Roddick Gets Roughed Up in Rome; Murray, Sharapova Tuesday; Del Potro Tear

by Staff | May 9th, 2011, 11:54 pm
  • 19 Comments

Today offered more proof that Andy Roddick just isn’t getting any younger. The former World No. 1 and No. 12 seed was easily dispatched on the red clay of Rome by Gilles Simon 63, 63.

The loss is Roddick’s fourth straight dating back to a fourth round defeat to Richard Gasquet at Indian Wells. Since, Roddick’s suffered opening round losses to Pablo Cuevas (Miami), Flavio Cipolla (Madrid) and now Simon.

“He moves very well, which you don’t want to see when you are short of matches like I was today, when you are not getting clean hits,” said Roddick said of Simon. “We soon got into rallies and it became a battle striking the ball in movement, I was coming second sometimes.”


Roddick’s European tour continues next week in Nice where maybe the American can scrape a win before the French Open begins in two weeks.

Roddick’s countryman and doubles partner Mardy Fish did score a win defeating Santiago Giraldo 46, 62, 62.

Roddick wasn’t the only big name to fall on the second day at the Foro Italico. In a mild upset, Nikolay Davydenko was sent packing by Viktor Troicki 64, 75 and Italian Potito Starache ended the hopes of the struggling Alexandr Dolgopolov 63, 63.

After the starting the year in positive form, Dolgopolov has cooled off considerably. The Ukraine is on a 5-match losing skid, dropping 10 straight sets since a win over Tsonga in Miami.

In the match of the day featuring former Australian Open finalsits, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga beat Marcos Baghdatis 63, 62. Tsonga will now meet Roger Federer on Wednesday.

Tomorrow, Andy Murray, Maria Sharapova and a good match between Robin Soderling and Fernando Verdasco are scheduled.

Top seeds Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic will play Wednesday.

One player not in the field this week is Juan Martin Del Potro who announced today that he has a small tear in his hip. The Argentine says he is still hoping to recover in time before the French Open in two weeks.

ORDER OF PLAY – TUESDAY, 10 MAY, 2011

CENTRALE start 12:00 noon
[WC] S Bolelli (ITA) vs [9] N Almagro (ESP) – ATP
[Q] C Mchale (USA) vs [2] F Schiavone (ITA) – WTA
[14] S Wawrinka (SUI) vs [WC] F Fognini (ITA) – ATP
Not Before 7:30 PM
E Makarova (RUS) vs [7] M Sharapova (RUS) – WTA
Not Before 9:15 PM
X Malisse (BEL) vs [4] A Murray (GBR) – ATP

PIETRANGELI start 12:00 noon
[Q] I Andreev (RUS) vs [16] R Gasquet (FRA) – ATP
I Ljubicic (CRO) vs [WC] F Cipolla (ITA) – ATP
M Kirilenko (RUS) vs [12] A Petkovic (GER) – WTA
Not Before 7:30 PM
[5] R Soderling (SWE) vs F Verdasco (ESP) – ATP
[15] F Pennetta (ITA) vs B Mattek-Sands (USA) – WTA

COURT 10 start 11:00am
[WC] A Brianti (ITA) vs [LL] J Zheng (CHN) – WTA
S Errani (ITA) vs R Vinci (ITA) – WTA
J Monaco (ARG) vs [7] T Berdych (CZE) – ATP
[Q] P Lorenzi (ITA) vs T Bellucci (BRA) – ATP

COURT 1 start 11:00am
K Date-Krumm (JPN) vs L Safarova (CZE) – WTA
[14] K Kanepi (EST) vs [WC] R Oprandi (ITA) – WTA
[Q] C Scheepers (RSA) vs [16] A Pavlyuchenkova (RUS) – WTA
[10] S Peer (ISR) vs B Jovanovski (SRB) – WTA

COURT 2 start 11:00am
M Cilic (CRO) vs I Karlovic (CRO) – ATP
J Chela (ARG) vs J Isner (USA) – ATP


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19 Comments for Roddick Gets Roughed Up in Rome; Murray, Sharapova Tuesday; Del Potro Tear

Huh Says:

Best News: Nole straight-setting the reigning king nadal in his homeground on clay. I really wanted this. I moreover realy realy hope that nole’ll beat rafa in at least WIM, if not RG. Howevr nole beatin nadal at RG’ll give me ultimate surprise and ecstacy!!! :D
Worst News however’s that JMDP’s again injured.
:(
Nonetheless it’d be a crazy wonderful year if it hapens 2 b a non fedal year at slams ;)
I wouldnt mind at al nole winning 2 or 3 slams & muzza winning at least 1 slam :D However its noteworthy that I stil hope for a WIM for Rod. Besides I’m no way tired of Fed winning slams just yet, not at least after him not havin won a slam for more than 15-16 months.


Huh Says:

May the FO go to Nole/Fed/Sod; Muzza’s imposibl I know. ;) JMDP overcomes or can overcom al adversaries at all places but not seemingly his body, too bad & too sad this is for this HUGE Delpo admirer, I just enjoy JMDP at his best so very much, but he very very rarely reaches that amazing level physically though he’s a born fighter at heart n has great will, focus and courage but his body is betraying him. :(
Now onto WIM preferenc: My heart first n foremost with Rod; but I’d also love if either Fed/Nole/Muzza(thou unlikely due to heavy pressur)/JMDP(even less chanc than muzza due to injury) win WIM.
Then movin onto USO:
First preferenc Muzza, that said if Muzza cant do it, I hope either Nole/Fed’ll do it. JMDP hopefuly’d be fully fit n in form by USO.
THUS,
Cheers for Fed, Rod, Nole, Muzza n JMDP. C’MON GUYS,U ROCK! B-)


Duro Says:

Huh, ha ha ha…

Is there anyone you do not root for?


Huh Says:

Duro, superduper congrats n cheers for u. U must b realy hapy right now. :D
But to giv u a heart attack, I concede dat I’d not mind AT ALL Nole
winning calender slam; in fact I’d be utterly overjoyed if Nole beats Rafa at RG, thou I wont bet my money on it. ;) I seriously want Nole to keep beatin Rafa as much and as long as possible. However strictly speakin Nole’s wins over Rafa realy’ve to come at slams;, no matter how much Nole beats Rafa at non-slams, its stil nonslams. Nole beatin Rafa at a slam would make me go crazy with joy. :D ;)


Lulu Iberica Says:

HUH, just curious, is there some particular reason you dislike Nadal, or are you just a super Novak fan?


Huh Says:

Victory of Nole over Rafa at a slam would be just 10 times sweeter than the win at a MS event. Believ me Duro,
I’ve been waitin for it since long. And I realy hope it happens at the earliest, best scenario’d ne this happening at RG. And to tell you the truth,I still have complete faith on Fed dearest, I still think he is capable of beatin the top guys, anytime, anywhere. Fed’s good still, dont u think, althou he has been losin to Nole n Rafa of late. But I truly believ that if anyone’s capabl of turnin the tables on his greatest of rivals, its Roger(at least for me n also for other faithfuls like maxi, skeeze etc.). Till then, u enjoy the wins of Nole. Hope it continues for some more time n Muzza, Fed, JMDP join the party. I am not at all tired of Nole’s march in the right direction. B-)


Huh Says:

Lulu, I am selfish to the core, n I m a Fed fan. I don’t hate or dislike Nadal but I know that Rafa’s the real deal,
the real threat to Fed’s tennis (GS Record) immortality, he is wel and truly the best player, the best fighter and legendary champion, similar to my guy Federer. Thus my human nature n love for Fed which’s apprehensiv of the Great Nadal ultimately overtakin The Titanic Federer, and I want Fed to be always placed abov Rafa, the reasons bein that I lov Fed’s tennis playin styl, I consider Fed as bettr than Rafa(its purely personal thing thou),
moreover I prefer elegant natural style to athletic physical styl.


jane Says:

Looks like the slower clay of Rome isn’t working for Bellucci; he is likely going out first round, but the looks of it.


Lulu Iberica Says:

Thanks, HUH, glad to see you admit you’re hoping for someone to protect Fed’s legacy! I’m selfish, too — would love to see Rafa break Fed’s slam record, but I’m OK with him being second best, too, because Roger is a legend. What I don’t want is for Djoker to be so good that Rafa can’t even get close to Roger, or heaven forbid, for Djoker to get more slams than Rafa and Rafa becomes only the third best of his era :( I am hoping Rafa has enough left in him to come back strong again, like he has in the past. Right now it’s looking like only some kind of tragedy could stop Novak. I wouldn’t wish any harm on him, but maybe he could just get tired soon? Please?


Huh Says:

Lulu, I however wana say that I’ve also liked nole, muzza, fed styl of tennis more than rafa’s.


stu Says:

Lulu, this tennis era is too competitive IMO for Nole to win as many Slams as Rafa. He does not dominate any particular surface like Rafa does, so his Slam wins will have to come against people who are at least as good as him, if not better. Also, he is already 24. Although he has achieved a lot already, it might be just that wee bit too late for him to be considered in the same league as Roger and Rafa, even if his career trajectory from here on follows theirs.


stu Says:

Too bad for Bellucci. I was looking forward to his match against Rafa. Something tells me that Rafa’s Rome draw will open up too…


Huh Says:

Lulu, regardless of what I like or dislike, Rafa’s
just a GENIUS! His giftedness n natural prowess on clay is just inexplicabl, I dont understand how God allowed a guy to be born so dominant n unbeatabl. Besides he’s also extremely aggressiv, ALMOST as much as Fed, thou in a styl different to that of Fed; and that’ why Fed n Rafa generate so much interest among fans worldwide.


Huh Says:

Lulu!!! U r crazy or what? :) C’mon, I mean, there’s just no way Nole can get anywher close to Rafa in terms of slam count, in my opinion or vision. As Stu pointed out, I think its too late already for Nole. Moreover I’ve always thought Rafa’d win 12-14 slams, neither more nor less than that, its kinda my gut feelin. And so far as regards Nole, I think al that he can do’s keep chasin Rafa in terms of GS count, hopin to get somwher close to Rafa’s tally. Moreover, lets be honest, Nole can never keep winning slams and tournaments year after year after year like Rafa, coz after all Rafa’s far superior mental strength to that of Nole, he wouldnt remain at the top for so many years otherwise. Novak’s just a startin thing(winning streak n stuff), but Rafa, not just he’s done it already(win any slam beatin anyone), but also proved that he can redo it(any doubt?). No comparison in my humble opinion between rafa n nole, let nole beat rafa at a slam first, then we’ll see. till then, just nadal…


Huh Says:

Thou it’d be really sweet to see Sod or Nole or Fed winning RG I dont think Rafa would lose to anyone at RG 11. My head says FO trophy’s Rafa’s this year too!


Lulu Iberica Says:

I know, I know, Nole has to slow down sometime, but I don’t think Rafa is necessarily mentally tougher than him anymore. You’re right that the slams are a different thing, but I don’t think Djoker’s ever going back to being the retirement king, or anything like that, and Rafa has seemed lacking in confidence in their matches. To me, it’s a mixed blessing that their matches have been competitive, because normally, when Rafa has a chance, he wins. If he’s moving poorly, or just being overpowered by someone like Delpo, that’s one thing, and he can lose horribly, but to see him come close and not be clutch enough is unusual. Until Rafa beats Nole again I’m going to worry that this is going to be a Roddick – Federer situation.


Lulu Iberica Says:

So much for the Bellucci threat! Wonder what happens to a player in just a few days to go from threatening to upset the very best, to losing to a qualifier?

Stu & HUH, on further reflection, you are right. I was imagining a scenario in which Nole could get to 9 slams over the next several years, but since winning the CYGS is highly unlikely, someone else is going to have to win some slams, and who is that most likely to be? Sorry, Rog, Andy, and Juan Martin, but I’m putting my $ on Rafa! OK, unless Nole is actually Superman, Rafa is probably safe!


Lulu Iberica Says:

Go, Hotsauce! He’s kind of a jerk sometimes, but I still like him for some reason. (Of course it helps that he’s playing Soda.)


El Flaco Says:

What a gut on the X-man. You can see the convex shape on the lower half of his shirt. That’s too bad because he is an excellent ball striker. If he lost 10 pounds he could probably crack the top 20 again.

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