Italian Open, ATP 1000

[jimlosaltos]

Women's Semifinals

1) Iga(1) vs Coco (3) Iga leads H2H 9 - 1
2) Winner of Azarenka (24) vs Collins (13) vs Winner of Ostapenko (9) vs Sabalenka (2)

[jimlosaltos]

Men's Quarterfinals set for Rome.

1) Tablio "the Djoko slayer" (32) vs Zhang
2) Zverev (3) vs "Claylor" Fritz (11)
3) Tsitsipas (6) vs Jarry (21)
4) Hurkacz "the Rafa slayer" (40 vs Paul (140

TWO. Count 'em, two Americans in the quarters on a clay Masters 1k

[stroke]

Yes Stef in full flight has a beautiful clay court game, a bit reminiscent of Guga. There have not been that many one handers that have won the FO.

[jimlosaltos]

Tsitsipas looking like the tournament favorite he now is out there vs Norrie.

Stef played even better vs de Minaur.

ATP Tennis Insights stats show excellent all around performance, even his backhand --- except his return, which continues to be his achilles heel.

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[stroke]

Taylor wins 3rd set going away 6-1. Taylor in his absolute prime and appears to be the first true American contender at the FO since Courier and Agassi.

[stroke]

Grigor wins 2nd set tiebreaker 12-10 to get to a 3rd set vs Fritz in a very high quality match. Another huge crowd really into the match.

[stroke]

[QUOTE=stroke;n104313]2 matches of the day tomorrow, Fritz vs Grigor and demon vs Tsitsipas. Fritz(Claylor) and Stef are the favorites. Sidenote, Morgan(Barbie) is now in the house.

[stroke]

2 matches of the day tomorrow, Fritz vs Grigor and demon vs Tsitsipas. Fritz(Claylor) and Stef are the favorites.

[dimbleby69]

For those of you who didn’t see it, Medjedovic played a good match point but came to the net after another ferocious forehand (which his opponent through was out) and netted the volley.

[dimbleby69]

I watched it. Med is the toughest out in tennis.

Yep. Did you see what he wrote on the camera?! “Was too aggressive”. Instant tactical analysis!

[stroke]

Anyone else watching Medjedovic v Medvedev? Medjedovic serving at 5-6 in the 3rd. Quite a performance from him.

I watched it. Med is the toughest out in tennis.

[dimbleby69]

Anyone else watching Medjedovic v Medvedev? Medjedovic serving at 5-6 in the 3rd. Quite a performance from him.

[jimlosaltos]

Update on Number One Ranking after Djokovic's early loss.

Novak Djokovic losing early in Rome sets the stage for Jannik Sinner to become the world number one for the first time at Roland Garros. Djokovic is 1,090 points ahead of Sinner but has 2000 points from his Roland Garros title that will "disappear" from his 52-week rolling total when the event starts. Since Sinner only holds 45 points from last year's French, he will shoot past Djokovic to take an 865 point lead.

This means that even if Djokovic defends his Roland Garros title and gets a record 25th 'Slam crown, Sinner can grab the top rank by making and losing the finals. But if Djokovic reaches the finals and loses, iInner only needs to reach the semifinals "to guarantee his rise to becoming the first Italian No. 1 in PIF ATP Rankings history."

[stroke]

Tsitsipas looking like the tournament favorite he now is out there vs Norrie.

[jimlosaltos]

Zhang is playing a very impressive match thus far vs Sheldon. Zhang is definitely an under the radar guy.

Indeed, good enough to win.

Zhang tops Shelton 2 and 4. Neither is known as a clay courter, but Zhang served big and Ben's return didn't stand up.

Zhang's return rating (not to confused with the ATP's "Return Effectiveness" numbers) was 159 vs Ben's at 50.

To my surprise, Zhang averaged faster on his fist serve at 129 MPH vs 125 MPH, although Ben's max of 142 MPH topped Zhang's 138 MPH. Not our grandpa's clay court tennis.