RICKY DIMON REPORTS FROM ROMA, RAFA NADAL LOOKS TO BOUNCE BACK IN ROME, FEDERER ALSO IN ACTION

Written by: Staff on 12th May 2015

RICKY DIMON REPORTS FROM ROMA, RAFA NADAL LOOKS TO BOUNCE BACK IN ROME, FEDERER ALSO IN ACTION

epa04743811 Uruguay's Pablo Cuevas returns the ball to Italy's Paolo Lorenzi during their first round match of the Italian Open tennis tournament at the Foro Italico in Rome, Italy, 11 May 2015. EPA/ALESSANDRO DI MEO |

Attempting to bounce back from a tough loss has become commonplace for Rafael Nadal, who is faced with this situation yet again as he heads into the Internazionali BNL d’Italia. The Spaniard at least made it to the Madrid final last week, but he got upset in convincing 6-3, 6-2 fashion by an in-form Andy Murray.

Spanish tennis player Rafael Nadal in action against Czech Tomas Berdych during their Madrid Mutua Open tennis tournament’s semifinal match at Caja Magica tennis complex, in Madrid, Spain, 09 May 2015. EPA/Chema Moya

“I’ve played a couple good matches, especially [in the semifinals against Tomas Berdych],” Nadal reflected on his Madrid performance. “It’s one of the best matches I have played in a long time. So I cannot leave Madrid not happy. I have leave happy and just delete what happened [in the final]. I will just stay with the good things that happened this week, and there are a lot of them, more good than bad.

“I will try to recover in Rome the feelings. I think I’ve made a step forward and I’m playing better. My game is better. I haven’t been able to play two weeks in a row the whole year. I think it’s time that I play two weeks in a row. Let’s see what happens in Rome. Hopefully I’ll be focused and fight as much as I can to make (it) a good week.”

The first step toward doing so will come on Wednesday in the form of a second-round date with Marsel Ilhan. It has already been an outstanding week for the 87th-ranked Turk, who qualified for the main draw before drubbing Adrian Mannarino in straight sets on Monday. This is, of course, a massive step up in competition for Ilhan–and not just because Mannarino is a borderline disaster on clay.

Roger Federer of Switzerland serves the ball to Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay during the final match at the TEB BNP Paribas Istanbul Open tennis tournament in Istanbul, Turkey, 03 May 2015. EPA/TOLGA BOZOGLU

What is likely to be a more competitive contest will pit Roger Federer against Pablo Cuevas. The two veterans did not face each other a single time throughout the first 11 years in which they were on the pro tour at the same time, but now they will go head-to-head for the second time during this current clay-court swing. In the recent inaugural Istanbul final, Federer triumphed over Cuevas 6-3, 7-6(11).

Cuevas has won 16 matches and one title (Sao Paulo) this season, helping him climb to No. 24 in the world. The Uruguayan maintained his fine form by easing past Paolo Lorenzi 6-3, 6-2 in the Rome first round. Federer initially thought about skipping this event, but an immediate loss in Madrid to Nick Kyrgios changed those plans. The second-ranked Swiss is a modest 5-2 on clay this year and 27-14 lifetime in Rome.

Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand.

10sBalls.com has a crew of 3 there. Hope to get you some fun photos and stories this week.

Topics: Andy Murray, Federer, Internazionali BNL D'Italia, Pablo Cuevas, Rafa Nadal, Ricky Dimon, Rome, Tomas Berdych

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10sBalls_com says:

May 12, 2015 at 12:19 pm

-@Dimonator REPORTS FROM ROMA, @RafaelNadal LOOKS TO BOUNCE BACK IN #ROME, @rogerfederer ALSO IN ACTION- http://t.co/HUuevflxca #ATPRoma