In between Grand Slams tennis thread

RosyLily

Andy Murray beat David Nalbandian in three sets, 6-1, 4-6, 7-5. Quite a tight match. Murray had a lower 1st serve % but managed to break Nalbandian's serve more times. The Scot needs to improve his serve big time if he wants to challenge this clay season. Not his best match.

Nice match between del Potro and Llodra. Some great volleys from Llodra; he was magic at the net at times! The Argentine won the match 7-5, 3-6, 6-4.

Venus came through her match earlier today. She defeated Simona Halep 6-3, 6-4. Serena will play Galina Voskoboeva in her first round match. Jelena Jankovic was beaten in 3 sets by Sorana Cirstea. Disappointing time for the Serb after the joy of helping her country reach their first Fed Cup final.

Johnmb

RosyLily wrote: »

Age catching up on Federer there. I think he'll play Rome. It's better practice for RG than Marid and he might get the chance to play against Djokovic in SFs.

He also needs to pick up some ranking points as his number 2 seeding for the French is not assured. He is 325 points clear of Nadal, who is probably very likely to gain 400 points in this event. That means Federer has to reach the quarter-finals or better so stay ahead of Nadal when the French seedings are announced.

jupiterjack

Five-time former champion Rafael Nadal opened with a 6-1, 7-5 win over German Florian Mayer on Wednesday night at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome.

jupiterjack

Roger Federer began his quest to win the Internazionali BNL d’Italia for the first time with a confident 6-4, 6-3 victory over Argentine Carlos Berlocq Wednesday in Rome. Federer, who last week won a record-tying 20th ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title on blue clay in Madrid, will next face fellow former World No. 1 and 2001 Rome champion Juan Carlos Ferrero.

Rob2D

It reads like you're just copy pasting these posts from somewhere.

RosyLily

Great first set from Federer, although he does still need to work on his game. Kinda sloppy at times in the second set. But he got the job done!

Quite surprised that Seppi beat Isner earlier today. Isner dominated the first set but Seppi really stepped it up in the last two. Very competitive match!

Serena had a tough match against Nadia Petrova. It took her over 2 hours to beat the Russian 4-6, 6-2, 6-3. Also, Wozniacki retired during her match against Medina Garrigues, citing a respiratory illness. No point in risking it this close to RG.

I'm glad that Ana Ivanovic is playing well these days. Nigel Sears has done a great job with her. She seems so much more confident on the court and happier.

Some interesting matches on tomorrow. Stosur vs. V. Williams, Ivanovic vs. Sharapova, Ferrer vs. Simon, Gasquet vs. Murray (had a great match at Wimbledon few years ago), del Potro vs. Tsonga (this could be great!)

fino a domani (as the Italians say)

jcf

Djokovic out of Rome .


Done deal for Nadal.


Black Black times for tennis

RosyLily

jcf wrote: »

Djokovic out of Rome .


Done deal for Nadal.


Black Black times for tennis

Bit too quick there! Never count out Djokovic!;)

RosyLily

Victoria Azarenka has withdrawn from Italian Open, due to a shoulder injury. Dominika Cibulkova has now been given a WO to the quarter finals. Perhaps the year is taking its toll on Vika already? You don't win 4 titles in 5 months and not feel a little sore.
The French Open is less than 2 weeks away, hope she is 100% for it.

Flavia Pennetta completely dominating Petra Cetkovska atm. 6-0, 5-1 up with Cetkovska serving to stay in the match. A shame because she did so well to defeat Aga Radwanska yesterday. Italian crowd showing exactly who they want to win!:p

jcf

RosyLily wrote: »

Bit too quick there! Never count out Djokovic!;)

wow, last i checked he was a set and a break down ....

but if he is struggling against Monaco - forget it, maybe Federer can sneak this one ...

walshb

Djokovic progressed. Yes!

jupiterjack

federer and ferrero just gone to a third set..

jupiterjack

federer just wins 6/2 5/7 6/1

RosyLily

Impressed with Venus's win over Stosur today. She looked great out there; no hint of fatigue or anything. Hope she can keep it up for the rest of the season. Would be a shame if she went out on a whimper. She'll play Maria Sharapova in the QFs tomorrow (not before 3pm Italian time)

Disappointed with the Tsonga-del Potro match earlier. I was expecting more of a tight battle between the two! Delpo kinda fecked off in the 2nd set. Murray is also out, beaten in 3 by Gasquet. Great match from the Frenchman, coming back from a set down. Murray looked quite tired by the end of it. He's saying a back injury is niggling at him. Not a good time for that- season will be intense in the next 4 months (RG, W, O, US and other Masters Events tbp)

Berdych-Nadal is on tomorrow. Looking forward to this match! Also, Serena is playing Flavia first on Centre Court (11am GMT). Both playing well and Flavia will have the crowd on her side.

Tomorrow: Federer-Seppi, Kvitova-Kerber, Djokovic-Tsonga, Ferrer-Gasquet, Cibulkova-Li

moneymad

After every break during the tennis the first ad is of a baby starving to death in some hole of a corrupt war torn country in africa.
"make it go away" "make the pain go away"... I wouldn't mind it every hour or so but this is every 5 or 6 minutes. How about you fck off and stop ruining the tennis match.

walshb

moneymad wrote: »

After every break during the tennis the first ad is of a baby starving to death in some hole of a corrupt war torn country in africa.
"make it go away" "make the pain go away"... I wouldn't mind it every hour or so but this is every 5 or 6 minutes. How about you fck off and stop ruining the tennis match.

Absolute racket, pardon the pun, them ads are. And only reading Geldof today who is rambling on about how great Africa and its economies are doing. So, what is it? Are they doing great, or are the babies still starving?

Anyway, back to tennis....Nadal thru in straight sets today.

moneymad

Racket is right. Corruption is rampant.

Nadal just warming up for the french open. Does anyone know how he is going to deal with djokovic's backhand down the line?
Anyone know much about the tactics he could employ?

RosyLily

Semi-Finals have been set.
In the men's Nadal will take on Ferrer in the first of the SFs (NB 4pm Italian time). I'd like to see Daveeed match Nadal and really take it to him like he did in a while ago (can't remember the tournament).
Other SF is Djokovic-Federer. They had a great match at RG last year! Looking forward to this one; they haven't played on clay since last year. Both players in good form, although Fed mentioned a back injury. Djokovic was surprised by Monaco earlier this week and will look to up his level...he'll have to. Their match is scheduled for NB 8pm (Italian time).

Women's SF will kick off the tennis tomorrow. First up is Li-S. Williams. Li was going so well against Cibulkova 6-1 5-2 up then completely collapses. She will seriously need to work on this with the defence of her French title in less than 2 weeks. Her game is very good, but it's not worth a thing if she can't close out a match. Serena is one player where you gotta close out the match when you have the chance. She sees a sliver of an opening, you're toast. She's is playing so well on clay; dominated Azarenka in Madrid and hasn't had any trouble in Rome. Serena is definitely the favourite to win this match, and probably the tournament.
The other SF is Kerber-Sharapova. Kerber played a great match against Kvitova but I worry that it took a lot out of her. Good player, making great strides this year. However, I think that Sharapova will beat her. Maria played well against Venus earlier today- went for her shots and serve was good. She's the defending champion here and will be bitterly disappointed if she doesn't win here. Impressed by how much Maria has improved on the dirt. She could possibly complete a career Grand Slam by winning the French...maybe not this year but sometime.

Doubles SFs also on tomorrow.
(7)Bhupathi-Bopanna vs. Granollers-Lopez & (4)Lindsteadt-Tecau vs. Kubot-Tipsarevic
(1)Huber-Raymond vs. (3)Errani-Vinci & Makarova-Vesnina vs. Hampton-Tashvili

jupiterjack

nadal & ferrer first set tie break

jupiterjack

nadal takes it 8/6

jupiterjack

nadal is turning the screw.

jupiterjack

4 love nadal in the 2nd.

walshb

Sky Sports aren't showing this. I guess too much on at the moment. At least the Federer-Djokovic match is being shown.

Federer can beat Novak, but most likely loses to Nadal in the final. Novak beats Federer I think he beats Nadal in the final.

jupiterjack

streaming it here on some site.

jupiterjack

nadal just wins 6 love in 2nd.

RosyLily

Serena Williams withdrew before her match against Na Li earlier today. Back injury; it's more of a precaution due to the French Open being so close.

Maria Sharapova defeated Angelique Kerber in straight sets, 6-3, 6-4. She was good; if she retains her title here, it'll give her a great boost for Paris.

Djokovic is 5-2 up on Federer atm, serving for the first set.

_Bella_

Djokovic played brilliantly today, He controlled the points and his consistency was great. Will be an interesting match against Nadal tomorrow as it could really set the tone for whose in the ascendancy for RG.

RosyLily

Gotta hand it to Djokovic...he played out of his skin today! Knew exactly what to do and dominated from the get-go! Looking forward to the final tomorrow!:)

In doubles news, No.1 seeds Huber/Raymond were defeated in straight sets by the Italian pairing of Errani/Vinci 6-1, 6-3. Makarova/Vesnina won the other SF, beating Hampton/Tashvili 6-3, 6-3. On the men's side, Kubot/Tipsarevic defeated the No.4 seeds Lindsteadt/Tecau 6-2, 6-3. The other SF (Bhupathi/Bopanna vs. Granollers/Lopez) is still going on; the Spaniards have won the first set 6-4.

RosyLily

Tomorrow's Schedule

Sunday 20th May

CENTRALE (Start 11.30am)
[3] Sara Errani & Roberta Vinci (ITA) VS. Ekaterina Makarova & Elena Vesnina (RUS)

Not Before 2.30pm
[8] Na Li (CHN) VS. [2] Maria Sharapova (RUS)

Not Before 4.00pm
[1] Novak Djokovic (SRB) VS. [2] Rafael Nadal (ESP)


PIETRANGELI (Start 2.30pm)
Marcel Granollers & Marc Lopez (ESP) VS. Lukasz Kubot (POL) & Janko Tipsarevic (SRB)

walshb

Still waiting for this mens' final. Novak really looks fired up looking at him last night. Paddy Power have Nadal a slight favourite. Novak looks to be a lot more passionate than he was in Monte Carlo.