Svitolina + Zverev finalists defending Rome titles

The Italian Open semi finals were played and won - one was decisive, the others took two hours or longer to finalise.

Defending champion Elina Svitolina (4) proved too much for Anett Kontaveit and will prepare for successive Rome titles after winning her match 6-4 6-3.

She will again play Simona Halep (1) in the final.  Halep was in trouble when Maria Sharapova took the first set to Russia 6-4. Serve was broken an incredible nine times out of the ten games.

 

However, the Ukraine willpower is renowned, and it came to bear in a second set where Halep held her serve throughout and broke Sharapova three times for a 6-1 domination.

In the decider, Halep held serve in the fourth game, the only hold in the first seven games.

Sharapova held and levelled at 4-4 but she was tiring, not surprising considering her time on court during the tournament- three long three setters from her four matches coming into the final, compared to Halep with a bye and a walkover.  Sharapova had spent almost four and half times as much energy on court as Halep to reach the final.

Halep drew on this and wrapped up the last two games winning a rematch of the 2017 final with Svitolina.

Sharapova will improve her ranking from 40 to 29 and signs are good for further improvement as she has no points to defend this year.

Sascha Zverev (2) is the mens defending champion, and he had the task of defeating Marin Cilic (4) in their semi final if he was to have a chance of repeating 2017.

The opening set saw no breaks of serve, although Cilic had to save four chances that were given the German young gun.

In the tie break Cilic made the front running to lead 4-0, but he faltered, and despite having five set points, it was Zverev who converted his fourth break point to win the advantage 7-6(13).  The tie breaker lasted over twenty minutes.

Cilic broke straight away in set two, but Zverev was quick to reply in kind and repeated the dose later to claim a finals berth 7-6(13) 7-5.

He will have a tougher battle in the ultimate match, as it will be the clay king as the opposition.

Rafa Nadal (1) also had to win the first set of his semi against Novak Djokovic (11).  He did, but much quicker than Zverev over Cilic.

Nadal had broken Djokovic for 4-2 and consolidated at 5-2, but Djokovic was playing well and he kept Nadal in check over the next few games, especially using a clever backhand tactic.

Once in the tie break, Nadal’s forehand won the day, and he captured a high quality set 7-6(4).

Set two was Nadal at his best, controlling things from the baseline, and although Djokovic challenged manfully, he couldn’t win the important points.

Rafa broke early and held that until Novak served at 3-5 to stay in the tournament.  He couldn’t, and Nadal converted his first match point to advance to the final 7-6(4) 6-3.

If Nadal wins the tournament he will regain the number one ranking from Federer, which seems fair since the Swiss ace isn’t actually playing and shouldn’t have taken to the top in principle, although statistically it had been correct.

While losing in the semi final, Djokovic played his best tennis since his comeback, both in the quarter final, and especially in his battle with Nadal.

Career high rankings have been attained thanks to efforts in Rome:

Jelena Ostapenko - 4 previously 5 (if Halep wins the final)

Anett Kontaveit - 25 previously 26

Petra Martic - 34 previously 35

Maria Sakkari - 39 previously 42

Diego Schwartzman - 12 previously 15

Kyle Edmund -  17 previously 19

Denis Shapovalov - 26 previously 29

Djokovic d Nishikori in classic

Novak Djokovic (11) and Kei Nishikori played the best match of the clay court season to date, and one of the best clashes of the year, in their Italian Open quarter final.

Attacking each other throughout the two hours twenty minutes of brilliant shot making, at no time was it clear which way the result would turn.

It was the Japanese number one who set the early pace, breaking Djokovic thanks to Serbian wayward backhands.

A further break in the fifth game came after a drop shot forehand combination and Nishikori led 4-1.

Djokovic had no answer and lost the set 6-2.

Of course the expected comeback occurred, and Novak concentrated on the Nishikori second serve with huge success - 71% of points won.

Kei failed to hold serve in the set, and although he managed to break the Djokovic delivery once, he surrendered 6-1 and a decider was required.

Set three was where the quality of the match lifted even higher as each player contributed, especially on return of serve.  Djokovic broke first, and led 2-1, but Nishikori replied in kind and took the advantage 3-2 on serve.

Djokovic was made to work hard in the sixth game as Nishikori continued to play some extraordinary shots.  However, Djokovic answered on the important points with exquisite backhands and forehands, and solid first serves when it mattered.

Following his failure to convert his break opportunity, Nishikori lost his own serve after Djokovic was successful attacking the Japanese backhand.

At 4-3, the Serbian serve was in trouble at 0-30, and a break point down, but once again amazing shot making created an escape route for Djokovic, despite Nishikori’s brilliance.

3-5 was too much for Kei, and even after leading on serve 15-0, he finished with a slew of errors, handing the game to Novak, who won a highly entertaining battle 2-6 6-1 6-3.

Other quarter finals:

Rafa Nadal (1) defeated Fabio Fognini 4-6 6-1 6-2

He will play Novak Djokovic in the semis 

This will be the 51st time (a record) that the two have met - Novak leads 26-24 head to head and they are 3-3 in Rome.

Djokovic has inflicted 19% of the 36 Nadal losses on clay.

Marin Cilic (4) defeated Pablo Carreno Busta (10) 6-3 6-3

He will play Sascha Zverev in the semis 

Sascha Zverev (2) defeated David Goffin (9) 6-4 3-6 6-3

Women’s quarter finals:

Simona Halep (1) defeated Caroline Garcia (7) 6-2 6-3

She will play Maria Sharapova in the semis and regardless of how the cards fall, will regain the world number one ranking briefly surrendered to Caroline Wozniacki 

Maria Sharapova defeated Jelena Ostapenko (5) 6-7(6) 6-4 7-5

Even with the loss, Ostapenko could rise to a career high of 4 in the world, only if Svitolina doesn’t win the tournament.

Elina Svitolina (4) defeated Angie Kerber (11) 6-4 6-4

She will play Anett Kontaveit in the semis 

Anett Kontaveit defeated Caroline Wozniacki (2) 6-3 6-1

Rome quarter finals set

Third round matches in the Italian Open were played and while there were some clear cut straight sets victories, we had one two setter and one three setter on the men’s side, and three that went the distance on the women’s side, which thrilled the crowds.

Kyle Edmund pushed Sascha Zverev (2) for both sets and was a valiant loser 7-5 7-6 (11)

Pablo Carreno Busta (10) battled Aljaz Bedene for over 150 minutes.

Little separated the pair in the opening set, but the Spaniard managed to convert one extra break opportunity and take the lead 6-4.

Set two was even tighter, with only a tie break able to decide the outcome.  Bedene controlled things in the breaker seven points to three and the match was level.

Pablo stepped up the pace in the decider, winning 13 of 14 points on his first serve and facing no break points throughout.

He won the match 4-6 6-7(3) 6-2.

Other third round ATP  results:

Rafa Nadal (1) defeated Denis Shapovalov 6-4 6-1

He will play Fabio Fognini in the quarter finals 

Fabio Fognini defeated Peter Gojowczyk 6-4 6-4

Kei Nishikori defeated Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-1 6-2

He will play Novak Djokovic in the quarter finals 

Novak Djokovic (11) defeated Albert Ramos-Vinolas 6-1 7-5

Marin Cilic (4) defeated Benoit Paire 6-3 6-4

He will play Pablo Carreno Busta in the quarter finals 

David Goffin (9) defeated Juan Martin del Potro (5) 6-2 4-5 (retired)

He will play Sascha Zverev in the quarter finals 

Jelena Ostapenko (5) and Elina Svitolina (3) overcame awful first sets to win their third round matches against Johanna Konta 2-6 6-3 6-4 and Daria Kasatkina (14) 0-6 6-3 6-2 respectively.

Caroline Wozniacki (2) began well, but had to survive a mid match blip to win against Anastasija Sevastova (15) 6-2 5-7 6-3

Other third round WTA results:

Simona Halep received a walkover from Madison Keys (13)

She will play Caroline Garcia in the quarter finals 

Caroline Garcia (7) defeated Sloane Stephens (9) 6-1 7-6(7)

Maria Sharapova defeated Dasha Gavrilova 6-3 6-4

She will play Jelena Ostapenko in the quarter finals 

Angie Kerber (11) defeated Maria Sakkari 6-1 6-1

She will play Elina Svitolina in the quarter finals 

Anett Kontaveit defeated Venus Williams (8) 6-2 7-6(3)

She will play Caroline Wozniacki in the quarter finals

Gavrilova d Muguruza in big upset

Th second round of the Italian Open was completed with some terrific matches, especially in the women’s draw.

Venus Williams (8) started brilliantly against Elena Vesnina, taking the first set 6-2, but the  Russian fought back to level at 2-6 6-4.

Vesnina went further, leading with a break in the decider, before Williams  brought it back to 4-4.

When Vesnina broke the American serve, she then had the chance to serve for the match.  However, the resilient Venus found something from her physical and mental reserves to win the final three games and progress to the third round 6-2 4-6 7-5

Karolina Pliskova (6) was on target to win against Maria Sakkari after leading 6-3, but the Greek player bounced back with a set two victory, also 6-3.

After exchanging two service breaks each in the deciding set, Pliskova led 5-5 and had a number of game points which Sakkari saved.

The shot which appeared to win Pliskova the game was incorrectly called out, and was not overruled by the chair umpire, who made a complete mess of the situation by - one not seeing the obvious winner hit by Pliskova, and two letting the dispute grow way out of hand.

A distraught Pliskova eventually dropped serve and lost the match to a lucky Sakkari 3-6 6-3 7-5.

Sakkari still may have won in a tie breaker, but we will never know.

Garbine Muguruza (3) won the opening set against Dasha Gavrilova 7-5, then imploded in set two, losing it to a feisty Australian 6-2.

A revitalised Spaniard won the first four games of the decider, but lost her way and let Gavrilova back to 4-4.

The Aussie led 5-4, but Muguruza found another gear to win the next two games and serve for the match.

A match point was wasted and Gavrilova seized on the chance given her, breaking serve and forcing a tie break.

Muguruza had another match point in the tie break which went begging and it was Gavrilova who ultimately won the battle 5-7 6-2 7-6(6).

This was a loss that Muguruza somehow grabbed from nowhere, and she will be regretting it for awhile.

For Gavrilova it was a tremendous victory, proving that persistence can overcome all sorts of perilous positions.

There were upsets in the men’s draw:

Fabio Fognini defeated Dominic Thiem (5) 6-4 1-6 6-3

Kei Nishikori defeated Grigor Dimitrov (3) 6-7(4) 7-5 6-4

Albert Ramos-Vinolas defeated John Isner (8) 6-7(5) 7-6(2) 7-6(5)

Benoit Paire defeated Diego Schwartzman (14) 2-6 6-4 6-2

Kyle Edmund defeated Lucas Pouille (16) 6-2 7-6(3)

No such trouble for the top seed Nadal, dropping just the one game in trouncing Damir Dzumhur

Italian Open 1st round complete

Three men and two women have booked themselves spots in the third round of the Italian Open while the first round of both draws is complete.

Two of the three men in the final 16 are German - Peter Gojowczyk who eliminated wildcard Lorenzo Sonego 6-3 6-4, and Philipp Kohlschreiber who defeated thirteenth seed Jack Sock 6-4 6-3.

Joining them is David Goffin (9) who sent another wildcard - Marco Cecchinato - packing, after a slow start, 5-7 6-2 6-2

In the round of sixteen on the WTA side are Jelena Ostapenko (5) and Elina Svitolina (4).

Svitolina, after a first round bye,  showed no mercy in smashing Petra Martic 6-1 6-2, while Ostapenko was in fine fettle, showing Shuai Zhang the exit 6-2 7-5.

The remaining first round matches:

Damir Dzumhur defeated Fernando Verdasco 6-3 6-1

Denis Shapovalov defeated Tomas Berdych (15) 1-6 6-3 7-6(5)

Qualifier Nikoloz Basilashvili defeated another qualifier Filippo Baldi 6-4 4-6 6-4

Diego Schwartzman (14) defeated qualifier Nicolas Jarry 6-4 6-1

Qualifier Stefanos Tsitsipas defeated Borna Coric 4-1 (retired)

Lucas Pouille (16) defeated wildcard Andreas Seppi 6-2 3-6 7-6(3)

Timea Babos defeated wildcard Sara Errani 6-3 7-6(6)

 Maria Sharapova defeated Ash Barty (16) 7-5 3-6 6-2

Qualifier Su-Wei Hseih defeated lucky loser in qualifying Aryna Sabalenka 6-2 6-4

Maria Sakkari defeated last weeks Madrid finalist Kiki Bertens 6-2 4-6 6-3

Irina-Camelia Begu defeated Shuai Peng 4-6 6-4 6-1

Angie Kerber (11) defeated lucky loser in qualifying Zarina Diyas 6-2 7-6(6)

Daria Kasatkina (14) defeated qualifier Ajla Tomljanovic 6-0 6-4

Qualifier Danielle Collins defeated Sorana Cirstea 6-3 4-6 6-4

Elena Vesnina defeated Laura Siegemund 7-6(5) 6-2

Sveta Kuznetsova defeated qualifier Polona Hercog 6-2 6-4

Anastasija Sevastova (15) defeated Kiki Mladenovic 6-3 3-0 (retired)

The top three seeds in both the WTA and ATP draws:

Simona Halep

Caroline Wozniacki 

Garbine Muguruza 

Rafa Nadal 

Sascha Zverev 

Grigor Dimitrov 

will make their first appearance in second round matches tomorrow after first round byes.

Kohlschreiber d Khachanov in 3 hours

The Italian Open progressed for the men, and main draw matches commenced for the women, with some interesting first round results.

Two matches were the highlights for me.

Philipp Kohlschreiber, aged 34, ranked 28, played Karen Khachanov,  aged 21, ranked 36, and they battled each other for over three hours.

The opening set was evenly contested, with points won on first serve at a solid percentage for both players.  Kohlschreiber was slightly better with winning points on second serve, and he broke serve twice.  Khachanov broke serve just the once, and trailed 5-7.

Set two was even closer, with just one point separating the two, and a tie break required. Khachanov prevailed nine points to seven.

Set three also needed a tie break, as serve was held for all twelve games.  Here, Germany emerged victorious with the veteran Kohlschreiber winning 7-5 6-7(7) 7-6(6)

The other match which intrigued me involved the 2010 Roland Garros champion Francesca Schiavone and the 2014 Australian Open finalist Dominika Cibulkova.

Schiavone is 37 years old now, and ranked 271, but is enjoying some of her best tennis since dropping out of regular top level women’s competition.

A wildcard was given to her, and deservedly so.

Although Cibulkova took the first set easily, breaking the Italian serve three times for a 6-1 lead, Schiavone’s renowned fighting spirit came to the fore in set two.

The pair exchanged service breaks and a tie break was required.  Schiavone won it 7 points to 5 and the match needed a third set.

Service was broken six times out of the eight games played, four of which were claimed by Cibulkova (who had ten chances).

The Slovakian won 6-1 6-7(5) 6-2, but needed over two and a half hours to progress to the second round.

Seeds to fall:

Magdalena Rybarikova (17) defeated by Johanna Konta 6-4 6-3

CoCo Vandeweghe (12) defeated by Anett Kontaveit 6-1 6-1

Spanish joy for Zverev

After his outstanding performance in defeating top seed Rafa Nadal in the Madrid quarter finals, it was expected that Dominic Thiem would take out the title.

Sascha Zverev (2) had other ideas.  The young German star saved his best for last, serving consistently, and never facing a break point, in a final which he won 6-4 6-4.

This was title number 8 for Zverev, three of which are at Masters 1000 level.  At Grand Slam level, Zverev has yet to break through, not yet boasting better than a fourth round result. 

He will be hoping for better at Roland Garros in the coming weeks.

Before the players hit the Paris clay, Rome is up for grabs, and some first round matches were completed, even as Sascha was giving Dominic the once over.

Peter Gojowczyk defeated Sam Querrey (12) 6-2 7-6(7)

Wildcard Lorenzo Sonego defeated Adrian Mannarino 2-6 7-6(4) 6-3

Jack Sock (13) defeated David Ferrer 6-3 6-4

Steve Johnson defeated Stan Wawrinka 6-4 6-4

Ryan Harrison defeated Yuichi Sugita 7-6(5) 6-3