With two time defending champion Maria Sharapova pulling out of her quarterfinal match against Sara Errani as a result of injury, there was a guarantee that a new champion would be crowned in Rome this season. Before that could happen, world no. 1 Serena Williams would have to clash against her closest rival and the woman who defeated her in the finals of 2013 Doha Open, earlier this year, world no. 3 Victoria Azarenka.

Seeing that Serena held a 13 -2 head to head against Azarenka and was on a career best 23 match winning streak, all the bets were on the legendary American to emerge victorious from the duo’s 16th encounter.

Day 5 of the 2013 Italian Open was witness to two top 10 upsets. In the first of those, France’s Benoit Paire ousted 7th seed Juan Martin Del Potro in straight sets 6-4, 7-6(3). 9th seed Richard Gasquet put up more off a fight before he was shown the door by up and comer Jerzy Janowicz who rallied for a 3-6, 7-6(2), 6-4 victory.

The other top 10 matches scheduled for the day had more or less predictable results. The top two seeds in Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer sailed through their 3rd round encounters to progress quite comfortably to the last eight while 5th seed David Ferrer was given a walkover as a result of Phillip Kohschreiber’s withdrawal due to dizziness. World no. 6 Tomas Berdych continued his dominance over South Africa’s Kevin Anderson with a 7-5, 6-2 victory, his fourth 2013 defeat of the big serving Anderson .

Day 4 of the Rome Masters was a bit anti-climactic as two top players in the form of Stanislas Wawrinka and Andy Murray ended up withdrawing with injuries. Defending champion Rafael Nadal continued his campaign with a dominating victory over homeboy Fabio Fognini in straight sets. The only excitement of the day came in the way of Jerzy Janowicz’s upset of Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and 4th seed David Ferrer's three set win against compatriot Fernanando Verdasco.

Rafael Nadal continued his brilliant return to tennis after his 7 month long absence from the ATP Tour with another comprehensive victory in the 2nd round of the 2013 Italian Open. The win came against local hope and world no. 25 Fabio Fognini after a little over an hour on court 6-1, 6-2.

Rod Laver, the only person in history to have ever achieved two Grand Slams and undoubtedly one of the greatest legends of tennis, will be an honored guest at the International Tennis Hall of Fame's Legends Ball, an annual gala celebration to be hosted on September 6 in New York City during the US Open. At the event, Laver will receive the Eugene L. Scott Award, given annually in memory of the late Tennis Week founder to an individual who has shown a commitment to tennis and has made a positive impact on the sport.

Additionally, Laver will be a special guest at this summer's Rolex Hall of Fame Enshrinement Weekend at the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, R.I. Laver will participate in the Class of 2013 Enshrinement Ceremony, paying tribute to Australian tennis great Thelma Coyne Long, who is among the enshrinees. A dominant Australian player of the 1930s-1950s, Long won an impressive 19 major titles in singles, doubles, and mixed doubles. Long, who is 94 years old and living in the Sydney area, is currently unable to travel to Newport, but has sent along her appreciation for the honor.

Tuesday was a day packed with tennis with both the men’s 1st and 2nd round match ups taking place on the same day. The morning session was witness to the opening round matches that saw 13th seed Tommy Haas, 15th seed Stanislas Wawrinka and giant killers Lukas Rosol and Horacio Zeballos in action. Wawrinka was the sole survivor of that quartet, but only after fighting back from a set deficit against qualifier Carlos Berlocq 5-7, 6-3, 6-3.

Later in the day, World no 1 Novak Djokovic and 2nd seed Roger Federer took to the courts, returning to the thick of it after early exits in Madrid. Both looked to be confident and in sublime touch in their straight set defeats of Albert Montanes and Potito Starace, respectively. Joining them on Thursday in round 3 will be 6th seed Tomas Berdych, 7th seed Juan Martin Del Potro and 9th seed Richard Gasquet who came through comfortably in their 2nd round matches.

The last 23 times the ‘big 4’ have taken part in one tournament, one of them has gone on to win the title. With the top 3 seeds Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Andy Murray being shown the door before the semi-finals, the onus was on the last remaining member of the top players, in world no. 5 Rafael Nadal to maintain the dominance and winning streak of the ‘the big 4’ of tennis.

In order to do that, the Spaniard would have to overcome Federer’s compatriot Stanislas Wawrinka, who was playing his first Masters 1000 final since 2008. On the face of it, it was not a tough ask. Nadal had played the Swiss 8 times in his storied career and won every single time. Furthermore, it would once again be a mismatch between Wawrinka’s single handed backhand and the 5th seed’s looping top spin forehand a battle that even 17 time Slam winner Roger Federer has struggled to win.