yet again
Nadal takes his 4th Rome masters title as he defeated Djokovic 7-6 6-2 today in the final and takes his claycourt streak to 30 consecutive matches.
Enough said.
Nestor/Zimonjic took the doubles.
Next up, Madrid. This is the first year Madrid is being played on clay courts as it is being moved forward in the calendar from being an indoor event in October.
Federer
Eugh.
A repeat of the Monte Carlo final from two weeks ago.
Djokovic came back from a set and a break down to Federer in a performance that was really lacking from both men in the third set. The rain delay completely upset Federers rhythm and it was pretty much downhill from there, with his backhand bringing most of the errors.
As expected, Nadal pretty much steamrolled Gonzales for a straight set victory.
Zimonjic/Nestor (the winners of their last two tournament) are one win away from clinching the Rome title when they face the Bryan brothers.
FederBear!!
Ah yes, the top 3 seeds and a former finalist are into the semi’s.
3 time former champion Nadal takes on Fernando Gonzalez of Chile. Its a rematch of the 2007 final here, where Nadal took the title comfortly.
The big match though is between Roger Federer and the defending champion, Novak Djokovic. Roger was beaten by Novak in their last encounter in Miami so I’m sure he will be eager for revenge. The match is made more interesting as Novak has to beat Federer and take the title tomorrow or otherwise he will drop to number 4 in the rankings on Monday.
Federer needs a good match and needs to get into a final again.
Me and Federbear will be watching with excitement!!! 
Stretching for a forehand
Andy Murray crashed out of the second round of the Rome Masters to a resilient Juan Monaco of Argentina. He was upbeat after his loss, stating “I knew it was going to happen sometime”. Of course he has no reason to be too upset because he knows that Djokovic has to defend his title this week or he will lose the number 3 ranking. It’s more than likely that we will see Novak at number 4 next Monday 
.
Federer and Nadal both recorded straight sets wins over Karlovic and Seppi respectively.
Good news for Gasquet as he beat Tsonga in straight sets for his first good win in a while. Given the rain delays yesterday, poor Gasquet had to play a second match only a few hours after beating Tsonga. He beat Gulbis in 3 sets. Tough day for Gasquet. He has been slipping down the ranking lately so hopefully this is the start of his comeback.
Clay in their faces!
Not much to report from the clay courts of Rome today.
No big upsets other than Blake losing to a qualifier (shocking……….*cough*) and Chela losing easily to the “less good” Rochus brother, Christophe.
In Federers interview before he begins the tournament he looked extremely relaxed and has realistic expectations. He has been training here very hard with his fitness trainer and has been putting the hours in on the practice courts with hitting partner Stefan Koubek. Over 4 hours a day, tough.
Foro Italico
Finally a clay court tournament that Nadal isn’t defending!!
From the lovely Foro Italico in the historic Rome, we should see alot of italian girls with no interest in tennis, but only watching on so they can be seen in their large sunglasses, tight tops and of course to watch the men. (CS’s)
The Roman crowd love to support their players so expect to see alot of cheering when Seppi, Fognini or Volandri take to the court.
I’m lookin’ forward to this week and the draw looks promising.
First of all the most important part and what everyone usually looks for first. Who got Murray and who got Djokovic?! With the draw released I can tell you that Murrar is in Nadals half of the draw and Djokociv in Federers….Hopefully good news for Fed as he looks again to regain form and win his first title this year.
Apart from Wawrinka, Djokovic (who is defending the title) and possibly Ferrer with his recent form, I can’t really see anyone in Federers half bothering him too much so hopefully he will get to the final.
It should be routine for Nadal most of the way…
My prediction: If Federer gets to the final he will win it no matter who his opponent is. If Federer doesn’t make the final then it is definitely Nadal.
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