Tournament Preview: Rome 6-14 May 2006 CAMPEONATI INTERNAZIONALI D'ITALIA All roads lead to Rome and from 6-14 May this will definitely be the case, as the Campeonati Internazionali d'Italia take place. One of the 9 elite Tennis Masters Series events held around the world on various surfaces, Rome is also one of the key lead-up events to Roland Garros. Last year's final saw Rafal Nadal continue his amazing winning streak on clay when he defeated Guillermo Coria for the second time in 3 weeks. The match was one to remember, lasting an epic 5 hours, with the 5th set tie-break ending well into the evening. The final score was 64 36 63 46 76 (6). This year, Rafa will be hoping to defend his third claycourt title in a row this year, after successfully doing so in Monte Carlo and Barcelona. The Masters Series events are known for their high standard of quality tennis and competition, as some 60 of the world's best battle it out. It also sees the return to the circuit of 2 seasoned veterans. Czech Jiri Novak was on the brink of retirement after wanting to spend more time with his family. He has not played a match this year, but makes his return in Rome. 2002 Australian Open champion, Thomas Johansson of Sweden is also returning to the courts at the Foro Italico after a freak accident in Rotterdam in February left him with a serious eye injury. Thankfully, he has made a healthy recovery and it will be good to see him back on the tour again. Some interesting first round matches include: Roger Federer v Juan Ignacio Chela: While clay might not be the world number 1's favourite surface, he can definitely be considered one of the favourites for this tournament. He recently pushed Nadal to 4 sets in the Monte Carlo final and has not played since, so he should be nicely rested. His Argentine opponent is also a fine claycourter, having won Mexico City, Amersfoort and Estoril in his career and this year he was the finalist in Acapulco and the quarterfinalist at Costa do Sauipe, all of which are clay events. He is not the easiest of first round opponents for Federer, but the world number 1 should still be expected to win. He has won all 3 of their last meetings, however these have all been on hard. David Ferrer v José Acasuso: This will definitely be an interesting first round matchup between 2 accomplished claycourters. David Ferrer literally exploded onto the scene last year after several years of just sitting around the 40s and 50s. His consistent performances, particularly on clay meant he cracked the top 10 earlier this year. He was a quarterfinalist at the TMS Monte Carlo a few weeks ago, though has been suffering from injury which didn't allow him to fulfill his potential in Valencia or Barcelona. His Argentina opponent, José Acasuso, won both the singles and doubles titles this year at Viña del Mar and was also a quarterfinalist in Buenos Aires. His other 2 career titles have also come on clay (Sopot 2002, Bucharest 2004), and he will undoubtedly be looking to score an upset over number 11 seed Ferrer here in Rome. The 2 have met 4 times, 3 of which were played on clay. Acasuso has won the last 2 encounters (Buenos Aires and Sopot, 2004). Paul-Henri Mathieu v Juan Carlos Ferrero: While Mathieu is perhaps more suited to faster surfaces, he can perform well on clay too. He recently reached the third round in Barcelona and in 2003 was the finalist in Palermo. His opponent is a former world #1 and 2003 French Open champion. Juan Carlos Ferrero was once regarded the world's best claycourter and is still capable of taking big scalps on this surface, although he is nowhere near his former level. This year he reached the semifinals of Buenos Aires and the quarterfinals of Barcelona. He won this Rome title in 2001 and will be favoured to win against Mathieu in what will be the first time these 2 players have faced off. Gaël Monfils v Tommy Haas: The rising French star, Gaël Monfils, has quietly been making his way up the rankings since capturing his first career title in Sopot last year. His opponent is a former world number 2, though his game is better suited to hard courts. He has, however, won a claycourt title in Houston in 2004 and was in fact a finalist here in Rome in 2002. He suffered an injury a few weeks ago and it will be interesting to see how well he goes at the Foro Italico. These 2 players have never met before and it is a match that could really go either way. Carlos Moya v Rafael Nadal: When the draw was made on Saturday, there was a collective gasp when this matchup was drawn. Both originally from Mallorca and 2 of the closest friends on tour, Moya has been Rafael Nadal's inspiration and mentor throughout his career. Their head to heads are even at 2-2, and on clay it is 1-1. Their last meeting came a few months ago on the hardcourts in Miami where Moya scored the surprise win. Carlos Moya has been quoted as saying he feels confident he can stop Nadal's clay winning streak this week in Rome, himself reaching the semifinals of Estoril last week. He is a former #1 and French Open champion and certainly knows how to play on clay. So far on clay this year, he has won the title in Buenos Aires. His younger protege does not need much introducing. Without a doubt the world's best claycourter at the moment, he recently broke Borgs record of consecutive claycourt wins and triumphed on clay both in Monte Carlo and Barcelona. This will definitely be one of the most interesting matches of the first round, but the odds still have to favour Rafa. Qualifying takes place on the weekend prior to the tournament and the first round main draw action starts on Monday 8 May. Daily play Monday-Friday commences at 1pm, with evening sessions commencing at 8.30pm. Saturday semifinals get underway at 2.30pm and Sunday's best of five final at 2pm. Tickets may be purchased online and having varying prices. The tournament venue is the Foro Italico and can easily be reached by public transport, the bus stop is De Bosis/Stadio Tennis. And so the stage is set for a wonderful week of tennis in the eternal city of Rome. Tournament Fast Facts: Venue: Foro Italico, Rome, Italy Dates: 6 - 14 May 2006 Singles Qualifying draw: 32 Main Draw Singles: 64 Main Draw Doubles: 32 Surface: Outdoor clay Prize money: € 1 870 000 Tournament Director: Sergio Palmieri Main Draw Singles Entries: Federer, Roger SUI Nadal, Rafael ESP Nalbandian, David ARG Roddick, Andy USA Davydenko, Nikolay RUS Ljubicic, Ivan CRO Coria, Guillermo ARG Gaudio, Gaston ARG Blake, James USA Ferrer, David ESP Johansson, Thomas SWE Ferrero, Juan Carlos ESP Stepanek, Radek CZE Kiefer, Nicolas GER Hrbaty, Dominik SVK Gonzalez, Fernando CHI Grosjean, Sebastien FRA Ginepri, Robby USA Robredo, Tommy ESP Ancic, Mario CRO Nieminen, Jarkko FIN Baghdatis, Marcos CYP Berdych, Tomas CZE Haas, Tommy GER Monfils, Gael FRA Rochus, Olivier BEL Volandri, Filippo ITA Verdasco, Fernando ESP Chela, Juan Ignacio ARG Acasuso, Jose ARG Moya, Carlos ESP Tursunov, Dmitry RUS Mathieu, Paul-Henri FRA Srichaphan, Paradorn THA Serra, Florent FRA Malisse, Xavier BEL Murray, Andy GBR Youzhny, Mikhail RUS Massu, Nicolas CHI Hanescu, Victor ROM Lopez, Feliciano ESP Horna, Luis PER Safin, Marat RUS Rusedski, Greg GBR Santoro, Fabrice FRA Novak, Jiri CZE Sanguinetti, Davide ITA Seppi, Andreas ITA Mirnyi, Max BLR Henman, Tim GBR Wawrinka, Stanislas SUI Pashanski, Boris SCG (WC) Bolelli, Simon ITA (WC) Starace, Potito ITA (WC) Bracciali, Daniele ITA (WC) Di Mauro, Alessio ITA