- 2008 Rome Masters
TennisEventInfo|2008|Rome Masters
date=May 5 – May 11 (men)
May 12 – May 18 (women)
edition=65th
champms= flagicon|SRBNovak Djokovic
champws= flagicon|SRBJelena Jankovic
champmd= flagicon|USABob Bryan / flagicon|USAMike Bryan
champwd= flagicon|TPEYung-jan Chan / flagicon|TPEChia-jung Chuang The 2008 Rome Masters was a
tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was the 65th edition of theRome Masters , and was part of theATP Masters Series of the2008 ATP Tour , and of the Tier I Series of the2008 WTA Tour . Both the men's and the women's events took place at theForo Italico inRome ,Italy , with the men playing from May 5 through May 11, 2008, and the women from May 12 through May 18, 2008.The men's field featured World No. 1 and Monte Carlo Masters runner-up
Roger Federer , defending champion, Monte Carlo and Barcelona winnerRafael Nadal , and Australian Open championNovak Djokovic . Others top seeds competing were Miami Masters championNikolay Davydenko , Valencia Open winnerDavid Ferrer ,Andy Roddick ,David Nalbandian , andJames Blake .The women's draw was headlined by WTA No. 2 and Indian Wells champion
Ana Ivanovic , Australian Open winnerMaria Sharapova , and Indian Wells finalistSvetlana Kuznetsova . Other notable names in the field were defending championJelena Jankovic , Miami and Charleston winnerSerena Williams ,Anna Chakvetadze ,Venus Williams , andMarion Bartoli .Review
Men
Third seed
Novak Djokovic overcame a number of upsets to his fellow top seeds to win his fourthATP Masters Series title. [cite news|author=atptennis.com|title=Djokovic Battles to Rome Victory Over New No. 10 Wawrinka| url =http://www.atptennis.com/1/en/2008news/rome_sunday.asp|date =2008-05-13 | accessdate =2008-05-13| language =English] He beat the unseededStanislas Wawrinka in the final, who was aiming to become the second unseeded champion in Rome in theOpen Era , and the first Swiss to win the title here.The tournament was notable for its semifinals, where both
Radek Stepanek andAndy Roddick retired before the completion of their matches. It was the first time this situation had happened at aMasters Series event in ATP history. The two matches combined lasted a mere forty-nine minutes, and fans in attendance were refunded with 50% off tickets for the following week's women's tournament. [cite news|author=ESPN news|title=Roddick (back), Stepanek withdraw from Rome Masters semifinals| url=http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/tennis/news/story?id=3389764|date =2008-05-13 | accessdate =2008-05-13| language =English]The big story at the beginning of the week was
Rafael Nadal 's shock second round loss toJuan Carlos Ferrero , his second defeat in one-hundred-and-five matches on clay. [cite news|author=BBC Sport|title=Nadal falls to shock loss on clay|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/tennis/7386838.stm|date =2008-05-13 | accessdate =2008-05-13| language =English] Nadal was trying to win his third tournament in three weeks. He had earlier complained about the ATP schedule, saying it was "impossible" for the players to maintain their best level at all four of the European clay tournaments back-to-back. [cite news|author=ESPN news|title=Nadal: Schedule ruining tennis in Europe, endangering careers|url=http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/tennis/news/story?id=3376347|date =2008-05-01 | accessdate =2008-05-13| language =English]Bob Bryan andMike Bryan won the doubles title, beatingDaniel Nestor andNenad Zimonjic in the championships match.Women
Jelena Jankovic successfully defended a title for the first time in her career with a straight set victory over qualifierAlize Cornet in the final. [cite news|author=sonyericssonwtatour.com|title=Jankovic Ends Cornet's Run, Wins First Title of Year|url=http://www.sonyericssonwtatour.com/1/newsroom/stories/?ContentID=2267|date =2008-05-18 | accessdate =2008-05-19| language =English] Cornet was the first female qualifier to reach the final at this tournament in theOpen Era . She defeated two Top Ten players,Svetlana Kuznetsova andAnna Chakvetadze to reach the biggest final of her career so far. [cite news|author=CBS Sports|title=Jankovic tops Cornet for second consecutive Italian Open title|url=http://cbs.sportsline.com/tennis/story/10831820/2|date =2008-05-18 | accessdate =2008-05-19| language =English]Like the men's event, the later stages of the women's tournament were hit by two high profile withdrawals.
Serena Williams withdrew before her quarterfinal match with Cornet due to a back injury [cite news|author=ESPN News|title=Serena's injury sends Cornet to semis; Venus loses|url=http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/tennis/news/story?id=3399034|date =2008-05-18 | accessdate =2008-05-19| language =English] , and new World No. 1Maria Sharapova withdrew before her semifinal match with Jankovic due to a left calf injury. [cite news|author=BBC Sport|title=Sharapova injured ahead of Paris|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/tennis/7406301.stm|date =2008-05-17 | accessdate =2008-05-19| language =English]Tsvetana Pironkova caused the biggest shock of the tournament in the second round, beating top seeded and WTA No. 3Ana Ivanovic for her second career Top Ten victory. [cite news|author=cnn.com|title=Top seed Ivanovic out of Italian Open|url=http://edition.cnn.com/2008/SPORT/05/14/tennis.rome.ap/index.html|date =2008-05-14 | accessdate =2008-05-19| language =English] She eventually made her first everTier I quarterfinal, benefitting fromVictoria Azarenka 's retirement in the third round, before losing to Chakvetadze in three sets.The doubles title was won by Taiwanese pairing Yung-jan Chan and
Chia-jung Chuang , after they beatIveta Benesova andJanette Husarova in straight sets to win their first ever Tier I title as a team.Champions
Men's Singles
flagicon|SRB|
Novak Djokovic def. flagicon|SUIStanislas Wawrinka , 4–6, 6–3, 6–3
*It was Novak Djokovic's 3rd title of the year, and his 10th overall. It was his 2nd Masters title of the year, and his 4th overall.Women's Singles
flagicon|SRB
Jelena Jankovic def. flagicon|FRAAlize Cornet , 6–2, 6–2
*It was Jelena Jankovic's 1st title of the year, and her 6th overall. It was her 1st Tier I title of the year, her 3rd overall, and her 2nd consecutive win at the event.Men's Doubles
flagicon|USA
Bob Bryan / flagicon|USAMike Bryan def. flagicon|CANDaniel Nestor / flagicon|SRBNenad Zimonjic , 3–6, 6–4, 10–8Women's Doubles
flagicon|TPE
Yung-jan Chan / flagicon|TPEChia-jung Chuang def. flagicon|CZEIveta Benesova / flagicon|SVKJanette Husarova , 7–6(5), 6–3References
External links
* [http://www.internazionalibnlditalia.it/1/default.asp?LNG=EN Official website]
* [http://www.atptennis.com/1/posting/2008/416/mds.pdf Men's Singles Draw]
* [http://www.atptennis.com/1/posting/2008/416/mdd.pdf Men's Doubles Draw]
* [http://www.atptennis.com/1/posting/2008/416/qs.pdf Men's Qualifying Singles Draw]
* [http://www.sonyericssonwtatour.com/3/global/Pdfs/events/2008/rome_draws.pdf Women's Singles, Doubles and Qualifying Singles Draws]
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