The ATP Tour makes its annual stopover this week at Rome's Foro Italico, one of the sport's most charming venues.

It's where I made my Davis Cup debut on Campo Centrale in 1980 against local hero Adriano Panatta, a French Open champion and I can assure you that, for all its charm, there is not a more intimidating amphitheatre in all of tennis.

Firstly, you depart from the locker room into a long, winding and lonely tunnel, in which you can't help but think of the ancient Christians!

You then emerge into a sudden burst of light and sunshine, and if you're playing an Italian, quite possibly into  a nightmare. You better be ready and not react or the baying fans will make life even more difficult.

There's many a player who have been beaten before a ball has even been struck in the warm-up. For my part, I started well, winning the first set against Adriano, but the combination of his abilities and the highly vocal crowd proved too much for me in the end. On the flip side, if you cop the ordeal and beat an Italian, you'll find the same spectators will come out and give you their support in the next round which is certainly a bonus! This year, Campo Centrale has been upgraded, but I think you've got the picture.

Rafa Nadal, fresh off a historic six Monte Carlo victories in a row, is out to win a fifth Italian Open and equal Agassi's record haul of 17 Masters Series titles. His Rogerness on the other hand is is hoping to win Rome for the first time.

Australian interest, Aussie interest, following qualifier Pete Luczak's first round defeat,  centres on Lleyton Hewitt's progress back from surgery. His first round match with Russia's Mikhail Youzny, who's in hot form this year and possesses a stunning one hand backhand, was a challenging assignment so early in his recovery. It ended up a tough 3 setter, with Lleyton grinding out a fine win. in 2 and a half hours. Look to Lleyton to continue to build on his form and fitness this week, and going into Davis Cup next week on a temporary clay court at Pat Rafter Arena in Brisbane.

Nearly the entire top 10 will be in Rome, including Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray, but it's difficult to go past Rafa. His clay court prowess is becoming historically stand alone, even with Bjorn Borg thrown in the mix.

When one played Borg, the locker room would debate whether the hapless opponent would get one, two, three or regrettably, no games. Relief was defined as a single game, and I suspect it's no different with Rafa.

He is your nightmare draw, the one guy who can humiliate you and, like Borg, by the way, very difficult to dislike after he's dismantled you.

Fernando Verdasco is some player, but what Rafa did to him in the final of Monte Carlo (a single game) will not soon be forgotten by Fernando. Lets not forget Rafa only lost the grand total of 14 games in 10 sets in Monaco.

Playing Rafa on clay is a challenge in facing your demons, as you are resigned to the sternest test of your limited abilities by a master craftsman.

He is simply fitter, stronger and more skilled on clay than any other player and therefore rarely ever loses.

An example via one stat which illustrates his prowess is this: James Blake while in the top 10 was hitting 80 per cent of his winners "through the baseline". Rafa, on the other hand, only hits 20 per cent of his winners in that area. The other 80 per cent are hit at a sharp angle and across the sidelines. This is highly revealing, and gives some context to the difference in styles and their suitability to clay court .

I had the experience of playing Italians on Campo Centrale, being given a lesson on clay by Borg (four games was OK by my reckoning), and the privilege of seeing Rafa play on clay. For me, these are great learning experiences and, if you get a chance, watch the structure and patterns of Rafa on clay and you'll see what I mean.