Internationali BNL d'Italia, April 26-May 2

[choupi]

Next step on clay for Marcos will be at the Internationali BNL d'Italia next week, in Rome. No doubt he's trained hard with Infantino and let's hope for some good wins there.

Official site of the event: www.internazionalibnlditalia.it/1/default.asp

No draws out yet.

[Michael]

Markos is in Rome - from twitter "Its raining in Rome all morning... had far too much pizza last night and feeling heaving this morning ..... "

[Michael]

Main draw is out - Markos has a tough draw
first round opponent is Gulbis (he is in his best for the last 2-3 months). He reached QF in Barcelona.
second round opponenent ..... Roger Federer .... (lot of memories ..... and no comments)
.....

[getta]

Monday OoP

CENTER COURT

Matches Start At: 1:00 pm
Santiago vs. GIRALDO (COL) vs. Juan Carlos FERRERO (ESP)

followed by
Marcos BAGHDATIS (CYP) vs. Ernests GULBIS (LAT)

followed by
Jan HAJEK (CZE) vs. Potito STARACE (ITA)


Not Before 8:30 PM
Filippo VOLANDRI (ITA) vs. Peter LUCZAK (AUS)

followed by
Jordan KERR (AUS)/Filip POLASEK (SVK) vs. Frantisek CERMAK (CZE)/Michal MERTINAK (SVK)


=========================================================


hmm dunno if i gonna make it tomorrow, i’ll be stuck in the uni library.

my bad luck i guess.

[christos]

Hmm no Marcos didn't make it, he lost in straight sets. I watched a little bit the 2nd set. Clay is not good at all for him..

[choupi]

Latvian Ernests Gulbis snapped a four-match losing streak against Marcos Baghdatis in a 6-2, 6-2 victory in 70 minutes.

From www.atpworldtour.com/News/Tennis/2010/04/17/Rome-Monday-Giraldo-Uspets-Ferrero.aspx

[Ljubica]

Hi guys. Well I was at the match in Rome yesterday, and have to say it was quite a sombre affair Marcos has been doing pretty well in practice to be honest - he played an amazing, one-hour session with Djokovic on Sunday, and he seemed pretty confident, - but he just forgot how to play on clay as soon as he came out on court yesterday.

Ernests is not a natural clay-courter himself, but he was moving Marcos all over the court, and exposing his lack of movement with lots of dropshots and some very clever play. He is certainly not the "ball-basher" Gulbis I remember from a few years back - as proved by today's win over Federer. Marcos seemed lost and somewhat dispirited.

Have to say I am not a fan of the newly built Court Centrale. It is just a copy of Philippe Chatrier at RG - very big and completely lacking in atmosphere when only half full. Too many loges next to the court - not enough fan interraction, and I think Marcos suffered from that "flat" feel. There were a few trusty Cypriot fans, but sitting in the cheapest seats near the back, and even they couldn't make themselves heard.

In other news, Marcos seems happy enough off court - and still working hard with Eduardo and Martin. No Horacio this week, and Pancho did not arrive until yesterday morning, so he has been without his regular sparring partner until now.

Have some photos but no idea how to post them here so will put them on MTF when I have the time, and I'm sure Getta or someone will copy over as before.

That's all for now from the Eternal City of Rome - will report more from Munich next week.

[getta]

Apr 27, 2010 12:36:13 GMT -5 @Ljubica said:

Hi guys. Well I was at the match in Rome yesterday, and have to say it was quite a sombre affair Marcos has been doing pretty well in practice to be honest - he played an amazing, one-hour session with Djokovic on Sunday, and he seemed pretty confident, - but he just forgot how to play on clay as soon as he came out on court yesterday.

so, Rose, you must have been in seventh heaven last Sunday while watching Marcos and Nole practising together.

Ernests is not a natural clay-courter himself, but he was moving Marcos all over the court, and exposing his lack of movement with lots of dropshots and some very clever play. He is certainly not the "ball-basher" Gulbis I remember from a few years back - as proved by today's win over Federer. Marcos seemed lost and somewhat dispirited.

i was lucky to be seeing Ernie in the flesh last week in Barcelona, his match against Jeremy Chardy and his practice session with Robin Soderling... what can i say about Ernie and Robin apart from that Gumy and Magnus Norman found the success formula so both Ernie and Robin got better miraculously. sadly, so far Infantino has failed regarding Marcos.

Have to say I am not a fan of the newly built Court Centrale. It is just a copy of Philippe Chatrier at RG - very big and completely lacking in atmosphere when only half full. Too many loges next to the court - not enough fan interraction, and I think Marcos suffered from that "flat" feel. There were a few trusty Cypriot fans, but sitting in the cheapest seats near the back, and even they couldn't make themselves heard.

In other news, Marcos seems happy enough off court - and still working hard with Eduardo and Martin. No Horacio this week, and Pancho did not arrive until yesterday morning, so he has been without his regular sparring partner until now.

yeah, Marcos is a confidence player and needs to absorb a friendly, lively atmosphere... that he doesn't play his best on the dirt is well known, watching him getting smoked by Ernie is another thing. as you already mentioned, neither Ernie nor Robin are natural clay court specialists themselves and we all know well that it's much more difficult to adjust the game from faster surfaces to clay than the other way around, but the guys have succeeded in showing up. kudos to them! just hope Marcos finds a strong motivation and doesn't continue clowning around on the dirt. keeping on producing results like this against Ernie, would be called absolutely pathetic.

Have some photos but no idea how to post them here so will put them on MTF when I have the time, and I'm sure Getta or someone will copy over as before.

looking forward to them, Rose.

That's all for now from the Eternal City of Rome - will report more from Munich next week.

hehe, on a side note i'm so jealous of you, Rose. i guess that it's much easier for an English woman, a Londoner, to attend European tournaments. Athens is so much isolated in the south Balkan region. anyway, i'll be in Barcelona again next year and hopefully i'll attend one of the clay tournaments this summer (Umag, Bastad, Gstaad). haven't decided yet, but i love the soft footing of clay. young Aussies with Felix and Andy Murray with Alex know exactly what they're doing.

[Ljubica]

Apr 28, 2010 5:12:38 GMT -5 getta said:

so, Rose, you must have been in seventh heaven last Sunday while watching Marcos and Nole practising together.

Yes indeed! I was told that I would have a nice surprise - but I didn't know quite what it would be until they both came out on court!

Apr 28, 2010 5:12:38 GMT -5 getta said:

hehe, on a side note i'm so jealous of you, Rose. i guess that it's much easier for an English woman, a Londoner, to attend European tournaments. Athens is so much isolated in the south Balkan region. anyway, i'll be in Barcelona again next year and hopefully i'll attend one of the clay tournaments this summer (Umag, Bastad, Gstaad). haven't decided yet, but i love the soft footing of clay. young Aussies with Felix and Andy Murray with Alex know exactly what they're doing.

Yes I know that I'm lucky. London is so central for everywhere in Europe - Eurostar gets to Paris in just over 2 hours, and flights are cheap and frequent. If it wasn't for my work I would go to so many more. Glad you enjoyed Barcelona though, and enjoy whichever tournament you choose to attend later on. Umag is very beautiful and would be my choice for sure. I know you like the clay, but you should try a non-clay one too, - you might get a chance to see Marcos play much better too!

[choupi]

Thanks Rose for your report and of course I'm looking forward to your photos. Nice from you to keep us updated here while you're attending tournaments. Hope you keep on having a good time in Rome and Munich next week.