The final of the 2015 Internazionali BNL d’Italia will be contested between Maria Sharapova and Carla Suarez Navarro with the match set to start at 1.30pm local time in Rome. In the first of the semi-finals, Suarez Navarro held on for her fourth victory against Simona Halep on clay, winning through, 2-6 6-3 7-5 in two hours and 29 minutes. The third set featured some awesome rallies and I was particularly impressed with Carla. She was aggressive with her groundstrokes, displaying pinpoint accuracy on her forehand down-the-line. When Halep tried to dictate, she didn’t do enough to close points out at the net and was almost always made to pay by Carla. The third set went almost entirely against serve until Halep finally held after saving two break points to lead 5-4. Carla went down *0-30 and a second serve when trying to stay in this match. She hung on before closing out the match with a break and another difficult hold of serve.
It was really moving to see Carla’s coach almost in tears at the end of the match and showed what a huge win this was for his charge. Carla just keeps on winning and has become a real mental force on the tour. She extended her incredible record in three sets once more! I’ve always felt in the past that Carla lacked focus and intensity, and her mind often went wandering during matches. This still happens occasionally, but it doesn’t define her whole performance as it has done in the past. Halep made a huge amount of errors in the last couple of games and finished with 60 unforced errors in total, 19 more than Suarez Navarro. Carla looked to be struggling physically in the third set but she did remarkably well to close out another tight match.
Sharapova stopped the run of qualifier, Daria Gavrilova with a 7-5 6-3 victory. Gavrilova put up a solid fight in the first set, saving seven break points along the way. She’s a crafty player and has the ability to throw in different balls to disrupt the rhythm of her opponent. She also did well to get Sharapova moving up the court where she can be vulnerable. Sharapova though, was relentless in her striking and was broken just once in the one hour and 48 minute contest. Once again, the drop shots continue to be a great facet to Sharapova’s game. She is very accurate with them and closed out the first set with one. Gavrilova took a MTO for an ab injury at 5-6 in the first set. Although it affected her, she soldiered on and gave another impressive account of herself.
Sharapova leads the head-to-head with Suarez Navarro, 3-1. All four matches have been on hard courts with Suarez Navarro’s lone win coming in Montreal last year. The rest of the matches have ended in straight sets for Maria. I’ve been proved wrong on many occasions by Carla this year and she should be very confident after her year and particularly, the victory over Halep. Sharapova though, looks sharp and focussed, and I can’t see her throwing in a duff performance in this one. It’s a toss-up between two and three sets, and I keep changing it. I’m going two as i’m worried about whether Carla can sufficiently recover from her semi-final match and also, whether she may still get overrawed by a player of Sharapova’s intensity across the net.
Prediction: Sharapova d. Suarez Navarro in 2 sets (1 tight, 1 easy)
Moo's Tennis Blog 
I must really hate CSN, because this is the only time im actually rooting for Sharapova to win. I hope its close though, because I want both of them to be too tired to play the French, which will hopefully lead to both of them falling early. #bittertennisfan #wishfulthinking #whydidyoubeatpetra? #whyisyourbackhandsopretty?
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Oh dear, Agha! Well if Petra and Carla meet on the grass this year, that will be Petra’s best chance of a win. I like Carla, she’s a nice person and her game is easy on the eye. Not many seem to take a dislike to Carla but hey, we all have our favourites and players we are not keen on. That’s what makes the comments so interesting.
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I have to agree with your James,Carla’s focus this year has been a revelation,just look at her results,impressed with Carla in that third set against Halep.Question is can she hold her nerve against Sharapova? she has the game to unsettle Sharapova,she must return serve well..I thought Sharapova’s best match so far in this tournament was against Azarenka.
I am going for a upset and will pick Carla in 3 sets.
I also hope the ground staff at Roma try to fix the court surface at court centrale,I realize it is newly laid,hasnt has the required time to settle,I was watching the mens s/final Federer v Wawrinka and Federer nearly rolled his ankle.
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Brave pick, Margaret! I hope Carla can bring her A game tomorrow and that it won’t be like the Miami final. Interesting what you say about the court surface. I haven’t watched any of the ATP matches today but noticed a few tweets about the court surface.
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I hope she has done her homework after that Serena defeat. Sharapova has been beaten this season so hopefully she won’t be overawed. I simply want a good match and a close one. But, Sharapova in a final will never be easy, she’s really warmed up well with this tournament. The feel good win will be Carla, as with Kvitova in Madrid and Kerber in Stuttgart. I would be disappointed if she makes it a routine win for Maria. Maria will be strong.
I do want to see Carla at least make the QF at Roland Garros. Along with Kerber, they’ve had a very positive Clay Court season. Hope the draw is favourable in that sense.
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I’m not convinced that CSN is tough enough mentally to grind out a win against Sharapova in the biggest final of her career. But like you, I’ve underestimated her in the past and this could be another time.
What are your thoughts on the mens final? I’ve not been overly impressed with Djokovic’s level of play this week if I’m honest and I say that as a huge fan. I have this feeling that Federer will best him in straight sets… but hopefully I’m wrong. Winning his fifth consecutive Masters title would be pretty huge.
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Good job by Suarez was quite surprised. I think this is 50-50 if Carla shows up she could win it in 3 but sharapovas been serving so well. Maria in 3 or Carla in 3 I really dunno.
The men’s final I am definately going for federer coz his been much more consistent than djokovic has. He needed a couple of 3 setters and he himself has admitted his performance ain’t to good atm so come on roger roger.
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I was thinking he is trying not to exert himself too much with Roland Garros around the corner. Djokovic has been playing a lot of tennis this season. You know, he can be quite deceptive and with Nadal not at his ‘grinding’ best he can afford a little mind games. On the other hand, Roger could do well with this win on clay before the french, a massive psychological boost I think. Slightly leaning towards Roger simply because if he comes in hot, I don’t think Novak will burn himself up to fight back. A french Open title will mean the world to Novak, that is his ultimate goal.
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I think his schedule has been spot on this year to be honest! And actually Murray and Nadal have both played several matches more and are both set to play even more between RG and Wimbledon whilst Djokovic is using the time to rest.
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I have to be honest and say I haven’t watched a great deal of ATP this week and the only Djokovic match I saw was against Bellucci. I see you all going for Federer but i’d go Djokovic and probably in straight sets! Form through a tournament isn’t everything and even though Federer’s matches have been more straightforward, I think that coming through three setters like Djokovic has done can be advantageous for confidence and raising his level of play match by match. Furthermore, I remember in the past when Federer has been playing the better tennis but in the final, Djokovic has delivered… Wimbledon 2014 springs to mind.
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Wimbledon was different because it was best of five. I genuinely believe Djokovic is a much better player than Federer is, or ever was, but for some reason he really struggles against Roger and I think its because Fed is just that little more secure on his serve and that puts the pressure on Novak.
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Never been so pleased to be wrong about a prediction LOL.
Four out of five Masters titles plus a Slam. I’d be beyond ecstatic if both Djokovic and Serena both completed Grand Slams this year.
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After the semi final, I actually think CSN may give Maria a surprise here and at least wins one set or upset.
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Suarez looking real tired
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