Maurizio here with TennisCast results and analysis. Oh do we have a busy month ahead of us or what!? With two masters series tournaments back to back we're gonna have our heads full in results and analysis. Yesterday's matches were no exception whatsoever. We have a lot cover so lets dive straight into it.
Obviously the first thing we have to talk about is Federer's loss...who saw this coming? Honestly, did anyone out there predict this? I mean, I could have said that he was gonna lose somewhere down the tournament but I was thinking semis or even in the final but in the second round??? Well...I know what the problem was, at least in my case. I underestimated what veteran Canas can bring to the court. I think people, I include myself in there, focused more on Cana's past, his suspension, rather than his current results. The man already has a win this year (d. Ferrero) in Brazil and by beating Federer he marks his 11th win in 13 matches. The guy is playing top ten tennis and no one seemed to notice that. He's a heavy contender for this tournament now with a good draw on his side. He faces Moya next. The veteran Spaniard won his second round match against Radek Stepanek 6-3, 6-4. Moya and Canas have only played once before and that was back in 2002 Roland Garros so that won't help us disect anything (Canas won in 5 sets). One is safe to assume that after this win Canas will have insurmountable confidence...although Federer's loss will at the same time give hope to everyone else still playing. Canas should survive his round of 16 match against either Tipsarevic, who beat Hewitt in a lengthy three set match 7-6(3), 4-6, 6-2, or #14 seed Ferrer who got past Peruvian #1 Luis Horna in a routine 6-3, 6-1 win. His next big upset could come against Blake, who moved through to the third round by downing F.Serra 6-3, 7-6(2), if the American can get past, presumably, Djokovic later on. Djokovic got past currently Double Faultin' player of the week Robby Ginepri 6-4, 6-4, though we won't count this loss against him. Canas is now only the 11th player to beat the current #1 since he took over back in early 2004. Congratulations from TennisCast Guillermo.
I warned you guys we had a lot to go through. Federer's loss was not the only upset though, albeit the biggest. There were three other upsets yesterday that we're actually sad to report. Well maybe just two of them. Our favorite Russian player Marat Safin suffered his demise at the hands of Nicolas Mahut. With his dominating first serve Mahut allowed Safin only 5 points on his first serve and upset the former Australian open champ 6-3, 4-6, 6-0. Another favorite Spaniard, and top ten seed, was also upset yesterday. Tommy Robredo lost to Gilles Simon. This is the second time the two have played and the French player evened up the score with his 6-7(0), 6-3, 6-0 win. The final upset was dealt against Marcos Baghdatis of Australian Open fame. He was taken out of the tournament early by Guillermo Garcia Lopez in a tight two setter with a score of 7-5, 7-5. Speaking of Australian Open fame, Gonzo (Fernando Gonzalez) continued his impressive year with an entry into the third round after downing Frank Dancevic of Canada 7-6(6), 1-6, 7-5. His next opponent will be Robin Soderling. These two actually have a decent history with 5 matches, 3 in favor to Soderling. Interesting to note, though, that Gonzo has won the last two and is of course the higher seed in the tournament...although we know that doesn't mean a clear victory. If the Gonz can get past this small obstacle he could potentially set up a clash against ¨I'm injured I can't continue the match¨ quote favorite, Tommy Haas who flew into the third round by posting an easy 6-4, 6-1 win over Michael Llodra. Gonzo is up 2-0, with his last win against Tommy coming at the Australian Open Semifinals where he absolutely destroyed Haas in three easy sets. Haas will be looking for sweet revenge...and Gonzo, well...for further humiliation of the German.
A couple of Veterans went down yesterday sending the average tennis player age down about 6 years. Okay that was exagerating. If Fish is old (26 years old) then Bjorkman must be ancient. The two lost to formidable players. Juan Ignacio Chela handed Bjorkman a 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 loss while Paul Henri Mathieu battled hard against Fish and barely survived with a 7-6(5), 4-6, 7-6(5). Other winners included introverts Davydenko and Ljubicic and also Gilbert coached Andy Murray.
We'll see how the tournament shapes up with the absence of Federer. Someone will take advantage and everyone should have a moral boost added to their arsenal(if this were Wimbledon Roddick would be delighted). Come back soon for the results of Monday's action and later this week for a full analysis on the last 16 remaining, along with our guesses for the winners. TennisCast out.
That pic basically sums up the first day of the Rome Master Series. Empty seats, rain, and umbrellas. Albeit the rather heavy rainstorm the tournament did get five matches out of the way. Four of those matches were first round single matches while the fifth was a very interesting doubles match featuring the currently "tennis revitalizing" rivalry of Nadal and Federer. Players that got through their first round matches include non other than tenniscast heroe Juan Carlos Ferrero and fellow Spaniard Nicolas Almagro as well as tennis blogger Tursunov and that tall Argentenian Jose Acasuso. Nadal teamed up with Carlos Moya and took on Federer and Wawrinka in their first doubles encounter. Here are the results from the Rome Master Series Day 1.
