TENNIS - clay continues

[JaneJeffer]

Ugh I felt sick when I saw Djokovic on there! At least Rafa will be away from him!

I know, I have obsessively waiting for news that he had withdrawn (wishful thinking) . I am hoping he is not 'match fit'.

Which will mean that will be the excuse if he does get beaten by Jakub Mensik.

'He's rusty/sacked half his team and feeling sad /got a poorly eyelash' delete as applicable.

Ugh I haven’t missed Djok at all - it seems as if he has a lot going on but that doesn’t always mean anything - I just don’t trust him!

Does anyone know when Rafa’s first match is likely to be? I can’t seem to find him anywhere in the order of play

It's still qualifying for the men , so not sure when they will schedule Rafa's first match ,Fizzy, though going off the first round schedule/timings for Madrid, maybe Thursday? .

Most of the players I've checked with a bye in the first round seem to be scheduled for Friday.

I am not looking forward to Djok coming back at all. To be honest, I think even a lot of the crowds are getting used to him not being there and other players taking centre stage. The problem Rome has, is it needs the big names, with the absence of both Jannik and Carlos.

Looks like Rafa is now playing Belgian qualifier, Zizou Bergs. I don't know a huge amount about him, but for Rafa's sake, hope he is all played out by the time it gets to their match.

I know I've watched Zizou before because the commentators were saying he looked like someone else but I can't think who now!

Dan has Foggy in the 1st round

Zizou Bergs is a cool name - poor Dan hasn’t had much luck lately although I’m not sure about Foggy’s recent form - he’ll have the home support though

I’ve seen an Instagram post of Holger in front of the Trevi fountain looking like Kevin the Teenager

I’m watching the Eurovision semi final this thread must have more influence on me than I thought! I’ll be watching the Masked Singer next!

Wow Johnny Logan looks a bit different!

Fizzy welcome to the dark side

don’t know what’s happened to me!

The AO posted a photo of Serena at the Met Gala and the comments are hilarious

Everyone loves Venus' outfit though

Serena did look ridiculous in her bacofoil outfit Jane (no change there then!)

Were Roger and Mirka there?

Ha! Fizzy first the Eurovision semi final, next it will be ...the second semi final (8pm Thursday, BBC1).

(Last night's was not a vintage semi final, though Croatia were great).

I think Roger and Mirka were at the Gala last year, because Roger was one of the co-hosts-(Mirka was wearing the pink feathery looking dress , iirc) but as far as I could tell (and DD2 is obsessed with it, so I 've seen/heard a lot) they were not there this year. In fact, it seems Serena, Venus and Maria Sharapova may have been the only tennis stars I spotted.
Serena did look daft- but far from the worst, which is par for the course at the Met Gala .

At least if there had been a freak emergency, she would have been on hand to wrap people in her dress- like they do in accidents/ at the end of long distance races.

(I will say though, that I thought Venus looked lovely, it was a much more classic outfit - even if it was covered in mirrors, and how on earth did she sit down??).

Croatia were my favourites Raahh - looking forward to Thursday’s semi final -DH was not impressed

I was impressed that I actually managed to stay awake . Saturday will be a struggle!

Watching a bit of Denis v Luciano who is suffering from cramp now

Denis is making a lot of mistakes!

Tiebreak decider

Well done Luciano

Disappointing for Denis and he's covered in clay from his fall

Haven't had chance to watch til now. Looks a bit overcast in Rome, and breezy.

I saw that Mensik lost to Hanfmann, so he won't be pulling off a major upset any time soon. (I think Jakub was struggling in Madrid, he withdrew from his match against Felix).

Sleeveless -Rafa practicing.

I don't know if that will be his actual kit - would be nice though

Just walked into the room in time for Rafa

Why would he be surprised by the affection people have for him? Stupid question!