Quarterfinals in Rome

It was another good day for Roger Federer and his fans as he beat Gilles Simon 6-1 6-2 to reach the quarterfinals.  Simon is one who has given him problems in the past and Roger knew he would need to be at the very top of his game to beat him.  Generally Simon is known as one who just keeps getting everything back, not necessarily hitting a lot of winners, but very consistent - ok, yes, a pusher.  This time Roger basically took it out of his hands, however, playing aggressively like he did in his first match and forcing Simon into many more errors than normal.  Though Federer had a few more errors himself than he did in his first match, that makes sense against a very consistent player and he still had more winners than errors.  

He continues to seem very motivated and determined, which he will need in his next match against hard-hitter Jerzy Janowicz, who has taken out two top 10 players this week.  These two have never faced each other before and I'm sure each of them will be out to prove themselves in this match-up.  They seem to have Fed on night shift right now, playing again in the second night match of the day, which can sometimes work against him with the cooler slower conditions.  Maybe this will actually help him a bit against Janowicz, though, slowing down his power.  I am hopeful that if can get through this one he will have a straight shot to the final (and do I dare hope his first title of the year?). 

There was almost a huge upset in the match between Nadal and Gulbis.  Gulbis came out simply on fire and Nadal looked a little nervous.  The amazing part of this match to me was that Gulbis hit about five times the amount of winners to what Nadal hit, had a positive winners to errors ratio, yet somehow he still lost the match.  Nadal has a way of squeaking through these matches and often goes on to win the title.  What's scary is that Gulbis may not be seeded in the French Open.  I feel sorry for anyone who gets him in their early rounds if he is playing as  he was today.

Our eight remaining quarterfinalists are Djokovic-Berdych, Nadal-Ferrer, strangely Paire-Granollers and Janowicz-Federer.  Can anyone keep the trophy out of Nadal's hands this weekend?