Roma: Pre-Tournament News
What a week! Rafa had a week off, and the Masters Series Roma has yet to start, yet we've still been busy bees around here.
Dmitry Tursunov certainly gave us a lot to laugh about with his hilarious ATP blog from Estoril. Who knew ATP players could be so funny? His descriptions of playing on clay, his relationship with Marat and his car rides back and forth from the stadium had us in stitches all week. Just one question to the ATP: When are you going to have him do another blog?
Now to Roma news. Posters at the Tennis Warehouse board were questioning whether Rafa should play Roma or rest up for Roland Garros. We all know Rafa never met a match he didn't like, so not only is he playing singles, but DOUBLES as well (with fellow Spaniard David Ferrer).
His first singles match is against his friend and mentor Carlos Moya. Normally I wouldn't be too bothered by this draw, but Carlos did beat Rafa in Miami on hardcourt in March. Although I believe Rafa is the better player, no one knows his game better than Carlos, given that they train together all the time. So if anyone knows how to exploit a weakness in his game, it's Carlos.
On the other hand, Carlos lost to Davydenko in the semis in Estoril, and according to fans who watched it, Carlos didn't play well. Indeed, although Carlos likes his chances against Rafa in Rome, he admits he will have to play better than he did in Estoril.
Also, I saw his Monte Carlo match against Fernando Gonzalez, and although he won a set, he was overpowered by Gonzalez through most of the match. Gonzo took the final set 6-1.
Still, the first match of a tournament if often the toughest, and this will be a test for Rafa. But perhaps if he does win, it will be as Carlos says, "If I don't [beat him], then I think he will go all the way to tie the win record."
The match will be on Tuesday, and assuming I wake up in time, I will do a live blog courtesy of our good friends at The Tennis Channel. In the meantime, we'll cheer on Rafa and David in their doubles match tomorrow.
Vamos, Rafa and David!!!
Dmitry Tursunov certainly gave us a lot to laugh about with his hilarious ATP blog from Estoril. Who knew ATP players could be so funny? His descriptions of playing on clay, his relationship with Marat and his car rides back and forth from the stadium had us in stitches all week. Just one question to the ATP: When are you going to have him do another blog?
Now to Roma news. Posters at the Tennis Warehouse board were questioning whether Rafa should play Roma or rest up for Roland Garros. We all know Rafa never met a match he didn't like, so not only is he playing singles, but DOUBLES as well (with fellow Spaniard David Ferrer).
His first singles match is against his friend and mentor Carlos Moya. Normally I wouldn't be too bothered by this draw, but Carlos did beat Rafa in Miami on hardcourt in March. Although I believe Rafa is the better player, no one knows his game better than Carlos, given that they train together all the time. So if anyone knows how to exploit a weakness in his game, it's Carlos.
On the other hand, Carlos lost to Davydenko in the semis in Estoril, and according to fans who watched it, Carlos didn't play well. Indeed, although Carlos likes his chances against Rafa in Rome, he admits he will have to play better than he did in Estoril.
Also, I saw his Monte Carlo match against Fernando Gonzalez, and although he won a set, he was overpowered by Gonzalez through most of the match. Gonzo took the final set 6-1.
Still, the first match of a tournament if often the toughest, and this will be a test for Rafa. But perhaps if he does win, it will be as Carlos says, "If I don't [beat him], then I think he will go all the way to tie the win record."
The match will be on Tuesday, and assuming I wake up in time, I will do a live blog courtesy of our good friends at The Tennis Channel. In the meantime, we'll cheer on Rafa and David in their doubles match tomorrow.
Vamos, Rafa and David!!!
posted by Susan at 1:33 PM
3 Comments:
Susan, I already wrote this in the board but it has been erased. Moya didn't say that . What he said is "If I don't win against him I hope he will go on to break Vilas record". Not I think but I hope. There is a big difference.
VAMOS RAFA!!!!! Thanks Susan for the blog. Ciao. PAT
Simply the best! Rafa Wins Rome!
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