2016 Internazionali BNL d'Italia…ATP 1000…Rome, Italy

[don_budge]

Roger Federer in the house…with a rather tough draw. Seeing as he hasn't had much competition in the last four months or so he is set up for an early departure. Hopefully his preparation is going as planned and the bump in the road at the Madrid Open was only a planned bump and not some unforeseen malady.

If the injuries continue to add up he is going to struggle to find his form in time for Wimbledon. It seems that his comeback has taken a couple of setbacks. To be a fly on the wall.

http://www.atpworldtour.com/en/scores/current/rome/416/draws

Federer's first round for instance is the winner of Alexander Zverev and Grigor Dimitrov. Both players have been extremely hot as of late with Grigor literally boiling over just a week ago. Hopefully he has calmed down in the meantime. Dominic Thiem is another streaking player in Federer's part of the draw. Then just above him in the quarterfinal…it is perhaps Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic. But let's not get ahead of ourselves. It's round by round. Take nothing for granted. We cannot even take for granted that Federer is really going to play having seen him default in two out his last three scheduled events. Otherwise…it's all in the game.

[klacr]

Foro Italico.

What could be better? Should be interesting to finally...finally.....finally see Federer.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[gzhpcu]

The main court is cool, with all of the Roman statues along the top of the grandstands.

[gzhpcu]

Foro Italico.

What could be better? Should be interesting to finally...finally.....finally see Federer.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

The less he plays, the higher his ranking goes up. He is now Nr 2 again...

[klacr]

The less he plays, the higher his ranking goes up. He is now Nr 2 again...

I noticed that. Pretty funny.

Quite amazing that Djokovic now has more than double the points of the second best player in the world. Djokovic has lapped the field. Impressive.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[stroke]

Kyrgios plays Raonic in the 2nd round. Could be a good one. Raonic, who usually appears to be pretty unflappable out there, seemed to get annoyed the last time he played and lost to the irritating poser Kyrgios.

[don_budge]

Commentatoes at their best...

http://www.atpworldtour.com/en/video/ferrer-runs-and-runs-for-rome-2016-hot-shot

A mediocre point with a number of missed opportunities because of spotty, incompetent forecourt, smash and volley play. The whole gamut of what used to be routine messed up. The commentatoes though have another idea. They want to dress it up as the best point of the tournament.

Nauseous stuff. Is that Robbie Koenig? Sheer and utter nonsense.

[don_budge]

Roger Federer vs. Alexander Zverev…6-3, 7-5

Roger Federer looking to be in exquisite form all things considered defeated one of the rising hotshots on the tour in straight sets.

In a sense he did not appear to be in tip top form but he had the moxy to slice and dice his way through his younger and less experienced opponent. Afterall if you are Zverev you don't get to play against somebody like Federer who uses all of the court and can play from any position on the court.

Federer made a successful match of it by using his backhand slice very effectively to draw Zverev out of the court by using combinations of angle and depth to the backhand. He effectively drew Zverev in with drop shots and short shots where he was a bit out of his element. Zverev would much rather slug it out from the baseline rather than playing cat and mouse so close to the net.

Roger himself managed to go to the net approximately 896% more often than the average tour professional as well. He rarely lost a point when he did…he so upset the rhythm of the younger Zverev. Roger's foray's into the net were so unexpected and well timed. It used to be that a short ball was an open invitation to approach the net...at least that is how my coach used to teach it. Needless to say I am following suit…within the context of the new equipment and court conditions. You have to pick your spots. All in all it was a classic Federer performance. It sure was nice to see some nice tennis being played before I go over to the club.

A very heady performance by the Swiss Maestro and now he faces yet another of the young up and comers…Dominic Thiem. The Austrian Prodigy. Or so touted.

[klacr]

Roger Federer looking to be in exquisite form all things considered defeated one of the rising hotshots on the tour in straight sets.

In a sense he did not appear to be in tip top form but he had the moxy to slice and dice his way through his younger and less experienced opponent. Afterall if you are Zverev you don't get to play against somebody like Federer who uses all of the court and can play from any position on the court.

Federer made a successful match of it by using his backhand slice very effectively to draw Zverev out of the court by using combinations of angle and depth to the backhand. He effectively drew Zverev in with drop shots and short shots where he was a bit out of his element. Zverev would much rather slug it out from the baseline rather than playing cat and mouse so close to the net.

Roger himself managed to go to the net approximately 896% more often than the average tour professional as well. He rarely lost a point when he did…he so upset the rhythm of the younger Zverev. Roger's foray's into the net were so unexpected and well timed. It used to be that a short ball was an open invitation to approach the net...at least that is how my coach used to teach it. Needless to say I am following suit…within the context of the new equipment and court conditions. You have to pick your spots. All in all it was a classic Federer performance. It sure was nice to see some nice tennis being played before I go over to the club.

A very heady performance by the Swiss Maestro and now he faces yet another of the young up and comers…Dominic Thiem. The Austrian Prodigy. Or so touted.

Loved It. Welcome Back Roger.

In other news, anyways see that Murray and Mauresmo split up? Yup.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[gzhpcu]

Funny thing that in an interview he said he expected to lose in straight sets and during the warmup was still not sure whether or not he would play!

[don_budge]

Now…it's Dominic Thiem Time

http://www.atpworldtour.com/en/news/federer-zverev-rome-2016-wednesday

This "hotshot" from the ATP website complete with referenced interview tells it all. Roger Federer bring Alexander Zverev to the net and gives him a bit of a lesson in "cat and mouse" play. Mouse…meet Cat.

Roger played a bit gingerly it seemed…after reading this interview he seems to be a bit tentative. But his is light years ahead in the playing of the game of tennis than the very one dimensional Zverev. Zverev is obviously a very talented young man but his approach to the game is still firmly rooted in junior tennis whereas Roger's roots are originally in the serve and volley and all court game. The Classic Game of Tennis.

Zverev is being touted as the "Next Generation" along with a handful of other hopefuls. To tell you the truth there is very little difference in any of them…it is only that one might hit his serve a bit harder than the others…or one might hit his forehand a bit harder than the others…or in the case of Zverev and Dominic Thiem…one might just his his backhand a bit harder than the others. Not one of them can be uttered in the same breath as Federer. Federer is a complete player that has the answer ninety-nine times out of a hundred to the current tactic in modern tennis…hard and harder.

Roger Federer at the age of nineteen was making a big splash on the tour. He took out a big time champion Pete Sampras on his home court and the bit time stage at Wimbledon in the quarterfinals. None of the "Next Generation" has shown that kind of moxy on a big stage at this point.

Here comes "Next Generation" number II. Dominic Thiem…he with the thunder backhand. Will it be enough against the Wise Old Cat…The Swiss Maestro. Roger is playing a bit gingerly. He got a match under his belt that he felt he could have lost straight sets. Once more he has affirmed his belief in himself and the level of his play. Anything that happens from this point on is mute. He doesn't need a confrontation with Nadal or Djokovic. Or even Nishikori. In fact in the context of his preparation he might just as well avoid such a possibly confidence shattering spectacle. He had his win over Nadal earlier not so long ago…last year. He knows where he stands with Djokovic. He might like to pin the up and comers ears back just to show him who's boss. But then again what does that prove to Roger. Absolutely nothing.

In this match he will have the priority of looking into the Thiem game just in case he runs into him at Wimbledon. I am pretty convinced that Roger is not so hard pressed to make a big showing at the French and all of his attention is on preparing for Wimbledon. Thiem's time has come. This is a much bigger moment for him than for Roger. At any rate…I'll be watching the match from the warmup through the last point. The old guy doesn't have all that many matches left and it sure is a pleasure to watch some tennis that really resembles…tennis.

[stroke]

The oddsmakers have Roger as a slight favorite over Thiem in this match. Roger looked like only he can look in his win over Zverev, the best technique ever, so pleasing to watch. But as db stated and we all know, Roger knows he is not going to win the French again. I am so glad he did win it one time. So often, great champions like Sampras, Lendl, and McEnroe come up short on their quest to win all 4. Djokovic wants the French very badly we all know. Surprisingly to me, Nadal is a pretty strong favorite at 1/3 over Kyrgios today. This looks like a very tough match up for Nadal to me, but the oddsmakers know.

[stotty]

Surprisingly to me, Nadal is a pretty strong favorite at 1/3 over Kyrgios today. This looks like a very tough match up for Nadal to me, but the oddsmakers know.

I think you're right. Kyrgios could be very dangerous in this situation. He has all the tools and isn't expected to win. A recipe for a good performance in my view.

That said, Nadal is still favourite against anyone but Djokovic on clay.

[klacr]

Thiem takes out a shaky looking Federer. Something was off with Roger. Perhaps still a bit of back pain. Perhaps Fed needs more reps and bit more preparation?

Wildcard in Geneva perhaps?

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[don_budge]

Consistency...?

I think you're right. Kyrgios could be very dangerous in this situation. He has all the tools and isn't expected to win. A recipe for a good performance in my view.

That said, Nadal is still favourite against anyone but Djokovic on clay.

It's a question of consistency? Patience.