2008 Rome Masters - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The 2008 Rome Masters was a tennis

Tennis

Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...

tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was the 65th edition of the Rome Masters

Rome Masters

The Italian Open is an annual tennis tournament held in Rome, Italy. It is the most prestigious red clay tennis tournament in the world after the French Open, with the men's competition being an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event on the Association of Tennis Professionals tour, and the women's...

, and was part of the ATP Masters Series

ATP Masters Series

The ATP Masters Series was a series of nine tennis tournaments that formed part of the Association of Tennis Professionals tour, held annually throughout the year in Europe, North America...

of the 2008 ATP Tour

2008 ATP Tour

The ATP Tour is the elite tour for professional tennis organized by the Association of Tennis Professionals. The ATP Tour includes the four Grand Slam tournaments, the Tennis Masters Cup, the ATP Masters Series, the International Series Gold and the International Series tournaments.-Schedule:This...

, and of the Tier I Series of the 2008 WTA Tour

2008 WTA Tour

The 2008 Sony Ericsson WTA Tour was the 36th season since the founding of the Women's Tennis Association. It commenced on December 31, 2007, and concluded on November 9, 2008 after 59 events.The season was characterised by its frequent changes in the No...

. Both the men's and the women's events took place at the Foro Italico

Foro Italico

Foro Italico is a sports complex in Rome, Italy. It was built between 1928 and 1938 as the Foro Mussolini under the design of Enrico Del Debbio and, later, Luigi Moretti...

in Rome, 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

2008 Monte Carlo Masters

The 2008 Masters Series Monte-Carlo was a tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was the 102nd edition of the Monte Carlo Masters, and was part of the ATP Masters Series of the 2008 ATP Tour...

runner-up Roger Federer

Roger Federer

Roger Federer is a Swiss professional tennis player who held the ATP no. 1 position for a record 237 consecutive weeks, and 285 weeks overall. As of 28 November 2011, he is ranked World No. 3 by the Association of Tennis Professionals . Federer has won a men's record 16 Grand Slam singles titles...

, defending champion

2007 Rome Masters

The 2007 Internazionali BNL d'Italia was the 2007 edition of the Rome Masters tennis tournament. The men's tournament was part of the 2007 ATP Masters Series and was held on May 5-13...

, Monte Carlo

2008 Monte Carlo Masters

and Barcelona

2008 Torneo Godó

The 2008 Open Sabadell Atlántico Barcelona was a tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was the 56th edition of the Torneo Godó, and was part of the International Series Gold of the 2008 ATP Tour...

winner Rafael Nadal

Rafael Nadal

Rafael "Rafa" Nadal Parera is a Spanish professional tennis player and a former World No. 1. , he is ranked No. 2 by the Association of Tennis Professionals...

, and Australian Open

2008 Australian Open

The 2008 Australian Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the 96th edition of the Australian Open, and the first Grand Slam event of the year. It took place at the Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia, from 14 through 27 January 2008.After twenty years of playing on...

champion Novak Djokovic

Novak Djokovic

Novak Djokovic is a Serbian professional tennis player who has been ranked world no. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals since 4 July 2011. He has won four Grand Slam singles titles: the 2008 and 2011 Australian Open, the 2011 Wimbledon Championships, and the 2011 US Open...

. Others top seeds competing were Miami Masters

2008 Miami Masters

The 2008 Miami Masters was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the 24th edition of the Miami Masters, and was part of the ATP Masters Series of the 2008 ATP Tour, and of the Tier I Series of the 2008 WTA Tour...

champion Nikolay Davydenko

Nikolay Davydenko

Nikolay Vladimirovich Davydenko is a Ukrainian-Russian tennis player. Davydenko's best result in a Grand Slam tournament has been reaching the semifinals, which he has done on four occasions: twice each at the French Open and the U.S. Open. His biggest achievement to date was winning the 2009 ATP...

, Valencia Open

2008 Open de Tenis Comunidad Valenciana

The 2008 Open de Tenis Comunidad Valenciana was a tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was the 13th edition of the Open de Tenis Comunidad Valenciana, and was part of the International Series of the 2008 ATP Tour. It took place at the Club de Tenis Valencia in Valencia, Spain, from...

winner David Ferrer

David Ferrer

David Ferrer Ern is a Spanish professional tennis player who lives in Valencia, Spain who is currently no. 5 in the ATP Rankings and the second-highest ranked Spaniard behind world no. 2 Rafael Nadal. He turned professional in 2000...

, Andy Roddick

Andy Roddick

Andrew Stephen "Andy" Roddick is an American professional tennis player and a former World No. 1. He is currently the second highest-ranked American player, behind Mardy Fish....

, David Nalbandian

David Nalbandian

David Pablo Nalbandian is an Argentine professional tennis player and former world no. 3. He was runner-up at the 2002 Wimbledon Championships and the winner of the Tennis Masters Cup in 2005.-Biography:...

, and James Blake

James Blake

James Riley Blake is an American professional tennis player. Blake is known for his speed and powerful, flat forehand. As of August 2011, Blake is ranked no. 63 among active male players with 24 career finals appearances...

.

The women's draw was headlined by WTA

Women's Tennis Association

The Women's Tennis Association , founded in 1973 by Billie Jean King, is the principal organizing body of Women's Professional Tennis. It governs the WTA Tour which is the worldwide professional tennis tour for women. Its counterpart organization in the men's professional game is the Association of...

No. 2 and Indian Wells

2008 Indian Wells Masters

The 2008 Indian Wells Masters was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the 32nd edition of the Indian Wells Masters, and was part of the ATP Masters Series of the 2008 ATP Tour, and of the Tier I Series of the 2008 WTA Tour...

champion Ana Ivanović

Ana Ivanovic

Ana Ivanović is a former world no. 1 Serbian tennis player. As of November 7, 2011, she is ranked 22th on the WTA rankings. She beat Dinara Safina to win the 2008 French Open and was the runner-up in singles at the 2007 French Open and the 2008 Australian Open...

, Australian Open

2008 Australian Open

winner Maria Sharapova

Maria Sharapova

Maria Yuryevna Sharapova ,. is a Russian professional tennis player and a former world no. 1. A US resident since 1994, Sharapova has won 24 WTA singles titles, including three Grand Slam singles titles at the 2004 Wimbledon, 2006 US Open and 2008 Australian Open...

, and Indian Wells

2008 Indian Wells Masters

finalist Svetlana Kuznetsova

Svetlana Kuznetsova

Svetlana Aleksandrovna Kuznetsova ; born June 27, 1985) is a Russian professional tennis player and as of October 10, 2011 ranked No. 21 in the WTA singles and No. 90 in the doubles ranking. Kuznetsova has appeared in four singles Grand Slam finals, winning two, and has also appeared in six doubles...

. Other notable names in the field were defending champion

2007 Rome Masters

The 2007 Internazionali BNL d'Italia was the 2007 edition of the Rome Masters tennis tournament. The men's tournament was part of the 2007 ATP Masters Series and was held on May 5-13...

Jelena Janković

Jelena Janković is a former world no. 1 professional tennis player from Serbia. She reached the final of the 2008 US Open and won the 2007 Wimbledon Mixed Doubles title. Janković is ranked world no...

, Miami

2008 Miami Masters

and Charleston

2008 Family Circle Cup

The 2008 Family Circle Cup was a women's tennis Tier I event on the 2008 WTA Tour, which took place from April 14 to April 20, 2008. The event was hosted at the Family Circle Tennis Center, in Charleston, South Carolina, United States and was the second event of the clay court season, played on...

winner Serena Williams

Serena Williams

Serena Jameka Williams is an American professional tennis player and a former world no. 1. The Women's Tennis Association has ranked her world no. 1 in singles on five separate occasions. She became the world no. 1 for the first time on July 8, 2002 and regained this ranking for the fifth time on...

, Anna Chakvetadze

Anna Chakvetadze

Anna Djambulilovna Chakvetadze is a Russian professional tennis player . On September 10, 2007, she reached her career-high professional singles ranking of World No. 5. She has won eight WTA Singles Titles and appeared in the 2007 US Open semifinals. As of July 4, 2011, Chakvetadze is ranked World...

, Venus Williams

Venus Williams

Venus Ebony Starr Williams is an American professional tennis player who is a former World No. 1 and is ranked World No. 101 as of 10 October 2011 in singles and World No. 20 in doubles as of 2011. She has been ranked World No. 1 in singles by the Women's Tennis Association on three separate...

, and Marion Bartoli

Marion Bartoli

Marion Bartoli is a French professional tennis player and the current French no. 1. She has won seven Women's Tennis Association singles titles and three doubles titles. She was also a runner-up at the 2007 Wimbledon Championships....

Men

Third seed Novak Djokovic

Novak Djokovic

overcame a number of upsets to his fellow top seeds to win his fourth ATP Masters Series

ATP Masters Series

The ATP Masters Series was a series of nine tennis tournaments that formed part of the Association of Tennis Professionals tour, held annually throughout the year in Europe, North America...

title. He beat the unseeded Stanislas Wawrinka

Stanislas Wawrinka

Stanislas Wawrinka is a Swiss professional tennis player. He also holds German citizenship as his father is German. His career ranking high is no. 9, achieved on 9 June 2008. He considers clay his best surface and his backhand his best shot...

in the final, who was aiming to become the second unseeded champion in Rome in the Open Era

Open era

Open era or Open Era may refer to:* Open Era , the period since 1968 where professionals can compete in Grand Slams* Glasnost era, the increased openness in the Soviet Union from the mid-1980s...

, and the first Swiss to win the title here.

The tournament was notable for its semifinals, where both Radek Štěpánek

Radek Štepánek

Radek Štěpánek is a professional tennis player from the Czech Republic.-Career:Štěpánek turned professional in 1997. He started on tour as a doubles specialist, winning 12 ATP titles. Since 2002, Štěpánek has focused on being a better singles player while still playing top-level doubles...

and Andy Roddick

Andy Roddick

Andrew Stephen "Andy" Roddick is an American professional tennis player and a former World No. 1. He is currently the second highest-ranked American player, behind Mardy Fish....

retired before the completion of their matches. It was the first time this situation had happened at a Masters Series

ATP World Tour Masters 1000

The ATP World Tour Masters 1000 is a series of nine tennis tournaments that are part of the Association of Tennis Professionals tour, held annually throughout the year in Europe, North America and Asia...

event in ATP

Association of Tennis Professionals

The Association of Tennis Professionals or ATP was formed in 1972 by Donald Dell, Jack Kramer, and Cliff Drysdale to protect the interests of male professional tennis players. Since 1990, the association has organized the worldwide tennis tour for men and linked the title of the tour with the...

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.

The big story at the beginning of the week was Rafael Nadal

Rafael Nadal

Rafael "Rafa" Nadal Parera is a Spanish professional tennis player and a former World No. 1. , he is ranked No. 2 by the Association of Tennis Professionals...

's shock second round loss to Juan Carlos Ferrero

Juan Carlos Ferrero

Juan Carlos Ferrero Donat is a professional tennis player, and a former world no. 1 player, from Spain. He captured the men's singles title at the 2003 French Open, and in September of that year, he became the 21st player to hold the world no. 1 ranking. He was also the runner-up at the 2002...

, his second defeat in one-hundred-and-five matches on clay. 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.

Bob Bryan

Bob Bryan

Robert Charles "Bob" Bryan is an American male professional tennis player. With his twin brother Mike, he has spent over 200 weeks as a World No. 1 doubles player. He has won eighteen Grand Slam titles, 11 in men's doubles and seven in mixed doubles. He turned professional in 1998...

and Mike Bryan

Mike Bryan

Michael Carl "Mike" Bryan is an American professional tennis player. He stands tall, weighs 192 lbs and plays right-handed. He turned professional in 1998. With his twin brother Bob, he has been World No...

won the doubles title, beating Daniel Nestor

Daniel Nestor

Daniel Mark Nestor, CM , born Danijel Nestorović September 4, 1972, in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, is a Serbian-born Canadian professional tennis player from Toronto, Ontario, Canada....

and Nenad Zimonjić

Nenad Zimonjic

Nenad Zimonjić is a professional Serbian tennis player who is currently ranked World No. 3 in men's doubles. He is the second tennis doubles player from Serbia to hold the World No.1, after Slobodan Živojinović.-Career:...

in the championships match.

Women

Jelena Janković

successfully defended a title for the first time in her career with a straight set victory over qualifier Alizé Cornet

Alizé Cornet

Alizé Cornet is a French professional tennis player and the current French number three . She was born in Nice, Alpes-Maritimes, and has a career-high ranking of No. 11, achieved on 16 February 2009; as of 4 July 2011 she is ranked World No. 69...

in the final. Cornet was the first female qualifier to reach the final at this tournament in the Open Era

Open era

Open era or Open Era may refer to:* Open Era , the period since 1968 where professionals can compete in Grand Slams* Glasnost era, the increased openness in the Soviet Union from the mid-1980s...

. She defeated two Top Ten players, Svetlana Kuznetsova

Svetlana Kuznetsova

and Anna Chakvetadze

Anna Chakvetadze

to reach the biggest final of her career so far.

Like the men's event, the later stages of the women's tournament were hit by two high profile withdrawals. Serena Williams

Serena Williams

withdrew before her quarterfinal match with Cornet due to a back injury, and new World No. 1 Maria Sharapova

Maria Sharapova

withdrew before her semifinal match with Janković due to a left calf injury.

Tsvetana Pironkova

Tsvetana Pironkova

Tsvetana Kirilova Pironkova is a female Bulgarian tennis player. She was born and lives in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. Pironkova is right-handed and plays with a two-handed backhand....

caused the biggest shock of the tournament in the second round, beating top seeded and WTA

Women's Tennis Association

No. 3 Ana Ivanović

Ana Ivanovic

for her second career Top Ten victory. She eventually made her first ever Tier I quarterfinal, benefitting from Victoria Azarenka

Victoria Azarenka

Victoria Azarenka is a Belarusian professional tennis player. Her career high and current ranking is world no. 3, which she first achieved on 12 September 2011. She became the highest-ranked Belarusian player ever, surpassing Natasha Zvereva by two spots....

's retirement in the third round, before losing to Chakvetadze in three sets.

The doubles title was won by Taiwanese pairing Yung-jan Chan

Chan Yung-jan

Chan Yung-jan , Taiwan) is a professional female tennis player from Republic of China . She has won 13 ITF singles titles; and 7 WTA and 11 ITF doubles titles. Her career highlights include semifinals in the Japan Open in 2006 and finals in the PTT Bangkok Open in 2007 Chan Yung-jan , Taiwan) is a...

and Chia-jung Chuang, after they beat Iveta Benešová

Iveta Benešová

Iveta Benešová is a professional tennis player. She began playing tennis at age of 7 and turned professional in 1998 in Prague. She has won two WTA Tour events and one Grand Slam in mixed doubles partnering with Jürgen Melzer at the 2011 Wimbledon Championships.-2006–2008:In the 2006 Australian...

and Janette Husárová

Janette Husárová

Janette Husárová is a professional female tennis player from Slovakia. She is probably best remembered for winning the WTA Tour Championships women's doubles title in 2002 partenering Russian Elena Dementieva...

in straight sets to win their first ever Tier I title as a team.

Men's Singles

Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic is a Serbian professional tennis player who has been ranked world no. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals since 4 July 2011. He has won four Grand Slam singles titles: the 2008 and 2011 Australian Open, the 2011 Wimbledon Championships, and the 2011 US Open...

def.

Stanislas 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

Jelena Janković
Jelena Janković
Jelena Janković is a former world no. 1 professional tennis player from Serbia. She reached the final of the 2008 US Open and won the 2007 Wimbledon Mixed Doubles title. Janković is ranked world no...

def.

Alizé Cornet

6–2, 6–2

It was Jelena Janković'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

Bob Bryan
Bob Bryan
Robert Charles "Bob" Bryan is an American male professional tennis player. With his twin brother Mike, he has spent over 200 weeks as a World No. 1 doubles player. He has won eighteen Grand Slam titles, 11 in men's doubles and seven in mixed doubles. He turned professional in 1998...

/

Mike Bryan
Mike Bryan
Michael Carl "Mike" Bryan is an American professional tennis player. He stands tall, weighs 192 lbs and plays right-handed. He turned professional in 1998. With his twin brother Bob, he has been World No...

def.

Daniel Nestor

Daniel Mark Nestor, CM , born Danijel Nestorović September 4, 1972, in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, is a Serbian-born Canadian professional tennis player from Toronto, Ontario, Canada....

Nenad Zimonjić

Nenad Zimonjic

3–6, 6–4, [10–8]

Women's Doubles

Yung-jan Chan /

Chia-jung Chuang def.

Iveta Benešová

Janette Husárová

7–6 (7–5), 6–3

External links

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