Ciao Italia!!!!!!!

[Teresa]

ROME (Reuters) - World number one Roger Federer has been forced to withdraw from next week's Rome Masters after inflaming ligaments in his feet, tournament organizers said on Saturday.
The injury comes at a bad time in Federer's claycourt season with the Rome event considered an important tune-up for the French Open, starting at the end of May.

The 23-year-old Swiss had been hoping to win the Rome title for the first time. His best result in previous visits was a runner-up spot in 2003.

Federer has been in superb form this year, winning 35 of his 37 matches and picking up five titles, including the first two Masters Series events in Indian Wells and Miami.

He is the second top-ranked player to withdraw from the Rome Masters this week, following former world number one Lleyton Hewitt who pulled out with a toe injury.

In Federer's absence, American Andy Roddick takes over as top seed with Russia's Marat Safin, who beat Federer in the semi-finals of the Australian Open earlier this year, seeded second.

The clay court tournament begins Monday at Rome's Foro Italico stadium.

[Karen]

Moya did retire with shoulder injury. Guess he will withdraw from Rome also.

[SAFINNO1]

Wow Marat really has a challenging draw,Why did Roger have to withdraw look at Gaudio's draw(No 3 seed). Yep that is funnyu about Roddick and by golly he is going to struggle in his 1st round .
Just incase Marat is to play Nadal i think Marat will have the game to go a next level that could possibly challenge or even beat rafa. But lets hope Nadal dont put us in that situation.

[Teresa]

Karen said:

Moya did retire with shoulder injury. Guess he will withdraw from Rome also.

Yep I saw that now, a right shoulder injury
Poor Moya, he won't play Rome for sure
Just as he is getting back some form
I hope he will be okay for Hamburg

Lucky lucky Potatoe Starace will get a bye as a result of Moya's injury

[Chachou]

Does somebody know if Marat'll play in doubles?

[Teresa]

Hey Karen
Love that your pic of Maratchi is now your avatar

[Teresa]

Men's Preview: Week of May 2 (Exclusive)
Men's Look Forward: Rome



And to think that there was a time when Rome was the world's premier clay event other than Roland Garros.

Oh, we aren't trying to imply that it's turned into something bad; it's still a very strong tournament, and all the clay-courters are here. But Lleyton Hewitt is still recovering from his toe surgery, and Roger Federer is also out at the last minute with foot problems. That leaves Andy Roddick as the top seed at the most prestigious event leading up to the French Open.

The good news is, everyone else is here. (Except Juan Carlos Ferrero, anyway, who did not elect to play qualifying after not being granted a wildcard.) In addition to Roddick seeded #1, Marat Safin will be trying to win his first clay Masters as the #2 seed. Gaston Gaudio is the #3 seed -- the first time he's played a Masters as the world's top clay-courter, at least by ranking. Tim Henman, ironically, will be playing on clay to try to strengthen his Wimbledon seeding; he is #4. Rafael Nadal, the hottest clay-courter of the year so far, is #5. Andre Agassi will be playing his first European event of the year as #6.

Defending champion Carlos Moya, who needs a big result to stay in the Top Ten, is #7 as of this writing, though he hurt his shoulder at Estoril and is somewhat questionable; we probably won't know until Monday whether he can play. David Nalbandian rounds out the Top Ten players in the field as the #8 seed.

It's been a tough year for Guillermo Coria, who ends up seeded a mere #9 and is in Nalbandian's eighth. Joachim Johansson, among the weakest seeds in the draw on clay, is #10 and in Moya's eighth. #11 seed Guillermo Canas is more likely to do damage here, but he has the bad luck to be in Nadal's eighth. Ivan Ljubicic earns the #12 seed, which puts him in Agassi's part of the draw -- tough news for both, given the surface. Tommy Robredo, who still enjoys the benefit of his pre-Estoril ranking, is #13 and in line to face Henman in the Round of Sixteen. Nikolay Davydenko is #14 and in Roddick's part of the draw, though that's a nasty section. The #15 seed belongs to Radek Stepanek, who is in Safin's eighth. And we have another clay-hater in Gaudio's section; his potential Round of Sixteen opponent is #16 Thomas Johansson.


The rest of the field lives up to the seeds. Unseeded clay experts include Albert Costa (who, amazingly, was the last player in; had Federer not pulled out, he would have been in qualifying), Fernando Verdasco, Fernando Gonzalez, Gustavo Kuerten, Nicolas Massu, Dominik Hrbaty, David Ferrer, Filippo Volandri, Juan Ignacio Chela, and Jiri Novak. Other tough players in the draw include Nicolas Kiefer, Tommy Haas, Sebastien Grosjean, Paradorn Srichaphan (though on this surface he looks more like the Draw Gods' Gift to Agassi), Feliciano Lopez, Mikhail Youzhny, Jurgen Melzer, Robin Soderling, Andrei Pavel, and Mario Ancic.


Noteworthy First Round Matches




As at every Masters, this is an impressive -- almost a scary -- list; the ATP simply doesn't offer a better first round lineup than at the Masters events. Though, ironically, the match at the top of the draw is likely to be pretty ugly on this surface as it pits Greg Rusedski against top seed Roddick.



Most of the other matches have more clay in them, though we do see a couple of wish-I-weren't-here matches in the form of the all-German contest between Tommy Haas and Nicolas Kiefer, plus the match between Rainer Schuettler, who other than Monte Carlo last year never had much clay luck, and Mardy Fish, who has never had much clay luck anywhere. Setting those aside and and marching down the draw for good clay matches, our first will see Fernando Verdasco, probably Spain's best prospect after Nadal, taking on speedy #14 Nikolay Davydenko.



It's hard to imagine two guys who approach points more differently than Guillermo Coria and Fernando Gonzalez, but both like clay better than anything else. And Coria hasn't been having the greatest year....


If you'd told #4 seed Tim Henman, two years ago, that he'd have to face Gustavo Kuerten in his opener, he doubtless would have seen it as terrible news. Now -- well, Kuerten hasn't had much success in his comeback so far, but of course he's had more time to try to get his game back together. It's hard to even guess what form he'll be in.


#12 seed Ivan Ljubicic will face almost his inverse in Olivier Rochus, who is having the best year of his career. And they met in the Monte Carlo first round also (what is this, a jinx?), and Rochus scored a stunning 6-2 6-2 win.


#7 seed Moya can't be too happy; he drew a wildcard, but it's the good wildcard, Potito Starace. Given Moya's shoulder, that looks like trouble.


Both the Johanssons, who are right next to each other in the draw, were lucky. Joachim faces wildcard Andreas Seppi, who likes clay but isn't ranked high. Thomas faces Feliciano Lopez, who is ranked high but hasn't had much success on dirt -- though he did well at Estoril last week.


Poor Younes El Aynaoui seems bound for another early defeat, since he faces Italy's best in Filippo Volandri.

Speed will be the word of the day as Gaston Gaudio takes on Karol Beck. Though Beck is more of a fast-court speedster type; the court will definitely be more to Gaudio's liking.


Rafael Nadal's first round opponent will be almost as cold as the #5 seed is hot. Mikhail Youzhny is still Top 30 in the rankings, but he entered last week #81 in the Race and doesn't look much like a threat.

#11 seed Guillermo Canas will have to deal with Andrei Pavel, who after a slow start to the year had a pretty good week at Munich last week but who had some sort of stomach problem on Saturday.

#15 Radek Stepanek is having the best year of his life, and his opponent will be Mario Ancic -- a guy who knows clay but doesn't really seem to have any idea how to deal with it.


At the very bottom of the draw, #2 seed Safin will be up against Jiri Novak, who has had most of his best results on clay. And Safin has not been very happy with his results lately; if he plays the way he's played clay so far, that is almost certain to yield an upset.



Key Matches


How's this for a second round contest: Andy Roddick, the top seed, against Albert Costa, the last guy to get direct entry. Normally wouldn't sound like much, right? But Costa has those semifinalist points to defend, and this would be his first big match, while Roddick would clinch his #3 ranking with a win. The winner won't have an easy time in the Round of Sixteen, either, since he would face Davydenko or Verdasco or Tomas Berdych.


Last year's finalist Nalbandian opens against Fabrice Santoro, whose game seems to say "clay" but whose results say "fast hardcourt"; given the Argentine's recent results, that doesn't look too bad, and Davide Sanguinetti or Max Mirnyi in the second round should be easy. (Note that we say "should," not "will be.") But there will be no ease at all after that as he faces the Coria/Gonzalez winner (or Kiefer or Haas).


We said above that Tim Henman is playing for his Wimbledon seeding. He really is; he has over 600 clay points to defend this clay season. And he has to face Kuerten, then Massu. Bet he's hoping they're still out of form after their injuries! Then things really get tricky as he faces Robredo.

Andre Agassi would really like a Top Eight French Open seed. His draw is nice to start with (and he isn't defending anything): He opens against a wildcard, then Paradorn Srichaphan or a qualifier. Then Ljubicic, or maybe Sebastien Grosjean. Then Henman or Robredo. That second quarter is about as open as it gets.


Or would be, but for the state of Moya. That could spell opportunity for Joachim Johansson, whose path to the quarterfinal, assuming Moya has problems, is Seppi, Horna or Mayer, Starace or Schuettler or Fish. That could well spell a path to the Top Ten. The real beneficiary of Moya's problems, though, appears to be Gaudio. He's the only healthy clay fan in the quarter; his path to the semifinal is Beck, Volandri, Thomas Johansson (or more probably Ferrer), Joachim Johansson (or somebody). Pull that off, and he would stay close to the Top 15 even if he lost first round at Roland Garros.


The bottom quarter has several stories: Nadal, trying to hit the Top Five; his path is Youzhny, Melzer, Canas, Safin.

Safin, trying to get something together; his path is Novak, Andreev, Stepanek (or Chela), Nadal (or Canas). The Round of Sixteen matches and the quarterfinal should both be quite intense.

[Teresa]

The Rankings

The next two weeks are, of course, very big -- for several reasons. One is the obvious: These are Masters events, required, with big points and strong fields. Literally any player in about the Top 200 could theoretically end up in the Top 30 with good enough results in these two weeks.

And that matters, because (reason #2 why this fornight is big) it is the rankings after Hamburg that will determine the Roland Garros seeds.



And several of those seeds will be very strongly contested. Not #1, of course; Roger Federer is safe even though he isn't playing. #2 Lleyton Hewitt is safe this week, though Andy Roddick could theoretically pass him at Hamburg.

We could just possibly see the #3 spot change hands, if Marat Safin wins the whole thing and Andy Roddick loses early.




Below that, it gets pretty wild. Gaston Gaudio has the inside track for the #5 ranking (though he can't go higher), but Nadal is within about semifinalist distance of him, and Hemman and Agassi could theoretically pass him also, though they need finals or better.

And there is a wide-open contest for the last two places in the Top Ten. Defending champion Moya could fall to #15 or even lower if he can't play or loses early. Defending finalist Nalbandian can't fall as far, but he could easily end up in the #11-#13 range. Guillermo Coria has the inside track to the #9 spot (he looks almost guaranteed, in fact, and could well go higher than that), but #10 is a real tussle, since Joachim Johansson is right on the fringe but is a poor clay player. Guillermo Canas is not far behind, and Nalbandian and Ljubicic also have chances. We very likely won't know exactly how that will come out until Friday or so.

Further down, two surprise 2004 semifinalists are in a lot of trouble. Albert Costa is at least playing, and even if he loses early, he should end up no worse than about #75. But Mariano Zabaleta is not here, and will end up around #60. In addition, Nicolas Massu, a quarterfinalist last year, risks falling out of the Top 25 (especially if he stays in his current poor form), and quarterfinalist Jiri Novak might even see his Top 30 ranking endangered. Quarterfinalists Vincent Spadea and Andrei Pavel, especially the latter, could well end up outside the Top 40

[Teresa]

Gasquet was given the top seeding in qualifying after organizers denied him a wild card, choosing to award them to four Italian players instead.

[annie]

I sure hope Marat does well in rome...i'm going to be able to see the tournament on tv, and i really don't want to see him lose...it was hard enough just watching a scoreboard..

Best of luck Marat...i'll be praying...

[tall_one]

Teresa said:

Gasquet was given the top seeding in qualifying after organizers denied him a wild card, choosing to award them to four Italian players instead.

i'm getting really sick of these WC's going to players who don't deserve them while Ferrero & Gasquet don't get them

I think that half of the wildcards should be picked by the atp and not the tourney. I can't blame the organizers for wanting Italians for wanting to put locals in but you can't blow off Ferrero so that you can put in Alessio Di Mauro

[Teresa]

tall_one said:

i'm getting really sick of these WC's going to players who don't deserve them while Ferrero & Gasquet don't get them

I think that half of the wildcards should be picked by the atp and not the tourney. I can't blame the organizers for wanting Italians for wanting to put locals in but you can't blow off Ferrero so that you can put in Alessio Di Mauro

I agree, I think its shocking, to treat JCF this way.
There is no way he should have to qualify, neither Gasquet.

Snubbed Ferrero Considers Return to Qualifying
Fri Apr 29, 2005 08:56 AM ET

By Barnaby Chesterman
ESTORIL (Reuters) - Former world number one Juan Carlos Ferrero may have to take part in qualifying for an ATP tour event for the first time since 1999 as part of his build-up for the French Open.

After losing a tight three-setter to top seed Carlos Moya in the second round of the Estoril Open claycourt event, Ferrero said qualifying might be his only option to get some match practice before Paris next month.

The 2003 Roland Garros winner was denied a wildcard for the Masters series in Rome next week and is still waiting to hear after applying for the Hamburg Masters the week after.

"I definitely won't play in Rome and if I want to play in Hamburg, maybe I will have to do qualifying," the Spaniard said aft,er losing to Moya. "I thought they were going to give me wildcards in both tournaments but they didn't.

[Mike]

Ok...Novak in the first round. I think Marat can and will handle him.
They played last year in a clay tournament (have to check which one it was) and Marat won with a quite impressive score, if I remember correctly. And although this is not an easy draw for Marat I believe that he will have a good run in Rome, followed with a win in Hamburg (wouldn't be bad, eh?)

But it doesn't matter how hard or easy the draw is. Marat can handle it, when he wants it. So just keep it cool.;D

Maybe I'm too optimistic at the moment, but I think here is a good chance for Marat...

[Annie]

Couldn't agree more, Mike ;D It's time to see if that Valencia boot-camp, back-to-basics training has improved things for Marat. I really want him to turn things around this week - Rome hasn't been an outstanding tournament for Marat (as far as I can remember) but, hey, let's see if he can surprise us! Or at least just win a couple of matches
C'mon Marat, get some good wins under your belt. It doesn't have to be pretty, just get to the next round. What's that saying? Every step towards victory kills a doubt - Davai Marat! RG's getting closer - now's the time to prepare (especially as Roger is tucked up in bed with his bad feet *mwahaha* )

[Cassie]

Mike said:

Ok...Novak in the first round. I think Marat can and will handle him.
They played last year in a clay tournament (have to check which one it was) and Marat won with a quite impressive score, if I remember correctly. And although this is not an easy draw for Marat I believe that he will have a good run in Rome, followed with a win in Hamburg (wouldn't be bad, eh?)

But it doesn't matter how hard or easy the draw is. Marat can handle it, when he wants it. So just keep it cool.;D

Maybe I'm too optimistic at the moment, but I think here is a good chance for Marat...

Um, I think he beat Novak something like 6-3, 6-0 on hardcourt. But in their only clay meeting, Marat won 7-6 in the third. So I wouldn't get my hopes up. I just hope that he at least improved having taken that time off to train in Valencia.