TennisToday

Rafael Nadal Wins Masters Series 1000 Title at Madrid

Madrid ATP Masters Series 1000 - Men's Final

5 Rafael Nadal d 15 Stanislas Wawrinka - 62 64

Rafa saved his best tennis for Sunday.

This is Rafa's 3rd title at Madrid, 23rd Masters 1000 and 55th overall.

It also moves him to a tie for 2nd most clay titles with Muster with 40.

He needs 6 more to tie Vilas at 46 - which should happen by next year.

This is also the first time he's won Barcelona & Madrid in the same year.

Post match: I'm very happy for everything that has happened.

Forty titles on clay are far more than I ever dreamed of [winning].

***

Rafa will head to Rome as the 5th seed and is in #4 Ferrer's quarter.

So if Rafa takes the title (his 7th at Rome) he will move up to #4.

Meaning the French Open seeding thing will solve itself.

I'm hoping it happens. Nobody wants a Rafa/Nole quarterfinal. Nobody.

***

Rafa is also prominent in the Madrid 2020 Olympic campaign bid:

Serena Williams Wins at Madrid and Joins 50 Title Club

Madrid WTA - Women's Final

1 Serena Williams d 2 Maria Sharapova - 61 64

And Serena hands Maria her ass. Again.

That makes 7 of their last 11 matches Maria was kept to 5 games or less.

That's just crazy stuff.

With the title defence Serena will stay at #1.

She also joined 9 other women with 50 or more titles.

Post match: It feels good. I don't know how many more I can win.

Like I say every day, 'Who knows if I'll ever win another title?'

I just want to live in the moment and the dream every chance I get.

I feel like every moment I play - I don't know if it's because of what

I went through - I feel like I'm so fortunate to be out there and healthy

and to have an opportunity to play a sport and be really good at it.

Hopefully I can just keep it going.

Yea, I'm feeling a 2nd French Open title is in the offing.

Serena Williams & Maria Sharapova: Bikini Babes Set to Battle for #1 in the Final at Madrid

Madrid WTA - Women's Final Preview

1 Serena Williams vs 2 Maria Sharapova - H2H: 12-2/Serena

Sf milestones: Serena becomes 1st player to win 30 matches this year.

And Maria joined an elite club by winning her 500th WTA match.

Maria has not beaten Serena since 2004.

In their last 11 matches Maria has managed only 3 sets.

Also in those last 11 - in 6 of them Serena only gave up 5 games.

Their last showdown was in the Miami final in March.

Maria managed to make it a 3 setter but got blown out in the 3rd 6-0.

Can she make it interesting tomorrow? Certainly. Hopefully.

And let's not forget that they are playing for the #1 ranking.

In the battel of banging bikini bods I'm playing it safe - both win.

Pablo Andujar Gains Semifinal at Madrid

Madrid Masters Series 1000 - Men's Quarterfinal

W/C Pablo Andujar d 14 Kei Nishikori - 63 75

Pablo's improbable run continued today.

He has only won 5 matches this year and none were back-to-back.

Here in Madrid he's on a 4 match winning streak!

His reward? He get Rafa in the Sf's tomorrow.

But Pablo is happy enough just to be there: I'm very happy.

Very happy for being able to reach my first [Masters 1000] semi-finals

in my career, especially here in Madrid. 

I think that I cannot ask for anything else.

Sure you can. How about the final?

Serena Williams Digs Deep to Gain Semifinals at Madrid

Madrid WTA - Women's Quarterfinal

1 Serena Williams d W/C Anabel Medina Garrigues - 63 06 75

It's not everyday Serena eats a bagel.

About that bagel: I wasn't really there, my feet weren't moving -

I don't know what happened. To turn it around I got up earlier on the

changeover and started doing high knees and just stretching and

doing anything to try to get my intensity back up to where it needed to be.

This second set is a good reference. I can show a lot of juniors what not to do.

Rafael Nadal Digs Deep to Gain Semifinals at Madrid

Madrid Masters Series 1000 - Men's Quarterfinal

5 Rafael Nadal d 4 David Ferrer - 46 76(3) 60

Boy this one is gonna sting Ferrer for a while. He so had this one.

But Rafa just refused to lose. And once he got into the 3rd set: lights out.

After the win he helped celebrate Spanish legend Manolo Santana's bday.

Post match: To win matches like today is always important.

For me physically these matches help me [as] these are the kind of

matches that ask the most of you physically. I think I played well.

I had some highs and lows. Some moments I played aggressively.

Kei Nishikori Upsets Roger Federer in 3rd Round at Madrid

Madrid Masters Series 1000 - Men's 3rd Round

14 Kei Nishikori d 2 Roger Federer - 64 16 62

The boy beats his idol.

He was my idol. Actually, to beat him, that was one of my goals

for my tennis career. It happens on clay and it's amazing.

It's not really my favourite surface.

I wasn't really expecting this. 6-2 in the third, that's not easy against him.

I played well. I was a little bit tight of course, but he didn't make many

first serves in the third set and I was able to attack his second.

I was even more aggressive in the third set.

I'm pretty happy the way I played.

Rafael Nadal into Quarterfinals at Madrid

Madrid Masters Series 1000 - Men's 3rd Round

5 Rafael Nadal d Mikhail Youzhny - 62 63

Well the King of Clay's road to the title just got easier today.

Roger was sent out & is joining Novak in Rome sooner than he'd have liked.

This is Rafa's 7th tourney since returning.

He's been to the finals of all 6 so far - winning 4 of them.

It is a dream return to the tour but you won't hear that from him:

Since I've been back, I haven't had the security that I am

in my perfect moment. I just have to try and feel that I am

getting better and better day after day.

So, I have to have my feet on the ground. I made it to the

quarter-finals of Madrid. For me, it's lovely to be able to say that today.

I'll try to enjoy the quarter-final match tomorrow.

Serena Williams Opens Madrid Title Defence with Win

Madrid WTA - Women's 2nd Round

1 Serena Williams d Lourdes Dominguez-Lino - 62 75

You know you can't handle Serena's recent Vibe bikini photo shot. Truth.

And I am not touching this whole Sloane Stephens thing.

Except to say there will be no rematch at Madrid.

Sloane couldn't get out of the 1st round.

But Serena did and is seeking a second straight title at Madrid.

And she needs to win or lose in the same round as Maria to remain #1.

It makes for a tantalizing final. And I hope it happens.

 

Andy Murray Earns 400th ATP Match Win with 2nd Round Victory at Madrid

Madrid Masters Series 1000 - Men's 2nd Round

3 Andy Murray d Florian Mayer - 76(11) 76(3)

Andy's 400th win came with a hard fought opening match at Madrid.

His ATP match record is 400-126.

The Scot's very 1st ATP win came at Queens Club back in 2005.

Among those 400 wins his 2 best matches came just last season...

Winning the gold medal over Federer & the US Open topping Djokovic.

To notch win #401 he'll need to get thru Gilles Simon - H2H: 10-1/Andy.

Gilles won their first meeting in '07 aince then it's been all Andy.

I suspect that trend will hold tomorrow.

 

 

Grigor Dimitrov Upsets Novak Djokovic in an Epic 2nd Round Match at Madrid

Madrid Masters Series 1000 - Men's 2nd Round

Grigor Dimitrov d 1 Novak Djokovic - 76(6) 67(8) 63

Welcome to the big time G! It's been a long time coming.

His #28 ranking will already be getting a nice bump on Monday.

Maybe even a big bump if he keeps going thru the draw.

Post match: It's a great win for me. Good day at the office.

I know it's a big thing, of course. But you got to stay on the ground.

Hopefully you're going to face these guys for years.

You never know how it's going to be next time...

You got to be ready and try to work at it every day and

see it as just another test to do and something exciting to look forward.

Roger Federer Starts His Clay Season with a Win at Madrid

Madrid Masters Series 1000 - Men's 2nd Round

2 Roger Federer d Radek Stepnaek - 63 63

Not only a winning start to his clay season but also his title defence.

Remember: Roger was the champion on that goofy blue clay last year.

It's a good time in tennis to be over 30:

[It's] nice to have that generation of players next to you.

Because if I [were] the only guy over 30, it would feel a bit awkward,

to be honest. But I'm not… it's definitely inspiring seeing all

the other players, many guys over 30 years old,

still playing on Tour and playing well.

Fernando Verdasco Wins 1st Match at Madrid

Madrid Masters Series 1000 - Men's 1st Round

Fernando Verdasco d David Goffin - 76(2) 62

That's Fern with legend Manolo Santana on Court Manolo Santana days ago.

At Madrid last year Fern finally got his first win over Rafael Nadal.

Since then his results have taken a nose-dive.

In the 21 tournys he's played since he was a Qf'ist or better only twice.

Fern is looking to get back on track:

What I focus on is trying to work as hard as possible.

The confidence comes back when you work harder than you normally do.

If you normally push it up to 100%, well, I have to push it to 200%.

That's the way it is when you're in a bad season.

 It seems all the things are against you.

The fact of playing here in Madrid also helps; the extra motivation that

Madrid was going to be my next tournament.

Perhaps that made me train even harder, at a higher level.

I think that I'm well prepared to at least be competitive this week.

Maria Sharapova Esquire Swimsuit Spread

Maria is in Madrid this week as the 2nd seed behind Serena.

Maria is in a position to yank the #1 spot away from Serena.

All Maria needs to do is finish the tourny one round better than Serena.

That makes for a very tasty final. Make it happen ladies.

Madrid's Tennis Tournament Doesn't Exist in My World

You may or may not have noticed that I have written nothing from Madrid.

This is the only post I'll make - tho I may acknowledge the winners tomorrow.

Before this thing even started I thought it was a joke.

How is this "The Road to Road Garros"?

Isn't it the idea to prepare the players for the big show in Paris?

I formed this opinion long before Rafa & Nole lost - this is not sour grapes.

Can you imagine changing the surface in Cincy on the way to the US Open?

Exactly. The idea is to prepare the players for the culminating Slam.

Ion Tiriac should be (and will be) run out of town.

And kudos to Rafa & Nole for saying they won't be back unless it's red clay.

Experiments should NOT be happening at this level.

This is a joke tournament if you ask me.

The tour returns to actual real clay court tennis on Monday - in Rome.

After that stupid detour in Madrid from the Road to Roland Garros.

Rafael Nadal & Janko Tipsarevic Practice in Madrid

 

Janko posted this photo on his Facebook page simply captioned:

Done with first practice on blue clay.

Hmmm, I wonder how I'm gonna feel about this blue clay thing. Anyway.

***

RAFA at Madrid:

Rafa has won this Masters Series event twice: '05 & '10.

In '05 it was an indoor hard court fall tournement.

It moved to a spring tourney in '09 and he's been to all three finals since.

Remember last year he lost in straight sets to Novak.

***

Janko at Madrid:

Odd but true: He has play one main draw match - and lost.

Ranked #8 his 1st round bye will automatically get him his best result.

Points!

Ryan Harrison is on His Way to Madrid Y'all

Ryan posted this pic on his Facebook simply captioned: Traveling to Madrid.

He is heading there from Belgrade after suffering a 1st round loss.

Let's hope this travel goes better than his trip to Sebia, of that he wrote:

Maybe the worst trip ever but I finally made it to Belgrade...

After three days of travel but my luggage did not.

Fortunately, I carried on a pair of shoes and my racquets so...

At least I can practice and get ready for my first round match tomorrow.

Ryan is playing Madrid for the 1st time.

Currently ranked #58 he'll be one of the top seeds in the qualifying.

Next year he'll get directly in the main draw. Trust me...

Novak Djokovic Extends Streak - Wins Madrid Title

Madrid Masters Series 1000 - Final

2 Novak Djokovic d 1 Rafael Nadal - 75 64

Novak's season is officially over-the-top ridiculous. 32-0. 6 titles.

Includes 3 wins over Rafa, 3 over Roger & 6 other wins over top 20 players.

With Indian Wells & Miami this is Novak's 3rd Masters 1000 title of '11.

This is his 24th ATP title and 8th at the Masters 1000 level.

After spending years as 3rd fiddle it's only a matter of time until he's #1.

Rafa prognosticated as much in his presser:

The number 1 ranking is not in danger - it's finished.

Let's not lie to ourselves, that's the reality.

Today Novak became the 1st player to notch double-digit wins over Rafa.

Novak: I’ve played probably the best match of my life on clay...

Against the World No. 1 and the player to beat on this surface.

So will Novak's streak be stopped in Rome?

Will we get a 4th Rafa/Novak Masters 1000 final for 2011?

For now let's just hope the tourney gives them Wednesday starts. 

Rafael Nadal Hit Shot of the Year in Madrid Final

Ridiculously sick. This may well hold up as the singular best shot of 2011.

Petra Kvitova Wins WTA Title at Madrid

Madrid WTA - Final

16 Petra Kvitova d 4 Victoria Azarenka - 76(3) 64

Petra wins her 4th career WTA title and her 3rd on the season.

She is tied with #1 Caroline Wozniacki with most title so far this year.

The win will bump her from #18 to #10.

This is her first visit into the top 10 - becoming the 6th Czech to do so.

Petra has opted not to play next week in Rome.

Watch out: Suddenly we have a very serious contender Roland Garros.

Photo: Reuters