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Nadal Wins Barcelona, Eyes Rome Title
Posted on May 5, 2008
ROME, Italy -- Three-time defending champion Rafael Nadal heads to the Internazionali BNL d'Italia,
the second clay ATP Masters Series tournament of the year, in pursuit of a historic fourth event title for the third week in a row.
The 21-year-old Spaniard won his fourth successive Masters Series Monte-Carlo title two Sundays
ago by defeating World No. 1 Roger Federer in the final, and last week followed with his fourth straight title in Barcelona (d. Ferrer).
Nadal is the only player in Rome's tournament history to have won three consecutive titles, posting
final wins over Guillermo Coria in 2005, Federer in 2006 and Fernando Gonzalez last year. Thomas
Muster (1990, '95-96), Marty Mulligan (1963, '65, '67) and Jaroslav Drobny (1950-51, '53) also won threetitles apiece, but not in succession.
World No. 2 Nadal has never been defeated in Rome (17-0 career record), and has won 103 of his last
104 matches on clay beginning with his title run in 2005 at Monte-Carlo. Since his one loss to Federer in last May's Masters Series Hamburg final, he has won 22 straight matches and four titles on clay (also 2007 Roland Garros, Stuttgart).
By winning the Open Sabadell Atlantico title on Sunday, Nadal improved to a 20-1 record in clay finals and overtook Serb Novak Djokovic at the No. 1 position the ATP Race.
"This year is a great one so far," Nadal said after winning the Barcelona title. "I'm No. 1 in the Race and I've won two very important tournaments -- Monte-Carlo and Barcelona. For me the important
thing this week was to be playing well. I've been playing well during the last tournaments and that's what I'm very happy about."
A Spaniard has won the Internazionali BNL d'Italia title the last five years and in six of the last seven. Prior to Nadal's title reign, Carlos Moya won in2004, Felix Mantilla in 2003 and Juan Carlos
Ferrero in 2001. The last non-Spanish champion was Andre Agassi in 2002.
The three past champions in the 2008 field have all been drawn into the bottom quarter of the draw
this week. Nadal could come against Ferrero in the second round (Nadal leads 6-1) and the 11th-seeded Moya in the quarterfinals (Nadal leads 5-2). Ferrero plays German Nicolas Kiefer in his first
round match (series tied 2-2), while Moya faces Fernando Verdasco in an all-Spanish opener (Moya
leads 5-0). Moya has a 20-11 event record, but has lost three straight matches in Rome since winning
the 2004 title and has also lost in the opening round the last two weeks.
In the semifinals, Nadal could face No. 4 Nikolay Davydenko or No. 6 Andy Roddick. Davydenko, a
semifinalist last year, will open against the Mario Ancic-Feliciano Lopez winner. Roddick, who is making his 2008 clay court main draw debut, reached the Rome semifinals in 2002 and quarterfinals two years ago and will play the winner of Michael Llodra-Mardy Fish in his first match. The first seed he could face is No. 10 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga who is coming back from a knee injury and playing in his first clay court tournament of '08.
FEDERER FACES CHALLENGING DRAW
Federer comes into the tournament as the top seed for the third consecutive year. In the last 20 years, four top seeds have captured the title: Muster (1996), Pete Sampras (1994), Jim Courier (1992) and Ivan Lendl (1988).
The Swiss is a two-time Rome finalist, finishing as runner-up in 2003 and '06. In the 2006 final, he lost to Nadal in a five hour, five minute battle despite winning five more points than the Spaniard, 179 to 174. Federer held two match points with Nadal serving at 5-6, 15-40 in the final set, but missed forehands on both opportunities.
Federer is off to a 9-1 start on clay this season; he ended his longest title drought in five years when he clinched the Estoril Open title last month and followed with a runner-up finish in Monte-Carlo. The World No. 1 could face a tough opponent in his opening match in Argentine Guillermo Canas, who has won three of the previous five meetings (all on hard courts).
Federer could face either No. 10 Richard Gasquet (Federer leads 6-1) or No. 5 David Ferrer (Federer
leads 8-0) in the quarterfinals. Ferrer reached the Rome semifinals two years ago and is off to a strong clay court start this year, winning the Valencia title and reaching the Barcelona final.
In the semifinals, Federer could meet No. 3 Djokovic or No. 7 David Nalbandian, both whom he defeated in Monte-Carlo. Djokovic, a quarterfinalist in his Rome debut last year, is coming off a semifinal effort in Monte-Carlo and takes on the winner of Steve Darcis-Ivan Ljubicic in his first match.
Nalbandian, a Rome finalist in 2004, is likely to face 2008 clay court match wins leader (23-4)
Nicolas Almagro in his opening match. The first seed he could play is No. 12 and last year's runner-up Gonzalez in the third round. The Chilean won his second clay court title of 2008 on Sunday in Munich.
-- ATP
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