Martinez d Schiavone 62 62

Maybe Daniela had a bad day and Schiavone had a good day.

Daniela didn't over-achieve. She played her best on 2002 and 2007-first part of 2008. And top 10 is where she should be.

But you're forgetting that bloody heel injury. She was as high as no.7 after Australian Open 2008. Had she done a full season I have no doubt she would have maintained it, possibly cracked top 5 again. It took her a year to get back to playing ok. I think Charleston and Fed Cup she turned a corner, and Rome is a blip, everyone has blips. She must not waste time (and us too) on this loss to Schiavone. I honestly think she was tired from all the fed cup exertions.

Bring on a bloody hard draw in Madrid and Daniela will prove to us how awesome she is, that's what I say!!!!

Sometimes I do wonder if Daniela was ever really as good as she seemed in 2002, or that she just overachieved that one season. What do you guys think? There is no doubt in my mind. She WAS that damn good! That is why I might seem harsh in criticizing some of her substandard performances.

I don't think you can over-estimate how damaging the events of 2003 were to Daniela. Not only did her personal life fall apart,but she was the victim of some of the most appalling,self-centered coaching I've ever seen. In 2002 she was dubbed the 'Ice Queen' because she was so good in clutch situations-we all know what happened afterwards. I will always be wistful thinking of what might have been.

Mandatory Premiers are Indian Wells, Miami, Madrid & Beijing.

How do the Williams sisters manage to avoid IW every year then? I know why they do... but if it's mandatory..?

Some interesting discussion about Daniela here...
I think we need to recognise that Daniela lost to a higher ranked opponent on her least favourite surface. Granted her play in the second and third sets was poor, but the facts remain the same. I wouldn't have liked her chances of beating Martinez Sanchez, nor Caroline so it was always going to be an uphill battle throughout the rest of the tournament.

It's a disappointing result but every player has them (ignoring a select few). Don't get me wrong i was pretty gutted by the loss, as i always am. Particularly because i felt like it was a winnable match, but i don't see the point in crying over spilt milk, especially when Daniela had a less than kind draw. At the same time we can't always make allowances for Daniela and truth be told she played poorly. I didn't see the first set but Franchesca never does anything particularly special on the tennis court, so my assumption is that Daniela was playing well. So from that perspective it is indeed irritating to say the least that Daniela couldn't sustain her play and more than that, irritating that she totally capitulated. But these are things that have been synonymous with her career. I doubt they're going to be rectified anytime soon.

Hopefully Daniela brings the game that notched up some JJ victories earlier this season to Madrid. It'd be nice if she grabbed some points to offset the ones she'll lose from Warsaw.

It's so frustrating seeing jankovic doing so well after fed cup and daniela bombing so early in this tournament.

Trying to watch JJ in the semis right now but Eurosport have failed again.

Well, Martinez-Sanchez taking out the title makes me feel a lot better. I'm not sure Daniela would have been able to handle her in round 2.