Roman Revivalists

In my Rome preview last Monday, I wondered whether anything could happen at this final French Open tune-up that might alter our thoughts on the French Open itself. I had my doubts. After Monte Carlo, Stuttgart, Barcelona and Madrid, it seemed that the men’s race to Paris was already set in stone, while the women’s was destined to be a pile-up.

I was wrong on both counts. As the tours leave the Foro Italico and head for Roland Garros, there has been a change—not drastic, but not trivial, either—in the landscape on both sides. While Serena Williams has grabbed the pole position and restored a sense of hierarchy among the women, Andy Murray has made the men’s draw feel just a little more open. All in all, from a fan’s perspective, both tours got just what they needed in Rome.

The men’s draw provided the bigger surprise, and the bigger story. Andy Murray’s 6-3, 6-3 win over Novak Djokovic in the final was just his second over the world No. 1 in his last 13 attempts, and his first in five tries on clay. Even more surprising, this 95-minute match wasn’t even close.

Murray was the sharper, headier and more upbeat player from start to finish. He broke early in each set and was never broken back. He hit nine more winners, made four fewer errors, won 82 percent of his first-serve points and faced just three break points. He never tightened up with the lead or let Djokovic drive him into a rage.

Instead, Murray ended rallies as quickly as he could, either by coming to the net, where he was 13 of 17, or carving under drop shots. And he finished the victory in style, by hitting a backhand pass from what appeared to be the first row of the sideline bleachers.

Yet for all of that, Murray's first title in Rome came with a caveat. He admitted afterward that his road to the final had been a lot smoother than Djokovic's.

“I was extremely fresh physically, because I played quick matches," said Murray, who didn't face a Top 10 opponent, or drop a set, in his first four rounds.

Djokovic, of course, had not played quick matches. On Thursday night, he had lost the first set of his third-rounder to Thomas Bellucci, 6-0, before coming back to win. On Friday, he had gone hammer and tongs against his greatest clay-court rival, Rafael Nadal, for two explosive sets. And on Saturday night, in a match that didn’t end until after 11 P.M., he had fought even harder to hold off a bold and in-form Kei Nishikori in three brutal hours.

Djokovic said he would be ready for the final, but while he never threw in the towel against Murray, he never found his top gear, either. While Murray used his drop shot aggressively and offensively, Djokovic’s dropper felt like a bail-out shot. More than once, he failed to follow it forward and was caught, uncharacteristically, out of position on the next shot.

So: What does this result mean, if anything? I don’t think the loss to Murray, after the victories over Nadal and Nishikori, is a bad sign in itself for Djokovic. By winning Madrid the previous week, and beating Rafa in Rome, he had essentially completed the necessary preparations for Paris. And I think in the back of his mind, or maybe even in the front, Djokovic knew it. When he hurt his ankle early in the Nishikori match, Djokovic spent the next set and a half looking unsure about how much he wanted to be out there. And in the final, he told the chair umpire he was worried about getting hurt on the wet clay. Djokovic fought hard, especially against Nishikori, but I think part of his mind was already in Paris.

Yet if Djokovic was thinking about Paris this week, there is some reason to worry, because over his last four matches in Rome he was tense, irritable, and prone to sluggish starts. Against Bellucci, he struggled to win a point in the first set. Against Nadal, he had to pull off a couple of Houdini acts. Against Nishikori, he yelled at his coaches, jawed with chair umpire Mo Lahyani, and was given a warning for hitting a ball a few inches from a ball kid’s face. In the final, Djokovic was given another warning after he banged his racquet on the court and watched it bounce into the crowd. He finished the match arguing futilely that play should be stopped due to the wet conditions.

Paris, in other words, may have been weighing on Djokovic’s mind. We’ll see whether that’s a sign of things to come at Roland Garros, or whether he released some nervous energy this week and can calm down again now that the big event is finally here. When the Rome final was over, Djokovic gave a runner-up speech in Italian that wowed the crowd. He looked happier and more relaxed than he had all week.

As for Murray, when he was asked to say a few words in Italian, “Ciao, Roma!” was the best he could do. But it was appropriate. This was Murray’s first title in Rome, and his second clay-court Masters win in two years. After not winning a clay event in his first decade on tour, Murray has the best record, 29-3, on the surface among the men since the start of 2015. With a Wimbledon title under his belt, he seems more willing to give his full attention to the clay season than he once did.

Murray will be the second seed at the French Open, and I’d make him a solid third favorite, after Djokovic and Nadal, for the title. Three weeks from now, will he be on another trophy stand, breaking into a smile and saying, “Bonjour, Paris”?

Just when we, or at least I, begin to wonder whether Serena has finally had enough of tennis, she shows up ready and willing to win again. Coming into Rome, the 34-year-old hadn't won a title since last August, and after she pulled out of Madrid last week, there was some speculation that she would save her energy for the big events—Wimbledon, the Olympics, the U.S. Open—that come after the clay-court season.

The theory made sense, but we should have known better than to believe it. Judging by her week in Rome, Serena isn’t going to save her energy for anything other than the next point she plays. In five matches at the Foro Italico, she didn’t drop a set. While she didn’t face a Top 10 opponent, she avenged a loss last month to Svetlana Kuznetsova with a 6-2, 6-0 win, and she held off the week’s most improved player, Madison Keys, in the final, 7-6 (5), 6-3.

“I felt like it was important for me to just go out there like usual,” Serena said, when asked what it felt like to play a final after losing her first two this year. “It’s a totally new match, it’s a different week, you know, and hopefully just win one.”

From the opening games of her opening match in Rome, it felt like Serena had hit the reset button on her season. Aside from a tight first set against Christina McHale, Serena showed little rust, and little desire for any extraneous drama. During the points and between them, she was all-business, right down to the long-sleeved Nike shirt that she kept zipped to the top all week.

Serena must have known there was no time for a slow start against Keys. The young American had come out firing in their match at the Australian Open last year and pushed Serena to a tiebreaker. She did both of those things again on Sunday in Rome. Keys, bombing her serve and forehand, broke early, and stayed with Serena all the way until 5-5 in the breaker. It was on that point that Serena came up with the match-changing shot. Having watched Keys drill her backhand down the line all set, she leaned that way this time. When she got the shot she expected, Serena fired back with a point-winning crosscourt forehand. Youthful power had met experienced power, and experience—not for the first time—had won.

In this case, though, it seems clear that youth will have its day eventually, and Serena knows it.

“I’m so proud of you,” Serena told Keys when they shook hands, “you’re going to be No. 1.”

“I think she’s such a powerful player,” Serena said of her countrywoman later. “Obviously going in, I knew that, but I was just trying. I think I was pretty much able to get back what I could.”

Keys, who recently began working with a new coach, Thomas Hogstedt, had her most promising run since she reached the Aussie Open semis last year. She beat No. 3 seed Garbiñe Muguruza and No. 5 seed Petra Kvitova, and survived a three-setter against a tricky opponent in Barbora Strycova.

She credited Hogstedt with helping her “focus,” and there was evidence of that in Rome. Keys has a habit of letting one bad game quickly turn into four; this week, instead of rushing and getting frustrated, she stayed calm and played within herself.

Still, she couldn’t ignore who was on the other side of the net in the final.

“I think no matter how many times you play Serena,” Keys said, “you always go in and just feel her presence. That’s an extra thing you have to be worried about during the match.”

There's one thing you can still count on as the women head to Paris: Serena’s presence will be felt.