2006 Italian Open – Men's Singles

Men's Singles
	2006 Italian Open
Champion	Rafael Nadal
Runner-up	Roger Federer
Final score	6–7(0–7), 7–6(7–5), 6–4, 2–6, 7–6(7–5)
Draw	64 (8Q / 4WC)
Seeds	16

Rafael Nadal successfully defended his title with victories against the likes of Tim Henman, Fernando González, Gaël Monfils and Roger Federer, whom he beat in the final.

The Final

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 4-2 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 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.

Roger Federer (Final)
Rafael Nadal (Champion)
Ivan Ljubičić (First Round)
David Nalbandian (Semifinals)
Andy Roddick (Quarterfinals)
Nikolay Davydenko (Third Round)
James Blake (First Round)
Gastón Gaudio (First Round)
Guillermo Coria (First Round)
Fernando González (Quarterfinals)
David Ferrer (First Round)
Tommy Robredo (First Round)
Nicolas Kiefer (Second Round)
Radek Štěpánek (Third Round)
Thomas Johansson (Second Round)
Robby Ginepri (Second Round)

Draw

Key

Finals

Semifinals					Final


1	Roger Federer	6	3	7⁷

4	David Nalbandian	3	6	6⁵
					1	Roger Federer	7⁷	6⁵	4	6	6⁵

					2	Rafael Nadal	6⁰	7⁷	6	2	7⁷
	Gaël Monfils	2	2

2	Rafael Nadal	6	6

Section 1

First Round					Second Round					Third Round				Quarterfinals

1	R Federer	6	6
	J I Chela	2	1		1	R Federer	6	7⁷
WC	P Starace	6	6		WC	P Starace	3	6²
	D Tursunov	4	1							1	R Federer	6	6
	J Nieminen	6	6							14	R Štěpánek	1	4
	S Grosjean	2	1			J Nieminen	4	6⁵
	F López	4	4		14	R Štěpánek	6	7⁷
14	R Štěpánek	6	6											1	R Federer	6	6²	7
11	D Ferrer	5	0											Q	N Almagro	3	7⁷	5
	J Acasuso	7	6			J Acasuso	4	6	4
Q	N Almagro	7	6		Q	N Almagro	6	2	6
	N Massú	5	4							Q	N Almagro	7⁸
	F Verdasco	6	2	6						6	N Davydenko	6⁶	r
WC	S Bolelli	4	6	1		F Verdasco	1	6	0
	B Pašanski	1	4		6	N Davydenko	6	3	6
6	N Davydenko	6	6

Section 2

First Round					Second Round					Third Round					Quarterfinals

4	D Nalbandian	6	3	6
Q	F Vicente	2	6	3	4	D Nalbandian	6	6
	P-H Mathieu	6	6			P-H Mathieu	2	4
	J C Ferrero	1	3							4	D Nalbandian	7	6
Q	A Martín	6	6							Q	A Martín	5	4
	D Sanguinetti	2	4		Q	A Martín	6	7⁷
WC	D Bracciali	6	2	4	13	N Kiefer	3	6³
13	N Kiefer	4	6	6											4	D Nalbandian	6	6
9	G Coria	3	2													M Ančić	3	3
Q	R Ramírez Hidalgo	6	6		Q	R Ramírez Hidalgo	0	7⁸	7⁷
	M Safin	7	3	6		M Safin	6	6⁶	6³
Q	T Gabashvili	5	6	1						Q	R Ramírez Hidalgo	3	7⁷	5
	M Ančić	6	6								M Ančić	6	6⁴	7
	L Horna	4	4			M Ančić	3	7¹²	6
	F Serra	6	7⁷			F Serra	6	6¹⁰	0
7	J Blake	4	6³

Section 3

First Round					Second Round					Third Round				Quarterfinals

5	A Roddick	6	6
	V Hănescu	1	0		5	A Roddick	3	6	6
	M Baghdatis	7	6			M Baghdatis	6	1	2
	O Rochus	5	4							5	A Roddick	7⁷	6
Q	S Galvani	6	6								G Rusedski	6⁴	2
	J Novák	3	4		Q	S Galvani	6⁴	4
	G Rusedski	5	6	6		G Rusedski	7⁷	6
12	T Robredo	7	3	4										5	A Roddick	2	3
16	R Ginepri	3	6	6											G Monfils	6	6
	M Mirnyi	6	2	3	16	R Ginepri	1	6	4
	G Monfils	6	3	6		G Monfils	6	4	6
	T Haas	2	6	4							G Monfils	7⁹	6
Q	J Mónaco	6	2	3							F Santoro	6⁷	2
	F Santoro	4	6	6		F Santoro	7⁷	6
	D Hrbatý	5	7⁷	6		D Hrbatý	6²	3
3	I Ljubičić	7	6⁴	4

Section 4

First Round					Second Round					Third Round				Quarterfinals

8	G Gaudio	6	3	3
	X Malisse	4	6	6		X Malisse	2	1
	P Srichaphan	1	3			T Berdych	6	6
	T Berdych	6	6								T Berdych	2	4
	M Youzhny	6	7⁹							10	F González	6	6
	A Seppi	2	6⁷			M Youzhny	4	7	3
	S Wawrinka	4	4		10	F González	6	5	6
10	F González	6	6											10	F González	4	3
15	T Johansson	7⁷	6											2	R Nadal	6	6
Q	F Fognini	6³	3		15	T Johansson	6⁸	1
	T Henman	7	7⁷			T Henman	7¹⁰	6
WC	A di Mauro	5	6²								T Henman	2	2
	A Murray	4	4							2	R Nadal	6	6
	F Volandri	6	6			F Volandri	1	2
	C Moyà	1	6	2	2	R Nadal	6	6
2	R Nadal	6	2	6

Qualifying

Seeds

Nicolás Almagro (Qualified)
Alberto Martín (Qualified)
Novak Djokovic (Qualifying Competition)
Jonas Björkman (First Round)
Wesley Moodie (First Round)
Vincent Spadea (First Round)
Fernando Vicente (Qualified)
Flávio Saretta (Qualifying Competition)
Rubén Ramírez Hidalgo (Qualified)
Răzvan Sabău (First Round)
Dick Norman (Qualifying Competition)
Igor Kunitsyn (Qualifying Competition)
Juan Mónaco (Qualified)
Oliver Marach (Qualifying Competition)
Guillermo García-López (First Round)
Juan Antonio Marín (Qualifying Competition)

Qualifiers

First Qualifier

First Round				Qualifying Competition


1	Nicolás Almagro	6	6

	Flavio Cipolla	2	3
				1	Nicolás Almagro	6	6

					George Bastl	0	4
	George Bastl	6	6

15	Guillermo García-López	2	0

Second Qualifier

First Round				Qualifying Competition


2	Alberto Martín	6	6

WC	Thomas Fabbiano	1	2
				2	Alberto Martín	6	6

				12	Igor Kunitsyn	3	4
	Gilles Elseneer	3	4

12	Igor Kunitsyn	6	6

Third Qualifier

First Round				Qualifying Competition


3	Novak Djokovic	6	6

	Francesco Aldi	2	3
				3	Novak Djokovic	6⁴	6	3

				WC	Fabio Fognini	7⁷	1	6
WC	Fabio Fognini	6	6

10	Răzvan Sabău	2	4

Fourth Qualifier

First Round				Qualifying Competition


4	Jonas Björkman	4	4

WC	Stefano Galvani	6	6
				WC	Stefano Galvani	6	1	6

				16	Juan Antonio Marín	2	6	1
	Evgeny Korolev	1	4

16	Juan Antonio Marín	6	6

Fifth Qualifier

First Round					Qualifying Competition


5	Wesley Moodie	7	5	2

	Teymuraz Gabashvili	5	7	6
						Teymuraz Gabashvili	6	4	6

					11	Dick Norman	3	6	1
	Alejandro Falla	1	2

11	Dick Norman	6	6

Sixth Qualifier

First Round				Qualifying Competition


6	Vincent Spadea	1	5

	Giorgio Galimberti	6	7
					Giorgio Galimberti	3	2

				13	Juan Mónaco	6	6
	Federico Luzzi	2	2

13	Juan Mónaco	6	6

Seventh Qualifier

First Round				Qualifying Competition


7	Fernando Vicente	6	6

	Lars Burgsmüller	4	1
				7	Fernando Vicente	6	6

				14	Oliver Marach	3	3
	Antony Dupuis	6⁶	3

14	Oliver Marach	7⁸	6

Eighth Qualifier

First Round				Qualifying Competition


8	Flávio Saretta	6	6

	Nicolás Lapentti	4	2
				8	Flávio Saretta	4	6	3

				9	Rubén Ramírez Hidalgo	6	4	6
WC	Gianluca Naso	4	3

9	Rubén Ramírez Hidalgo	6	6

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