'Fedal' clash in the offing in Rome

Ever since the draw for the Rome Masters was announced, tennis fans all around the world were eagerly waiting for the weekend to arrive, more so for the way the players were grouped. It has been quite a while since a semifinal contest between Nadal and Djoker was ever witnessed and so is the case with the game’s biggest euphoria- “The Fedal Final”, which has been long overdue. However, by the virtue of the uncompromising seeding given to the World No.5, Spanish Armada – in spite of his clear dominance on clay all these years – tennis buffs were assured of this double treat finally.

But just when it looked as though that the Serb and the Spaniard were destined to meet each other in the first of the two semifinals to be held today, World No.6 Tomas Berdych set the tennis stadium ablaze as he shocked the No.1 ranked singles player in a hard fought three-setter, much to the disappointment of every tennis fan. If this upset annoyed the tournament organisers, the other half of the draw has managed to produce a few more shockers right from the beginning of the tournament, courtesy Benoit Paire of France, who reached his first ever semifinal of a Masters event.

So the stage is set now for the four best players of the tournament to exhibit their clay court skills in an endeavour to gain some momentum on their way to French Open which begins on May 26th next week at Roland Garros. Taking into account the current form and accomplishments of the final four, let us do a quick analysis as to who would come on top at the end of both the semifinals.

First Semifinal – Rafael Nadal (5) vs Tomas Berdych (6):

Rafael Nadal

His road to the semifinal, it has to be said, has not been a smooth one for his usual elevated standards. He was made to struggle hard in the round which preceded the quarterfinals where he had to deal with the powerful forehand ground strokes of the multi-talented Ernests Gulbis. Despite being in the receiving end for most part of the match – seeing as much as 59 winners going past him – he managed to weather the storm by some impeccable defensive play which eventually proved too much for the Latvian who ended up making almost equivalent number of unforced errors.

Tomas Berdych

Having defeated Djokovic only once in his career before out of the fourteen meetings till yesterday, he was least expected to surprise the Serb. In fact Novak was in a very commanding position and when he was just a game away from sealing his place in the semifinal, Berdych fought hard from a 5-2 deficit in the second set before taming the 2011 champion at Rome in the decider. The last time when he defeated the Serb it was Rafael Nadal who was waiting for him in the final of Wimbledon 2010 and the situation is no different today as he is about to take on the same man who denied him the maiden grand slam victory at the All England Lawn Tennis Championships, three years back.

Head to Head:If Berdych has not beaten Djoker in the last three years, the situation is even worse in the case of his head to head against the World No.5 Spaniard. He is yet to taste success against him in the last seven years, going down to him on all surfaces. Out of the 16 matches played between the two – the Czech was able to win only on three occasions, the last of which came in the indoor hard court s of Madrid in 2006.

Who holds the advantage?

First serve is the important weapon of the Czech and if he can follow it up with the good combination of ground strokes he can beat anyone in the world. On clay, especially in Rome, he gets extra time to hit the ball which should be counted as an advantage that could go in his favour. However, if he keeps on missing his first serve and serves well below his standards, Nadal will leave no stone unturned in capitalizing on such blemishes.

Nadal, on his part, should not be worried too much about the 2010 Wimbledon finalist. All he needs to do is to play the same way as he did against Gulbis. His exceptional defense on clay and the top spin that he generates off his forehand will test last year’s Madrid runner up to the limit. Once he keeps moving the Czech and makes him play his game (which he does against almost everyone), he is going to dominate the points from the baseline winning “10 plus shots rallies” most of the time.

Second Semifinal – Roger Federer (3) vs Benoit Paire (36):

Roger Federer:

Though the Swiss Maestro, who is currently ranked No.3 in the world, has won almost all the tournaments of a tennis calendar, the masters event at Rome and Monte Carlo continue to remain elusive for him. A certain Rafael Nadal has always remained as a nemesis for him on clay and it looks like he would continue to be the thorn in his flesh for him this year too, should he reach the final. Helped by Del Potro’s exit, masterminded by none other than his semifinal opponent Benoit Paire, the 17 times grand slam champion is very much likely to enter the final without any problem. He is yet to drop a set in this tournament and has been serving quite well too. In his quarterfinal match against Janowicz yesterday, he fired as many as 11 aces which bailed him out on some important points. He has made fewer errors as compared to his opponent and that helped him in defeating the Polish powerhouse last evening. The road to the semis has been rather easier for him till now and it looks like a “Fedal clash” is just a day away.

Benoit Paire

Benoit Paire, is one of the fastest rising stars in ATP circuit. He is currently ranked No.36 in the world and has had his success against some top players like Marin Cilic and Julien Benneteau, to name a few. His biggest victory came two days ago in the ongoing Rome Masters when he outclassed the world No.7, Juan Martin Del Potro in straight sets 6-4 7-6. That triumph over a top 10 player gives us a clear indication that he is not the one who can be taken lightly. He had a terrific start to this season when he reached the semifinals of ATP Chennai open by defeating the Croatian Marin Cilic. Since then, he has started performing steadily which should do his confidence a world of good going into today’s match against Roger Federer. He has streamrolled Marcel Granollers in yesterday’s quarterfinal match 6-1 6-0 and has therefore become the first man to reach Rome’s semifinal this year. It remains to be seen how he handles himself against the great Roger Federer today.

Head to Head

So far, Federer and Paire have played each other twice and no prizes for guessing – it was the Swiss Maestro who came on top on both occasions. However, this is the first time they are going to meet on clay. Incidentally, clay is the favoured surface for the Frenchman and so an upset cannot be ruled out totally today.

Who holds the advantage?

The lethal double handed backhand of Benoit can provide some hard times for the World No.3 Swiss but the latter has enough weapons in his repertoire to deny an upset. If Federer serves work as well as it did yesterday, except for a minor blip which we saw in the opening game of the second set, he would not find any problem in prevailing over his French opponent. Federer seems to be well organized in his movement on the baseline so far and his shots are finding the line as he wanted. It will not be an easier task for Paire who is playing his first masters semis.