Heroes and Zeros: Rafa’s Roman Pillage, Sharapova’s No Cow, Seppi’s Miracle and More…

By Chris Oddo

Photo Credit: AP Photo

 

(May 21, 2012)—Heroes and Zeros is Tennis Now's weekly look at the brightest stars of the game—and the biggest flops. This week we’ll look back at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome.

 

 

Hero: Rafael Nadal

 

 

In notching his sixth Rome title Rafael Nadal now has won in the Italian capital twice as much as anybody else in the history of the event. This type of jaw-dropping, record-smashing domination is pretty much par for the course for Nadal. Not only is he perhaps the most menacing athlete to ever have stepped on a tennis court, he’s also delightfully humble and pathologically persistent.

 

It all combines to make him one truly transcendent player.

 

While he was struggling with Djokovic, suffering through head-scratching defeat after head-scratching defeat for over a year, Nadal never allowed himself a second of self-pity. More than anything, this character trait—the ability to separate himself from the shame of losing and to remain relatively unaffected by the scathing commentary of the media—is what is setting Nadal apart at the moment.

 

Today’s victory against Djokovic in Rome is more than just a win. It is a testament to determination, to belief, and to being a humble servant to the game. Nadal’s continuous quest to solve the Djokovic puzzle is further proof of his resplendence among the tennis pantheon. He’s not just inspiring when he’s winning; he’s also equally inspiring in his response to defeat.

 

Nadal is unique in his ability to persevere and in his faithful embrace of the true meaning of competition. Today all his lust for battle coalesced into the form of yet another milestone win on the scoreboard. Even if it didn’t Nadal would still be a hero…

 

 

Zero: Victoria Azarenka

 

 

Azarenka’s use of Twitter as a platform to voice her angst-ridden distaste for “the man who keepeth her down” wasn’t well received by a lot of people. The story is well-documented by now, so I’ll spare you the whinydetails. But I will say this. When you’re number one in the world, basically destroying everybody you play, it’s not really in good taste to take to social media to complain how hard the system is making things for you.

 

Maria Sharapova and Serena Williams, who both came to the aid of the WTA and questioned Azarenka’s vehement vitriol, agreed.

 

 

Hero: Maria Sharapova

 

 

Speaking of Maria, a.k.a. the “Cow on Ice,” she was nearly sent out to pasture by a blisteringly good Li Na in yesterday’s final, but, true to form, the gutty Sharapova battled back ferociously to steal the title.

 

Trailing by a set and 4-0, Sharapova just kept pounding away, cutting down on her unforced errors at the precise moment that Li’s game was falling off the tracks.

 

It made for a lethal combination of good, bad, strange and ugly, and in the end it was a combination that favored the fiery Sharapova.

 

Kudos to Sharapova, the queen of grit, for successfully defending a clay-court title for the first time, for winning her second clay court title of the season (saving a match point each time), and for waiting out the two hour rain delay that proceeded the third-set tiebreaker like a true champion.

 

 

Zero: The Statues at Foro Italico

 

 

When I see statues in Rome I expect to see the human body in it’s natural state, not covered up by a loincloth or a grape leaf, or even worse, tight-fitting athletic shorts. This is the eternal city after all, a land that was once ruled by Augustus and yes, Caligula. The statues are a great asset to the grounds, but their politically correct manner of dress is a letdown to say the least.

 

 

Hero: Sara Errani and Robert Vinci

 

 

Blue clay, red clay, these two don’t care. Errani and Vinci became the first all-Italian duo to win in Rome since 1985.  The title was also their second consecutive Premier title, after Madrid.

 

 

Zero: Rain

 

 

Rain can be beautiful in Rome, provided that you’ve got an umbrella large enough to cover you and your sweetheart. But it can also be painfully annoying, like when you have waited for three hours under said umbrella with the hopes of watching one of the most highly anticipated finals in the tournament’s history.

 

Who can blame the fans for littering the court with debris when they were told that the Djokovic-Nadal final would be postponed until Monday?

 

 

Hero: Andreas Seppi

 

 

Being the Pope in Rome must be cool. All those people gathering at the Vatican in adoration just to hear you mumble something indecipherable and wave to them. But being Andreas Seppi, after saving six match points against Stan Wawrinka to reach the quarterfinals in Rome, must have been pretty cool too. Kudos to the Italian for giving the home event some local flavor.

 

 

Other Heroes:

 

 

Venus Williams for another shot across the bow of everybody ranked in the top 50.

 

Angelique Kerber, for landing herself in the top 10 for the first time after her semifinal run.

 

 

Other Zeros:

 

 

Caroline Wozniacki, for slip-sliding away, to the brink of being out of the top 10.

 

Li Na, for handling a set and two-break lead the way a Roman Taxi driver would handle your questions in English (badly).

 

Andy Murray, for never being what we wish he would be, think he might be, know he could be…