Federer, Nadal play exhibition before soccer match
ROME -- Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal got a quick tuneup on grass before the Rome Masters.
The two top-ranked players joined Ivan Ljubicic and Gaston Gaudio for a doubles exhibition Sunday on the field at Stadio Olimpico before AS Roma's soccer match against Treviso in the Italian league.
"The grass wasn't exactly Wimbledon," Federer said. "I'm very excited to be back in Rome."
Federer, who missed last year's event because of exhaustion, arrived in Rome on Wednesday for extra preparation on the slow clay courts.
Federer lost to Nadal in the Monte Carlo final last month in the year's first Masters Series event on clay.
"So far the clay-court season has been good to me," he said. "Reaching the final in Monte Carlo was a good start."
Nadal can match Guillermo Vilas' record 53-match winning streak on clay if he defends his title here. He beat Guillermo Coria in a five-set final last year.
"I have fantastic memories of Rome," Nadal said. "I watched last year's final a lot of times on TV. It was a very, very special moment for me."
Top-ranked Federer opens against Juan Ignacio Chela of Argentina on Monday. Nadal has a tough opening round match Tuesday against 2004 Rome champion and mentor Carlos Moya.
Each of the top 10 players in the rankings are entered for the tournament, a clay-court tuneup for the French Open.
Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press
