2006 Italian Open – Men's singles

2006 Italian Open ESP Rafael Nadal SUI Roger Federer 6–7(0–7), 7–6(7–5), 6–4, 2–6, 7–6(7–5) 64 (8Q Qualifiers / 4WC Wild Cards) 16 2006 Italian Open (tennis) Defending champion Rafael Nadal defeated Roger Federer in the final, 6–7(0–7), 7–6(7–5), 6–4, 2–6, 7–6(7–5) to win the men's singles tennis title at the 2006 Italian Open. The final July 2008 Rafael Nadal recovered from the brink of defeat against Roger Federer to capture the Rome Masters and equal the record for consecutive wins on clay. Nadal came back from 1–4 down and saved two match points in the final set before triumphing 6–7(0–7), 7–6(7–5), 6–4, 2–6, 7–6(7–5). The win, which took over five hours, took Nadal to 53 straight wins on clay, matching Guillermo Vilas' record. It also put the 19-year-old level with Björn Borg on 16 titles won as a teenager. Federer, who had beaten Nadal only once in five attempts before the Rome Masters, started well, clinching a high-quality first set after playing a near-perfect tiebreak. And the world number one was on top for most of the second set but Nadal's trademark battling qualities kept him in it and out of the blue, he somehow earned a set point at 5–4. The teenager was unable to take that one but edged another tiebreak to draw level. The momentum was by now with Nadal and he looked to have made a decisive move when a break at 2–2 gave him the third set. He had chances to break early in the fourth set but the Spaniard let his struggling opponent off the hook and Federer made him pay. The top seed raced through the fourth set and took control of the decider by taking a 4–1 lead. The Rome crowd, including Prince Albert of Monaco and Omar Sharif, looked on in disbelief as first Nadal levelled at 4–4 then fought off Federer again at 5–6. Nadal's double fault, the first of the match from either player, helped Federer earn two match points but the world number one's usually reliable forehand failed him on both occasions and the Spaniard survived. Federer still had chances to win in the tiebreak which he led 5–3, in particular when he mishit a forehand which would have given him a 6–3 lead. However, Nadal underlined his talent on the dirt by clinching the tiebreaker and wrapping up his fifth win in six attempts over Federer. Seeds A champion seed is indicated in bold text while text in italics indicates the round in which that seed was eliminated. 30em SUI Roger Federer (final) ESP Rafael Nadal (champion) CRO Ivan Ljubičić (first round) ARG David Nalbandian (semifinals) USA Andy Roddick (quarterfinals) RUS Nikolay Davydenko (third round) USA James Blake (first round) ARG Gastón Gaudio (first round) ARG Guillermo Coria (first round) CHI Fernando González (quarterfinals) ESP David Ferrer (first round) ESP Tommy Robredo (first round) GER Nicolas Kiefer (second round) CZE Radek Štěpánek (third round) SWE Thomas Johansson (second round) USA Robby Ginepri (second round) Draw Finals Semifinals Final 1 SUI Roger Federer 6 3 77 4 ARG David Nalbandian 3 6 65   FRA Gaël Monfils 2 2   2 ESP Rafael Nadal 6 6   1 SUI Roger Federer 77 65 4 6 65 2 ESP Rafael Nadal 60 77 6 2 77 Top half Section 1 First round Second round Third round Quarterfinals 1 SUI R Federer 6 6     ARG J I Chela 2 1   WC ITA P Starace 6 6     RUS D Tursunov 4 1     FIN J Nieminen 6 6     FRA S Grosjean 2 1     ESP F López 4 4   14 CZE R Štěpánek 6 6   11 ESP D Ferrer 5 0     ARG J Acasuso 7 6   Q ESP N Almagro 7 6     CHI N Massú 5 4     ESP F Verdasco 6 2 6 WC ITA S Bolelli 4 6 1   SCG B Pašanski 1 4   6 RUS N Davydenko 6 6   1 SUI R Federer 6 77   WC ITA P Starace 3 62     FIN J Nieminen 4 65   14 CZE R Štěpánek 6 77     ARG J Acasuso 4 6 4 Q ESP N Almagro 6 2 6   ESP F Verdasco 1 6 0 6 RUS N Davydenko 6 3 6 1 SUI R Federer 6 6   14 CZE R Štěpánek 1 4   Q ESP N Almagro 78     6 RUS N Davydenko 66 r   1 SUI R Federer 6 62 7 Q ESP N Almagro 3 77 5 Section 2 First round Second round Third round Quarterfinals 4 ARG D Nalbandian 6 3 6 Q ESP F Vicente 2 6 3   FRA P-H Mathieu 6 6     ESP J C Ferrero 1 3   Q ESP A Martín 6 6     ITA D Sanguinetti 2 4   WC ITA D Bracciali 6 2 4 13 GER N Kiefer 4 6 6 9 ARG G Coria 3 2   Q ESP R Ramírez Hidalgo 6 6     RUS M Safin 7 3 6 Q RUS T Gabashvili 5 6 1   CRO M Ančić 6 6     PER L Horna 4 4     FRA F Serra 6 77   7 USA J Blake 4 63   4 ARG D Nalbandian 6 6     FRA P-H Mathieu 2 4   Q ESP A Martín 6 77   13 GER N Kiefer 3 63   Q ESP R Ramírez Hidalgo 0 78 77   RUS M Safin 6 66 63   CRO M Ančić 3 712 6   FRA F Serra 6 610 0 4 ARG D Nalbandian 7 6   Q ESP A Martín 5 4   Q ESP R Ramírez Hidalgo 3 77 5   CRO M Ančić 6 64 7 4 ARG D Nalbandian 6 6     CRO M Ančić 3 3   Bottom half Section 3 First round Second round Third round Quarterfinals 5 USA A Roddick 6 6     ROM V Hănescu 1 0     CYP M Baghdatis 7 6     BEL O Rochus 5 4   Q ITA S Galvani 6 6     CZE J Novák 3 4     GBR G Rusedski 5 6 6 12 ESP T Robredo 7 3 4 16 USA R Ginepri 3 6 6   BLR M Mirnyi 6 2 3   FRA G Monfils 6 3 6   GER T Haas 2 6 4 Q ARG J Mónaco 6 2 3   FRA F Santoro 4 6 6   SVK D Hrbatý 5 77 6 3 CRO I Ljubičić 7 64 4 5 USA A Roddick 3 6 6   CYP M Baghdatis 6 1 2 Q ITA S Galvani 64 4     GBR G Rusedski 77 6   16 USA R Ginepri 1 6 4   FRA G Monfils 6 4 6   FRA F Santoro 77 6     SVK D Hrbatý 62 3   5 USA A Roddick 77 6     GBR G Rusedski 64 2     FRA G Monfils 79 6     FRA F Santoro 67 2   5 USA A Roddick 2 3     FRA G Monfils 6 6   Section 4 First round Second round Third round Quarterfinals 8 ARG G Gaudio 6 3 3   BEL X Malisse 4 6 6   THA P Srichaphan 1 3     CZE T Berdych 6 6     RUS M Youzhny 6 79     ITA A Seppi 2 67     SUI S Wawrinka 4 4   10 CHI F González 6 6   15 SWE T Johansson 77 6   Q ITA F Fognini 63 3     GBR T Henman 7 77   WC ITA A di Mauro 5 62     GBR A Murray 4 4     ITA F Volandri 6 6     ESP C Moyà 1 6 2 2 ESP R Nadal 6 2 6   BEL X Malisse 2 1     CZE T Berdych 6 6     RUS M Youzhny 4 7 3 10 CHI F González 6 5 6 15 SWE T Johansson 68 1     GBR T Henman 710 6     ITA F Volandri 1 2   2 ESP R Nadal 6 6     CZE T Berdych 2 4   10 CHI F González 6 6     GBR T Henman 2 2   2 ESP R Nadal 6 6   10 CHI F González 4 3   2 ESP R Nadal 6 6   Qualifying Seeds 30em ESP Nicolás Almagro (qualified) ESP Alberto Martín (qualified) SCG Novak Djokovic (qualifying competition) SWE Jonas Björkman (first round) RSA Wesley Moodie (first round) USA Vincent Spadea (first round) ESP Fernando Vicente (qualified) BRA Flávio Saretta (qualifying competition) ESP Rubén Ramírez Hidalgo (qualified) ROU Răzvan Sabău (first round) BEL Dick Norman (qualifying competition) RUS Igor Kunitsyn (qualifying competition) ARG Juan Mónaco (qualified) AUT Oliver Marach (qualifying competition) ESP Guillermo García-López (first round) CRC Juan Antonio Marín (qualifying competition) Qualifiers 30em ESP Nicolás Almagro ESP Alberto Martín ITA Fabio Fognini ITA Stefano Galvani RUS Teymuraz Gabashvili ARG Juan Mónaco ESP Fernando Vicente ESP Rubén Ramírez Hidalgo Qualifying draw First qualifier First round Qualifying competition 175 1 ESP Nicolás Almagro 6 6   ITA Flavio Cipolla 2 3   SUI George Bastl 6 6 15 ESP Guillermo García-López 2 0 1 ESP Nicolás Almagro 6 6   SUI George Bastl 0 4 Second qualifier First round Qualifying competition 175 2 ESP Alberto Martín 6 6 WC ITA Thomas Fabbiano 1 2   BEL Gilles Elseneer 3 4 12 RUS Igor Kunitsyn 6 6 2 ESP Alberto Martín 6 6 12 RUS Igor Kunitsyn 3 4 Third qualifier First round Qualifying competition 175 3 SCG Novak Djokovic 6 6   ITA Francesco Aldi 2 3 WC ITA Fabio Fognini 6 6 10 ROU Răzvan Sabău 2 4 3 SCG Novak Djokovic 64 6 3 WC ITA Fabio Fognini 77 1 6 Fourth qualifier First round Qualifying competition 175 4 SWE Jonas Björkman 4 4 WC ITA Stefano Galvani 6 6   RUS Evgeny Korolev 1 4 16 CRC Juan Antonio Marín 6 6 WC ITA Stefano Galvani 6 1 6 16 CRC Juan Antonio Marín 2 6 1 Fifth qualifier First round Qualifying competition 175 5 RSA Wesley Moodie 7 5 2   RUS Teymuraz Gabashvili 5 7 6   COL Alejandro Falla 1 2 11 BEL Dick Norman 6 6   RUS Teymuraz Gabashvili 6 4 6 11 BEL Dick Norman 3 6 1 Sixth qualifier First round Qualifying competition 175 6 USA Vincent Spadea 1 5   ITA Giorgio Galimberti 6 7   ITA Federico Luzzi 2 2 13 ARG Juan Mónaco 6 6   ITA Giorgio Galimberti 3 2 13 ARG Juan Mónaco 6 6 Seventh qualifier First round Qualifying competition 175 7 ESP Fernando Vicente 6 6   GER Lars Burgsmüller 4 1   FRA Antony Dupuis 66 3 14 AUT Oliver Marach 78 6 7 ESP Fernando Vicente 6 6 14 AUT Oliver Marach 3 3 Eighth qualifier First round Qualifying competition 175 8 BRA Flávio Saretta 6 6   ECU Nicolás Lapentti 4 2 WC ITA Gianluca Naso 4 3 9 ESP Rubén Ramírez Hidalgo 6 6 8 BRA Flávio Saretta 4 6 3 9 ESP Rubén Ramírez Hidalgo 6 4 6 External links Singles draw Singles qualifying draw Italian Open - Singles Men's Singles