Foro Italico: The circus is coming to town...

[gzhpcu]

Monday the tennis tournament in Rome starts. I went a couple of years ago to the Foro Italico, the main stadium decorated with Roman statues (appropriately, actually, like the old days when the gladiators fought in the colosseum).

The Italians are extremely noisy supporting their home town boys. The days of Adriano Panatta and Nicola Pietrangeli are long bygone and now all they have are like likes of Fognini and co. Playing against them will be like being thrown to the lions... Never saw such a partisan crowd.

When the Italian TV stations start the coverage, during the intervals, they concentrate mostly on filming attractive young women... (so it is not all that bad after all...)

[klacr]

All those descriptions you gave about the Italian Open are why its one of my favorites.

The colosseum atmosphere, the statues, the history, the rowdy fans rooting for their fellow countrymen, the Italian television cameras searching for gorgeous women. Yes, what's not to love?


Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[gzhpcu]

You forgot to mention the Italian food...

[klacr]

How could I forget about the food? Of course! Forgive me. My true passion and inspiration outside of tennis and I ignored it. The fear of creating it in my father's restaurants and burn out led me to tennis, which ironically enough has led me back to food.

Italian food and Mediterranean food in general, I love it. Food I loved creating and cooking. Simple, minimal amount of ingredients. Inspired by true technique and fine products. Yes, Thats Italian food. Simplistic and hands-on cooking is the core of Italian Cuisine. The greatest aspiration is to take as few ingredients as possible, cook them perfectly, and make them sing.

As for the actual tournament...I guess we all have to agree that Nadal will be the favorite by a long shot. Although Djokovic will be making his comeback. Maybe Rafa-Novak final.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[GeoffWilliams]

I used to be Italian, according to a psychic, who also told my girl at that time: who her father was, his name (hidden/denied by her mother all her life), where he lived in Connecticut, and that he always wanted to hear from her. She spent a summer with him and that's the last I saw of her.

Psychic name: Allie Barkalow, Sonoma, ca.

https://www.facebook.com/alliemodernmystic

http://www.yelp.com/biz/allie-barkalow-modern-mystic-sonoma

[gzhpcu]

Federer plays today...

What a fantastic center court...

[stotty]

Federer, beaten by Chardy, a man who breaches one of the golden rules of the ATP forehand: "Keep thy swing on the hitting side of the body".

[klacr]

Federer plays today...

What a fantastic center court...

That's actually Pietrangeli Court. Stadium court is in the background. Statues surrounding it make it truly epic.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[stroke]

Federer, beaten by Chardy, a man who breaches one of the golden rules of the ATP forehand: "Keep thy swing on the hitting side of the body".

I agree, no type 3 with Chardy. His forehand reminds me of Soderling's, from what I remember of it.

[gzhpcu]

36 year old Tommy Haas beat Wawrinka, playing very aggressively with great stop balls and forays to the net whenever the chance presented itself. Stylish player. Rack up another one for a one-handed backhand player...

[bottle]

Maybe Dominic Thiem loosened Wawrinka up.

[klacr]

36 year old Tommy Haas beat Wawrinka, playing very aggressively with great stop balls and forays to the net whenever the chance presented itself. Stylish player. Rack up another one for a one-handed backhand player...

Amen!

And this month's interactive forum subject Philipp Kohlschreiber just took the first set from Djokovic.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[bottle]

Too bad he then decided to come apart.

[gzhpcu]

Nadal has also been losing first sets...

[don_budge]

Stanislas Wawrinka...The New Kid on the Block

Maybe Dominic Thiem loosened Wawrinka up.

As the most recent Grand Slam Event champion at the Australian Open Stanislas Wawrinka has inherited a large bull's eye target square in the middle of his back. Coupled with his win at Monte Carlo against his fellow countryman Roger Federer his value as a defeated opponent has increased exponentially which only serves the opposition with incentive. It will take a few more Slam victories on the part of Wawrinka to instill fear in those same hearts. Now instead of one of a handful of also rans he has marked himself as a bonafide contender at any given tournament.

Young guys like Dominic Theim, as an up and comer, now find Stan a great source of inspiration and when facing him they have the added incentive to play out of their minds. Older guys like Tommy Haas find redemption in facing the most recently crowned Grand Slam champion Wawrinka...beating him legitimately keeps his hopes alive career wise. Wawrinka...on the flip side of the coin may find it difficult to live up to the hype and keep his level of play at the "godlike" level. Now it seems that he has more to lose than his lower ranked opponents. There's a bit of psychological handicapping going on.

Any talk of Stan going out and dominating the French Open or defeating Rafael Nadal on his "home turf" is premature. He is going to still go out and earn it on a daily basis...point by point, game by bame, match by match and tournament after tournament. Nobody is going to hand him anything even though it may be somewhat natural for Wawrinka to expect some of the lesser players to merely make room for him and step aside based on his recent coronation. Everybody is shooting for him now and each round that he plays is a potential upset...that kind of pressure is tough to deal with and it takes a special kind of person to manage it. You gotta be pretty mean...because in the end...just like going to work these days...you are only as good as the last miracle you performed.

Guys like Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic have stayed on the top of the game long enough to adapt to the demands of being number one or close to it. A fellow like Stanislas Wawrinka will have a potentially rude awakening waiting for him each and every time he steps onto the court nowadays. Everybody wants to take him down as it will be a huge feather in their caps.

Just ask Dominic or Tommy. Grigor Dimitrov is another player who indirectly benefits from Stan's unlikely triumph down under as his confidence is surging already...Wawrinka's victory has only inspired him. That was a big win over Tomas Berdych yesterday for the Bulgarian playboy. Kid Galavant.

Roger may just have played Wawrinka just a bit soft in that Monte Carlo final last month...he having more to win with a hyped up Wawrinka than from another trophy in his collection. God knows he doesn't need the money...but he may need Wawrinka to watch his back over the next couple of years. The more Slams that a Wawrinka can steal from Nadal or Djokovic the more the "real" Swiss Maestro's legacy is insured.