The Super Four have now been cut down to the Super Three as Andy Murray has had to withdraw from the 2015 Rome Masters Open due to exhaustion. That’s not surprising as he’s been going on fumes for some time now, but that leaves Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal to duke it out. Nadal and Federer could wind up in the semi-finals and Djokovic has a shot at going to finals with either of the two.
The remaining 16 players are all in action on a blockbuster Day 5 in Rome. Eight of the world’s Top 10 feature, with Novak Djokovic,Roger Federer, Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal, who boast 83 ATP Masters 1000 titles between them, headlining the day’s play at the Foro Italico. Three players are looking to continue their run of reaching the QF at every tournament they have contested this season: Djokovic (6 of 6), Murray (7 of 7) and Tomas Berdych (8 of 8).
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•   GLOBAL GAME: Five continents and 12 countries are represented in the round of 16. Spain lead the way with three representatives, joining Serbia (2), Switzerland (2), Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Czech Republic, Great Britain, Italy, Japan, South Africa and USA.
•   BIG SIX TITLE FEAT: Djokovic is on a 33-match winning streak at the highest-level tournaments: Grand Slams, ATP Masters 1000s and Barclays ATP World Tour Finals:
2015 ATP Masters 1000 Rome          vs. Bellucci   33-0
2015 ATP Masters 1000 Monte-Carlo   d. Berdych    32-0
2015 ATP Masters 1000 Miami        d. Murray    27-0
2015 ATP Masters 1000 Indian Wells   d. Federer   21-0
2015 Australian Open                     d. Murray    16-0
2014 Barclays ATP World Tour Finals   d. Federer   9-0
2014 ATP Masters 1000 Paris         d. Raonic     5-0
•   MURRAY ON A ROLL: Murray is off to a career-best 10-0 start on clay, capturing his first ATP World Tour clay title in Munich (d. Kohlschreiber) and his 10th ATP Masters 1000 title at the weekend in Madrid (d. Nadal). In fact, 13.7% of his career wins on clay have come in the past 14 days. He takes onDavid Goffin today having never lost a tour-level match against a Belgian (7-0). Sadly, Murray had to pull out today citing fatigue.
•   ISNER’S SERVE: John Isner goes into his contest with Nadal having held serve in 84 consecutive service games. He was last broken in the fourth game of the third set in his 3R loss to Nadal in Monte-Carlo on April 16. On European clay this season, he has held in 127 of 129 games: Monte-Carlo (45 of 47; 11 of 13 BPs), Madrid (60 of 60; 5 of 5 BPs) and Rome (22 of 22; 1 of 1 BPs).
DAY 5 FEDEX ATP HEAD2HEADS
CENTRALE
[16] John Isner (USA)         vs         [4] Rafael Nadal (ESP)
FedEx ATP Head2Head: Nadal leads 5-0
•   Isner came through his opening two rounds unscathed, seeing off Joao Sousa 7-5, 6-3 and Leonardo Mayer 7-6(6), 6-4.
•   Isner hasn’t had his serve broken in 84 consecutive service games. His run dates back to the 3R at Monte-Carlo when today’s opponent, Nadal, converted on one of his five BP opportunities in a three-set win.
•   Isner is back in Rome for the sixth time. He fell in the 1R here on three of his five previous appearances and this is his first time advancing beyond the 2R.
•   Last week in Madrid Isner became the first American to reach the QF of an ATP Masters 1000 event on clay since Andy Roddick in Madrid 2009. He fell to Tomas Berdych after holding 1 MP.
•   Isner hit 29 aces in his loss to Berdych, a record for most aces in a three-set match on clay.
•   Isner’s season to-date has been highlighted by a SF appearance in Miami (d. No. 6 Raonic in 4R, No. 5 Nishikori in QF; l. to Djokovic).
•   Isner has a 16-38 record lifetime vs. Top 10 opponents and is 2-5 this year.
•   Isner ended 2014 as the top-ranked American for the third straight season, finishing in the Top 20 for the fifth year in a row. He won two titles in Auckland (d. Lu) and Atlanta (d. Sela).
•   Nadal eased through his opening match, dropping just two games in his victory over Marsel Ilhan.
•   Nadal has reached the Rome final in nine of his ten appearances, winning seven titles: 2005 (d. Coria), 2006 (d. Federer), 2007 (d. Gonzalez), 2009 (d. Djokovic), 2010 (d. Ferrer), 2012 (d. Djokovic) and 2013 (d. Federer). He has lost just three matches here.
•   Nadal suffered his first defeat to Murray on clay in the Madrid final on Sunday. It was his fourth clay court defeat of the season. The last time he lost at least four matches on the surface in a single season was in his rookie campaign in 2003.
•   Nadal dropped to No. 7 in the Emirates ATP Rankings on Monday, putting him outside the Top 5 for the first time in a decade (No. 7 – May 2, 2005). That week the Top 10 were: 1) Federer, 2) Hewitt, 3) Roddick, 4) Safin, 5) Gaudio, 6) Henman, 7) Nadal, 8) Moya, 9) Agassi, 10) Nalbandian.
•   Nadal has a 16-4 record on clay this season with his four losses coming against Djokovic (Monte-Carlo SF), Fognini twice (Rio de Janeiro SF and Barcelona 3R) and Murray.
•   In February, Nadal won the 46th clay court title of his career in Buenos Aires (d. Monaco), and is now just three short of Guillermo Vilas’ record clay court title haul of 49. His victory in Argentina ended a nine-month trophy drought dating back to Roland Garros 2014 (d. Djokovic).
•   In March, Nadal fell in the QF at Indian Wells (l. to Raonic after holding three MPs) and the 3R in Miami (l. to Verdasco).
•   Nadal lost his opening match of the season, 1R in Doha (l. to Michael Berrer), before reaching the QF of the Australian Open (l. to Berdych).
•   In 2014, Nadal finished in the Top 3 for the ninth time in the past 10 years (except 2012), capturing four titles in seven finals. The Spaniard extended his streak of winning at least one Grand Slam title per year to a record 10th year in a row with his ninth victory at Roland Garros. His 14 Slam titles are tied second all-time with Pete Sampras, behind Roger Federer(17).
[15] Kevin Anderson (RSA)      vs         [2] Roger Federer (SUI)
FedEx ATP Head2Head: Federer leads 2-0
•   Anderson ended a three-match losing streak in the 1R, overcomingFlorian Mayer 7-6(3), 4-6, 7-6(4) in two hours and 54 minutes. His 2R opponent Philipp Kohlschreiber retired while trailing 0-3 due to an elbow injury.
•   Anderson is making his fifth appearance in Rome. This is the second time he has reached the round of 16 here; the last came in 2013 (l. to Berdych).
•   Anderson reached a ninth ATP World Tour final in Memphis in February (l. to Nishikori, falling to 2-7 in finals).
•   Anderson’s best clay performance of the season came in Houston where he advanced to the SF before falling to eventual champion Jack Sock.
•   On January 19, Anderson rose to a career high No. 15 in the Emirates ATP Rankings after advancing to the SF in Auckland (l. to Vesely). He went on to reach the 4R at the Australian Open (l. to Nadal).
•   Anderson has a 7-41 career record against Top 10 opposition with his most recent win coming against then World No. 4 Stan Wawrinka at the ATP Masters 1000 event in Paris last October.
•   In 2014, Anderson became the first South African to post back-to-back Top 20 seasons since Wayne Ferreira (1994-96) after reaching the QF or better eight times during the year.
•   Federer saw off Pablo Cuevas for the second time in three weeks to reach the 3R.
•   Federer returns to Rome for the 15th time. He is still chasing a first title here, falling in the final three times: 2003 (l. to Felix Mantilla), 2006 (l. to Nadal) and 2013 (l. to Nadal).
•   Last year, Federer stumbled in his opening match at the Foro Italico, losing to Jeremy Chardy.
•   Federer suffered an early exit in Madrid, falling to Nick Kyrgios in his opening match. It was the Swiss’ first loss to a player aged 20 or younger since defeat to Del Potro in the 2009 US Open final.
•   After a 3R loss to Gael Monfils in Monte-Carlo, Federer bounced back by capturing an 85th career title in Istanbul earlier this month (d. Cuevas). Turkey became the 19th different country in which he has won an ATP World Tour title.
•   Only two players in ATP history have won more titles than Federer (85):Jimmy Connors (109) and Ivan Lendl (94).
•   En route to his title in Istanbul, Federer clinched his 200th match win on clay, becoming the seventh active player to do so.
•   In January, Federer recorded his 1000th ATP match win in the Brisbane final (d. Raonic) before a shock 3R exit at the Australian Open (l. to Seppi).
•   In February, Federer claimed his second title of the season in Dubai (d. Djokovic).
•   In March, Federer advanced to the final of Indian Wells (l. to Djokovic).
•   In 2014, Federer finished in the Top 2 for the 10th time, winning five titles including two ATP Masters 1000 crowns. Aged 33, he was the oldest player to finish in the Top 2 of the Emirates ATP Rankings (since 1973), and was the first to finish in the Top 10 for 13 years in a row (2003-2015) since Lendl (1980-1992). He also won a first Davis Cup title for Switzerland.
[1] Novak Djokovic (SRB)      vs         [Q] Thomaz Bellucci (BRA)
FedEx ATP Head2Head: Djokovic leads 2-0
•   Djokovic captured his 150th career clay-court win and a 30th in Rome with a 6-1, 6-7(5), 6-3 defeat of Nicolas Almagro in his opening match.
•   Djokovic returns to Rome for the ninth time. He has reached at least the QF here on all eight of his previous visits, winning the title in 2008 (d. Wawrinka), 2011 (d. Nadal) and 2014 (d. Nadal).
•   Djokovic’s lone clay-court outing this year came in Monte-Carlo where he became the first player to capture the opening three ATP Masters 1000 events of the season. In the Principality, the Serb closed with three consecutive Top 10 wins over Marin Cilic, Rafael Nadal and Tomas Berdych.
•   Djokovic is in on an 18-match winning streak, which also includes his title runs in Indian Wells (d. Federer) and Miami (d. Murray). His victory at Indian Wells saw him become the 11th player in the Open Era to win 50 titles, surpassing Rod Laver and coach Boris Becker, who both finished their careers on 49. He now has 52 titles to his name.
•   Djokovic has won 23 ATP Masters 1000 titles during his career, putting him level with Federer (23) and four short of Nadal (27). The trio rank in the Top 3 for titles won at this tournament level.
•   In January, Djokovic became the first man in the Open Era to win fiveAustralian Open titles, defeating Murray in the final. It was his eighth Grand Slam crown, putting him level with Agassi, Connors, Lendl, Perry and Rosewall in eighth place on the all-time list for most major titles.
•   Djokovic’s last defeat came against Federer in the Dubai final in early March. His only other loss this year came in the opening week of the season, falling to Ivo Karlovic in the Doha QF.
•   Since falling to Nadal in last year’s Roland Garros final, Djokovic has posted a 23-2 record against fellow Top 10 players. He has captured victories over eight different Top 10 players this season – has not faced Nishikori – and he leads the tour with an 11-1 record vs. Top 10 foes in 2015.
•   Djokovic has won a 6-0 set on 10 separate occasions this season. This is the third time he has won 10-more 6-0 sets in a season, after posting 13 in 2011 and 14 in 2013.
•   In 2014, Djokovic finished the season at No. 1 for the third time in four years, winning an ATP World Tour-high seven titles in eight finals. His season was highlighted by capturing a second Wimbledon crown, four ATP Masters 1000 titles and the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in London.
•   Bellucci advanced to the round of 16 here for the second time with wins over Diego Schwartzman and Roberto Bautista Agut.
•   This is Bellucci’s fifth visit to Rome. He also reached this stage in 2010 (l. to Djokovic).
•   Bellucci’s best showing this year was a SF outing at the inaugural tournament in Quito at the beginning of February (l. to Estrella Burgos).
•   Bellucci has a 5-23 record vs. Top 10 opponents with his most recent win coming against No. 8 Janko Tipsarevic in the Gstaad final almost three years ago.
•   The last Brazilian to topple a World No. 1 was Gustavo Kuerten (d. Federer in 3R at Roland Garros in 2004).
•   In 2014, Bellucci finished in the Top 75 for the fifth time in the past six years (except ’13) with his best result a SF on home soil in São Paulo (l. to Delbonis). He also reached five QFs.
GRANDSTAND
Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (ESP)   vs         [7] David Ferrer (ESP)
FedEx ATP Head2Head: Ferrer leads 6-1
•   Garcia-Lopez upset World No. 10 Marin Cilic 6-4, 6-3 in his opening match before seeing off qualifier Alexandr Dolgopolov by the same scoreline.
•   With his win over Cilic, Garcia-Lopez now has a 12-36 career record vs. Top 10 opponents.
•   Garcia-Lopez is back in the Rome main draw for the fourth time. He reached the 3R here once before, in 2010 (l. to Verdasco).
•   Garcia-Lopez came in off the back of a 1R loss to Fernando Verdasco in Madrid last week.
•   Garcia-Lopez clinched his fourth career title in Zagreb in February (d. Seppi) and his fifth in Bucharest last month (d. No. 15 Monfils in SF, Vesely in F). It’s the first time he has won multiple titles in a single season.
•   Garcia-Lopez also reached the SF in Estoril (l. to Gasquet in 3rd set TB) earlier this month.
•   In 2014, Garcia-Lopez posted his second Top 40 season (also 2010), ending a four-year trophy drought by capturing the title in Casablanca (d. Granollers).
•   Ferrer hit 30 wins for the season with a 6-4, 7-5 defeat of Richard Gasquet in his opening match.
•   Ferrer is making his 12th appearance in Rome. He has reached at least the QF here five times, including the last four years in a row, with his best result a runner-up showing in 2010 (d. No. 5 Murray, No. 10 Tsonga, No. 9 Verdasco; l. to Nadal).
•   Ferrer has reached the QF-or-better at 11 of his last 13 ATP Masters 1000 events, including three this year in Miami (l. to Djokovic), Monte-Carlo (l. to Nadal) and Madrid (l. to Nishikori).
•   Ferrer has won three titles this year, bringing his career haul to 24. He captured the Doha title in the opening week of the season (d. Berdych), before posting back-to-back tournament wins at the ATP 500 events in Rio de Janeiro (d. Fognini) and Acapulco (d. Nishikori). He became the first player since Ivan Lendl in 1985 to win back-to-back tournaments on two different surfaces.
•   In 2014, Ferrer finished in the Top 10 for the fifth year in a row and sixth overall, reaching the QF or better 17 times, while clinching a lone title in Buenos Aires (d. Fognini).
[3] Andy Murray (GBR)         vs         David Goffin (BEL)
FedEx ATP Head2Head: Murray leads 1-0
•   Murray won his 10th successive match on clay in the opening round, defeating Jeremy Chardy 6-4, 6-3 without dropping serve once.
•   Murray’s record for clay-court match wins in a single season is 12 (2011).
•   Murray is contesting the Internazionali BNL d’Italia for the 10th time. His best showing here was a SF appearance in 2011 (l. to Djokovic in a 3rd set TB). Last season, he fell to Nadal in the QF.
•   Murray arrived in Rome with a 9-0 record on clay this season, having won the titles in Munich (d. Kohlschreiber) and Madrid (d. No. 6 Raonic, No. 5 Nishikori, No. 4 Nadal). They were his first ever tournament wins on clay.
•   Murray’s victory in Madrid was his 10th at ATP Masters 1000 level and his first in more than two years. It also marked his 33rd title overall, which saw him break into the Top 20 Open Era title leaders, joining Arthur Ashe andMats Wilander in 19th place.
•   In March, Murray advanced to the SF at Indian Wells and the final in Miami, losing to Djokovic each time. With his 4R win over Anderson in Miami, Murray became the first British player to hit 500 wins. He defeated 185 different opponents from 50 different countries en route to the milestone.
•   Murray opened his season by reaching the Australian Open final for the fourth time (l. to Djokovic).
•   Murray has reached at least the QF in 16 of his last 17 tournaments (94%), which is the highest percentage on tour over the last 10 months.
•   Murray has never lost a tour-level match to a Belgian (7-0).
•   In 2014, Murray finished in the Top 6 for the seventh year in a row, winning three titles.
•   Goffin edged past Italian qualifier Andreas Arnaboldi 5-7, 6-2, 6-1 in his opening match before saving three MPs en route to a 6-2, 4-6, 7-5 upset ofJo-Wilfried Tsonga.
•   Goffin is making his Internazionali BNL d’Italia debut.
•   Goffin opened his season with a SF run in Chennai (l. to Wawrinka). He failed to go beyond the 2R at his next five tournaments – Sydney, Australian Open, Rotterdam, Marseille and Dubai – before advancing to the 4R in Miami (l. to Nishikori). He also reached the Munich QF two weeks ago (l. to Kohlschreiber),
•   Goffin has a 1-16 record vs. Top 10 opponents with his lone win coming against No. 9 Milos Raonic en route to the final in Basel in October last year.
•   In 2014, Goffin finished as his country’s highest-ranked player with a year-end high No. 22, rising 91 places from 2013. After compiling a 3-11 mark from January to the middle of July, he closed the season with a 22-4 record, winning his first ATP World Tour titles in Kitzbühel (d. Thiem in first ATP final featuring 2 players born in 90s) and Metz (d. Sousa). Won ATP Comeback Player of the Year.
Viktor Troicki (SRB)         vs         [5] Kei Nishikori (JPN)
FedEx ATP Head2Head: Nishikori leads 2-1
•   Troicki halted his four-match losing streak in the opening round, edging past Bernard Tomic 7-6(3), 6-7(4), 7-6(4) in two hours and 47 minutes. He followed with another impressive win, overcoming No. 11 seed Feliciano Lopez 6-7(2), 6-4, 6-3.
•   Troicki is contesting this event for the fifth time. This is the first time he has gone beyond the 2R.
•   Troicki opened his season in Sydney, where he came through qualifying before capturing his second career title (d. Kukushkin). It was the first all-qualifier final in ATP World Tour history.
•   Troicki also reached a pair of QFs in February: Zagreb (l. to Garcia-Lopez) and Acapulco (l. to Anderson).
•   Troicki has a 4-50 record vs. Top 10 opponents with his most recent win coming against then world No. 5 David Ferrer in Shenzhen last September.
•   In 2014, Troicki finished just outside the Top 100 at No. 102 after climbing more than 700 places during the season. He reached his first ATP World Tour SF in three years as a qualifier in Vienna in October (l. to Murray).
•   Nishikori clinched his 30th win of the season, fending off Jiri Vesely 7-6(3), 7-5 in his opener.
•   Nishikori is making just his second main draw appearance in Rome. He fell to Jeremy Chardy in the 2R in his only previous visit here in 2013.
•   Nishikori’s eight-match winning streak on clay came to an end at the hands of Andy Murray in last week’s Madrid SF.
•   Nishikori successfully defended his title in Barcelona earlier this month (d. Andujar). It was his ninth career crown and his second of 2015, having won in Memphis in February (d. Anderson).
•   Nishikori rose to a career-high No. 4 in the Emirates ATP Rankings on March 2. He is the highest-ranked Asian player in ATP history. He has since dropped back down to No. 6.
•   Nishikori is one of five players this season to hit 30 match wins, joining Djokovic, Berdych, Murray and Ferrer.
•   In 2014, Nishikori ended the season at a year-end best No. 5 after registering a career-high 54 wins. His year was highlighted by four titles and maiden final appearances at Grand Slam and ATP Masters 1000 level (US Open and Madrid).
PIETRANGELI
[8] Stan Wawrinka (SUI)         vs         Dominic Thiem (AUT)
FedEx ATP Head2Head: Series tied 1-1
[6] Tomas Berdych (CZE)      vs         Fabio Fognini (ITA)