Folks, that's a double entendre. You know I don't like clay; and we have the European clay season taking place in the fall. Work with me. I love the title. Djokovic's 5th Rome Masters, his 36th 1000 title, of course . . . that title. 😀 Let me make this post as short and as …
Category: Rome
Sightseeing in Rome R1
Ladies and gentlemen, Lorenzo Musetti: 18 year-old Italian one-hander. https://youtu.be/P1UiZLug3v4 He put the Swiss 10th seed out in 60 76(2) fashion today. Winner of the 2019 Australian Open Junior title, this is his maiden ATP main draw. Benvenuto!
Toward Djokodal Rome Final
Nadal did what everyone knew he'd do: desperately scratch his way to the Rome final. He got a very beatable draw. But it almost doesn't matter who he plays on this surface other than an in-form Djokovic or maybe a high-flying Dominic Thiem. I'm surprised Tsitsipas actually put-up the fight he did, losing on one …
Novak Takes Rothenberg’s Lunch Money
https://youtu.be/U88Sr0s2MYY Do you know who Ben Rothenberg is? I've slammed the guy a few times with my teeny tiny Twitter tongue; he's a tennis journalist who, I think, basically writes for Ben and Twitter 😉 He's a big WTA honk and leader of the "anti Best-of-Five" crew. These credentials alone (WTA cheerleader/anti-Best-of-5 clown) make him, …
Rafa Reigns, Takes Rome and No. 1 Heading into Paris.
"Reigns" -- get it? Yeah, you saw my last post, no? Probably the most spot-on, articulate post of ATP matters I've ever written. Zverev losing the first set 6-1 (destroyed, after breaking Nadal in the opening frame), then winning 9 of the next 12 games, taking the second set 6-1 and finding an early break …
Continue reading Rafa Reigns, Takes Rome and No. 1 Heading into Paris.
Rome Final Haiku
Zverev is 0-4 v Nadal and has to be running on fumes. Yet you never can quite tell. Debating Time Rafa survives but Zverev's rise and Rome defense Pass me the olives Enjoy the match, folks. I will certainly go on and on about the events of Rome and the possibilities of Paris tomorrow. Cheers.
Djokodal LI: Good News for Roland Garros?
I am going to say, emphatically, yes (with an IF explained below). More to come later after the second SF, but this one is a partial victory for Djokovic for obvious reasons. But what seemed interesting to me, I watched some of this on my phone in bed, dozing, was Novak's calm and at times …
Rome SF Preview of the Preview
Brilliant work from Djokovic to keep his level high enough to put-away Nishikori, to at least give us a look tomorrow at Djokodal LI in the first SF. Goffin and Zverev still haven't played to decide who faces Cilic in the other SF. But obviously all of the hype is on Nadal v Djokovic. I …
Beating Nadal and QF Friday
If the match is on clay and it's not in Madrid, and you draw El Toro, you're at the mercy of Rafael Nadal. A poignant illustration of this statement: he's lost only twice at Roland Garros all-time, to Soderling in 2009 and Djokovic in 2015. That's silly. Thought experiment: What do you know about the …
Rome R16 Match-ups
Here's a little nick-nack on Rafa's 1 and done of Dzumhur today. First of all, like we said in our little preview, Rafa is back, totally re-focused on another title with added importance, the eleventh hour, on the brink of Roland Garros and a shot at #17. Rafa does not fuck around, so this tourney …
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