ROME - 2010 ATP Masters 1000

[TomBs]

I usually pick Wawrinka to go far into any tournament, but for this tournament I had him losing in the 1st round...
Awesome backhand indeed.

[Moralspain]

Watching Rafa vs Hanescu right now, and i must admit that he´s playing really good, i´m quite impressed, he´ll be in good form in France

[Saarbrigga]

Watching Rafa vs Hanescu right now, and i must admit that he´s playing really good, i´m quite impressed, he´ll be in good form in France

Not if he does the same mistake as last year (playing to much tournaments before RG).

[Mike Rotchtickles]

Some tasty matches on tap for later today!

Hoping for a Djokovic win over Fernando "I Can Beat Everyone Except Nadal" Verdasco.

A Tsonga win over Ferrer will do me nicely as well.

It will also be interesting to see how Gulbis does against Lopez.
Lopez beat him quite comfortably (that was on a hard court) last year, but Gulbis has made significant improvement since then.

[djarvik]

Great matches today, you right. Watching Verdaco - Djoker now.....Fer looks just a bit tired physically and emotionally....at this point he should drop the second set and conserve himself. If he will break Djoker early in 3rd....there is a chance of Djoker going away mentally. I think Fer will pull thru in 3rd.

Gulbis spent 2.5 hours on court with crafty Italian yesterday.....Lopez was resting. Even thou Gulbis is a much better player now, it should be extremely tough for him to come thru. He is simply not used to so much tennis ....remember, last year he spend 3 days a week 2 hours each practicing, F**** ATP Pro ah? ....so he might be having too much tennis for his licking at this point.
At the same time, Lopez is simply not a winner. Interesting match this one. Gulbis in another 3 setter.
I say 47 UE errors from Gulbis, a bit less then 54 yesterday.

I see no problem for Nadal. Yes, Waw is playing great, but will be a no match against Nadal. He will attack his great 1H BH with a nice high top spin balls, taking out his shoulder mid first set....and then it will be a quick death for Waw. Nadal in Straights.

[djarvik]

...Fer looks just a bit tired physically and emotionally....at this point he should drop the second set and conserve himself. If he will break Djoker early in 3rd....there is a chance of Djoker going away mentally. I think Fer will pull thru in 3rd.

- now Fer needs to be just solid, nothing else. Put the balls back into court....pull a Mutant. Djoker is ready to go away mentally.

[coke4]

Djokovic is soo bad at the moment it is actually sickening

[coke4]

Hoping for a Djokovic win over Fernando "I Can Beat Everyone Except Nadal" Verdasco.

Did he really say this?

[Mike Rotchtickles]

Yeah he did.
His reference was in playing Nadal on a clay court.

"Nadal is a tough proposition on clay and he's one or maybe even two levels above everyone else", 26-year-old Madrid native Verdasco, the world number nine, told a news conference.

"But I really feel like I can beat anyone else right now and I think I have a good chance of making more finals on clay".

[djarvik]

I see no problem for Nadal. Yes, Waw is playing great, but will be a no match against Nadal. He will attack his great 1H BH with a nice high top spin balls, taking out his shoulder mid first set....and then it will be a quick death for Waw. Nadal in Straights.

well, its 2 out of 3. Lets hope Gulbis comes thru.

[Coolhand Texas]

I am rooting for gulbis in this one djarvik!

I want to see a gulbis nadal match, especially if gulbis can play the way he can

[Coolhand Texas]

Wow gulbis playEd pretty well from what I saw to take the first set

[djarvik]

Fantastic match from Gulbis. 35 winners to 14 UE. 73% second serve points won. If he plays like that, the sky is the limit. He is shaping out to be one of the best second servers on the tour, really dangerous second serve.


So what do you guys think of Nadal vs Gulbis? Any chance for an upset?

I love both players....it will be hard to watch this match as I want both to win.

[jayl0ve]

So what do you guys think of Nadal vs Gulbis? Any chance for an upset?

Look everybody, djarvik made a funny!

[Coolhand Texas]

After watching gulbis today, i would say there is a chance, a small chance however.

I think it can turnout to be an entertaining match.

@djarvik- all this gulbis talk is making me start watching him more!! stop brainwashing me!!!