TENNIS thread- We're saying good bye to Rome, and counting down to Roland Garros.

[Raahh]

Looks like the old thread is ending and I had a Jannik-panic .

Well done Jakub. Poor Andrey

I know, I really thought he would take it- he did so well to get back from 0-2

Well done Joao. Casper was lovely at the net even though he must be gutted.

Well done Joao. Kind of a frustrating match for Casper, it seemed like he was there or thereabouts but just couldn't capitalise on his chances. I just wanted a bit more fight from him.

That said, something really odd happened at the end of the second set tiebreak. Casper had a set point and Joao hit a ball which landed virtually on the baseline and someone in the crowd yelled "out". But the umpire said it was actually in and gave the point to Joao. But then they showed the hawkeye and said ball was indeed out. Which, if correctly called, it should have been Casper's set. I hope I've understood this wrongly, because it seems very unfair.

I started to fall asleep and missed the end. I saw later that Casper had won a set, and it was pretty close at that stage.

This was a big chance for Casper, hopefully it won't affect him too much. This has been a tournament full of big defeats and a rise of the young players. Plus, he almost didn't make it through the first round( that won't be much of a consolation this morning).

Well done to Joao. Must be costing the Brazilian spectators a fortune, the longer he stays in!

It’s a real shame for Casper (and Andrey) but it is great seeing the younger talent starting to come through.

I would love Matteo to win the whole thing but I suspect it will either be Sascha or a teenager!

Yes, I think it will probably be Sascha now- I'm not too enthused by that. Sorry Sascha. But- he's got to beat NuRafa. And - NuRafa could do what OldRafa did, and win it on his first attempt.

Joao is doing really well- and although I'm really sad for Casper, it was a good thing he backed up the win against Djok, as it shuts up nay sayers who may have thought his win over him was a fluke.

It would be great if it was Matteo- a real reversal of fortunes for him, but I can't see it, although he's in the most open half of the draw , so the final is possibility.
Although I do keep forgetting about Felix- who is decent on clay, and world number 4 now in the live rankings .

oof- Svajda just collided with the umpires chair- and it could have been a really nasty fall. Flavio was first to help with a towel and some water, which was nice.

Flavio is the only possible winner I see on this side of the draw. Would be astonished to see Felix make the final, let alone lift the trophy. But the winner is most likely from the other side of the draw. Sascha most likely but I think Joao's level against Djok and Casper is the highest I've seen in the tournament, and if he can keep that up, he can win.

Poor ball boy getting whacked by the ball

Poor ball kid!

Give that bag check guy a job at Manchester airport. It would hurry things along nicely

He hardly even looked , did he? Anything could have been in it.

(I'm having flashbacks to my days working there- and the constant 'do not leave baggage unattended' announcements).

Ugh.

That's the first set Flavio has lost so far this tournament.

The Potapova-Kalinskaya match is absolutely bonkers. I'm not a particular fan of either player, but it's entertaining.

Well done Anna. I just turned on towards the end of the third set. Must have been a good one to watch.

Well done Anna.

Why has Laura got her school uniform on?

Flavio just cannot serve this out.

Forza!!

Blimey 5-5 now.

If Flavio isn't careful, this is going to a 5th.

Flavio what are we doing?

It's crazy.

I'm sure Svajda is very nice, and it's extremely sad about his dad. But I don't want him to win!

Come on Flavio!

I keep thinking they’re saying spider - must be a nightmare for arachnophobes

I really like Flavio, but when things aren’t going his way he always reverts to a kind of crazy ball bashing style, he needs to calm down.

In the absence of Robbie, Jonathan has already made the 'Svajda -man ' joke when he won a set