Djokovic, Serena Win in Rome

Serena Williams seems to have finally gotten her act together as she successfully defended her Rome title, while the top two men again battled in a final, and this time Djokovic again made a successful foray into Nadal's clay territory.

In the men's draw, the top seeds, Djokovic and Nadal, contested the final but it wasn't easy getting there.  Nadal lost sets to Simon, Youzhny, and Murray in lenghty matches before dismissing Dimitrov rather easily.  Djokovic dropped sets to Kohlschreiber, Ferrer, and Raonic prior to going 3 sets against Nadal.  While these two players will be the two favorites going into the French Open, there are plenty of doubts about their games with struggles/injuries early in the clay season.  Wawrinka and Federer both left questions about their form with early losses, but we had Dimitrov and Raonic reach the semis so there is some room for a young player to make a nice run at the French with players like Berdych, Tsonga, and Gasquet not being the most consistent.  It is very possible we get some fresh faces making deep runs in Paris

Once again, the majority of the top women's seeds went deep into this tournament, but it was Serena who came out on top, dropping just one set to Ivanovic.  Errani was a good story in front of her group, and both Serbs seem to be in good form as they both reached the semis.  Halep and Sharapova took small steps back, the former with an injury and the latter with a loss in Ivanovic.  The French Open would appear to be fairly wide open with Serena struggling early in the clay season and Sharapova being in great form.  Li and Radwanska have also been consistent winners throughout tournament and the Serbs have interjected themselves back into the conversation.  It could be an exciting fortnight in Paris, and it's possible the women may have more stability among the top 10 than do the men.

ATP Masters 1000: Rome, Italy
2) Novak Djokovic (SRB) def. 1) Rafael Nadal (ESP) 4-6 6-3 6-3
-Djokovic wins 44th career title, 3rd of 2014, last '14 Miami
-It is his 19th Masters title, and he is now only 2 behind Federer for 3rd place all time
-It is his 3rd win in Rome ('08,'11)
-Djokovic pulls within 650 points of Nadal and Nadal will be defending 1280 more points at the French Open
-Ferrer was beaten by Djokovic in the quarters, so despite Federer's second round loss, the Swiss secures the no. 4 seed at the French Open
-Raonic reached the semis, and with Nishikori pulling out, the Canadian passes the Japanese for no. 9 in the world, which will mean the no. 8 seed at the French Open since Del Potro is out
-Dimitrov reached his first Masters semi but lost to Nadal there.
-Chardy beat Federer in the second round, saving a match point en route to a 8-6 3rd tie set tiebreak win.  She would go on to reach his first Masters quarterfinal in 2 years, losing there to Raonic.
-Other QF: Murray (l. to Nadal), Haas (ret. to Dimitrov), Ferrer (l. to Djokovic)
-It was a pathetic tournament for the Italians in front of their home crowd, going just 1-7 and their only win was in an all-Italian match.  This includes a loss by 13-Fognini to Rosol
-Americans: 0-1, only Isner was in the main draw and he lost to Melzer.  Both Querrey and Sock were beaten by Riba in qualifying.
-Melzer had a good tournament as he is returning recently from injury, defeating Isner and Cilic before falling to Murray
-Nadal, Djokovic, and Ferrer were all quarterfinalist in Rome last year.  Those who couldn't get back were Federer (R2 l. to Chardy), Berdych (R3 l. to Dimitrov), Paire (did not play), Granollers (R2 l. to Murray), Janowicz (R1 l. to Kohlschreiber)
-Nadal came within one set of defending his title.

WTA Premier Mandatory: Rome, Italy
1) Serena Williams (USA) def. 10) Sara Errani (ITA) 6-3 6-0
-Serena wins 60th career title, 3rd of 2014, last '14 Miami
-It is her 3rd win in Rome ('02,'13)
-Zhang had her best run at a bigger tournament, making the quarters, and will move up to no. 38 in the world
-Sharapova's clay winning streak ended against Ivanovic in the 3rd round
-Other QF: Suarez Navarro (l. to Ivanovic), Ivanovic (SF - l. to Serena), Jankovic (SF - l. to Errani), Radwanska (l. to Jankovic), Li (l. to Errani)
-Serena, Jankovic, Errani, and Suarez Navarro got back to the quarters after making it there last year too.  The '13 quarterfinalists who didn't make it back were Sharapova (R3 l. to Ivanovic), Halep (R3 w/d), Azarenka (did not play), and Stosur (R3 l. to Li)
-Americans: A good tournament, 13-7 (7-7 not counting Serena) although most of them were in one section of the draw.  Lepchenko beat 16-Stephens in R2 before losing to Serena, McHale reached the third round beating Cirstea and Giorgi but lost to Zhang.  Zhang also beat Davis in R1.  Keys beat Riske then took a set from Halep.  Venus fell to Suarez Navarro in R2 after beating Beck.
-Most of the Italians had a week capped by Errani beating Li and Jankovic to reach the final.  Schiavone and Pennetta both made the 3rd round and Giorgi upset Cibulkova in R1.
-Kerber and Cibulkova both lost their first matches, meaning they are both 0-2 in Madrid and Rome.
-Bencic qualified for another WTA event and won a match, defeating Pavlyuchenkova.  She is now up to no. 81 in the world.
-Puig, who we haven't heard much from in a while, qualified and won a match over Hantuchova
-Serena successfully defended her title.

Players reaching the quarters or better at both Madrid and Rome were Nadal, Ferrer, Serena, Li, Radwanska, and Ivanovic.

Radwanska has reached the quarters at the Australian Open and all 5 Tier I events.  She is the only player on either tour to do this.