Rafael Nadal will begin his bid for a fourth consecutive clay-court title when he opens in Rome against fellow Spaniard Nicolas Almagro on Wednesday. Juan Martin Del Potro and Kyle Edmund are also in second-round action.
(4) Rafael Nadal vs. (Q) Nicolas Almagro
Nadal and Almagro will be squaring off for the 16th time in their careers when they meet again in round two of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia on Wednesday. The head-to-head series stands at 14-1 in favor of Nadal, who is 10-1 at his compatriot’s expense on clay. Almagro’s lone victory came via a 2-6, 7-6(5), 6-4 decision three years ago at Barcelona, but the much more heralded Spaniard has since reeled off four wins in a row.
Speaking of strings of successive wins, Nadal is a perfect 15-0 on clay this season and has lifted three straight trophies in Monte-Carlo, Barcelona, and Madrid. The world No. 4 improved to 34-5 overall in 2017 when he defeated Dominic Thiem 7-6(8), 6-4 in last Sunday’s Madrid final. Almagro is no stranger to tough second-round draws at Masters 1000 tournaments; he lost to David Goffin at this stage in Monte-Carlo and to Novak Djokovic in the last 32 in Madrid (7-5 in the third set after leading 3-0). The world No. 73 evened his record at 8-8 this year by knocking out Italy’s own Andreas Seppi 7-6(6), 6-3 on Monday. Almagro is in fine form and Nadal struggled in his opening matches in both Monte-Carlo and Madrid, so this should be competitive–but it also won’t result in an upset.
Pick: Nadal in 2 losing 8-10 games
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Juan Martin Del Potro vs. Kyle Edmund
Del Potro currently registers at 34th in the rankings, but a win over Grigor Dimitrov on Monday and at least one top 32 player (Roger Federer) withdrawing from the French Open means the Argentine is already in good shape for a seed at the season’s second Grand Slam. That is quite an accomplishment because Del Potro has played sparingly to preserve the health of his left wrist, but he has played well in his limited appearances. The 2009 U.S. Open champion is 8-4 this year (2-0 on clay) with a semifinal showing in Delray Beach and third-round finishes in Indian Wells and Miami.
Up next for Del Potro is a first-ever meeting with Edmund, who advanced on Monday by beating Joao Sousa 6-3, 6-4. The 53rd-ranked Brit took a set off Nadal at the Monte-Carlo Masters (no other opponent managed that feat), but he also got blown out by Thiem in Barcelona and suffered an awful loss in Estoril to Portuguese wild card Joao Domingues. Edmund’s lack of consistency is such that he will not have the upper hand in this battle of big forehands.
Pick: Del Potro in 2
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who ya got?
Delpo got his forehand going on one of his signature brilliant rolls to take the 2nd set vs Dimitrov. It was a fun match. Grigor played great but Delpo was just steadier when it mattered most.
Delpo in 2.
Rada in 2. But Almagro is playing himself into pretty good shape. His serve might win him 5-7 games.
Davis Ferrer clocks up his 700th win by beating Feliciano Lopez in 3 sets in Rome, making him the 4th man on the ATP tour to achieve this.
Congratulations to Daveeed
congrats, Davis!
Gotta love Daveeed! He’s featured over on the ATP site in a “My Master’s 1000” segment. Pretty much all he does is talk about Rafa. I hope he pulls out of his current tailspin, but either way he’ll have a great life.
Congrats to David Ferrer!
See Nadal winning in 2 6-4, 6-2. It’s going to be great season because Nadal will be world number two if he wins french and Rome (doesn’t even need Rome). If Nadal does become world number two and does well in Wimbledon and the US open Nadal will be number one. Even if he doesn’t do well and Murray fails he will be world number one. He’s the odds on favourite to end the year both world number one and year-end number one
olly, What’s the diference between year end #1 and ending the year world #1?
There is no difference. The rankings and Race to London coincide at the end of the year.
Obviously olly doesn’t know the difference.
The difference is that Andy could finish world number one but the player with the most points of the year will be year end number one
Olly, the two are the same so it is impossible for Andy to finish at #1 unless he gets the most points of the year. Just to help you understand,may I ask how you think world #1 is calculated?
Joe Smith says AT 10:03 PM:”The rankings and Race to London coincide at the end of the year.”
The ATP Rankings (the 52-week rolling rankings) and the Race to London become identical on the Monday following the Paris Masters, i.e. BEFORE the WTF (that is held in London).
Ah, sorry, my bad. Of course that makes sense.
Ferrer at 300….that’s awesome….what a fighter! Nadal in a quick 2…JDP in 2.
Nadal in two losing 5-7 games Del Po in two
DelPo in 2 (was going to say 3 but Ricky convinced me to go with 2)
Rafa in 2 losing 8-10 games. While Rafa has almost always won their matches they’ve often been tight sets if my memory serves.
I hate it when Rafa faces clay court specialists because he grinds but hopefully tomorrow Rafa will be aggressive and win 6-0, 6-0!!!or pack up and go home to prepare for RG. He must make up his mind, it is ok to lose at Rome, it is not ok to grind to a win in a 3 hour match ….La Decima at RG hangs in the balance. I guess I am really nervous. In 2008 when Rafa was at his invincible best on clay and was awesome at RG (where not only did he not lose a set, he bageled the GOAT!!!), he lost his first match in Rome to Ferrero. Was that a smart move or was it happenstance?
Mary, in 2011 rafa had played even more matches reached the final of all tournaments after the ao, taken beatings at the hands of novak and still managed to do well at the french and beyond. Rafa should be fine unless he is carrying some niggle. All of the big 4 like to play when they are winning.
rafa would surely have withdrawn rather than playing half heartedly at rome. No point ceding the mental edge he has over the field by not keeping the foot on the accelerator. In fact winning rome may win him a few sets in roland garros with the opponent losing the plot in the locker room itself
Badly blistered foot, as I recall, as in a total lack of skin on much of his foot. Guess you could call that happenstance.
Agreed Vmk1 but still he runs a risk of fatigue/injury. Now if I was his coach, I would tell him to be aggressive at Rome, no matter what.
Yes, I now recall that he had some foot problem.
I am not thrilled to see Rafa facing Almagro. I don’t want to see a three hour slugfest. Rafa doesn’t need that.
I am thinking that Rafa should get the win in 2 sets, losing either 5-7 or 8-10 games. I am hoping that Rafa will come out sharp and not struggle the way he did against Fog.
Oh, Delpo in 2 sets.
Keep calm, remain focused, stay confident, be strong and fight bravely, Rafa!
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DABX_WTXkAERfa8.jpg
Vmk1 i like that summary 🙂
🙂
Hope this is short. Looks like it
not good. Almagro injured.
Mary :O Have you been practising voodoo. Your wish for a short match has been granted
Thats a sneaky comment. Even as a Rafa fan, I would not wish ill to his opponents for him to have a short match…
Dude relax. It is meant to be taken in good humor. You think as a Rafan who has had his heart broken after multiple injuries, i would wish ill of his opponents
yup….?????
Almagro retired due to a problem with his left knee.
from whatever little we saw in the first 3 games, I thought Rafa was playing really well.
Yep, atul, Rafa was completely in control… this clay he loves…hope he has nice and short wins in Rome!
Vamos Rafa!
Poor Almagro! I hate to see players getting injured. Rafa looked seriously concerned about Almagro.
Hope Almagro is healed for RG…it would be such a shame after only recently coming back from injury time off.,,
yeah. That’s too bad for Almagro. Hope its a quick recovery, but it did not look good
Get well soon Nico… but this is good for Rafa