2005 Italian Open News
By Eleanor Preston | May 03, 2005

At this time of year, with the French Open now less than three weeks’ away, those who consider themselves serious contenders for Roland Garros begin to bare their teeth. The Rome Masters, with its relatively fast clay courts that mirror what the conditions will be in Paris, is the perfect place to do it.
 
This year, few of the early favorites are looking quite as scary as Rafael Nadal. The Spaniard may never have come close to winning a grand slam before but his recent form suggests he is very capable of doing so while still a teenager. He made the final in Miami – where he lead Roger Federer by two sets before the Swiss raised his game – and since then has won his first Masters Series event in Monte Carlo.
 
He shows no sign of letting up either. Yesterday he brushed aside talented Russian Mikhail Youzhny as though he were a wisp of gossamer floating in Rome’s warm spring air. If anything, the 6-0, 6-2 scoreline flattered Youzhny.
 
He could no more cope with Nadal’s flinging forehand than he could the backhand and it was as though the very sight of Nadal, stern-jawed and dark-eyed, bouncing on the baseline was enough to send him scurrying back to the locker room.
 
Winning Masters Series events and warm-ups is one thing but whether both his body and his mind can stand up to the seven best-of-five set matches he will need to win in Paris remains to be seen. The portents are certainly good for the ATP Tour current MVP but ask Amelie Mauresmo how it feels to win everything in sight on clay only to lose in the first round at Roland Garros and you will understand how far apart – in tennis terms – Rome and Paris are.
 
Marat Safin knows just what it takes to win grand slam titles, even if he forgot in the four-and-a-half-year span in between his 2000 US Open and 2005 Australian Open trophies. His 6-7, 6-1, 6-1 win over Jiri Novak was typical Safin in its consistent inconsistencies.

He lead the first set by 5-2 only to contrive to lose it in a tiebreaker with a blaze or errors, sighs and growls of dissatisfaction with his own failings. Having got that out of his system he set about playing the way we all know he can and Novak was never in the match again.
 
It was infuriating stuff but a reminder that, despite the fact that his two grand slams have come on hard-court, he spent his formative years on clay in Valencia and it remains the surface on which he is most at home. He announced himself to the world as a precocious and overgrown 17-year-old by beating Andre Agassi in the first round in Paris in 1998 and would dearly love to make his mark there again.
 
“I think that the way I’m playing right now, I think it’s pretty good,” he said. “If I continue this way I have the chance to win another few grand slams. Why not?”
 
Those chances, as ever, depend on his ability to quiet the inner voice that was clearly in his ear during the first set against Novak, the same voice that seems to plague him with self-doubt.
 
Even after beating Novak he didn’t sound at all sure whether he liked Rome or whether he thought he might be able to do well, despite his dominance in the second two sets against the Czech.
 
“I never did well here, I could never pass the third round,” he said. “First there was too much clay here, then there was no clay, there was sliding a lot and every time it was so difficult to adjust myself to the courts. Hopefully I can do well this year. I would love to.”
 
If Safin and Nadal join Roger Federer on the list of early French Open favorites, then defending champion Gaston Gaudio should also be included, Gaudio won the title in Estoril last week and continued his winning streak by beating Karol Beck 6-4, 6-3.
 
Tommy Robredo, who Gaudio beat in Estoril, suffered a surprising 6-0, 6-1 defeat at the hands of Julien Benneteau of France.
 
Guillermo Coria, runner-up to Gaudio in the weird and strangely compelling 2004 Roland Garros final, should also be counted amongst those to watch in Paris this year. He had a battle on his hands against Fernando Gonzalez to make the second round in Rome yesterday but came through a 7-6, 5-7, 6-4 winner.
 
In other news, the draw for September’s Davis Cup promotion/relegation ties handed the USA a potentially tricky encounter in Belgium against a team which could include Xavier Malisse and the Rochus brothers. Roddick and his cohorts should at least expect an indoor court given the inclement weather in Europe in September but they may be disappointed to find clay underfoot. Observers will be fascinated to see whether Andre Agassi will be prepared to keep his commitment to Davis Cup if it means crossing the Atlantic ten days after the end of the US Open.

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