NOTE: This is my own version of draw analysis on 2010 Internazionali BNL d'Italia. In this self-version of draw analysis, I will pick who I think will be 2010 Internazionali BNL d'Italia Men's Champion.
Rafael Nadal is back as the defending champion in the second ATP World Tour Masters 1000 played on clay. He has a 22-1 win-loss record in this event and with a win here he will have his 17th ATP World Tour Masters 1000 shield, equaling Andre Agassi's title record.
Roger Federer is also entered in this event since his loss to Tomas Berdych at Miami Masters. He is also attempting to win his first title here in Rome after runner-up finishes in 2003 and 2006 and equaling Agassi's record of 17th Masters 1000 shield.
Since Nadal is ranked No.3 in the world, he is in Federer's part of the draw. Which of the two top men player will be able to chase Agassi's record? Will Novak Djokovic be able to take advantage of this situation and try to win this event for the second time since 2008?
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| Rafael Nadal 2009 Internazionali BNL d'Italia Men's Champion |
The Quarters - Part 1
Federer will open his match against the winner between Ernests Gulbis and Marcos Baghdatis, the man who stunned him at Indian Wells. Getting past one of these two, will be a possible clash with Filippo Volandri, the man who downed him in the round of 16 in this event three years ago, if Volandri able to survive his first round match against Florian Mayer as well as the winner of Julien Benneteau and Sam Querrey. Querrey shows strong performance on clay reaching the final in Houston. Ivan Ljubicic is in this part of the draw and could meet Nicolas Almagro in the second round. The winner of this match will meet Marin Cilic in the third round, if he will get past of Feliciano Lopez in his opening match. Most probably, Cilic and Almagro will battle it out for a place in quarterfinals. Cilic leads Almagro in their head-to-head record, but his win is in hard court. Having said that, Almagro's career titles are all in clay with five and two runner-up finishes. Almagro's feet move well on clay and most likely set up a meeting with Federer in quarterfinals.
Semifinalist: Federer
Match to watch: Baghdatis-Gulbis match is an intriguing one as both players are in-form and show strong performance in their last matches.
The Quarters - Part 2
Nadal opens his match against the winner of Pablo Cuevas-Philipp Kohlschreiber match while Robin Soderling will open his match against the winner of Paolo Lorenzi-Albert Montanes match. The 16th seed Juan Monaco will have a tough day to survive his match against Russian Igor Andreev. If he survive this match, a potential match between the winner of Victor Hanescu-Michael Berrer match. If both Berdych and Stanislas Wawrinka win their first round match, they will clash and try to set up a meeting with Soderling in the third round. If both Nadal and Soderling win their respective third round match, they will meet in quarterfinals, a repeat of their fourth round match in French Open 2009, where Soderling upset Nadal in four sets.
Semifinalist: Nadal
Match to watch: The first round match between Andreev and Monaco is an intriguing one as they will battle it out to meet Nadal in third round.
The Quarters - Part 3
The partisan crowd has a lot of reasons to cheer for as Fabio Fognini and Andreas Seppi will battle it out to book a meeting with Andy Murray in the second round. Should Murray overcome the Italians and the partisan crowd to avoid an upset or another early exit, he might face David Ferrer in the third round, that is, if Ferrer survive his early round matches. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga will play his opening match against the winner of the match between Viktor Troicki and Thiemo de Bakker, the man who stunned him in Barcelona Open. Should de Bakker wins his match again against Tsonga, he will possibly face Juan Carlos Ferrero, his another victim at the Barcelona Open. But Tsonga will get a revenge of his loss against de Bakker and be the one to potentially meet Ferrero in the third round. With two Spaniards could possibly reach third round, Ferrer and Ferrero will possibly squaring off again in quarterfinals, their third encounter in 2010 and their 9th career meeting.
Semifinalist: Ferrero
Player to watch: de Bakker have upset two seeded players at Barcelona Open and will most likely repeat that run here in Rome. Let see how fair will his performance be against Troicki in the opening round.
The Quarters - Part 4
This tournament has been Djokovic playground when he won it in 2008 and this must where his best shows, as he opens his match against the winner of Jeremy Chardy and countryman Janko Tipsarevic. He could face John Isner in the third round, if Isner be able to overcome Horacio Zeballos and possibly Thomaz Bellucci in the opening and second round respectively. It's a little bit trick road for Fernando Verdasco through quarterfinals as he plays his first match against the Italian Simone Bolelli as well as the partisan crowd. But talking about confidence, Verdasco has lots of it as he reach back-to-back clay court finals, at Monte-Carlo and Barcelona. He could meet fellow Spaniard Guillermo Garcia-Lopez in the third round, if Garcia-Lopez take down the winner of the match between Lleyton Hewitt and Mikhail Youzhny. Should Verdasco wins his third round match, awaiting him is Djokovic, whom he defeated in the semifinals, in their 8th career meeting, two weeks ago at Monte-Carlo. Will Djokovic gets revenge of that loss?
Semifinalist: Djokovic
Match to watch: Hewitt has been showing good performance in his previous matches on clay. As he take on Youzhny, he has a big chance to get through latter rounds.
The Semifinals
Federer vs. Nadal: The most anticipated match is just around the corner with top two players will try to battle it out to chase Agassi's record of 17 Masters 1000 shield. This will be their 21st career meeting, their 4th meeting in semifinal round and their 2nd semifinal match on clay since 2005 Roland Garros with Nadal winning that encounter. Their last meeting on clay is Masters 1000 Madrid in 2009 with Federer outlast Nadal in the final. Nadal has been dominating Federer on clay winning nine out of 11 matches they played. As Nadal is showing his old self again and Federer is coming back from long layoff, both are trying to make history again in this event. But Federer now knows how to play in clay with Nadal. Federer in tight three sets.
Ferrero vs. Djokovic: Djokovic can match Nadal on clay but still stumble. Playing Ferrero on clay is a different story. This will be their third career meeting, their second meeting on clay since 2005 where Ferrero outplayed Djokovic. Will Ferrero repeat that winning performance against Djokovic? Ferrero in tight three sets.
Finalists: Federer, Ferrero
The Finals
This will be the 13th meeting between Federer and Ferrero, their 4th meeting on clay with Federer winning all their encounter on dirt. And with Federer leading Ferrero in their head-to-head, the two veterans will try to renew their rivalry since 2007 Wimbledon quarterfinals. With Federer dominating Ferrero, the second best player on clay has the chance to capture his 17th ATP World Tour Masters 1000 shield. Federer in straight sets.
Champion: Roger Federer
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