I knew about Rafa choosing tennis over football but didn’t know Roger did the same. I’m so glad they chose tennis. I wouldn’t be watching tennis so much if it weren’t for Roger and Rafa. I love football (soccer) too but tennis has become my favorite sport.

May 13th, 2014 at 5:28 pm

James yeah me too,ive decided to lighten up a bit now,and stop wallowing in the self pity that was the farce of Madrid and that dreadfull final….

May 13th, 2014 at 6:03 pm

Another guy who chose tennis over football – Andy Murray – has just won a difficult match in Rome, over Granollers.

This was the sort of match that brings cries of “boring” from people who don’t know their tennis. The conditions were terrible, with gusty wind blowing clay dust in their eyes, and both men played extremely well in the circumstances. Andy played that bit better, and looks in good form and (better still)looks confident.

Several times the cameras showed Italian great Pietrangeli in the stands. I well remember how the exceedingly English commentator Dan Maskell, always resolutely pronounced the name as “Peter Angeli”.

May 14th, 2014 at 7:52 am

yeah true, indeed andy is looking good and granollers is no pushover on clay.

I hope andy manage to reach the qtrs and take on nadal….I m desperate to see their match up. andy-rafa is no decent match up on clay….but considering rafa’s recent struggles, it could be an interesting match.

May 14th, 2014 at 8:03 am

I thought Andy did extremely well today – except for that sloppy game at the start of the 2nd. Granollers is also good in the wind so it was a test of skills and nerve. Andy won 19-25 points at the net, always a good indicator of confidence. He meets an invigorated Melzer next, always a tricky player on clay. I felt much better about his game this week.

After blowing Chardy away in the first set, Fed has dropped serve in the 2nd. Looks like it’s going 3.

May 14th, 2014 at 8:58 am

ruh roh…Chardy has broken Roger in the 3rd set. I can’t tell if it’s the wind or a little rust. He started so strongly. To his credit, Chardy amped up his game from the 2nd set onwards.

May 14th, 2014 at 9:31 am

Let’s Go Andy!
Not able to watch the match live…..will really ENJOY :) catch up later!

May 14th, 2014 at 9:55 am

Gee whiz! Fed out! Joker’s draw just got a whole lot easier!

May 14th, 2014 at 10:10 am

Well well. What a weird ending to that match. Chardy had a point to go up 5-2 in the 3rd. Fed broke back and then got a MP which Chardy saved with an outrageous FH, then Chardy won. Back to nursery duty Roger, you’ll never get this time back again.

The only implication from this is that Fed might now be seeded 5th at RG, depending on how well Ferrer does.

May 14th, 2014 at 10:13 am

I share your opinion, Margot. Let’s GO Andy!

Did not get ti watch the matches today, either

Great news for Jeremy Chardy! Congratulations to Chardonnay! It is about time Chardy shows us how great he really is :D

Roger Federer, well I am happy for him, as always. How can one not be?

May 14th, 2014 at 10:18 am

Gulbis vs Ferrer sequel match. Oh my.

Well, I hope Gulbis took an interest and watched how Kei Nishikori goes about beating and nearly beating top ten’er’s.

Go Gulbis! Come on..

May 14th, 2014 at 10:22 am

Nah, Gulbis wants to do better than nearly beating a top tenner.

He wants to be No. 1!!!

May 14th, 2014 at 10:30 am

:D I know, tramlines :D

shhh… don’t jinx him ; )

May 14th, 2014 at 10:48 am

I thought , my dad and me will see him, he is out now. I guess , Roger didn’t have enough preparation for Rome after the birth of his boys. Argh, too bad.

May 14th, 2014 at 11:01 am

Gulbis wanna be no. One. LOL!

May 14th, 2014 at 11:02 am

Oops, sorry. I shouldn’t jinx Gulbis. 😜

May 14th, 2014 at 11:13 am

His dad can afford to buy him anything he wants except #1. He has to work very hard for that privilege.

May 14th, 2014 at 11:16 am

Just do it Gulbis,too much big talk,theres a big difference between the good and the greats of the game,the greats dont need to brag about how good they are,as there records speak for themselves….

May 14th, 2014 at 11:17 am

I kind of expected this….more than chardy played good, it was fed who played avrg.

I know and understand fed is very happy becoming dad once again and there is no problem relishing this moment….but if fed wants to play and wants to win titles, he gotta ditch this “so-excited-being-father” attitude soon and get back to business.

I m not trying to be rude here, but the point is he shouldn’t have opted for playing if he was not mentally prepared. Its him who has to take the decision whether to play or not and not his wife or team, IMO.

Anyways, he must get serious and start from the scratch….if he has any intention to win RG and not just go deep in the tournament.

May 14th, 2014 at 11:20 am

Apart from not being fully prepared, Federer is not at his best in windy conditions. His precision game works better indoors.

May 14th, 2014 at 11:33 am

today is the 14th time Federer has lost a match after having a match point.

May 14th, 2014 at 11:56 am

14th time? some would call him choker for that kind of statistic

May 14th, 2014 at 12:02 pm

PF,
Yeah me too and posted the other day about his decision to play. In his transcript interview prior he had not convinced me that he was really into playing atm. No doubt the Birth event had to way more on his mind than the Rome event.
Hope he comes out fired up for RG, we’ll see. Congrats to Chardy though, he played well, hung in there.

May 14th, 2014 at 12:09 pm

It’s like Nole said last week, family comes first.

Children are a game changer for all of us.

May 14th, 2014 at 12:43 pm

yeah skeeze exactly, his presser was the first sign that made me uncomfortable. He was all words for his new grown family, but never did he said anything abt his preparations for rome or how he is feeling abt his chances thr.

TBH, I got a lil annoyed and I thought why at all he came to play when his mind is clearly preoccupied with his family….but then, he better knows what he is doing perhaps!

Hoping this bonus time helps him get over the parental hangover.

May 14th, 2014 at 2:05 pm

Colin: no one is at their best in windy conditions and Fed has played and won some incredible matches in such conditions.

May 14th, 2014 at 2:27 pm

Simon was 40-15 5-5 afer breakig Nadal when he served for the set. Now Nadal broke and will serve again.

May 14th, 2014 at 2:45 pm

@ the DA, Colin and Conty
Just watched Andy’s match and
1) So good to see his court position, so much better than Madrid
2)As u said DA, so good to see him coming forward at every opportunity. Fleming is always praising Andy’s net game and I just wish he’d use it more often. As u again said DA, all about confidence. when he’s not confident back he goes into old passive default mode Grrr!
3) Hooray! Gone is that awful, permanent grimace! Just a couple of wry smiles at the havoc the wind was wreaking
He really didn’t want to be in Madrid, did he?
Come on!

May 14th, 2014 at 2:51 pm

Simin had 4-4 0-40 and couldn’t break. This will be another match with missed oportunities. What is strange is that Nadal is oscilatimg his level. But playing to defensive. And seems most olayers are attacking his serve more. He is not holding with authority.

May 14th, 2014 at 3:53 pm

@ Daniel: And Simon just got the set.Nadal is definetly not at his best.

May 14th, 2014 at 4:17 pm

@Margot – Glad you managed to watch it. Gives some hope imo.

This Nadal-Simon match is a real treat. Simon is playing like its 2008. He has been crushing his FH. His net play is still a disaster though. This match deserves a third.

May 14th, 2014 at 4:17 pm

This Rafa is not winning RG this year….

May 14th, 2014 at 4:21 pm

And i have my doubts about him even winning this match,hes not the player he was….

May 14th, 2014 at 4:31 pm

@Hippy Chic – Relax. Over best of 5, Rafa would win this ten times out of ten. Simon, and many others, couldn’t maintain this level over 3 consecutive sets. just my €0.02

May 14th, 2014 at 4:34 pm

The DA i guess time will tell i suppose….

May 14th, 2014 at 4:37 pm

Im pleased with the way Andy played today….

May 14th, 2014 at 4:58 pm

Guys, Simon has hit 50 winners in this match. That’s probably more than he hit all of last season.

May 14th, 2014 at 4:59 pm

Nadal managed to win this one, he clearly isn’t playing his best this clay season and I’m keeping my expectations low for him. Hope he can just hang in there like today :)

May 14th, 2014 at 5:07 pm

NID.

May 14th, 2014 at 5:07 pm

Simon just didn’t take advantage of the short balls Rafa put into play. He tended to back off. Had his chances but played too passively at times….like someone else I know can…..;) Andy do you hear me speaking to you?

May 14th, 2014 at 5:23 pm