When In Rome...

The Italians are out in full force in their homeland this week, but so far it's been the visitors who've been more comfortable at the last big tournament before the French Open.

That's not to say the locals haven't been putting up a good fight -- Potito Starace pulled off a nice upset of fifteenth seeded Viktor Troicki earlier today and defending French Open champion Francesca Schiavone won her opener in decisive form Tuesday. But some others, after promising starts, ultimately succumbed to more experienced athletes making themselves at home in Rome.

Alberta Brianti, whose win in Fes seemed to give her a bit of momentum -- she followed it up with a quarterfinal run in Barcelona -- started her run in impressive form. She pulled off a straight set victory over former top-twenty play Jie Zheng in her opener, winning almost half the points on her opponent's serve. But on Wednesday she ran up against fellow veteran Greta Arn who, at thirty-two years of age, is having the most success of her career. Despite a dismal second serve percentage, the Hungarian was able to convert when needed and stopped the hometown girl's campaign in just under ninety minutes. Next up she faces a wholly beatable Elena Vesnina, so she just might be able to extend her run.

Filippo Volandri tells a similar story -- having climbed to his highest ranking in about three years on the heels of a semifinal run in Belgrade, he pulled off a one-sided victory over Thiemo de Bakker on Sunday, dropping just three games in the win. He looked good against Stanislas Wawrinka today, too, taking advantage of the fact that the fourteenth seed had already withstood a long three-setter against another Italian Fabio Fognini on Tuesday. But the Swiss steadied himself after losing the second set and though he didn't deliver a terribly noteworthy performance, he adapted long enough to capitalize on break chances, eventually earning the win and the right to mean white-hot Novak Djokovic on Thursday. I'm not sure Stan will be the one to end Nole's streak, but he's got to at least feel more comfortable after a shaky start.

Romina Oprandi was just starting to turn her year around when she got the wildcard in Rome. Having started 2011 with a 0-7 record, she finally notched a win in Estoril before making the semis at an ITF event in Prague. A surprise three-set defeat of world #19 Kaia Kanepi in her first round should have given her a bit of confidence, but she couldn't quite get her footing against Daniela Hantuchova. After keeping things close in the first set, the Slovak got a late break and powered through the second, dropping just nine points on her serve. Though Hantuchova has been on a bit of a roller coaster the last year or so, her decisive win today could give her the edge as she progresses -- she'll need whatever she can get against second-seeded Schiavone, who she'll face next.

If any Italian was going to make an unexpected run, though, I'd have put my money on Sara Errani, a semifinalist in both Marbella and Barcelona. She was handily beating compatriot Roberta Vinci in their first round Tuesday when her opponent retired, and I would have thought she'd be well rested today. But Victoria Azarenka, playing some of the best ball on the women's Tourthese days, had other ideas. She made good on a career-high ranking by forcing sixteen break chances during the match and converting six of them. Vika allowed Errani just three points on her second serve and closed out the match in just over an hour, proving she could push her disappointing loss on Sunday out of her mind. The road will certainly get harder here on out, but Azarenka's proven she's not just a hardcourt hitter and could still cause a few more surprises this week.

Perhaps the biggest shock from the Italian underdogs, though, came from qualifier Paolo Lorenzi, ranked just inside the top 150. He'd only played two Tour-level matches this year, winning just one of them, but scored a huge win over Madrid semifinalist Thomaz Bellucci in his opening round. Most probably assumed his luck would end there, but when he won the first set tiebreaker from heavy favorite Rafael Nadal earlier today, the hometown crowd went wild. But Rafa is the king of upping his game when the chips are down, and he quickly broke serve to begin the second set. After finally drawing even, he was able to take control and blanked the far less experienced Lorenzi in the third set, narrowly escaping what would have been his biggest upset on clay.

Clearly some of these guys have a better chance of continuing their runs than others, but so far they've all proven they can certainly do as the Romans do -- and sometimes, they do even better.

The Princes & The Cinderellas

The first week of tournament play of the new year has certainly yielded some interesting results -- while so many of the top women in the sport fell early in their events making way for a couple fairy tale runs, the men brought their game all week and several of the sport's best advanced all the way to the championship rounds.

The first men's trophy of 2011 went, not surprisingly, to Roger Federer who ousted a resurgent Nikolay Davydenko in Doha. It was the world #2's third title in the desert after a five-year drought but, more importantly, it was his fourth title in his last five tournaments -- his fifth since Wimbledon. If the rest of the field didn't already have reason to fear Fed in Melbourne, they certainly do now.

But some no-less-important statements were made a little further east.

Over in Chennai, India, two-time defending champ Marin Cilic was dismissed early, but most of the other seeds advanced without too much drama. Sixth-ranked Tomas Berdych, who hadn't played very well to end the year, finally put together back-to-back wins again to reach the semifinals where he was eventually dismissed by Stanislas Wawrinka in straight sets. In the other half of the draw, a tough Xavier Malisse, who's been climbing his way back after a wrist injury that largely kept him out of contention for the last three years, advanced easily, only dropping one set in the semis to Janko Tipsarevic before making his first final since 2007.

Third-seeded Wawrinka found himself in a deficit early on Sunday, though, down 2-4 in the first set before knocking of wins in five of the next six games to capture the lead. But the Belgian raised his level in the second, winning every one of his first serve points, and only dropping two of his second attempts. He made good on his only break opportunity and was able to force the match into a decider.

But the third was all about the Swiss -- this time it was Wawrinka who displayed the superior serves, ceding only one receiving point to Malisse, and breaking his opponent twice to run off with the championship after more than two hours of play. It was Stan's third career title, and his first on a hardcourt -- certainly a good result as the world #21 tries to make a big mark at the Majors.

A little closer to Melbourne it was the very top seeds that made it to the finals at the Brisbane International. Defending champ Andy Roddick looked to be playing near his prime, surviving tough opponents in fifth seeded Marcos Baghdatis and big-serving Kevin Anderson to make the title match again. Meanwhile Robin Soderling, who'd only dropped serve once in his first four matches made good on his top billing and advanced to his seventeenth career final.

The Swede got off to a good start, breaking Andy early and winning the first set in just over half an hour. Things were tighter in the second, as the American saved a handful of break points early and kept his cool after a scuffle with officials over the rain. Eventually though, serving his sixteenth ace of the match, it was the tournament favorite -- now ranked fourth in the world -- who captured the crown. He won an amazing ninety percent of his first serves during the match and never faced a break point, securing his best-ever seeding at a Grand Slam.

But while the higher seeds lived up to expectations on the men's side, it was anything but for the ladies. In Brisbane none of the top three seeds made it out of the second round and the two eventual finalists took care of numbers four and five in the semis. Unseeded Andrea Petkovic made it through the top half of the draw without losing a set while Petra Kvitova, ranked just two spots below the German, took out big threats including Nadia Petrova, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Dominika Cibulkova on the way to her third career final.

The two unlikely opponents had faced each other four times before, splitting their meetings, with Petkovic winning the last two. But Kvitova, a surprise semifinalist at Wimbledon last year, came out firing and broke Andrea in the first game of the match. She took advantage of weak serving from Petkovic -- both actually won more returning points than service points in the first set -- and took the opener in just over half an hour. Petko climbed out of an early hole in the second set, but the twenty-year-old Czech came back roaring and broke right back to close out her title.

And while it was a story of youth in Australia, it was a thirty-one year old veteran who triumphed down in New Zealand. Greta Arn took out three seeds in a row, including 2008 Australian Open champ Maria Sharapova, to make her first final since 2007. She earned the right to meet defending champion Yanina Wickmayer for the title, the only seeded woman to make a final this weekend.

But here again, the results were not to be expected. Arn who wasn't supposed to play in Auckland at all -- she only made it in the main draw after a couple higher-ranked players withdrew and saved five match points against Sophie Arvidsson in the second round -- was the better server all match, winning a much higher percent of her first serves and saving both break points she faced. Wickmayer, who struggled in Tour play at the end of last year, was out-maneuvered by the more experienced Hungarian and failed to defend her title after less than ninety minutes of play.

They were obviously solid wins for all players involved -- the top men re-established themselves as ones to watch Down Under, while some new faces emerged on the women's side as potential spoilers. Of course it's too early to tell how long these Cinderella runs and princely reigns will last, but if the action this week is any indication, we're in for a year of some great and exciting tennis.

How Do You Top That?

Wimbledon has a way of outdoing itself.

Remember last year when Roger Federer and Andy Roddick went thirty games in the fifth set before a champion was crowned? Well that wasn't quite good enoughfor us, so this year we had to go 138 games in the decider of a first round match before we decided who would advance. And we're not even through the first week yet!

So how on earth can this fortnight get any better? Well here are a few possibilities that would make the Championships even more amazing than they already have been.

Fabio Fognini, the Comeback King

It wasn't long ago that the Italian's second round match against Gael Monfils was the most talked-about darkness-suspended match in tennis. After losing the first two sets, the then-#92 Fognini rallied to even the score against the hometown favorite, endured a much-maligned discussion about whether to continue play, and ultimately notched the upset 9-7 in the fifth. He didn't have to deal with darkness in London today, but he did again trail the U.S.'s Michael Russell after about ninety minutes of play and spent the next two hours fighting back. He was down a break to start the decider, but proved himself to be quite the five-set master when after another sixty minutes he pulled off another win.

So maybe that will be his "thing" -- letting his opponent get comfortable before plowing through from behind. At Roland Garros the hangover was apparently too much to handle, and Fabio lost in the next round, but maybe he's learned from that experience. Next up at Wimbledon he faces Julien Benneteau, a man who's already played two five-setters himself this week -- I wouldn't be surprised if he got the upset. And with either Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who's never gotten past the fourth round here, or qualifier Tobias Kamke waiting for him next, this could be Fognini's opportunity to break out.

And if he happens to improve his five-set record on the way, all the better.

A Qualifier Wins the Trophy

I made a mistake earlier this week when I classified Goran Ivanisevic as a qualifier when he won the Wimbledon title back in 2001. As it turns out, he was simply the lowest ranked player ever to win at #125 in the world. Obviously it would be difficult for someone who already battled through three preliminary rounds to then endure another seven, but hey, it could happen. This year the women's draw boasts two ladies who might just have a chance -- if not to win, at least to cause more damage than they already have.

Thirty-one year old Greta Arn lost the first set of her final qualifying match but was able to force her way into the main draw for only the third time in her career. The Hungarian was originally supposed to play Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez in the first round, but when the Spaniard pulled out she was replaced by a slightly less dangerous Kateryna Bondarenko. Arn, who'd only won a single match at Wimbledon before this year, took her first set in a decisive tiebreak and held tough after dropping the second to get the win. She then battled through a feisty Alicia Molik to notch her best ever appearance at the All England Club. It'll be a battle to get past former runner-up Marion Bartoli in the next round, but if she does she could have a clear road to at least the quarters.

On the top half of the bracket former top-twenty player Kaia Kanepi followed up on her #1 seeding in the qualifiers and stunned French Open runner-up Sam Stosur in the first round. She took a little more time to dispatch Romanian Edina Gallovits in the second, but ultimately set up a date with up-and-comer Alexandra Dulgheru. The two have never met, but Kanepi has got to like her chances better than she did a few days ago -- one more win gives her a ton of momentum in a quarter that's really wide open.

Sure, it's a long road from the third round to the final, but we've seen just how strange things can get.

Nicolas Mahut Wins the Doubles Crown

Actually the only titles the runner-up in the Best Match Ever -- you certainly can't call him a loser -- has won have been in doubles. Just a few hours after heart-breaking defeat, Mahut returned to Court 18 with partner Arnaud Clement to play his first round doubles match. And for the third straight day his play was suspended for darkness with the Frenchmen losing the first set tiebreak.



There's no reason the pair can't rally tomorrow to take out Colin Flemming and Kenneth Skupski, but their bigger challenge would come the following round when they would meet four-time finalists Bob and Mike Bryan. Still no one is invulnerable, and it would be a sort of poetic justice if Mahut came away from this tournament with a little bit more.

They Meet Again

Somewhere down the road, the paths of John Isner and Nicolas Mahut will cross again, so why shouldn't it be at the U.S. Open? Maybe even the first round?

One thing's for certain though -- should that happen, we're sure to get a slightly quicker resolution as there are fifth set tiebreaks at Flushing Meadows. Though maybe officials would suspend that rule for the rematch. Just the once.

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Yes, I know these are all long shots, and I can't even pretend I expect any of them to happen. But in a world where Roger Federer is almost ousted on the first day, where the Queen of England graces Centre Court with her presence, and where one match lasts three sun-filled days, I won't count anything out.