The Internaznioli BNL D’Italia, otherwise known as the Rome Masters, draw is out, and here are the results.
Seven-time champion Rafael Nadal is No. 1 seed and has a bye in the first round. In the second round, our champ will play either countryman Fernando Verdasco or Damir Dzumhur.
Rafa could face Dominic Thiem in the quarter-finals as he hunts his eighth Rome Masters title. He is in the same side of the draw at the Italian Open as Novak Djokovic.
Rafa’s potential route to the final:
- Round 1: Bye
- Round 2: Fernando Verdasco or Damir Dzumhur
- Round 16: Tomas Berdych
- Quarter Final: Dominic Thiem
- Semi Final: Grigor Dimitrov
- Final: Alexander Zverev
- Rafael Nadal vs Dominic Thiem
- Grigor Dimitrov vs John Isner
- Kevin Anderson vs Marin Cilic
- Juan Martin del Potro vs Alexander Zverev
This will be Rafa’s final clay court tournament before the French Open.
With Dominic Thiem’s upset of Rafa at the Madrid Open, Roger Federer will return to No. 1 in ATP Rankings on 14 May. Rafa would reclaim World No. 1 on 21 May if he wins his 8th title in Rome. (via ATP World Tour)
GOOD LUCK & VAMOS RAFA!
If Rome weather reports are correct there will be massive rain delays. I hope players are not required to play two matches in a day.
RAFA ROCKS
Rafa said he’s not concerned with No. 1. His priority is the year-end rankings which will indicate how he did for the entire tennis season.
I want to see Rafa healthy and playing competitively, and yes winning. His loses are no fun but they are bound to happen. He is still Rafa the champion no matter what.
RAFAMAZING RULES
Good luck Rafa. You will feel more comfortable in Rome, so get that killer forehand working to the max!
OLA OLA OLA OLA OLA & VAMOS DEAR RAFA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! : ) : ) : ) ; ) : ) : ) : ) Your interview post Madrid is impressive & I love your intelligence and wisdom!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! : ) : ) : ) : ) : ) : ) : ) : ) VAMOS SWEETHEART!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! : ) : ) : ) 😉 : ) : ) : ) : ) Your brilliant attitude is refreshing and always has everything to do with your precious lengthy success!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! : ) : ) : ) : ) : ) : ) : ) : ) Enjoy your time between tours and pay zero attention to any bs meaningless articles……provocative questions……or mindless opinions that just occupy empty air time. Avid tennis fans and wise journalist know your brilliant top game and your current strengths and your outstanding honorable competitive stardom in tennis history. So as you like to say “at the end of the day” enjoying each point and each match is the way……the beautiful path of your genius tennis career. I am very happy for you and everything that you have done thus far and sending lots of love & happiness!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! : ) : ) : ) : ) : ) : ) : ) : ) We love you and wish you a beautiful time ahead!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! : ) : ) : ) : ) : ) : ) : ) VAMOS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! : ) VAMOS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! : ) VAMOS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! : )
A side not to all tennis fans: IMHO, I must say when folks write about princess r reclaiming ranking 1 makes zero sense to me because his tours do not include the same top level competition….and do not include participation of all the top players yet, he is accumulating points and sweatless trophies, and while hiding away from real competitive tennis, somehow unfairly he gets to be moved up……..In my observation and opinion, something is dreadfully wrong and rather screwy with the atp ranking system…… Year after year princess r manages to accumulate trophies in the absence of top, in shape, current players……so comparing Rafa’s earnest ranking, tours, competition, and trophies to princess r has little true value…..it is analogous to comparing a giant sweet watermelon to a tiny wrinkled peach…… I think before Rafa appeared on the big tours, princess r was a legitimate tennis talent. Meanwhile the main point is: in order to make Tennis lasts and draw many fans, there must be some serious examination of all the settle, unethical practices happening. From hiring unbiased umpires, unbiased match commentators, and on court post match interviewers, from encouraging fair tour participation, from offering equal opportunity draws, from scheduling fair match time, from giving ALL PLAYERS SAME RESPECT & BENEFITS IN EACH AND EVERY TOUR……WIMBLEDON AND AO INCLUDED,
OFFERING CROSS BOARD FAIRNESS REGARDLESS OF WHICH COUNTRY A PLAYER IS FROM, AND FINALLY OF COURSE, making sure that there is a fair competitive tour planning for ALL tours….small to Grand Slams…etc….etc…. I envision major changes are called for which will ultimately improve the status of the sport and offer greater consideration of fans and players alike.
There are of course, I am certain, many other aspects of improvement other folks can come up with, that can take place but these above, are just some areas based on history and current practices that are urgently call for close examination and subsequent action.
VAMOS SWEETHEART & GO RAFA GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! : ) : ) : ) : ) : ) : ) : ) 🙂 XOXOXOXOXOXOXO
FYI Fed was not hiding away. He was spending time in the south of Africa where his foundation is doing work in five [maybe 6] different countries.
He himself goes to meet with children, parents, educators, and country officials to gauge how well his foundation is doing in educating children, building schools, feeding children, and giving them the necessary tools to succeed in life. His goal for 2018 is to reach his 1-millionth mark. Something much more important than worrying about the clay season, as I see it.
You spend more time writing about Fed instead of Rafa of whom you claim to be a fan.
Should have been you Rafa playing in the final tomorrow but now I’m hoping Denis the menace takes the title if he wins tonight , in some ways he reminds me of a young Rafa and Gregg Rusedski has said he hasn’t been this excited since about a player since Rafa Nadal , so I guess it’s watch this space
Thiem was taught by Nadal to be a better clay court player. Now that one victory against Nadal has turned him into a loud mouth arrogant kid, I do hope Zverev beats him to a pulp, if not Nadal beats him to a pulp in their next encounter.
Wamos Rafa, you are the best.
Thiem has 3 wins over Rafa, all on clay.
Yes,Zverev beat him badly in 1 hour👍🤣
Good luck- you have shown us many times that when you want the win, you will find the way to prevail. You know the mindset that it requires.💪👊🏆👑❤️
I would not have chosen a headline like this one. It’s a good one in case Nadal plays the final but not at the start of the tournament. Also, it again shows this weird obsession about the no. 1 ranking that a lot of fans have. It’s a very fabricated concept and the real thing that matters is, wait for it, the majors.
Buena suerte mi querido campeon, Vamos con todo VAMOS RAFA
Good luck to Rafa in his Rome campaign. Look forward Rafa.
RAFAMAZING ROCKS
Will be rooting for you for sure Rafa – Good luck in Rome 🍀❤️🤗
VAMOS CHAMP! 🎾💪🏼😘
Rafa will definitely win Rome this year, I can feel this one for sure. Reclaim that No. 1 spot again on route to RG for the 11th time. Practice makes perfect, and focus on changing his game plan.
GOOD LUCK FOR ROME
VAMOS RAFA.
Rafa all the best for Rome.
You have done sooooooooo amazing so far in the Cly court season.
Love and prayers,
AlaineXXSydneyXXAustraliaXX
Now Rafa can concentrate on fine tuning his game to win at Rome and prepares for the FO. There are players lining up to face him there – Verdasco, Shapo, Thiem again, Djoko or Dimi and then Anderson/Delpo/Cilic, a good test for Rafa before the FO.
He has to make sure his FH gets back it’s precision and timing, his serve gets back to his usual good to great level, esp his second serve which bails him out of troubles so often.
Hopefully, those atrocious FH errors and serving errors were because of Madrid’s altitude issue and not a real problem for Rafa playing on clay. He did fine at MC and Barcelona, no reason why it could deteriorate so rapidly if not for Madrid’s court surface.
I think Rafa will win Rome en route to his 11th RG title. In his history of tennis he never sweeps all clay clourt tourney prior to RG. He always lose one either Monte Carlo, Barcelona, Madrid and Rome.
Maria Henares, Rafa did win all of them back in 2010 except for Barcelona because he did not play Barcelona that year, but he won all 3 Master 1000 clay events and then also French Open. It is good that he finally has a loss so now he can start fresh and continue another long clay domination. His loss today will make him that much stronger the next time he meets Dominic to turn the tables on him again. Today nothing worked for him but next time everything will fall back into place. I know I feel it for Rafa.
Vamos!
Sharina Blevins, that’s what i meant. He never sweeps all clay court tourney prior to RG. I forgotten he didn’t play Barcelona that year so that’s a sweep alright but in a different sense.
He always has one event that he either lose or skips. I’m confident he’ll win Rome and RG this year. This loss to thiem will only make him stronger and persevere the next.
He usually won four events max, including the FO. In 2005, 2006 and 2010 he played four events during main clay season and won all four.
Losing at Madrid is no doubt disappointing as he fails at his title defence and at the same time loses many ranking points and the no.1 ranking. However, the loss may have relieved him from the pressure of winning sets and matches and not expected to lose them. He may win the title at Rome instead and wins back the important points lost, which will help in his quest for the YE no.1 ranking.
It depends on how Rafa views this loss – positively, then he’ll work harder to improve and be ready for any battle; negatively – he may lose confidence in his game and when seeing Thiem across the net. I hope he remains positive; knowing him, he could just feel less confidence when facing Thiem or any big hitter.
Because Rafa is such a superstar he always has so much more to contend with than others off court at these tournaments ,so many autographs to sign. I worry about his wrists getting tired !so much hype with records,media and crowd mobbings it must be so hard to focus. He is superamazing . Recover and fight back Rafa . Never an easy draw it seems for the No 1 seed? but you can do it I have no doubts. Following you all the way from New Zealand.
Rafa you can win in Rome to be # 1 again, I know you can do it
Good luck and Vamos Rafa <3
Rafa will win Rome,,,,,, Amos Rafa you are amazing’Xxxxxx
Hey fans, do we really care if Rafa is number 1 or other? To me I just want to watch him play as long as possible.
Wamos Rafa you are the best.