Rome Quarterfinals

The griping and complaining are over as the tour resumes play on red clay this week.  And it's been a fairly ho-hum men's tournament so far.  The top 3 are through to the quarters with 6 of the top 7 men and only one unseeded player, local favorite Andreas Seppi.  Murray has bombed out early, but was that really unexpected given his record on clay this year (and the past for that matter).  Djokovic and Federer both needed 3 sets to get to the quarters over Monaco and Ferrero, respectively, while Seppi prevailed over Wawrinka in a 3-tiebreak thriller 6-7(1), 7-6(6), 7-6(6) in 3:21, saving 6 match points along the way. He has locked up a seed in the French Open.

Men's Quarterfinalists
1) Novak Djokovic (SRB)
2) Rafael Nadal (ESP)
3) Roger Federer (SUI)
5) Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA)
6) David Ferrer (ESP)
7) Tomas Berdych (CZE)
16) Richard Gasquet (FRA)
Andreas Seppi (ITA)

Tomorrow's matchups:
-Djokovic vs Tsonga
-Federer vs Seppi
-Ferrer vs Gasquet
-Nadal vs Berdych

-Four seeds lost before the round of 16:  8) Tipsarevic (R2 l. to Wawrinka), 9) Isner (R2 l. to Seppi), 13) Monfils (R2 l. to Ferrero), 15) Lopez (R1 l. to Granollers)
-Qualifiers went just 2-5 in the opening round and 2-7 overall.  Garcia-Lopez and Querrey got the wins.  The American beat Nieminen 7-6(4) 5-7 6-4.
-Four players reached the quarters in Rome in both '11 and '12:  Djokovic, Nadal, Berdych, and Gasquet. Players failing to get back that far were Murray (R3 l. to Gasquet), Cilic (R1 l. to Almagro), Mayer (R2 l. to Nadal), and Soderling.
-Players getting to quarters at both Madrid and Rome this year were Djokovic, Federer, Ferrer, and Berdych.  Djokovic and Berdych have reached quarters at those two tournaments in '11 and '12.
-If Federer reaches the SF, Nadal must win the title to get the #2 ranking back.  If Federer loses to Seppi, Nadal clinches #2 by reaching the final.
-Italians are 5-4 in the tournament with wins by Fognini and Lorenzi in addition to the 3 by Seppi.

There have many more upsets on the women's side and only three top 8 seeds remain and there are two unseeded players left.  Azarenka withdrew with a shoulder injury (likely just a precaution going into the French) but earlier Radwanska lost her match of the year to a player not named Azarenka (and to Cetkovska of all people).  The Williams sisters continue to impress as does the young German named Kerber.  Serena's clay court winning streak is now at 16 (matching Errani) so she is a leading contender for the French Open title now.

Women's Quarterfinalists
2) Maria Sharapova (RUS)
4) Petra Kvitova (CZE)
8) Na Li (CHN)
9) Serena Williams (USA)
12) Angelique Kerber (GER)
14) Dominika Cibulkova (SVK)
Flavia Pennetta (ITA)
Venus Williams (USA)

Tomorrow's matchups:
-Li vs Cibulkova
-Serena vs Pennetta
-Kvitova vs Kerber
-Sharapova vs Venus

-While four men's seeds were eliminated in the first two rounds, it only took one round to get out that many women: 10) Schiavone (l. to Makarova), 11) Lisicki (l. to Erakovic), 15) Jankovic (l. to Cirstea in 3rd-set tiebreak), 16) Kirilenko (l. to Pennetta).  Radwanska, Wozniacki, and Bartoli also their first match after a bye.
-Women's qualifiers also went 2-5 with wins by Stephens (over a qualifier) and Soler-Espinosa.
-Only two '11 quarterfinalists returned that far in '12:  Sharapova and Li.  The other six in '11 were Stosur (R3 l. to Venus), Wozniacki (R2 ret. to Medina Garrigues), Jankovic, Azarenka, Schiavone (see above for those 3), and Arn (Q1 l. to Tsurenko)
-Players getting to the quarters at both Madrid and Rome this year were Sharapova, Li, and Serena.  Li is the only players to reach the quarters at those two tournaments in both '11 and '12.
-Serena is now locked in the #5 seed for the French Open, having passed Stosur at this tournament.  Venus is up to #52 and in line for direct entry into the Olympics.
-Aside from Pennetta, this wasn't a good tournament for the Italians.  In all they went 5-5 with Schiavone, Errani, and Vinci combining to go 1-3.  The French Open champion from that group has taken a real big step back this year.