Ok well here's another post on the Internazionali BNL Italia (or Rome Open) in Rome on the ATP/WTA tour with more matches today so here's more on that.
Starting with the men, we had Novak Djokovic out on court first who played against Juan Monaco, the Argentine No.2, and it was quite a tough encounter as Djokovic had to battle from a set down to overcome Monaco, which he eventually did in 4-6, 6-2, 6-3. Djokovic showed his great mental strength in this match once again, and in this situations he knew just what he had to do, to come through it, which now sees him into the quarter finals. Although Djokovic will an even tougher encounter probably ahead of him as he will either face Jo-Wilfried Tsonga or Juan Martin Del Potro. Rafa also made it through, but with considerable ease against his fellow countryman, Marcel Granollers in an emphatic 6-1, 6-1.
And now for the main match of my post, which is Andy Murray who took on Richard Gasquet, in what proved to be a brutally physical encounter between the two men. Andy had already played a real war of attrition against David Nalbandian in his first match, which he edged Nalbandian in the final set. But in this match, Andy already looked a bit weary, and even though he started out the stronger, breaking Gasquet, when it came to serving out for 1st set at 5-4, he dropped serve (no!!!) to level things, and in the tiebreaker, Andy came through easily. In the 2nd set however that's when things started to go badly wrong, as Andy's 1st servitis played up, probably about as bad as I have ever seen it, with Gasquet breaking twice. In the 3rd set it was the same thing with Gasquet breaking twice yet again, and after nearly 3 hours, the Frenchman came through to a quarter final place, with a 6-7, 6-3, 6-2 win.
Wellll this was another very disappointing result for Andy Murray, who I have to say started out well hitting the ball hard and flat, but as the 1st set went out, his serve started to falter, and in the 2nd set it fell to pieces. And its that serve which is a real real concern, and if he carries on like that, he will never win a grand slam, ever. So its something that needs to be looked at, but who knows what Ivan Lendl can do with it, and I noticed he wasn't there in Rome, perhaps they have parted company already! ;-) One thing I have noticed about it is that he keeps trying to go for too much on his first serve, as he hits it as hard as he can and he either dumps it into the net or fires it long. And on average his first serve percentage is usually around 50% which for winning a slam is nowhere near good enough.
So this is another setback for the World No.4, and his French Open campaign at this rate is starting to look rather grim. However it does highlight once again that he really isn't a clay court player, and although he played his best clay season last year, its something he's not been able to keep up. And the troubling thing is he could end up going out in the 2nd or even 3rd round at this rate in the French Open. However Andy after the match did say he felt his back getting sore, and after playing a gruelling match against Nalbandian, another in succession definitely didn't help matters.
But let's be honest his prospects of winning anything on clay aren't too good anyway, and he isn't a favourite to win the French Open by any stretch. But Rome is over for him, and the French is more importantly just round the corner, so I'll wish Andy the best for that, and hope he uses the time he has to recover and get back in good shape for RG.
So quickly on the ladies side, Sam Stosur beaten by Venus Williams, who has been really impressive in Rome so far, and she pushed Stosur aside in 6-4, 6-3. Serena also had little trouble getting past Anabel Medina Garrigues in 6-3, 6-1. However some of the top seeds have tumbled out already such as Bartoli, who lost to Julia Goerges in 6-3, 6-1, and Goerges herself today lost to Angelique Kerber in 6-4, 6-1. Caroline Wozniacki was forced to retire with a throat infection against the aforementioned Anabel Medina Garrigues trailing 6-4, 6-0 ret. And Victoria Azarenka, despite a very comfortable win against Shah Peer of Israel in 6-1, 6-2, has pulled out of the tournament with a shoulder injury.
Right well it might be curtains for Andy Murray, but there will be more tennis to come soon...
Till then that's it for now.
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