ATP M1000 WTA 1000 Rome 5/9 - 5/21 2023

[ashkor87]

Re TT, a good volleyer can always do well on clay, given 2 things: fearlessness and movement...TT has both.

[ashkor87]

I'm shocked that Pliskova went out early since she's been playing pretty well this season, especially to a player you'd expect her to beat wherever. I set my expectations very low for Karolina at all times, but Rome is damn near her best tournament on tour for reasons unknown, so this is surprising from her.

True but I have given up trying to understand Pliskova...

[ashkor87]

But nice to see Kenin doing well .she is very much a player in the Hingis mould- redirects, uses her opponent's pace...would not have worked against, say, Swiatek, but against Saba...
Bencic is probably the player closest to her in style, though Bencic is bigger and stronger...Kenin has already achieved more, though, so great to see. In my estimation Kenin is probably the best bet the US has, not Pegula or ...up-side I mean..

[ashkor87]

Rome is the first real red clay tournament at the 1000 level, Madrid is an outlier, Charleston isnt red clay. so I expect some 'surprises' - like Swiatek doing well, better than Sabalenka, and Alcaraz beating everyone, including Djokovic..
Badosa versus Jebeur is a good one too. on real, slow, red clay, Badosa shuld win.. let us see what happens.. her first round didnt inspire confidence. I am not yet convinced of Jabeur's red clay credentials- Madrid last year was a great result but she didnt do much at RG after that, becausse Madrid is different, anyway. .. . Jabeur's game is better suited to grass and hard court..same with Sinner - he needs a faster surface, I cant visualize him winning here, nor Medvedev of course..

Well, "first real" is a bit too much, Ashkor. Sure, Madrid seems to be different because the results say so, but it is still played on clay. The sliding and footing remain the same.
Swiatek playing well here will be no news. Sabalenka getting far may be. Alcaraz winning is the default mode.
You don't think that Jabeur's trick shots and movement are good on clay? She moves well, has a good drop shot, can play the long rallies. If she is not injured, I think she can be a factor.

Reserved forecasts, bit we got it. Sabalenka out, together with Pegula. We will have to wait and see who comes out from the bottom half.

Drops and slices would work better on grass and hard, don't you think?

Madrid has been won by such red clay experts as Kvitova (3 times!) ..so I tend to regard it as an important tournament but too different to be an indicator for RG or even Rome...

[ashkor87]

Badosa has beaten Jabeur, as expected...

[Suliso]

In my opinion 2022 was Jabeur's career year and she'll not approach those heights again.

[ponchi101]

Reaching those heights will be hard. But losing to a fellow player who is also in a descending path, by that score, is worrisome.
I actually thought Jabeur would get this one.

[jazzyg]

Props to Tennis Channel for showing the Fognini-Kecmanovic second set in its entirety.

The atmosphere and Fognini's shotmaking made it the most entertaining match in its time slot, but it is unusual for a tennis network to side with entertainment value over name brand. There were no big-time matches going on, but Ostapenko-Cirstea would have been the normal choice since they were playing on a bigger court and one is a slam winner while the other is playing very well.

Fognini has been really good in his first two matches. His likely match with Rune in the round of 16 should be entertaining as well.

[jazzyg]

Reaching those heights will be hard. But losing to a fellow player who is also in a descending path, by that score, is worrisome.
I actually thought Jabeur would get this one.

Badosa has been playing quite well the past month. She lost two games to Gauff in Madrid. And wasn't Jabeur coming back from an injury?

[ponchi101]

Reaching those heights will be hard. But losing to a fellow player who is also in a descending path, by that score, is worrisome.
I actually thought Jabeur would get this one.

Badosa has been playing quite well the past month. She lost two games to Gauff in Madrid. And wasn't Jabeur coming back from an injury.

Which I would say adds to my point. She has not recovered well from that injury, and we know that sometimes that leads to a vicious circle: you are not fully recovered, come back due to the pressures of the tour, you can't play well, you get injured again and the worst scenario starts.
Badosa has played well the last month, not the last 18 months. She is down to 37. I hope they will both recover.

[ponchi101]

We know about the request for absolute silence when players are playing.
But in Rome, there are adjacent courts playing at the same time. Right now, Paul and Garin are playing in such a court, and of course, when their spectators are cheering, the other court is playing, and vice versa. And it is a total mess with the "silence" rule.
And all four players are playing with no issues.

[ti-amie]

Vondrousova up 4-0 first set vs Andreescu in a mostly empty stadium. Ruud was playing but I waited too long to see how crowded - or not - the stands were.

[ti-amie]

[ti-amie]

[ti-amie]