The draw has been revealed for Internazionali BNL d’Italia. Second-seeded Rafael Nadal has a first-round BYE. He will begin his campaign against US Open semi-finalist Pablo Carreno Busta in Rome.
Rafa’s potential route to the final:
- 1st round: Bye
- 2nd round: Pablo Carreno Busta
- 3rd round: Milos Raonic
- Quarter-final: Diego Schwartzman
- Semi-final: Stefanos Tsitsipas
- Final: Novak Djokovic
If the men play to seed the quarter-final line up will be:
- Novak Djokovic v Gael Monfils
- Matteo Berrettini v David Goffin
- Fabio Fognini v Stefanos Tsitsipas
- Diego Schwartzman v Rafael Nadal
Our champ is currently on a 10-match winning streak in Rome, having won the past two editions of the tournament. The 35-time ATP Masters 1000 winner won three-set battles against Alexander Zverev in the 2018 championship match and Novak Djokovic in last year’s final.
If Rafa triumphs for the third straight year in Rome, he will capture a 10th trophy at a single event for the fourth time in his career. The Manacor native owns 12 Roland Garros trophies and has won 11 crowns at both the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters and the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell.
GOOD LUCK & VAMOS RAFA!
Source: ATP Tour
I am happy that Thiem won… Congratulations to him however I must say that I found this years final to be rather flat … It is very obvious that the next gen of players need the Big three to elevate their game. They play better when they play Rafa, Roger and Novak…
Last years US Open…with Mededev and Rafa was heart stopping tennis at its best. It was poetry in motion and exciting from the first hit of the ball. We all saw 2 warriors compete and the best man won while the loser gave it every ounce of strength he had. It was exciting, just the way a final should be…
This year these guys had 15 double faults and a lot of unforced errors… It’s true Thiem fought his way back but certainly with the help of Zverev who clearly was in control at first and then lost control… .
I am looking forward to Rome where I hope Rafa is ready to take on everyone in his path. And once again we
will be on the edge of our seats rooting him on as we hope for another victory in Rome, a precursor to #13 in Paris!
Good luck Rafa!!! .
Aawww, I would cut them some slack. Even though the females had the same rules in place they may have been able to manage their circumstances better.
No fans, living in a bubble, quarantining, unable to go where they wanted, unable to eat their favorite foods all could have played a role in their sub par performances. That’s what I’m thinking.
Congratulations to Dominic Thiem who has finally got his hands on a grand slam trophy. So much grit and determination. I can’t help feeling sorry for Zverev who has taken the loss very hard, and understandably so. His time will come.
It was never in doubt!
Congratulations to Herr Thiem.
I am so happy for him. Waiting to learn what Rafa says about his win. I think he will be very happy for him.
I do admit to having a sinking feeling but glad I stuck it out to see him win.
HE DID IT AGAINST ALL ODDS
I’m so pleased for Dominic. I’ve got nothing against Sascha, but his time’ll come. Obviously I’m glad that Dominic didn’t win either of the French Open finals he was in 🙂 , but if he’d lost this, after losing those two finals and the Aussie Open final, it would’ve been very hard to take. It’s a shame that his family and friends couldn’t be with him in person, but this is just a very strange year.
I am happy for Dominic too. I really don’t like Alex more than Dominic. Like you, I am also glad Rafa won both FO finals against Dominic🙏 I was actually cheering on Dominic in person like he was Rafa during the Aussie final this year. I forgave him for taking out Rafa lol. My reason for wanting Alex to win over Dominic is basically I don’t want him to get closer to Rafa’s #2 ranking.😬
VAMOS SWEETHEART!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! : ) WE LOVE YOU AND VERY HAPPY FOR YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! : ) ENJOY EVERYTHING AND HAVE A BEAUTIFUL TIME IN ROME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! : ) SENDING LOTS OF LOVE AND HAPPINESS AND VAMOS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! : ) VAMOS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! : ) VAMOS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! : ) XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX
THIEM IS PULLING PRINCESS R LOSER UGLY AU OPEN MOVE VS. PRECIOUS RAFA BY CALLING THE TRAINER BECAUSE HE IS TOO TIRED AND NEEDS A BREAK…..LOOSER……POOR SPORTSMANSHIP…….HOPE HE LOOSES……IF HE WINS…JUST LIKE PRINCESS R IT WILL NOT BE A TRUE WIN…..
Oh shut up!
Shut your trap!
Crazy talk. You need help.
I think she’s just a an unhappy person and wants to spread her negativity. I’m no psychologist but she’s been doing this for years and lately it’s gotten worse. I usually ignore her but now she has added Dominic to her punching bag. She’s just miserable and shows a lack of respect for the fans here and for players who don’t deserve her vitriol. And she has a filthy mouth. Hopefully she put that to rest. Why aren’t her parents monitoring her screen time. Disgraceful.
I do apologize to Rafa’s fans here for telling her shut up.
Two sets all. At last, we have a competitive match – it’s about time too! Thiem is showing the dogged determination just like Rafa.
Who can best hold their nerve in the final straight?
Amazing! Dominic now up a break in fifth set. What a come back.
It better be Dominic after what he has put me through 🤓
It better be Dominic after what he has put me through.
Lorna, My comments are not showing up so this is a duplicate.
He did it. WOWWEEEE
It’s now two sets all. PLEASE Dominic WIN THIS.
You can do it.
I was rooting for Alex, but credit to Dominic 👏 What a come back, not to mention his injury although it might not be too serious! He deserved the trophy more👍 Congratulations to Dominic 🥳 I hope by adding the iron man, David Ferrer, to his team, help Alex big time. He certainly has a lot to learn from David.
Happy for you, Margo, after what Dominic put you through lol
We should be in the same team next week 👌😄
I started laughing after reading your first sentence. And I’m thinking oh no we’re rooting for different players again. Funny.
Yes, we both will be cheering for Rafa. He probably won’t start before Wednesday which seems like forever. I wanna see fist pumping and hear VAMOS.
RAFA ROCKS
👍👊 can’t wait……
Vamos Rafa 💪❤️
Thiem is standing so far back, it looks as though he’s got designs on being a linesperson.
What a scrappy match!
Both players especially Thiem are a disgrace to the next gen and grand slam final!!!
Ughh (vomits and switches off the t.v)
At least Thiem is serving first again in the third. He’s got to take advantage of that
I’m afraid he’s playing with an injury because his scores are shocking.
My stomach is churning and not in a good way. Dominic just lost the second set.
Ok. You got one back!!! Come on Dom!!! Turn the beat around!! Let’s go!!!!
It must be his foot. Dominic seems to move ok during the points but his right foot seems tender when he walks. What else could it be?
Thiem lost the first set 6-2. It doesn’t feel right. He may have very well decided to play in pain. Hopefully that’s not the case and will pick it up in the second. This is distressing.
Thiem is off today and Sasha looks sharp. Dominic now behind a break in second set. I feel bad for him.
Awful!!!
Wow! What epic semi final and final matches on the women’s side – high quality and fearsome. I’m full of admiration for all four women involved.
I found Vika’s and Naomi’s trophy presentation speeches and their press conferences honest, inspiring and a change from the bog standard responses. I’m very happy about Vika’s resurgence and Naomi’s new found confidence on court, along with her commitment to speaking out against racial injustice.
It’s such a pity the men’s semis didn’t reach anywhere near the same level. The same wiuldn’t be said if Rafa was in the mix, bringing his fire, passion and charisma. I’m hoping that Dominic’s foot injury doesn’t impede him and he wins the final as he deserves it so much.
Can’t wait to see Rafa back on the court. Vamos Rafa ❤️❤️
Hello fellow Rafans! I am so happy to see Rafa play again. I do worry that his heart is not quite there, but his competitive spirit will take over. Because PCB was a semi finalist at the USO, he received a performance bye for Rome. I like Pablo a lot, but not when he plays Rafa. It has to be difficult for him to fly to Rome and play on clay. Vamps Rafa!
It’s not looking good for Thiem as he’s all over the place and seems to bevnervous, whereas Zverev looks calm and is serving like a dream. I can’t see a plan B from Thiem either. It’s not the competitive match that was expected and I certainly hope that Thiem isn’t playing in pain.
I wonder if his three previous losses in finals is in his head. All Thiem can hope for now is a serving meltdown by Zverev and that doesn’t look like happening.
No link.
Mimi, a correction to your comment @1:11am
Naomi said she didn’t want to face Vika “in a final” again.
The pressure on both of these champions must have been brutal. They are a credit to tennis.
Geezz, should have said A correction to my response
Hi Margo,
Thanks🙏 I am assuming Naomi said that during the trophy presentation which I skipped, I was sad. I like them both, Vika a bit more.
Yes Mimi to your @ 8:23pm.
You have me cracking up. I understand that you REALLY like Vika.
I was very happy to learn that she got custody of Leo. She is a mama bear.
Ok, got it.🙏
Heehee 😉
Me too, so happy the issue has been resolved!
Mimi, after reading my response after it was posted I said OMG. Was hoping you didn’t see it. LOL
Hahaha 😆
At last-Rafael Nadal will return to play with his thoughtful balance. We have endured Djokovic and his bizarre decisions, Thiem with Red Bull and shoe problems, Medvedev and his sarcasm. Stay healthy
and fierce-how you have been missed! Welcome back👍👏💪🤛🍀❤️
To group Dominic with the Disqualified one and the King of Sarcasm is unjustified in my opinion.
Any thinking athlete would not permit any outsider pour his energy drink into a cup without him observing it. Common sense. He was justified in insisting he pour it himself. The tournament did not want anyone to see the Red Bull label. Now the world knows he was drinking Red Bull. LOL
I don’t know what the discussion was, or if there was any discussion. All the tournament needed to do was explain soto voce why the label was not allowed to be seen. Problem solved.
It was written that he was in pain and was compensating by walking in an unnatural manner. He said he was injured during his match against Medvedev.
No, you didn’t miss the USOPEN final. It is scheduled for Sunday, September 13, at 4pm local time.
A BIG CONGRATULATIONS ONCE AGAIN TO DOMINIC THIEM, OUR NEW MEN’S US OPEN CHAMPION!!!
YOUR 4 SETS VICTORY OVER A. ZVEREV WAS SIMPLY FANTASTIC.
WE WISH YOU MORE SUCCESS IN THE FUTURE, PARTICULARLY IN THE NEXT SLAM, THE FO. THE GODS HAVE CHOSEN YOU TO FINALLY SUCCEED RAFA. HMNN……..
BUT AS ALWAYS, WE GO POINT BY POINT………… ………………. ………………………..AND DAY BY DAY CHEERS!
I could be wrong but by looking at Rafa’s potential opponents as a group makes his route to the finals appear almost daunting. However, if you take a look at each player’s record against Rafa the view is definitely in Rafa’s favor.
Rafa plays hard but he also practices hard, if physically able, even when he’s not competing and he loves his clay.
For me, all of the above point to another Décima. And yes, any comments to the contrary are welcome.
RAFA ROCKS
It’s never easy Margo.
You know, Rafa will be a bit rusty due to lack of COMPETITIVE tennis. Let’s not forget that. Practising is not like the real thing.
I’d rather wait and see his first match against PCB before hazarding any prediction.
Besides, Djokovic is still smarting from the shocker he received in the USO and God help anybody who stands in his way to the Time and FO trophy!!!😀😀😀 Just a joke!!!
If course, I’m a Rafa fan, but you never know.
My off-the-cuff prediction:
1. I think Rafa will still manage to win this 10th Time title. It will be exceedingly tough, but the Djoker will not play in the final. Thanks to Gael Monfils.
My worry (as I have severally expressed here) is the FO. The 13th is a mysterious number, very odd and a lot of odd things have been happening around the world in the wake of Rafa’s 13th quest.
I have this eerie feeling that none of Nadal and Djokovic will win it. Rafa’s anointed son may be positioned to take over.
But as always, I will be praying for Rafa point by point, game by game, match by match and day by day…………….cheers!
I will address Rome only.
We all know that Rafa has returned to the Tour and won a title, after being away due to injury, without a warm-up tournament. I can’t recall the tournament. I remember his post match interviews when he kept repeating he was so happy to win because he had no pre-tournament competitive play and brought it up in subsequent tournament pressers. I was getting tired of it but now relish the thought that he can do it again; winning without pre-tournament competition.
RAFA ROCKS
I agree with Maria that the first match is the key to Rafa’s Rome tournament. If he can get by Pablo, which I think he will, then he can win the tournament because none of the others are playing that well.
Looking forward to the FO, each of the three favorites has challenges to overcome. With Rafa its simply the lack of competition which is hopefully solved by playing in Rome. With Djokovic its his continuing bad Karma as well as the fact that he lost a couple of sets during the New York run and was losing to Pablo when all his stress took over. With Dominic the exhaustion of the final in New York, win or lose, has a carry over effect. Remember how tired Rafa was last year at the Laver Cup 10 days after winning his 19th? Plus he developed that hand injury. The break between New York and Paris this year is shorter than the break between the FO and Wimbledon during normal years.Its simply too much too soon to think that Theim can win at Roland Garris.
A plus for Rafa is that there will be 5000 fans at Roland Garris. I can’t wait!
And I’ve gotta disagree with you David. Pablo has never won a set off of Rafa on clay in their three meetings on the surface.
I think the keys for Rafa to win Rome are confidence, staying calm, and coming out fighting.