! We'll see tomorrow against Youzhny the crazy ! ^^

(But at this time I still think he's the #1 for the French... How can it be different ! ^^)