Monte-Carlo…. Madrid…. Rome. The top players in the world—plus plenty of others—are now moving to Rome for their final French Open preparations. It’s another loaded field; one that unexpectedly includes Roger Federer. The Swiss was thought to be playing only Madrid prior to Roland Garros, but that plan has changed and he will join Madrid winner Novak Djokovic, defending champion Rafael Nadal, and familiar foe Dominic Thiem in the Italian capital.
Internazionali BNL d’Italia
Where: Rome, Italy
Surface: Clay
Points: 1000
Prize money: 5,207,405 Euros
Top seed: Novak Djokovic
Defending champion: Rafael Nadal
Draw analysis: It was assumed that Federer would not play in Rome, but he was always on the entry list and never officially withdrew. Thus when Friday’s draw ceremony was held, there was Federer’s name in the field of 56. Who knew!?!? The 37-year-old’s draw is mostly favorable, too, because—unlike in Madrid—he avoided Thiem as his 5-8 seed. But that’s not to say a trip to the semifinals will be easy. Federer could face either Borna Coric or Felix Auger-Aliassime in the third round before potentially running into Stefanos Tsitsipas or Fabio Fognini in the quarters.
Whereas Federer is playing without any kind of pressure whatsoever, Nadal will be desperate to head into Paris with at least one clay-court title under his belt. Surprisingly, the second-ranked Spaniard came up short in Monte-Carlo, Barcelona, and Madrid, not even reaching the final on any occasion. A Federer-Nadal semifinal is possible in Rome, but the second seed is in the same section as Thiem—a brutal draw for both, to be sure.
Djokovic awaits either Denis Shapovalov or Pablo Carreno Busta in his opening match. Both Marco Cecchinato and Philipp Kohlschreiber have upset the current world No. 1 in the past year and could get another shot at him in round three. Juan Martin Del Potro is a potential quarterfinal opponent for Djokovic, but perhaps Daniil Medvedev or Stan Wawrinka is more likely.
Wawrinka has an intriguing opener on his hands against David Goffin, while Medvedev is going up against Nick Kyrgios.
A wide-open second section includes Alexander Zverev, Kei Nishikori, Marin Cilic, and Gael Monfils. Zverev, the 2018 Rome runner-up, is slumping; Nishikori has cooled off following a hot start to the year; Cilic reached the Madrid quarterfinals but withdrew due to illness prior to facing Djokovic; Monfils is playing well when healthy but is always a question mark from a physical standpoint. The door could be open for in-form Italian Matteo Berrettini or the winner of a first-round battle between Grigor Dimitrov and Jan-Lennard Struff.
First-round upset alert: (WC) Lorenzo Sonego over (11) Karen Khachanov. If ever a match against Lorenzo Sonego constitutes a nightmarish draw, this is it. Not only does Sonego have home-court advantage in front of what is always a raucous Italian crowd in Rome, but he also just beat Khachanov in straight sets at the Monte-Carlo Masters. Moreover, Khachanov has been a disaster this season. The Russian was an alternate at the Nitto ATP Finals last year, but in 2019 he is saddled with a losing record (8-11).
Hot: Novak Djokovic, Dominic Thiem, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Daniil Medvedev, Felix Auger-Aliassime, Matteo Berrettini, Guido Pella, Radu Albot, Laslo Djere
Cold: Alexander Zverev, Juan Martin Del Potro, Karen Khachanov, Marin Cilic, Grigor Dimitrov, Pablo Carreno Busta, Alex de Minaur, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Kyle Edmund, Richard Gasquet
Quarterfinal predictions: Stan Wawrinka over Novak Djokovic, Gael Monfils over Guido Pella, Roger Federer over Fabio Fognini, and Rafael Nadal over Dominic Thiem
Semifinals: Monfils over Wawrinka and Nadal over Federer
Final: Nadal over Monfils
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NNY
For years Rafa’s matches were a war of attrition whereby his opponents were usually beaten into submission. Unfortunately it has also took its toll on his body
NNY
The problem has always been Rafa’s matches were always a war of attrition which while effective were punishing on his body.
Apologies for the double post!
The thing that was so surprising for me about Rafa at Madrid was that in the QF, against Stan, it was a situation where he played so incredibly well that I found myself thinking, “How could I ever have thought that Rafa wouldn’t still be the favorite for RG again??” He was that dominant against Stan, and it wasn’t like Stan came into that match rusty- he had won comfortably against two quality opponents before the QF. I just felt like if Rafa was playing THAT well, then it wouldn’t matter how well his opponent plays, even Tsitsipas with that attacking game. But I was obviously wrong, as Tsitsipas was indeed able to make it difficult for Rafa to take over the match. So now it’s a thing where I don’t even know what to think!
Just because Rome fits Rafa better than Madrid, and he is obviously very desperate to at least get a win or two over one of the other RG contenders. Sure, winning the title would be great for his confidence, but I think it would be just important for him to get a big win over Thiem. If Thiem and Rafa meet in the QF, it’s definitely a toss-up. I just get the feeling that we are going to get a Novak-Rafa Final. And if Rafa can win the title beating Thiem and Djoko en route, then that would be the absolute best possible scenario for him going into RG. But if he can just beat Thiem and then at least be competitive against Djoko, then even that would be a good result for him going into RG.
I don’t remember a recent year with so many players up and down in form .
Gosh, rained the whole day, so not a single match played. I wonder how they’re going to do the scheduling tomorrow, so many matches to be played all squeezed into one day.
Maybe the top three guys each will start at 11am at the three main courts, and then play at 7.30 or 9.30pm again should all three get to R3? Kohl and Cecchinato have to play their match too, so that Djoko or Shapo can play the R3 match in the evening. Fed’s and Rafa’s next round opponents have already completed their R2 matches.
As for the rest of the players, well, who knows where and when they’ll play their matches!
What a complete shambles!
Furthermore Tennis TV (for which I pay a hefty subscription to watch) are not showing half the scheduled matches being played tomorrow.
I’m right p****d off !!!!!
I also subscribe to WTA TV ,so a lot of catching up to do !
Yeah its expensive, but you do get to see a lot of tennis all year apart from the Slams.
I gather a lot of the players will have to play two matches in one day in order to catch up
Indeed. Roger and Rafa are both scheduled to play the 2nd day match, Roger on the main court followed by Djokovic. Rafa gets the first night match on the main court, while Roger plays on the 2nd court. I don’t subscribe to Tennis Channel Plus so I’m pretty well screwed. TC will probably be showing a lot of split screen, which means I can’t actually SEE anything!
Fed wins the first set against Sousa, who is playing very well but Fed’s tennis has been insane! He’ll need to win this in straights to have enough energy to have a chance at beating Coric.
Thiem is out! Had his chances, but well done to Verdasco!