Djokovic took the Rome Masters title last year and had a chance to take it again after he defeated Roger Federer on Saturday (May 2) 4-6, 6-3, 6-3. This now makes Federer’s title drought extended to seven months. That’s got to hurt.

Since Djokovic did not hold on to the title at the Rome Masters, he has to give up his No. 3 ranking to Andy Murray on May 11th. He’s been number 3 since August of 2007.

Starting May 25th, Rafael Nadal will try for his fifth consecutive title at the French Open. Do you think he can do it?

Source: NY Times

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Post from: EveryJoe

Nadal Wins Fourth Rome Title

Djokovic’s focus was interrupted when someone in the stands whistled just as he was about to serve a crucial point. I hope they found out who it was and booted that jerk out of there!!

Rafael Nadal will play against Chilean 12th seed Fernando Gonzalez later today. If Nadal defeats him, the winner of the Federer/Djokovic match will play Nadal on Sunday in the Rome Masters finals. I am predicting that Federer wins, goes on to play Nadal and Nadal takes yet another title for the year. What are your thoughts?

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Federer, Djokovic Match Rain Delay

Djokovic and Federer both like the fast clay court, so it should be a great match.

“I think both of us like it, so it’s going to be interesting,” Djokovic said. “I feel quite confident playing here. Each match I play, I feel more comfortable moving on the court and just playing my style of the game.”

Federer’s thoughts are still on how he played in Miami. He needs to erase those thoughts and focus on today’s match!

“I hope I can play better than in Miami,” Federer said.

Federer is seeking his first title of the year, so to say that his match against Djokovic is important is an understatement.

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Djokovic, Nadal and Federer in Rome Semifinals

The victory was Djoko’s 10th career title It also puts him 310 points behind second-ranked Rafael Nadal. The top two have been set in stone for so long; are we about to see some shake ‘n bake at the top?

(Image: Newscom)
Novak Djokovic hoists his trophy after winning the Rome Masters.

Dinara Safina capped a dream run at the German Open with a title-clinching victory over No. 9 Elena Dementieva. Safina also came from a set down (3-6, 6-2, 6-2) to get the big W. En route to the title, the 17th-ranked Safina also toppled No. 1 Justine Henin and No. 8 Serena Williams.

Not too shabby, is it? Maybe soon they’ll stop referring to her as “the sister of two-time Grand Slam winner Marat Safin.”

(Image: Newscom)
Dinara Safina celebrates her victory at the German Open.

Post from: EveryJoe

Novak Wins Rome; Dinara Wins Berlin

Who’s going to win Rome now? Hercules was downed in the second round and now the King has bowed out after a tough battle. Andy Roddick is still in the mix and is a set up on Tommy Robredo. Behind Rafa and Roger losing, the fact that Roddick is still hanging around is the biggest surprise of this tourney.

But wait – there’s more! Serena Williams couldn’t hang on to her winning streak and Dinara Safina ousted Big Serve Serena in three sets. Safina dropped the first but dominated the second and managed to close out a tight third set to put her in the German Open semifinals. Safina…Safina…that name sounds pretty familiar. I feel like I just talked about her…oh yeah! She just beat the world No. 1!

Post from: EveryJoe

Tourney Topplers: Big Serve Serena and King Roger Felled

Bummer, dude. I’m not sure if I expected Rafa to sweep all the clay court tournaments this season or not. I never really thought that far ahead; all I knew was that he was on a roll. And I’m sure there are going to be some brainless nitwits out there who say Rafa has lost his mojo. Losing his second match in 105 on clay? It’s a slump!! Riiiiiiight.

I love tennis. I think it’s one of the best all-time individual sports. Hands down. But it’s still exactly that: a sporting event. Why do you think there has been all this controversy over betting the last few months? Because people do a lot of betting on sporting events, because *gasp* anything can happen! Novel idea, I know.

Hmm – I totally forgot where I was going with this. Other than the obvious fact that Rafa is not invincible on clay. I’d still roll out the red carpet for him though.

(Image: Newscom)

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Rome Masters: Nadal Exits Early

So Roger Federer passed another clay test – actually at this point, it doesn’t really matter what surface it is although everything seems to be that much more of an accomplishment when it’s done on clay. Federer faced Guillermo Canas, a player he has traditionally had trouble with – to the point that Roger had a losing record with Canas. Federer came up with the big W though with a 6-3, 6-3 victory to level the series 3-3 between the two.

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Andy Roddick dispatched Mardy Fish, having no trouble with the 6-1, 6-4 victory. Roddick has a 8-1 series advantage against his friend. As Andy said about his game on clay, “It’s okay. I only have one match to judge it on and that’s this one, so I guess it’s good.”

Hey man, if that’s all you’ve got to base it on, go with it. Better a win than a loss, right?

Post from: EveryJoe

Rome Masters: Federer, Roddick Advance