Couch Umpire
Louie
Yinette PerezThe one we've been waiting for
May 14th 2006 04:05
ROGER FEDERER V RAFAEL NADAL!!
The top and second seed go head to head for the 3rd time this year. AND..Rafael's beaten Roger in their last 3 games - French Open last year, Dubai hardcourts at the beginning of the year and the most recent being Monte Carlo Masters several weeks ago.
"It's always special when the top two play each other. It certainly was in Monte Carlo," said Roger, whose best result in five previous visits to the Italian capital was runner-up to Felix Mantilla in 2003. "We both look forward to it. It's good for us and good for the game, especially on clay."
Rafael looked completely at ease breezing past French teenager Gael Monfils in a semi-final between the two 19 year olds, winning the match 6-2 6-2. In contrast, Roger contested in a fantastic battle against David Nalbandian (ARG), forced to come back from a set down in the decider and play in a match tiebreak, 6-3 3-6 7-6 (5). The matches between these two are always a thriller to watch; the last time they played together was at the Masters Cup in Shanghai where David beat Roger in 5 sets.
Should Rafael beat Roger tonight he would equal Guillermo Vilas's all time record of a 53-match clay court streak (1977), and if he makes the rounds in Hamburg or the French Open he'd have beaten him! Should Roger win, he'd have won 11 titles at a Masters Series Event, and be second only to Pete Sampras in this statistic.
The final match is a best of 5.
Whilst Roger has improved greatly on clay, his close brushes with defeat against N. Almagro and David Nalbandian show that he probably has a long way to go in figuring out how to beat Nadal. I am guessing it would be a 4-setter with Rafael winning. The hope that Roger would win a Grand Slam this year since Rod Laver in 1969 I believe is slim, especially if he faces "The Raging Bull". One hopes that Roger would conquer the French Open one day, the only GS trophy that he's missing, but I don't believe it would be this year.
Good luck to both players Stay tuned!!
The top and second seed go head to head for the 3rd time this year. AND..Rafael's beaten Roger in their last 3 games - French Open last year, Dubai hardcourts at the beginning of the year and the most recent being Monte Carlo Masters several weeks ago.
"It's always special when the top two play each other. It certainly was in Monte Carlo," said Roger, whose best result in five previous visits to the Italian capital was runner-up to Felix Mantilla in 2003. "We both look forward to it. It's good for us and good for the game, especially on clay."
credit: Internazionaliditalia.it
credit: Internazionaliditalia.it
Rafael looked completely at ease breezing past French teenager Gael Monfils in a semi-final between the two 19 year olds, winning the match 6-2 6-2. In contrast, Roger contested in a fantastic battle against David Nalbandian (ARG), forced to come back from a set down in the decider and play in a match tiebreak, 6-3 3-6 7-6 (5). The matches between these two are always a thriller to watch; the last time they played together was at the Masters Cup in Shanghai where David beat Roger in 5 sets.
Should Rafael beat Roger tonight he would equal Guillermo Vilas's all time record of a 53-match clay court streak (1977), and if he makes the rounds in Hamburg or the French Open he'd have beaten him! Should Roger win, he'd have won 11 titles at a Masters Series Event, and be second only to Pete Sampras in this statistic.
The final match is a best of 5.
Whilst Roger has improved greatly on clay, his close brushes with defeat against N. Almagro and David Nalbandian show that he probably has a long way to go in figuring out how to beat Nadal. I am guessing it would be a 4-setter with Rafael winning. The hope that Roger would win a Grand Slam this year since Rod Laver in 1969 I believe is slim, especially if he faces "The Raging Bull". One hopes that Roger would conquer the French Open one day, the only GS trophy that he's missing, but I don't believe it would be this year.
Good luck to both players Stay tuned!!
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