ATP Rome Preview: Hero Roddick Receives Rough Draw

Posted on May 3, 2004

The field thinned considerably at the Masters Series-Rome even before the players took to the court with the withdrawals of defending French Open champ Juan Carlos Ferrero (still recovering from the after-effects of chickenpox), Guillermo Coria (mystery injury), Andre Agassi (disinterest), and three-time French Open champ Gustavo Kuerten (hip injury).

Top seed Roger Federer has been handed a nice draw, but for No. 2 Andy Roddick, who has yet to make an impact on the European red clay (the American did, however, make quite the impact in playing hero during Saturday's fire at the Rome player hotel) MS-Rome will be difficult. Argentine Guillermo Canas in his opener, then likely facing Spanish backboard David Sanchez in the second round, Lleyton Hewitt of Andrei Pavel in the third round, and on and on will make it slow going for the American.

Here is a look at how the four quarters of the MS-Rome draw break down:

Top Quarter
Seeds: (1)Roger Federer, (7)Sebastien Grosjean, (12)Jiri Novak, (14)Martin "Berzerk" Verkerk
Floaters: Al Costa, Luis "Me So" Horna, Todd Martin, Max "The Beast" Mirnyi, Agustin Calleri, Feliciano "F-Lo" Lopez

Not an easy road for Club Fed, but not bad with Bjorkman who he has never lost to, the former French champ Costa who can not buy a win of late, then possibly a meeting with (14)Verkerk who is just finding his clay footing. Lots of floaters in this section, expect to see upsets. (7)Grosjean faces a tough opener against F-Lo, with (14)Berzerk against T.Martin, and (12)Novak vs. Blake. The big question mark in this section will be Federer's first steps during the European claycourt swing.

Second Quarter
Seeds: (3)Rainer Schuettler, (5)David Nalbandian, (11)Sjeng Schalken, (13)Fernando "Gonzo" Gonzalez
Floaters: Vince Spadea, Nikolay Davydenko, Dominik "The Dominator" Hrbaty

A nice draw for Nalbandian, with fast-court Swede Robin Soderling in his opener, then some low-powered claycourters until a possible meeting with (11)Schalken, who hasn't exactly been tearing it up of late, in the third round. Other seeds are not so fortunate, with (3)Schuettler vs. the resurgent Spadea, and (13)Gonzo vs. The Dominator in his opener. This section will be all about who can get over the early hurdles.

Third Quarter
Seeds: (4)Tim Henman, (8)Nicolas Massu, (10)Paradorn Srichaphan, (16)Juan Ignacio Chela
Floaters: Gaston Gaudio, Mariano Zabaleta, Marat Safin, Felix Mantilla, Goran Ivanisevic

(4)Henman and (8)Massu both face qualifiers in their openers, while (16)Chela has a tester against Zabaleta, and the clay-challenged (10)Srichaphan is a non-factor on the dirt. Gaston Gaudio, a runner-up at Barcelona last week, former No. 1 Marat Safin, and the explosive Goran Ivanisevic make this a dicey section. Watch (4)Henman, whose draw could open up nicely if he is on his dirt game.

Bottom Quarter
Seeds: (2)Andy "A-Rod" Roddick, (6)Carlos Moya, (9)Mark "Flipper" Philippoussis, (15)Lleyton Hewitt
Floaters: Al Martin, Arnaud Clement, Ivan Ljubicic, Tommy Haas, Tommy Robredo, Andrei Pavel, David Sanchez, Guillermo Canas

As a player scanning the draw, this is the section you didn't want to see your name in. The seeds include three former No. 1s in Roddick, Roland Garros winner Moya, and Hewitt, then throw in the two-time slam runner-up Philippoussis. Add to this section eight unseeded players who could take out a top seed on a given day on dirt in Spaniards Robredo (winner at Barcelona Sunday), A.Martin and Sanchez, the Argentine Canas, Romania's Pavel, the Frenchman Clement, and the Croatian punisher Ljubicic. Potential juicy third-round matches include (6)Moya vs. Robredo, and (2)Roddick vs. (15)Hewitt, though expect to see one or more trip before then, especially the weary Robredo after the Barcelona win.

Former champions in this year's draw are Mantilla (2003) and Corretja (1997).