Rome boasts a monster quarterfinal lineup on Friday, headlined by top seed Novak Djokovic facing Stefanos Tsitsipas. Second seed Rafael Nadal is taking on his recent Madrid vanquisher, Alexander Zverev.
(1) Novak Djokovic vs. (5) Stefanos Tsitsipas
Last fall Stefanos Tsitsipas clawed his way back from a two-set deficit at the French Open to push Novak Djokovic to five sets. The Serb won that match in the end, but Tsitsipas proved that he has plenty of fight and determination. The Greek is playing better tennis now than he was then, making their quarterfinal match on Friday all the more tantalizing.
Djokovic’s matches this week have been fairly routine, but the difficulty level is about to make some considerable jumps. Tsitsipas won the Monte-Carlo Masters and he made the final in Barcelona. His clay-court season thus far is the best on tour. The Serb may also have less motivation than he had in the past. Recently, he said “Now, after achieving the historic No. 1 ranking for the longest weeks at number one, it’s going to be a relief for me because I’m going to focus all my attention on Slams, mostly.”
He’ll still need match play, but he’ll perhaps be less willing to leave it all on the court outside the majors. With the way Tsitsipas has been playing and moving, this one has all the makings of an upset.
Cheryl pick: Tsitsipas in 3
Ricky pick: Tsitsipas in 3
(2) Rafael Nadal vs. (6) Alexander Zverev
Things have become more complicated for Nadal on the dirt than they usually are. The Spaniard, who normally skates through the early stages of a tournament, has been pushed mightily in Rome. It’s true that his draw wasn’t favorable, with Jannik Sinner and Denis Shapovalov as his first two opponents–but he’s been on court for more than five hours so far. His form against Sinner was good, but he struggled on serve against Shapovalov and had to pull out the win after being down two match points in the third set.
Alexander Zverev just posted his first clay court-win over Nadal last week in Madrid. The two men met in the quarters there, as well. While the altitude in Madrid tends to favor bigger servers like Zverev, it is still a clay-court tournament and defeating Nadal on this surface under any circumstances is still a notable accomplishment.
Zverev didn’t look particularly strong in his three-set win over Kei Nishikori. Midway through the second set, the German was down a set and a break. He managed to find his way to the win, but he looked off-kilter for much of the match.
With a more traditional clay court, Nadal is still the favorite to advance–but the second seed will have to make more first serves than he has been all week. Zverev isn’t as likely to let off the hook the way Shapovalov did in the round of 16.
Cheryl pick: Nadal in 3
Ricky pick: Nadal in 2
I’m finally watching the end of Novak v Tsitsipas. How very proud of Novak I am for staying calm and making some overhead smashes. No doubt it took mental and emotional strength to fight off all the break points. And any time someone plays Tsitsipas it’s going to take pure physical power as well. Well done, Novak! Good luck in the next match.💪🏻🤞🏻👍🏻😊
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Novak looking scarily good against sonego though.. sonego playing well but still djoko is hammering winners
And to me, he is not hitting deep enough or moving fast enough. Also, his first serve is not good enough. I say he is rusty. He has done a good job with a few overhead balls (Djokosmash isn’t terrible).
I’m impressed with Sonego, all those unbelievable shot selections he made to save Bps after Bps. It’s just that he might be getting tired and then threw in all those ill fated drop shots, losing all of them .
I guess if he’s a bit more experienced a player, he would play even better than this. Djoko was simply the more experienced player, and could serve well so often to get out of troubles when it mattered. Sonego otoh would start missing the first serves as the match dragged on. The no.1 player is no.1 for a reason, calm and unfazed when in trouble and simply worked his way through patiently to get the win in the end.
Tennis Channel commentators tend to hate Novak Djokovic. 🙄🤐 All I can do is watch with the sound off.
TC commies are mostly the worst! Courier and Annacone aren’t that bad but the rest…! Arias is my nominee for most annoying though. He specializes in calling the match *he thinks* the players should play. Of course his tennis IQ is 25 years out of date and wasn’t that great then…
hahaha, Agree Marilyn!
I agree about the tennis channel commies. Anna one is the best of them. Courier talks too much. Arias is the absolute worst! Awful!
Annacone! Stupid autocorrect!
Sorry, RC, got distracted by my own rant. It’s not enough Djoker has the pro-Italian crowd against him? But commies usually pull for the underdog (unless ROGER is playing) so take heart. The final will be Rafa v Nole, as it should be.
No, Marilyn. You cheer me up!🥰
I am about to run out of the room.
I’ve got to have, much against my principles, Amazon Prime, they seem to have cornered the tennis market. But you would love them, cos they love Djokovich, especially Petch, who was positively drooling yesterday.
They love Rafa and Fed too, I hasten to say!
Amazon prime is superb ,I also have tennis TV but they’ve lost the best commentators. Not to mention the movie selection
Novak playing with the crowd against him.. must be getting the great memories of wim 19
Awesome win in 2019, from a Novak fan perspective. But so far here in Rome, he looks rusty and where’s his powerful down-the-line backhand pass? He isn’t on point in general yet. I’m sure he’ll get lots of practice if he makes the final!
Will turn my sound on to hear how noisy it is when Sonego is serving. Yeah, I have heard far noisier crowds.
Novak not moving as fast across the backcourt as he used to. Or perhaps, he is being cautious with his body. Novak could not switch direction and get to the ball…again! He is not going to keep up with Rafa in Rome if he does win this match.
Tomorrow is going to be epic.. war at foro italica.. djoko defending like a monster
Defending like a monster, vmk1. Maybe, if he is holding something back today. He’s not getting enough length on the balls. I have not seen him playing monster level. It’s all good. Rather see Sonego get a chance to play Rafa!
God, I have to turn off Brett Haber and Jim Courier again.
Djoko is about the only guy who would have conceded the point there… and Sonego takes it to 3😨
I cannot believe Sonego won the second set! Holy crap!
Are djokos efforts catching up with him or is sonego the real deal?
Thiem rublev and taking a tb off nole
I’m guessing Sonego is really pumped up by playing in Rome and Novak is probably a bit flat. He played a tough match v Tsitsi, some of it today. Of course Sonego played a whole match today already v Rublev who isn’t an easy out, although clay seems to be far from his best surface while it is Sonego’s best surface by far.
The Novak vs Tsitsipas match was a beauty. Tsitsipas is likely a future #1. As much as I think he is a cocky one, I respect his self-confidence, talent, and work ethic. That match wore Novak down. He got through the Sonego match by the seat of his pants.
Tsitsipas future world no.1? Provided he could solve his mental issues of not losing from winning positions so often!
I like Tsitsipas (of course can’t compare with Rafa my fave!); but Tsitsipas has to learn how not to waste energy on court. To me, his shot selection ability, and changing of tactics on court still need improvement!
I feel he really needs someone to guide and pushes him to the next level; I doubt his dad as his coach is able to do that. Tsitsipas may have all the varieties in his game, but complacency or overconfidence in one’s own abilities may be a hindrance to one’s progress.
My money’s still on Djoker to pull this out. He’s the “clutchiest” player of all time.
Clutchest player of all time?!!!! Oh plz!!! I have never seen Rafa or Roger df on match point, sigh!!
Agree about that.. but those mp saves in the most hostile of circumstances are probably what will be remembered rather than the dfs thus earning him that moniker
He was clutch on the overheads today 😁. I don’t recall cringing at those at all. But I did feel the sore muscles and flat feet. He did not allocate enough real match time on clay. I’m not at all sure about him facing Rafa now.
We both got the finalists right in the bracket, but I hope your winner wins. It has no bearing on RG though
Thanks, Big Al.
I had Rafa there at first. Rafa is the right pick. It was a stubborn personal move switching to Novak. Even Ricky but mostly the commentators on Tennis Channel ignore him like he is banished. It all irks me. He is still #1. Over the years he has earned his place at the top. It’s my opinion.
If djoko was worried about match practice i think he squeezed two tournaments into this Rome tournament
I am nervous about Rafa facing Novak right now. The issue is Rafa’s serve. Novak is probably the best returner in the game. One of the all-time best. Rafa’s serve has been very inconsistent. The tennis channel commies pointed out that he only lost two points on his second serve, I think in yesterday’s match, it is his second serve that is saving him.
Even with a really good serve, Novak puts enormous pressure on his opponents. So that is my main concern. I do believe that Rafa’s game is coming together. He’s not there yet, but he doesn’t have to be. He is not at RG. I think this is the best he has looked so far during the clay court season. We also got our answer to the question if things would be different in Rome from Madrid. Rafa is in the final and he got through a challenging draw with quality opponents.
Watching Novak I see that he is not yet at his best either. But Rafa and Novak even at less than their best, are still tough. It should be a good match. If Rafa loses his serve early, as he did with Shapo and Zverev, it will be difficult. He has shown that incredible mental will and stayed in the fight. He will need it tomorrow.
Fantasctic days tennis for Djoko and he applauded Sonego as he left the court. The crowd will probably be behind him tomorrow. Im a bit worried he could be tired tomorrow.Great atmosphere,the curfew was due at 10pm but hard to imagine the crowd going anywhere.
Greg Rusedski said Novak was probably the best player of all time (Rafa best on clay ) and its hard to argue with that .
I do believe that Djoko will be the best player of this era; he simply needs another two slams to tie with Fedal. His other records – most Masters titles (and winning each Masters at least twice); five YE championships; six YE No.1; most weeks at no.1; most HC slams won; highest prize money earned; positive H2H vs almost all current players and esp against Fedal! And, who else could beat Rafa so often on clay including at the FO; and beating Fed so often at Wimbledon?
Who else could compare to or beat him at those records?!!
His mental strength to turn matches around.Yeah who else can take on Rafa on clay.
Love your comment above, Luckystar.
But I doubt he will win two more GS titles. Maybe one but two? It’s getting harder and harder considering the new guys and his own strength slipping.
I will say it again just to make the point. As far as I am concerned, there cannot and will never be one greatest player. The top three all have records that will most likely stand the test of time.
It is really a disservice to try to anoint one of them the best of all time.
With what you say in your comment I fully agree, NNY.
Rafa is an all-court great. What Rafa has accomplished on clay makes him the best, and will stand at LEAST as long as I live.
Looks like djoko brain farted on that 30-30 point..
But what a set by rafa… serving and forehanding crazily.. djoko playing well too
Novak is doing the best he can. I noticed yesterday after the Tsitsi match Novak could only do so much. Even with that “save himself” mentality, he beat Sonego. Brave of him to want this final with Rafa. He had to know it was too much. But he is trying. He respects Rafa and knows his tennis well. It’s a dangerous court to be playing on at this point. Those lines are wicked! I really hope Rafa wins this in two sets. He should.
Serving is a real chore for Novak. If his body parts attached to the arm are sore, he shouldn’t push it. No more aces, maybe. Easy does it, if it works, it works.
Novak’s arm goes numb. He’s trying to shake it out on the changeover.
Not the best situation for him. I seriously want Rafa to win! He is stronger and healthier.