ATP Rome - Entry list: Nadal and Djokovic are in, will Roger Federer play?
Beautiful Foro Italico in Rome is the venue for the third and the last Masters 1000 event on clay of 2018 season, gathering almost every player from the Top 20 in the quest for the most prestigious title on clay outside Roland Garros! The tournament became a part of the Open era back in 1969 and it stayed in the calendar ever since, with some of the biggest names of the Open era tennis on the winners list, including Newcombe, Nastase, Laver, Borg, Vilas, Lendl, Wilander, Muster, Courier, Sampras, Corretja, Gustavo Kuerten, Ferrero, Agassi, Nadal, Djokovic and Murray who have all won title here.
Since 2005, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic have been the dominant figures in Rome, claiming 12 of the last 14 titles and standing as the favorites in 2019 as well. The entry list for the fifth Masters 1000 event of the season is out and all the players from the top-43 (Jo-Wilfried Tsonga is using the protected ranking) from the last Monday's ATP list are automatically in, which doesn't have to mean they will all show up in the Italian capital between May 13-19. Nadal and Djokovic should lead the draw as the top seeds, together with 2017 winner and last year's finalist Alexander Zverev who will seek another deep run at Foro Italico.
The question everyone would like to know the answer for is will the four-time beaten finalist Roger Federer appear in Rome for the first time since 2016. The Swiss will compete on clay for the first time in three years but only in Madrid and Roland Garros according to the plans, although he might leave Rome as the option if he suffers an early loss in Spain after such a long time away from the slowest surface.
from Tennis World USA http://bit.ly/2I6WfY5
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