Good day in Rome where the world no2 and 3 advance in straight sets.
FEDERER – BERLOQ 6-3 6-4
Roger looked like a guy that was strolling around the wondeful Foro Italico.
The Swiss was unsure about his participation to the tournament (see article) and it looked as if he was in Rome for vacation after the triumphant campaign in Madrid.
He didn’t give a different impression when he started his match with the Argentine. Roger looked as he was playing with a sparring partner in a side court somewhere. He was just trying shots and he was quite effective in doing it to take an early 3-0 lead and win the opener 6-3. In the second set he broke Berloq in the fith game to be immediately broke back. The set went on with Roger always in control of the situation to achieve the decisive break in the 9th game and win the set 6-4.
“I only decided today after practice this morning,” said the Swiss, “I wanted to see how I felt and that nothing major was bothering me. I’m happy I felt good out there, but I’m going round-by-round.”
“I wanted to see how I felt and make sure that I didn’t have anything major because we’re ahead of a long summer” added Roger “If this was the last tournament of the season it would be no problem. But as this is the beginning of many tournaments in a row, potentially a lot of five-setters in a row, I need to make sure I make good decisions, so I go round-by-round. I’m happy that I felt OK out there today.”
Federer will play Ferrero in the next round.
Head to head: Roger leads 9-3. He has always won on clay and he does not lose with the Spaniard since 2003!
NADAL – MAYER 6-1 7-5
Rafa was (as usual) very worried about this match since he played only once with the German in Shanghai where he lost in straight sets. This time, as expected, it was a completely different story with Nadal not conceding a single break point to win the match in 2 sets.
Rafal will play fellow countryman Marcel Granollers in the next round.
Head to Head: Rafa leads 1-0
OTHER RESULTS
Monaco – Stepanek 6-4 6-2
Del Potro – Youzhny 6-4 6-2
Seppi – Isner 2-6 7-6 (5) 7-5
Wawrinka – Tipsarevic 6-3 6-1
Simon – Garcia-Lopez 6-4 2-6 6-4
Gasquet – [W] Lorenzi 6-3 6-2
Berdych – Kubot 6-4 6-1
Almagro – [Q] Querrey 7-5 6-2
Granollers – [W} Fognini 6-3 6-4
NEXT INTERESTING MATCHES
Djokovic – Monaco -> Monaco in great form could upset Nole
Berdych – Almagro -> Will Tomas shake hands with Nicolas this time?
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