Internazionali BNL d'Italia - ROME

[Hoergren]

Tier: Premier Prize Money: $2,707,664 Surface: Clay Director: Sergio Palmieri

Two weeks prior to the start of the French Open, the stars of the WTA travel to the Italian capital for the Internazionali BNL d'Italia. Widely considered the second most prestigious clay event after Roland Garros.

Leading the way is Chris Evert, who captured the trophy five times. Following closely behind are Gabriela Sabatini and Conchita Martínez, both of whom won a place in the hearts of the crowd at the Foro Italico with four title runs, and Serena Williams with three.

After spending its first five years at the Tennis Club Milano, the event moved to the Benito Mussolini-built Foro Italico in northern Rome, in 1935, where it has stayed for all but three years since. The complex, which hosts an ATP event the same week, consists of 11 courts, with the jewel the 10,400-seater Centre Court.


Draw in Rome. The Grammy for worst draw - ta, da - Caroline Wozniacki - again - congratulations dear - just beat them all. As before the draw can be changed if any player withdraws - I'll change if that happens.

1 WILLIAMS, SerenaUSA
2 BYE
3 PAVLYUCHENKOVA, AnastasiaRUS
4 STOSUR, SamanthaAUS
5 STRYCOVA, BarboraCZE
6 QUALIFIER
7 HANTUCHOVA, DanielaSVK
8 ERRANI, SaraITA

9 PLISKOVA, KarolinaCZE
10 BACSINSZKY, TimeaSUI
11 STEPHENS, SloaneUSA
12 LISICKI, SabineGER
13 QUALIFIER
14 BENCIC, BelindaSUI
15 BYE
16 IVANOVIC, AnaSRB

17 SHARAPOVA, MariaRUS
18 BYE
19 GAJDOSOVA, JarmilaAUS
20 QUALIFIER
21 QUALIFIER
22 GARCIA, CarolineFRA
23 BRENGLE, MadisonUSA
24 KEYS, MadisonUSA

25 KERBER, AngeliqueGER
26 CORNET, AlizéFRA
27 BEGU, Irina-CameliaROU
28 QUALIFIER
29 AZARENKA, VictoriaBLR
30 DELLACQUA, CaseyAUS
31 BYE
32 WOZNIACKI, CarolineDEN

33 BOUCHARD, EugenieCAN
34 BYE
35 PIRONKOVA, TsvetanaBUL
36 DIYAS, ZarinaKAZ
37 VINCI, RobertaITA
38 WATSON, HeatherGBR
39 BARTHEL, MonaGER
40 SUÁREZ NAVARRO, CarlaESP

41 JANKOVIC, JelenaSRB
42 GIORGI, CamilaITA
43 BURNETT, NastassjaITA
44 RYBARIKOVA, MagdalenaSVK
45 KNAPP, KarinITA
46 SCHIAVONE, FrancescaITA
47 BYE
48 KVITOVA, PetraCZE

49 MAKAROVA, EkaterinaRUS
50 BYE
51 KUZNETSOVA, SvetlanaRUS
52 PUIG, MonicaPUR
53 QUALIFIER
54 QUALIFIER
55 QUALIFIER
56 SAFAROVA, LucieCZE

57 WILLIAMS, VenusUSA
58 QUALIFIER/Lucky Loser Muguruza has withdrawn
59 SVITOLINA, ElinaUKR
60 PENNETTA, FlaviaITA
61 RISKE, AlisonUSA
62 LEPCHENKO, VarvaraUSA
63 BYE
64 HALEP, SimonaROU

 

[Hoergren]

If you don't think Caroline has the shittiest draw ever then have a look:

R1: Bye
R2: Azarenka
R3: Kerber
QF: Sharapova
SF: Serena

And just a little hint - if you're going to read anything in a newspaper like - Caro lost another coach - it's not quite true. ASV's coaching is on hold as she can't get her family life to function with a tight packed tennis schedule. They are in contact by phone or mail and will sit down later this year to find out how the next season can be. Fair enough but as you maybe have seen the training sessions they have had in Miami has been fruitfull - I've never seen Caro so good on clay.

16 hours ago she landed in Rome:

 

[sk310]

Wow the top half in Rome is even more heavy than in Madrid.

This is a nice opportunity for Halep to right her ship and get some confidence back going into RG.

Caro looks like she's lost some weight ^^ or maybe it's just the angle.

 

[Sundaymorningguy]

Wow that top half will be a war of attrition potentially. That Sharapova/Azarenka/Woz quarter is ugly.

 

[tented]

Wow that top half will be a war of attrition potentially. That Sharapova/Azarenka/Woz quarter is ugly.

Plus Kerber and Cornet ...

 

[sk310]

There's this really weird thing happening with draws right now. I think it has a lot to do with a handful of players who had really great years last year and for, at least, the first half of this year have had terrible years. Bouchard, Ivanovic, Petra (until now), and Radwanska have all had pretty bad years yet their seedings are still top 10. This creates a situation where draws kind of end up top or bottom heavy like in Madrid and Rome. It's kind of unfortunate, but I guess it's a good test of skill for the top players.

 

[golds girl]

Wonder if Petra will withdraw. No real points to defend and why get wasted before the French.
Looks like Sam's in the mix....feel like she's been missing for the last few tourneys.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

Hoergren, I completely agree with you. Caro got the worst possible draw. Azrenka is now a form
player. Kerber has already won multiple clay titles this year. We all know about Masha and Serena.
Boy, it is tough out there. But, all this hardening will build character into Caro and give her
a nice prep for RG (assuming he gets to play a few matches in Rome)

 

[Hoergren]

Order of play Monday, May 11, 2015 - ladies only

Centrale
12:00 - Daniela Hantuchova (SVK) V [13] Sara Errani (ITA) 46 67
21:00 - [14] Venus Williams (USA) V Katerina Siniakova (CZE) 62 62

Grandstand
11:00 - [9] Angelique Kerber (GER) V Alizé Cornet (FRA) 62 63
13:00 - Roberta Vinci (ITA) V Heather Watson (GBR) 36 16

Pietrangeli
11:00 - Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS) V Samantha Stosur (AUS) 64 75
13:00 - Karin Knapp (ITA) V Francesca Schiavone (ITA) 64 61

Court 1
11:00 - Madison Brengle (USA) V [15] Madison Keys (USA) 26 46
13:00 - Sloane Stephens (USA) V Sabine Lisicki (GER) 46 16
15:00 - Nastassja Burnett (ITA) V Magdalena Rybarikova (SVK) 36 67

Court 2
11:00 - Tsvetana Pironkova (BUL) V Zarina Diyas (KAZ) 57 16
13:00 - [11] Karolina Pliskova (CZE) V Timea Bacsinszky (SUI) 46 06
15:00 - Barbora Strycova (CZE) V Christina McHale (USA) 67 16

Court 3
11:00 - Anna-Lena Groenefeld / Alexandra Panova (GER / RUS) V [7] Yung-Jan Chan / Jie Zheng (TPE / CHN) 36 76 10-7
13:00 - Alison Riske (USA) V Varvara Lepchenko (USA) 64 63
15:00 - Jarmila Gajdosova (AUS) V Elena Vesnina (RUS) 16 62 76
17:00 - [5] Bethanie Mattek-Sands / Lucie Safarova (USA / CZE) V Klaudia Jans-Ignacik / Andreja Klepac (POL / SLO) 64 63

Court 4
11:00 - Chen Liang / Katalin Marosi (CHN / HUN) V I.Begu/M.Niculescu 46 26
13:00 - Raquel Kops-Jones / Raluca Olaru (USA / ROU) V Julia Goerges / Sílvia Soler-Espinosa (GER / ESP) 26 16
15:00 - Vera Dushevina / María José Martínez Sánchez (RUS / ESP) V Hao-Ching Chan / Anabel Medina Garrigues (TPE / ESP) 62 63

 

[kskate2]

Some more great first rounders:

Kerbie/Cornet
Vinci/Watson
Battle on Madison Ave
Sloane/Sabine
Pliskova/Baczsinsky
Strycova/McHale

 

[Hoergren]

Together again

 

[tented]

Order of play Monday, May 11, 2015 - ladies only ...

Thank you for taking the time to post this, Hoergren. We appreciate it.

 

[kskate2]

Stosur, Pliskova, Brengle, Franny and Pironkova are gone.

 

[tented]

[YouTube has removed the videos Pavlik linked to, so I deleted the posts.]

 

[GameSetAndMath]

[YouTube has removed the videos Pavlik linked to, so I deleted the posts.]

I have started seeing Pavlik's highlight videos in professional sports outlets such as SI.com.
I am not sure whether (s)he will continue to post his highlight videos here anymore.

 

[tented]

[YouTube has removed the videos Pavlik linked to, so I deleted the posts.]

I have started seeing Pavlik's highlight videos in professional sports outlets such as SI.com.
I am not sure whether (s)he will continue to post his highlight videos here anymore.

As of today, Pavlik is still posting, and I hope will continue to. The "problem" (for us) is YouTube taking down copyrighted material. I understand they have to when asked, but it's inconvenient.

 

[Hoergren]

Charity match with Caro, Djoko etc.

[video=youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aG1HMpXQQlc[/video]

 

[Hoergren]

Order of play Tuesday, May 12, 2015
Centrale
12:00 - [3] Maria Sharapova (RUS) V Jarmila Gajdosova (AUS) 62 31 ret.
19:30 - [1] Serena Williams (USA) V Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova(RUS) 61 63

Grandstand
11:00 - Victoria Azarenka (BLR) V Hradecka (CZE) 75 26 61
13:00 - Timea Bacsinszky (SUI) V Sabine Lisicki (GER) 64 63

Pietrangeli
11:00 - Mona Barthel (GER) V [10] Carla Suárez Navarro (ESP) 46 62 36
13:00 - Elina Svitolina (UKR) V Flavia Pennetta (ITA) 64 62
19:30 - [16] Jelena Jankovic (SRB) V Camila Giorgi (ITA) 75 75

Court 1
11:00 - Daria Gavrilova (RUS) V Belinda Bencic (SUI) 67 75 62
13:00 - Anna Karolina Schmiedlova (SVK) V [12] Lucie Safarova (CZE) 67 76 46
15:00 - Karin Knapp / Roberta Vinci (ITA / ITA) V [6] Andrea Hlavackova / Lucie Hradecka (CZE / CZE) 36 46
17:00 - [1] Martina Hingis / Sania Mirza (SUI / IND) V Irina-Camelia Begu / Monica Niculescu (ROU / ROU) 64 61

Court 2
11:00 - Simona Halep / Francesca Schiavone (ROU / ITA) V Darija Jurak / Arantxa Parra Santonja (CRO / ESP) 62 62
13:00 - Bojana Jovanovski (SRB) V Caroline Garcia (FRA) 76 46 62

Court 3
11:00 - Kristina Mladenovic (FRA) V Monica Puig (PUR) 75 62
13:00 - Michaella Krajicek / Barbora Strycova (NED / CZE) V Gabriela Dabrowski / Alicja Rosolska (CAN / POL) 36 06
15:00 - Maria Elena Camerin / Corinna Dentoni (ITA / ITA) V Daniela Hantuchova / Samantha Stosur (SVK / AUS) 06 46
17:00 - Julia Goerges / Sílvia Soler-Espinosa (GER / ESP) V Anna-Lena Groenefeld / Alexandra Panova (GER / RUS) 64 76

Court 4
11:00 - Alexandra Dulgheru (ROU) V Misaki Doi (JPN) 67 63 63
13:00 - Irina-Camelia Begu (ROU) V Urszula Radwanska (POL) 46 62 61

 

[golds girl]

Does anyone know whether there is an established convention or etiquette on how one should retire from a match?
Had insomnia and was watching the Sharapova match and Maria was getting ready to serve. Her opponent just walked off the court and sat down, so Maria had to go the umpire to ask what was going on. It just seemed strange to me. I'm used to seeing signal to the ump and then go to the net to shake hands etc.

 

[kskate2]

Well I think she originally went to her chair and asked the umpire to call the trainer. But I guess she then decided she wasn't going to play on and retired immediately.