ATP Masters Series 1000: Madrid (+ WTA Premier Mandatory)

[pepsi]

Firstly the clay courts in Madrid this year are blue. Which is good for TV viewers but honestly what a disgrace. I am a bit of a traditionalist and hope that this blue clay is a one off and no other clay tournament follows. We do not want all tennis courts to be blue.

Madrid main draw starts for the Women tonight and tomorrow for the men. The draw is out for the mens (without qualifiers) and Fed and Novak in the same half with Nadal and Tsonga in the other half. Murray pulled out with a back injury which means Tsonga is the 4th seed. There are some intriguing possible match ups:

Fed v Raoinic 2nd round/v Gasquet 3rd round/v Ferrer 1/4 final.

Djokovic v Lopez 3rd round/Simon 1/4 final.

Isner v Cilic 2nd round.

Nadal v Berdych 1/4 final.

Tomic has Stepane first up, then Ferrer 2nd round.


WTA Main Draw

(1)V Azarenka vs S Kuznetsova
Q vs Q
N Petrova vs V King
Q vs (13) Ana Ivanovic
(12)A Kerber vs Q
S Halep vs (WC)V Williams
T Paszek vs (WC) S Soler-Espinosa
G Mugurza Blanco vs (8) L Na

(4) A Radwanska vs (WC)L Arruabarrena-Vecino
C Scheepers vs S Errani
Y Wickmayer vs J Gajdosova
R Vinci vs (14)D Cibulkova
(11) F Schiavone vs Q
S Pe'er vs P Hercog
T Pironkova vs A Medina Garrigues
S Cirstea vs (7) M Bartoli

(5)S Stosur vs P Martic
S Arvidsson vs C McHale
M Niculescu vs Q
P Cetkovska vs (10)V Zvonareva
(16) M Kirilenko vs J Zheng
E Makarova vs G Voskoboeva
S Peng vs Q
M Erakovic vs (3)P Kvitova

(6)C Wozniacki vs K Pervak
M Barthel vs J Goerges
A Pavlyuchenkova vs Q
E Vesnina vs (9)S Williams
(15)J Jankovic vs (WC)C Suárez Navarro
L Safarova vs K Kanepi
I Benesova vs K Zakopalova
I-C Begu vs (2)M Sharapova

 

[matt_897]

I dont mind the blue clay only because Madrid has always been a gimmicky sort of tournament that is not really a good lead up for the French anyway given the altitude. Ideally you would play this tourney first up on the clay season to transition the hard and clay seasons.

 

[Mint Condition]

I don't see why people get so worked up about the colour of the surface. For all I care, they can make the courts for a tournament purple and the balls bright orange if they want to. In fact, if it helps tournaments differentiate themselves it may well be a good thing to have different colours.

 

[matt_897]

I agree to a certain extent, MC. But as long as it not ruining traditions hence the outrage. Given Madrid is a new tournament it really doesn't matter but I think if other tournaments followed suit is the concern. I can see how the issue of preparing for the French is an issue too.

It's certainly a surface not suited for Sam, she scraped through her first rounder

 

[Chris_2593]

Dont mind the look of the blue clay courts. Would still prefer the traditional ones though. Sam seems to be struggling beating Mchale 2-6 6-4 6-0. She takes on Petra Cetkovska next so she should be able to get through. Tomic is first on court 6 tonight.

 

[matt_897]

It basically plays like a fast hard court with no grip for your feet, terrible surface and even worse for Sam. After watching some of the play last night, I'm just glad Sam won a couple of rounds... Better schedule tonight, should be some interesting matches an Djokovic gets going.

 

[Big Tezza]

Personally I can't stand the blue clay and really don't see the point of it. I'm not surprised Nadal and Djokovic have publicly complained about it.

After yesterday's underwhelming schedule, today's is much better, with Raonic/Nalbandian, Mayer/Del Potro, Kohlschreiber/Monfils and Bellucci/Gasquet looking like interesting matches.

Tomic also takes on Stepanek, but it really depends on which Bernie turns up. The one that got flogged by Lopez the other day doesn't inspire me with much confidence...

 

[Mint Condition]

Surely the point is to be able to see the ball better on tv and for the fans at the venue?

This surface doesn't seem to be great...though I doubt that's because it's blue. The Madrid surface has played pretty fast the last few years too. I don't agree with the players that say the surfaces should all be the same leading up to the French Open.

 

[hirdy_is_champ]

I don't know why the colour is such an issue, shouldn't it be more about the court being shithouse? According to djokovic its very slippery, I wonder if its a bit like en tout cas, with that sandy/stony covering. I've never seen real clay so I don't know what the difference is personally.

Anyway, Bernie unsurprisingly got done by Stepanek in straights. Is it just me, or does he role over way too easily sometimes? Not that you can really tell much from a live scoreboard, but he seems to tank sets a bit. I know he's young, but surely that's not a good mentality to have.

Sam will play Cetkovska, seeing as she seems to be struggling with the surface it will be tough. Although I can't remember her doing much here last year so I guess she's done her job points wise, so she still might be a sneaky chance to sneak a number 4 seeding for RG. Kvitova cannot make up any points due to winning last year.

Anyway, really should be writing an essay right now.

 

[Butcher32]

the "colour" is less of an issue, after Novak played last night he tweeted that "should have brought my skates out there". Its just different.Medium bouncing fast claycourt. I tell you what, it plays a lot faster than some of the hardcourts out there.Not an idea preparation in the run up to the french open

 

[Mint Condition]

Fed just got out of jail against Raonic. Milos had more winners and less UE's for the match and was holding serve much easier...he just couldn't make the most of his break point opportunities and Federer played well on the big points. Raonic is really starting to look like he'll blow anyone off the court and I'd be pretty surprised if he didn't make a big run at at least one of the slams this year. He's a 3rd round match the top guys will really be hoping to avoid at the French.

 

[Rabbit of Caerbannog]

I tell you what, it plays a lot faster than some of the hardcourts out there.

Even though it'll probably be a one-off, it's a nice change. We've had to put up with the reverse (hard courts imitating clay) for years now.

 

[Butcher32]

Even though it'll probably be a one-off, it's a nice change. We've had to put up with the reverse (hard courts imitating clay) for years now.

agreed but not an ideal time really..with the run up to the french open.(which is totally different)If this was in the run up to US open then ok.Nadal was beaten by Vedasco, couldnt keep the ball in court today,was quoting saying "Next year there will be one less tournament in my calendar" .Ah well

 

[Butcher32]

Djoko on twitter - "Same conditions in 2013 and I won't play."

 

[Mint Condition]

What a bunch of prima donnas. Why doesn't Nole just pull out now then if he's got such a problem?

I hope the owner of the tournament goes ahead with his plan for fluro balls or whatever he was going on about a couple of days ago and keeps the clay blue. I'm sure they can figure out how to make it less slippery.

 

[Butcher32]

andy murray twitter (tongue on cheek stuff) : Seems like the players are enjoying the blue clay in madrid.... Arrived in rome and the red clay is playing horribly


It was more than nole and rafa complaining. Almagro, wawrinka and a few others said the same thing.

 

[matt_897]

What a bunch of prima donnas. Why doesn't Nole just pull out now then if he's got such a problem?

Have you seen how poor this surface has been this week? The surface has no grip at all and have been falling all over the place. Injuries are a major concern and it has gotten to such a point where you take the zero pointer/fine etc. just because it's that bad. Bounce has been awfully inconsisant as well. Has to be fixed.

That nadal/verdasco match hurt my eyes... Nadal was awful, verdasco was arguably worse and managed to win

 

[Butcher32]

Totally agree matt, i have never seen rafa so bad on clay...even after the win against davydenko he said that the surface was a joke, uneven and movement is virtually restricted. He couldnt get his footing right.Novak said this week his goal is just to avoid injuries.Nothing more.The nadal verdasco match was the worst i have seen this year...about 70 unforced errors in that match, what a joke.

 

[Mint Condition]

The players aren't falling over every 2nd point. They're still able to slide to the ball. There haven't been any injuries. It's not THAT bad. I think Nadal and Djokovic have let it get to their heads far too much. It's really surprising. Obviously they're not going to like a court that makes it hard for them to play with their normal defensive ability, but everyone is playing on the same surface. Nadal losing to Verdasco and Djokovic now to Tipsarevic, really? More like they beat themselves. It's kind of fun to see a clay court where attacking tennis is dominant and the courts slightly unpredictable.

 

[Rabbit of Caerbannog]

Both whingers are out. Notice no real complaints from Federer, Del Potro, Berdych or Tipsarevic? All of them play an attacking brand of tennis and are being rewarded for once. Underlines how much Djokovic and Nadal rely on their movement and retrieving skills to win matches. In a different era with even slightly different courts, both might be solid players at best incredibly.

 

[Butcher32]

Both whingers are out. Notice no real complaints from Federer, Del Potro, Berdych or Tipsarevic? All of them play an attacking brand of tennis and are being rewarded for once. Underlines how much Djokovic and Nadal rely on their movement and retrieving skills to win matches. In a different era with even slightly different courts, both might be solid players at best incredibly.

but we are not in the 90s arent we? dumb argument, same can be made about AFL, cricket about anything.Sports should evolve and rightly so.Many other players have complained about it including Murray who pulled out of the tournament, who knows why

secondly, its not about speed they are complaining about, its the bounce and the surface being slippery.Rafa was asking the TR to wear grass court shoes, which was turned out.Get a friggen clue for a change.

 

[Rabbit of Caerbannog]

but we are not in the 90s arent we? dumb argument, same can be made about AFL, cricket about anything.

True greats will flourish in any era no matter what sport we're talking about.

secondly, its not about speed they are complaining about, its the bounce and the surface being slippery.Rafa was asking the TR to wear grass court shoes, which was turned out.Get a friggen clue for a change.

Where did I mention speed? I realise it's the slippery nature of the surface that's hurting players that rely heavily on their movement and retrieving ability, but when basically every other tournament and surface on the tour suits these players, it's nice to have something different for once.

 

[Butcher32]

i find your comment that novak and nadal will be average players at best on fast surfaces absolutely a joke. Dont kid yourself, they are massive talents, you taking potshots at them wont change anything.I know you dislike the way they play, but its ridiculous to suggest that they will be average players at best then.They are legends of the game you throwing crap at them wont change a thing

How would Don Bradman go in T20? or how would Geoff Boycott go in T20? dumb argument but hey you can make one if you wish.

 

[Butcher32]

T
Where did I mention speed? I realise it's the slippery nature of the surface that's hurting players that rely heavily on their movement and retrieving ability, .

if you dont mention speed, how is this argument relevant to 90s anyway? the problem was never speed, you realise rafas biggest problem is bounce and not speed? he has pushed federer in miami when miami was fast surface, back in 2005? or you pretend that you dont know? the surface is a joke, many many players have complained about it.Novak jarred his knee twice in the match, or you reckon that was playacting?

 

[gaelictiogar]

Both whingers are out. Notice no real complaints from Federer, Del Potro, Berdych or Tipsarevic? All of them play an attacking brand of tennis and are being rewarded for once. Underlines how much Djokovic and Nadal rely on their movement and retrieving skills to win matches. In a different era with even slightly different courts, both might be solid players at best incredibly.

Agreed.

As for the blue clay the fact is that clay is an unsuitable surface for tennis anyway so the colour is the least of the issues.