Internazionali BNL d'Italia, Rome, Italy - Masters 1000

[tented]

DATE: May 10 - 21, 2023
SURFACE: Clay
PRIZE MONEY: €7,705,780
FIELD SIZE: 96
DEFENDING CHAMPION: Novak Djokovic

Seeds:
1. Novak Djokovic
2. Carlos Alcaraz
3. Daniil Medvedev
4. Casper Ruud
5. Stefanos Tsitsipas
6. Andrey Rublev
7. Holger Rune
8. Jannik Sinner
9. Taylor Fritz
10. Felix Auger-Aliassime
11. Karen Khachanov
12. Frances Tiafoe
13. Cameron Norrie
14. Hubert Hurkacz
15. Borna Coric
16. Tommy Paul
17. Alex de Minaur
18. Lorenzo Musetti
19. Alexander Zverev
20. Dan Evans
21. Roberto Bautista Agut
22. Sebastian Korda
23. Botic van de Zandschulp
24. Francisco Cerundolo
25. Yoshihito Nishioka
26. Grigor Dimitrov
27. Alejandro Davidovich Fokina
28. Ben Shelton
29. Tallon Griekspoor
30. Miomir Kecmanovic
31. Bernabe Zapata Miralles
32. Jiri Lehecka

The Tournament:

The Italian Open, originally called the Italian International Championships, is a tennis tournament held in Rome, Italy. It is one of the most important clay tennis tournaments in the world with the men's competition being an ATP Tour Masters 1000 event on the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) tour, and the women's competition technically being a WTA 1000 event on the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) tour. The two events were combined in 2011. The tournament is played on clay courts, currently during the second week of May. The event is also known as the "Rome Masters" for male edition, as well as sponsored name "Internazionali BNL d'Italia". Rafael Nadal has won the men's singles title a record ten times.

About Rome:

Rome is the capital city of Italy. It is also the capital of the Lazio region, the centre of the Metropolitan City of Rome, and a special comune named Comune di Roma Capitale. With 2,860,009 residents in 1,285 km2 (496.1 sq mi), Rome is the country's most populated comune and the third most populous city in the European Union by population within city limits. The Metropolitan City of Rome, with a population of 4,355,725 residents, is the most populous metropolitan city in Italy. Its metropolitan area is the third-most populous within Italy. Rome is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, within Lazio (Latium), along the shores of the Tiber. Vatican City (the smallest country in the world) is an independent country inside the city boundaries of Rome, the only existing example of a country within a city. Rome is often referred to as the City of Seven Hills due to its geographic location, and also as the "Eternal City". Rome is generally considered to be the "cradle of Western civilization and Christian culture", and the centre of the Catholic Church.

Tourism Guide:

 

[tented]

The Draw:

 

[El Dude]

No Thiem, I see. Is he hurt again?

The things I'm looking for:

- Can Novak return to form?
- Can Zverev bounce back from his trouncing by Alcaraz and continue his gradual return to form?
- Can Alcaraz maintain and solidify his dominance?
- Will Sinner continue his micro-improvements and prove he belongs with the top guys, rather than the second tier?
- Will FAA ever take that next step forward? (Ongoing)
- Holger Rune and his moods (Ongoing)
- Will any of Musetti, Korda, even Shelton have a breakthrough and join the second tier guys?

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

No Thiem, I see. Is he hurt again?

The things I'm looking for:

- Can Novak return to form?
- Can Zverev bounce back from his trouncing by Alcaraz and continue his gradual return to form?
- Can Alcaraz maintain and solidify his dominance?
- Will Sinner continue his micro-improvements and prove he belongs with the top guys, rather than the second tier?
- Will FAA ever take that next step forward? (Ongoing)
- Holger Rune and his moods (Ongoing)
- Will any of Musetti, Korda, even Shelton have a breakthrough and join the second tier guys?

Thiem is playing a challenger tournament I believe in Italy

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

Alcaraz has a opportunity to take the No 1 ranking from Novak at Rome, seeing he did not play Rome last year.
At present after Madrid, Novak is leading by 5 points over Alcaraz.

 

[kskate2]

Alcaraz has a opportunity to take the No 1 ranking from Novak at Rome, seeing he did not play Rome last year.
At present after Madrid, Novak is leading by 5 points over Alcaraz.

Just by showing up for R1 Carlito will overtake Djoke. He can build a substantial lead by getting to the later rounds.

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

Just by showing up for R1 Carlito will overtake Djoke. He can build a substantial lead by getting to the later rounds.

Yep, lets see if he can carry his form from Madrid to Rome, where we are playing on 'true red clay' with no altitude

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

I will wait for the draw to be released
I am curious to see if Ruud, who has been playing sub par on the clay, his best and favorite surface can find some form in Rome.,he needs to have a decent tournament in Rome before RG as he has finalist points to defend

 

[El Dude]

Ruud has a ton of points to defend for the rest of the year: 1200 at RG, 1200 at USO, and I think 700 at the WTF. I wouldn't be surprised if he slips out of the top 10 by the end of the year. His current Elo rank is 16th, which I think speaks more of his recent level of play. He's a very good player, but I see him more as a guy who oscillates around #10 than the #2 guy he was at one point last year.

 

[El Dude]

In fact, I think Ruud could be the worst player ever to reach ATP #2. I mean, other candidates are Alex Corretja, Tommy Haas, and Magnus Norman. Comparisons:

Peak Elo with best Elo Rank (titles, big titles, GOAT Points):
Corretja: 2182, #3 (17 titles, 2 Masters, 1 Tour Final, 65 GP)
Haas: 2189, #2 (15 titles, 1 Masters, 59 GP)
Norman: 2172, #4 (12 titles, 1 Masters, 33 GP)
Ruud: 2163, #6 (10 titles, 39 GP)

So I guess Norman is the best candidate, although mostly due to having a short career and very short peak. He had one year at #4, one at #15, one at #22, and every other year #49 or worse.

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

In fact, I think Ruud could be the worst player ever to reach ATP #2. I mean, other candidates are Alex Corretja, Tommy Haas, and Magnus Norman. Comparisons:

Peak Elo with best Elo Rank (titles, big titles, GOAT Points):
Corretja: 2182, #3 (17 titles, 2 Masters, 1 Tour Final, 65 GP)
Haas: 2189, #2 (15 titles, 1 Masters, 59 GP)
Norman: 2172, #4 (12 titles, 1 Masters, 33 GP)
Ruud: 2163, #6 (10 titles, 39 GP)

So I guess Norman is the best candidate, although mostly due to having a short career and very short peak. He had one year at #4, one at #15, one at #22, and every other year #49 or worse.

I always felt sad for Haas he missed tour for sometime with hip and shoulder injuries, never able to make a final at a GS.

 

[El Dude]

I always felt sad for Haas he missed tour for sometime with hip and shoulder injuries, never able to make a final at a GS.

Yeah, definitely a career that didn't turn out as it looked it might early on. But he did stick around for awhile, and have that little comeback. I think he beat Roger in one of those last finals, which was probably quite satisfying.

 

[Moxie]

In fact, I think Ruud could be the worst player ever to reach ATP #2. I mean, other candidates are Alex Corretja, Tommy Haas, and Magnus Norman. Comparisons:

Peak Elo with best Elo Rank (titles, big titles, GOAT Points):
Corretja: 2182, #3 (17 titles, 2 Masters, 1 Tour Final, 65 GP)
Haas: 2189, #2 (15 titles, 1 Masters, 59 GP)
Norman: 2172, #4 (12 titles, 1 Masters, 33 GP)
Ruud: 2163, #6 (10 titles, 39 GP)

So I guess Norman is the best candidate, although mostly due to having a short career and very short peak. He had one year at #4, one at #15, one at #22, and every other year #49 or worse.

At least Ruud is still active and has time to make up for it.

 

[Jelenafan]

In fact, I think Ruud could be the worst player ever to reach ATP #2. I mean, other candidates are Alex Corretja, Tommy Haas, and Magnus Norman. Comparisons:

Peak Elo with best Elo Rank (titles, big titles, GOAT Points):
Corretja: 2182, #3 (17 titles, 2 Masters, 1 Tour Final, 65 GP)
Haas: 2189, #2 (15 titles, 1 Masters, 59 GP)
Norman: 2172, #4 (12 titles, 1 Masters, 33 GP)
Ruud: 2163, #6 (10 titles, 39 GP)

So I guess Norman is the best candidate, although mostly due to having a short career and very short peak. He had one year at #4, one at #15, one at #22, and every other year #49 or worse.

I hear ya, and yes, perhaps in an overall career arc Ruud hasn’t won as many important titles as others have.

However the actual # 2 ranking is a sliding scale of your tournament results solely within the last 12 months. So Reaching 2 Slam finals, 1 YE ATP finals, and 1 Masters 1000 finals all within those 12 months presents a case for Casper being a “strong” #2.

Can’t believe I’m sort of defending the Norweigan Bully….

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

Draw has been released,
Sinner,Rune in Djokovic's half
Medvedev and Rublev with Alcaraz

Projected QFs ( if seeds hold)
Djokovic (1) vs Rune (7)
Ruud (4) vs Sinner (8)
Rublev (6) vs Medvedev (3)
Tsitsipas (5) vs Alcaraz (2)

For the first time all year No 1 Djokovic and No 2 Alcaraz are appearing in a draw together.

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

Looking at the draw,
Ruud again like in Madrid has a good draw, though the question is can he capitalize on it, that is the question
I dont mind Alcaraz draw it is doable.

 

[Moxie]

In fact, I think Ruud could be the worst player ever to reach ATP #2. I mean, other candidates are Alex Corretja, Tommy Haas, and Magnus Norman. Comparisons:

Peak Elo with best Elo Rank (titles, big titles, GOAT Points):
Corretja: 2182, #3 (17 titles, 2 Masters, 1 Tour Final, 65 GP)
Haas: 2189, #2 (15 titles, 1 Masters, 59 GP)
Norman: 2172, #4 (12 titles, 1 Masters, 33 GP)
Ruud: 2163, #6 (10 titles, 39 GP)

So I guess Norman is the best candidate, although mostly due to having a short career and very short peak. He had one year at #4, one at #15, one at #22, and every other year #49 or worse.

Norman has had rather a better career as a coach. (Soderling, Wawrinka.)

 

[kskate2]

Thiem is playing a challenger tournament I believe in Italy

Actually it's in Austria. He plays tomorrow. There are actually 4 different challenger events this week

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

Actually it's in Austria. He plays tomorrow. There are actually 4 different challenger events this week

Thanks, I did read earlier he was playing the one in Italy

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

A fun 1st round match Andy Murray vs Fognini, The Fog has been carrying injuries, and out of form, Murray coming into Rome, winning a challenger tournament, on clay, should be able to win. Murray needs some wins in Rome, as he wants to be seeded for RG at present he is #42