Rafael Nadal and Juan Carlos Ferrero- Getty Images

Nadal Crashes Out of Rome Masters

May 8, 2008

Shock waves were sent through the Internazionali BNL d’Italia event taking place in Rome this week as Spaniard Rafael Nadal crashed out of the tournament in the second round.

The world’s second-ranked player and unquestionably the best man on clay was defeated by countryman Juan Carlos Ferrero 7-5, 6-1, putting an end to his bid for a fourth straight title at the event and snapping a 17-match winning streak at Foro Italico. The win marks only the second time in his career that the 28-year-old Ferrero has been able to upend his younger counterpart. However, in his next match Ferrero was unable to rekindle the magic from the day before as he fell to Stanislas Wawrinka (Switzerland) 6-4, 6-3. Wawrinka’s victory set up a quarter-final match against No. 8 seed James Blake (United States), who was able to rebound after dropping the first set to defeat Fernando Verdasco (Spain) 5-7, 7-5, 6-2. Playing on what has traditionally been a difficult surface for Americans, Blake will be in tough against the talented Swiss player. In their only prior meeting, at the 2005 French Open, Wawrinka emerged victorious after coming back from two sets down.

Despite losing the No. 2 seed, fans in Rome still have plenty of top players to watch and with Nadal no longer in the draw, the path is now clear for a new champion. World No. 1 Roger Federer is looking to capture his first Masters Shield in Italy. He’s reached the final twice in his career (losing to Nadal in 2006 and Spain’s Felix Mantilla in 2003) but has yet to raise the winner’s trophy. He took one step closer to the championship with a 7-6(4), 6-3 win over 6’10” Croatian Ivo Karlovic to move into the quarter-finals. He will face Czech veteran Radek Stepanek, who booked his spot in the round of eight when he triumphed over qualifier Luis Horna (Peru) by a 6-4, 1-6, 6-3 score. Federer has won the last four meetings between the two players, including a crushing 6-1, 6-4 victory in Rome two years ago.

No. 3 seed Novak Djokovic (Serbia) withstood a challenge from Russian Igor Andreev to pull out a 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 victory in their third round contest to advance to the quarter-finals for a second straight year. His opponent will be Spain’s Nicolas Almagro, who reached Rome’s round of eight for the second time in his career when Fernando Gonzalez (Chile) was forced to withdraw from their match with a leg injury. Djokovic and Almagro have never faced one another on the ATP Tour and the contest promises to be a battle between the young Serb’s raw talent and the Spaniard’s prowess on clay.

The fourth quarter-final match up features No. 6 seed Andy Roddick (United States), who defeated Italian Simone Bolelli 7-6(5), 6-3 in the third round. He hasn’t been past the round of eight at this event since 2002 and is well on his way to a strong result in Rome in preparation for the next Grand Slam event at Roland Garros. He will face the winner of the match between No. 4 seed Nikolay Davydenko (Russia) and Tommy Robredo (Spain).