Can Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer right the ship in Rome or will Rafael Nadal defend his 2012 title?

“I obviously didn’t do much in the second set, which gave her a lot of confidence to play better,” Williams said. “And then I thought she played really well after that in the third…I’m going to go back to the way I have been playing and being more calm and not making as many unforced errors as I did out there today.”

“I was complaining a little bit that these things weren’t working, so I think I just needed some positive words from Martina out there,” Pavlyuchenkova said. “She told me to keep playing my game and be more aggressive, and other things. It really helped.”

Notes: Insane field with two former No. 1s and an additional Slam champ all unseeded…The Top 3 seeds are current or former No. 1s…Tough opening-round matches are (5) Na vs. Tamira Paszek then the winner of Venus and (WC) Medina Garrigues, (3) Azarenka vs. Pavlyuchenkova, (11) Petrova vs. a qualifier then likely Kuznetsova, (16) Ivanovic vs. a qualifier then likely her Serb countrywoman Jankovic, (9) Stosur vs. the clay-savvy Suarez Navarro, and (2) Sharapova vs. a qualifier then likely Peng…No blue clay this year…Former champs in the field are Serena Williams (2012) and Kvitova (2011).

Queen of Clay? Former No. 1 Maria Sharapova is gunning for the title after a stellar 2012 clay season that saw her win the French Open title, and a 2013 season that has started with the Stuttgart claycourt title.

Rafael Nadal won his eighth Barcelona title in nine years on Sunday, defeating fellow Spaniard Nicolas Almagro 6-4, 6-3 in the final of the rainy Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell.

Men’s Notes: The tournament is now named in the Estoril municipality of Oeiras for whatever reason…The Top 4 seeds receive opening-round byes…Ferrer is 1-3 career at the event…Two-time defending champ Juan Martin del Potro pulled citing a virus…Kevin Anderson and Juan Monaco were other notable pulls…No past champions are in the field.

“She’s amazing. We were joking that she’s like a soldier,” Vesnina said of Makarova. “She has a bleeding knee and she won such an amazing match — one of the most emotional matches she has won. And then in the doubles, she was feeling tired, but she’s a great fighter.”

Notes: Seeds debuting in Barcelona are Janowicz and Klizan…seeds with non-winning records in Barcelona are Monaco, Kohlschreiber, Chardy, Paire, Dimitrov, Granollers and Bellucci…Nadal is 35-1 in Barcelona…Bryan brothers are 15-3 with two titles at the event…All 16 seeds receive opening-round byes, with potential tough starts for (12) Verdasco vs. Stepanek, (14) Dimitrov vs. Robredo, and (3) Berdych vs. Davydenko…Ferrer hs lost in four Barcelona finals to Nadal…Nadal has won the title in seven of the last eight years…Returning champs in the field are Nadal (2012-11,’09-05), Verdasco (2010), and Robredo (2004).

SERENA WILLIAMS: Well, you really want to be able to win. I think in general I feel a little bit of pressure when I’m playing for the team because I want to be able to do really well. You’re not just playing for yourself. You don’t want to let your friends and your team down.