One thing you can say for Ion Tiriac, he helped heat things up early this clay season. There’s agitation all around as we leave Madrid, and the divide between, in this case, the Federer and Nadal/Djokovic fan camps seems about as wide as its ever been after the players’ very different reactions to Tiriac’s experimental surface. Meanwhile, the dust-up has inspired women’s champ Serena Williams to brand men “weenies” in general. Perhaps Rome can be the calm after the storm this week, and everyone can get their nerves settled before Roland Garros. Then again, the city isn’t exactly known for its cooler heads.

Play is well underway on the traditional red dirt at the Foro Italico. It’s been known to play quickly in the past—Pete Sampras was a winner here—but otherwise the surface should get us back in the familiar clay swing. Below, with much of round one already completed, is a men’s preview (see the draw here). Women’s comes tomorrow.

*****

First Quarter
Novak Djokovic says that the clay in Rome is “paradise” after Madrid. The question now is whether he can get himself settled on it, and his mind settled back down, after last week’s fireworks. Djokovic likes these courts, where he is a two-time champ, and he played what may have been his best match of 2011 in beating Nadal in the final here. He’ll open with the always hard to read Bernard Tomic, who took a set from Djokovic at Wimbledon last year. There’s urgency for Novak at the moment. He wants to get things right before Paris.

But it won’t get easier for him. Djokovic is in Roger Federer’s half, and Tsonga and del Potro are both in his quarter, though he would only have to face one of them. Of those two, del Potro, who reached the semis in Madrid and faces Llodra in the first round here, is the more dangerous player on clay. The question is: Dangerous to his opponent, or to himself? Del Potro played very well and very patiently last week, until he let two (correct) calls get to him against Berdych, one in each of their tiebreakers. This came on the heels of his total meltdown after a bad call against Federer in Indian Wells.

Returning: Juan Monaco

Semifinals: Djokovic

*****

Second Quarter
Roger Federer, who says his body’s hurting after his first week back in Madrid, may yet announce that he won’t play here. If he does play—the No. 2 seeding in Paris is on the line, after all—his draw is manageable, with a couple of wild cards thrown in. Federer would open with Carlos Berloq, then get the winner of Ferrero and Monfils. The latter could—maybe, possibly, somewhat implausibly—be a threat, though he was run out of Madrid by Berdych last week, 1 and 1.

Federer, while he may struggle to find his feet of red clay at first, should be happy to find out that the second seed in his section is Janko Tipsarevic, the man he just dispatched so routinely in the semis in Madrid. But he’ll be a little leery of the third seed here, John Isner, who came back from a deeply lackluster start to beat Philipp Kohlschreiber today, and who has beaten Federer on red clay this season. Isner looked ready to roll out of Rome for most of two sets this evening, but the German gave him new life when he tightened up while trying to serve out the match. Now the big man, so close to going 0-2 in Europe, could turn into a tough out.

Does Federer need more work, or is he properly prepared after a couple of tough wins last week? Getting out on a surface that’s a little closer to what he’ll play on at Roland Garros couldn’t hurt. Or, if he’s as sore as he implies, maybe it could.

Second-round match to watch: Tipsarevic vs. Wawrinka

Semifinalist: Isner

*****

Third Quarter
Andy Murray, who skipped Madrid and has been practicing in Rome, may be in the best position of all, at least to start the week. He has no blue clay to get out of his clothes or his game. Murray opens with David Nalbandian, always a formidable early-round opponent, but one whom Murray has beaten in their last four matches. Still, Murray has had a disappointing clay season so far, looking no more aggressive or positive than usual. Can a week with Lendl change that? Will we ever not be asking this question of Murray?

The second seed in this section is David Ferrer. He made the quarters in Madrid and the final in Barcelona, but opens with a potentially difficult opponent in Fernando Verdasco. Both guys will have to make quick surface adjustments, though Ferrer has won their last three matches easily.

Also here: Simon and Gasquet.

Already out: Davydenko and Dolgopolov, who was ill.

First-round matches of modest renown: Garcia-Lopez vs. Andujar; Simon vs. Donald Young

Semifinalist: Ferrer

*****

Fourth Quarter
Rafael Nadal now sees that he could be out of the Top 2 for Roland Garros, which means potentially having to face down both Federer and Djokovic for the title there. I’m thinking this will be a spur to him, as will the chance to immediately put the bad vibes from Madrid in the past. Plus, Rafa has won this title five times, so adjusting back to the surface shouldn’t be a problem, and he was playing good tennis on the red stuff in Monte Carlo and Barcelona.

But there are obstacles. Nadal opens with quirky shot-maker Florian Mayer, who just beat Milos Raonic, and who beat Rafa in Shanghai last fall. On the other side of his quarter is Tomas Berdych, who gave Federer everything he could handle in Madrid yesterday, and who may be playing the best tennis of his career at the moment. We’ve talked about Murray and del Potro and Tsonga and even Isner as potential debut Slam winners at various times over the last year. Is it time to add Berdych to the list? He’s close to passing Ferrer for No. 6 in the world. The Czech has lost 11 straight times to Rafa, and Rome clay won’t be as friendly to him as Madrid’s. But he pushed Nadal in Melbourne in January.

Also here: Almagro, Lopez, Querrey, and Italy’s own Fabio Fognini and Potito Starace

Already out: Raonic and Cilic. The ATP is hard.

Semifinalist: Nadal

*****

Semifinals: Djokovic d. Isner; Nadal d. Ferrer

Final: Nadal d. Djokovic