ATP Masters Series 1000: Madrid
Draw:
[1] FEDERER, Roger SUI vs. BYE
[WC] MOYA, Carlos ESP vs. BECKER, Benjamin GER
MAYER, Leonardo ARG vs. BENNETEAU, Julien FRA
[WC] GRANOLLERS, Marcel ESP vs. [15] WAWRINKA, Stanislas SUI
[10] YOUZHNY, Mikhail RUS vs. LACKO, Lukas SVK
GULBIS, Ernests LAT vs. MONTANES, Albert ESP
KUBOT, Lukasz POL vs. LOPEZ, Feliciano ESP
BYE vs. [5] RODDICK, Andy USA
[3] MURRAY, Andy GBR vs. BYE
CUEVAS, Pablo URU vs. [Q] CHELA, Juan Ignacio ARG
HANESCU, Victor ROU vs. ANDREEV, Igor RUS
[Q] MUNOZ-DE LA NAVA, Daniel ESP vs. [14] QUERREY, Sam USA
[9] FERRER, David ESP vs. CHARDY, Jeremy FRA
BAGHDATIS, Marcos CYP vs. CHIUDINELLI, Marco SUI
MATHIEU, Paul-Henri FRA vs. SCH****, Eduardo ARG
BYE vs. [8] CILIC, Marin CRO
[6] VERDASCO, Fernando ESP vs. BYE
KOROLEV, Evgeny KAZ vs. KARLOVIC, Ivo CRO
[Q] ANDERSON, Kevin RSA vs. MELZER, Jurgen AUT
[WC] NALBANDIAN, David ARG vs. [11] BERDYCH, Tomas CZE
[16] BELLUCCI, Thomaz BRA vs. [WC] RIBA, Pere ESP
MONACO, Juan ARG vs. GREUL, Simon GER
ALMAGRO, Nicolas ESP vs. TROICKI, Viktor SRB
BYE vs. [4] SODERLING, Robin SWE
[7] TSONGA, Jo-Wilfried FRA vs. BYE
GARCIA-LOPEZ, Guillermo ESP vs. [Q] GIMENO-TRAVER, Daniel ESP
FOGNINI, Fabio ITA vs. PETZSCHNER, Philipp GER
ROBERT, Stephane FRA vs. [12] MONFILS, Gael FRA
[13] ISNER, John USA vs. [Q] ROCHUS, Christophe BEL
KOHLSCHREIBER, Philipp GER vs. [Q] GIRALDO, Santiago COL
[Q] DOLGOPOLOV JR., Oleksandr UKR vs. SEPPI, Andreas ITA
BYE vs. [2] NADAL, Rafael ESP
Preview:
An interesting and revealing week looms as Madrid hosts its second clay court Masters Series event. Last year, in what was Madrid’s inaugural clay court event after switching from indoor hard, Roger Federer defeated Rafael Nadal in the final, a result which was the springboard for his success at the French. I look back to last year’s tournament as the downfall of both Nadal and Djokovic’s clay court seasons; that 4 hour SF was in many ways both of their undoing. This time around Nadal seems to have significantly more fuel in the tank whereas Djokovic is ill and has been forced to withdraw.
Federer has only won 5 matches since his triumph at the Australian Open, and the highest ranked player he has beaten in this time is world #38 Victor Hanescu. His form on the clay is poor, he opted to bypass Monte Carlo, was knocked out first up to Gulbis in Rome and he lost to Montanes in Estoril. Despite his lack of form and relatively tough draw, I see him reaching the final. Firstly, as mentioned previously, he won here last year so being back at the location that gave him the confidence to go on to win the French would be a boost. As a result of that win, he’s defending 1000 points and I just can’t see him willing to throw away so many points when his goal of weeks at #1 is still on the line. Secondly, he seems to always take something away from each block of tournaments. Last year he won both Madrid and Cincinnati, titles which seemed to come from left field. Accepting that he can’t dominate the clay court swing, I’m positive that he’ll be looking to take something from this tournament because the last thing he needs or wants is to arrive in Paris unprepared. Going back to his draw, he’s got either Becker or Moya first, easy win there. Wawrinka is certainly a threat in the 3rd but I have little no faith in Stan, especially his mental toughness. Roddick or the surging Gulbis will be his QF opponent; a rematch with Gulbis would be interesting. Ferrer is the form player on this half, but how much has he got left? Madrid found many players wanting last year, it might do the same to Ferrer and Verdasco.
Rafael Nadal claims that he is ‘fresh and calm’ heading into the tournament which derailed his season last year. He wisely opted to skip Barcelona which aided him in winning Rome, but it’s Madrid and the French Open where the benefit of the rest should become evident. Seppi, Kohlschreber and Tsonga is his likely path to the Semi’s where a clash with Robin Soderling could await, a chance to seek some form of revenge. Clay court specialist Gael Monfils is in this section too but it’s unclear as to his level of fitness and you’d imagine he’d have too much rust to be a challenger here. I see Rafa setting up a long awaited match-up against Federer, this time I except the result to be different.
Since reaching the final at the Australian Open, Murray’s game has completely imploded, and with it so has his confidence. After falling to Federer in the AO final, his W/L ratio is 5/5 and some of his losses include Tipsarevic, Fish and Kohlschreiber. Murray’s form slump is a concern as he’s defending QF points both here and in Paris, so he’ll be desperate to get some wins but more importantly some confidence. He opens up against either Pablo Cuevas or a qualifier, followed by either Querrey or Andreev. Querrey is coming off his title winning week in Serbia, his 4th career title in what was his 2nd clay court final of the year. All in all though, a pretty comfortable draw for Murray and one that he needs to capitalise on. I can’t see him getting any further than Ferrer in the Quarters but at least he would’ve defended last year’s points and regained some belief in his game prior to the French.
There are a whole host of in-form players in the bottom half of the draw, none more so than Fernandon Verdasco who’s playing the best tennis of his career. In 2009 he reached the QF here and he’ll face big serving Ivo Karlovic first, a touch introduction to Madrid. Assuming he passes that test, he’ll have to negotiate another, Mezler, Nalbandian and Berdych all loom; the latter two face off in the best 1R match of the tournament. How much does Verdasco have left in the tank, and just as crucial, how much does he want to go deep here? I get the feeling with a R/U in Monte Carlo, a title in Barcelona and a SF in Rome, Verdasco’s got all the preparation he could’ve asked for and another long week might be the last thing he wants. He should set up a clash with Berdych in the 3R but even if he does advance, I can’t see him progressing any further.
Robin Soderling will be keen to have a long week as his clay season has been underwhelming other than a run to the final in Barcelona. He only reached the 2R in 2009 so he’s got the potential to pick up a few points but his draw is quite challenging and he’ll need to be on top of his game. Almagro is a tough opener but he should have too much class, Bellucci and Monaco are both tricky opponents, especially the former who could be due for a strong tournament. If he gets through that it’ll either be Verdasco or Bercych, and then Nadal. For the tournaments 4th seed, Soderling can feel hard done by with his draw, he’ll certainly have to work hard for everything he gets this week.
Andy Roddick finally makes his clay court debut and he’ll be looking to build on the stunning start he made to the season. The last tournament he entered was in Miami, his second title and fourth final from only six tournaments. Despite the fact clay is comfortably his worst surface, he still managed to reach the Quarters here last year and I see him doing the same again this year. He’ll likely face Lopez in the 2R, I can’t see him having another deep run. Gulbis could certainly beat him in the third but Roddick always seems to be able to find a way to wear down in form players and I see him doing that here. He’ll have Federer in the Quarters and this is where his tournament will end. All Andy will be looking to achieve from this week will be to once again familiarise himself with the clay, a QF showing would do just that.
Prediction: Nadal def. Federer
Despite the absence of many big names including Djokovic, Del Potro and Davydenko, this tournament promises to be entertaining. Question marks surround the form of Roger Federer and whether Nadal can continue his remarkable form. I'm predicting the same final as last year but with a very different result. Nothing about Federer's form would indicate a finals appearance I think he'll flick the on switch this week. In all honesty, it’s hard to see Nadal dropping a set let alone not claiming the title and interestingly if he does win the event he’ll clean sweep the clay MS events for the very first time.
Draw:
[1] FEDERER, Roger SUI vs. BYE
[WC] MOYA, Carlos ESP vs. BECKER, Benjamin GER
MAYER, Leonardo ARG vs. BENNETEAU, Julien FRA
[WC] GRANOLLERS, Marcel ESP vs. [15] WAWRINKA, Stanislas SUI
[10] YOUZHNY, Mikhail RUS vs. LACKO, Lukas SVK
GULBIS, Ernests LAT vs. MONTANES, Albert ESP
KUBOT, Lukasz POL vs. LOPEZ, Feliciano ESP
BYE vs. [5] RODDICK, Andy USA
[3] MURRAY, Andy GBR vs. BYE
CUEVAS, Pablo URU vs. [Q] CHELA, Juan Ignacio ARG
HANESCU, Victor ROU vs. ANDREEV, Igor RUS
[Q] MUNOZ-DE LA NAVA, Daniel ESP vs. [14] QUERREY, Sam USA
[9] FERRER, David ESP vs. CHARDY, Jeremy FRA
BAGHDATIS, Marcos CYP vs. CHIUDINELLI, Marco SUI
MATHIEU, Paul-Henri FRA vs. SCH****, Eduardo ARG
BYE vs. [8] CILIC, Marin CRO
[6] VERDASCO, Fernando ESP vs. BYE
KOROLEV, Evgeny KAZ vs. KARLOVIC, Ivo CRO
[Q] ANDERSON, Kevin RSA vs. MELZER, Jurgen AUT
[WC] NALBANDIAN, David ARG vs. [11] BERDYCH, Tomas CZE
[16] BELLUCCI, Thomaz BRA vs. [WC] RIBA, Pere ESP
MONACO, Juan ARG vs. GREUL, Simon GER
ALMAGRO, Nicolas ESP vs. TROICKI, Viktor SRB
BYE vs. [4] SODERLING, Robin SWE
[7] TSONGA, Jo-Wilfried FRA vs. BYE
GARCIA-LOPEZ, Guillermo ESP vs. [Q] GIMENO-TRAVER, Daniel ESP
FOGNINI, Fabio ITA vs. PETZSCHNER, Philipp GER
ROBERT, Stephane FRA vs. [12] MONFILS, Gael FRA
[13] ISNER, John USA vs. [Q] ROCHUS, Christophe BEL
KOHLSCHREIBER, Philipp GER vs. [Q] GIRALDO, Santiago COL
[Q] DOLGOPOLOV JR., Oleksandr UKR vs. SEPPI, Andreas ITA
BYE vs. [2] NADAL, Rafael ESP
Preview:
An interesting and revealing week looms as Madrid hosts its second clay court Masters Series event. Last year, in what was Madrid’s inaugural clay court event after switching from indoor hard, Roger Federer defeated Rafael Nadal in the final, a result which was the springboard for his success at the French. I look back to last year’s tournament as the downfall of both Nadal and Djokovic’s clay court seasons; that 4 hour SF was in many ways both of their undoing. This time around Nadal seems to have significantly more fuel in the tank whereas Djokovic is ill and has been forced to withdraw.
Federer has only won 5 matches since his triumph at the Australian Open, and the highest ranked player he has beaten in this time is world #38 Victor Hanescu. His form on the clay is poor, he opted to bypass Monte Carlo, was knocked out first up to Gulbis in Rome and he lost to Montanes in Estoril. Despite his lack of form and relatively tough draw, I see him reaching the final. Firstly, as mentioned previously, he won here last year so being back at the location that gave him the confidence to go on to win the French would be a boost. As a result of that win, he’s defending 1000 points and I just can’t see him willing to throw away so many points when his goal of weeks at #1 is still on the line. Secondly, he seems to always take something away from each block of tournaments. Last year he won both Madrid and Cincinnati, titles which seemed to come from left field. Accepting that he can’t dominate the clay court swing, I’m positive that he’ll be looking to take something from this tournament because the last thing he needs or wants is to arrive in Paris unprepared. Going back to his draw, he’s got either Becker or Moya first, easy win there. Wawrinka is certainly a threat in the 3rd but I have little no faith in Stan, especially his mental toughness. Roddick or the surging Gulbis will be his QF opponent; a rematch with Gulbis would be interesting. Ferrer is the form player on this half, but how much has he got left? Madrid found many players wanting last year, it might do the same to Ferrer and Verdasco.
Rafael Nadal claims that he is ‘fresh and calm’ heading into the tournament which derailed his season last year. He wisely opted to skip Barcelona which aided him in winning Rome, but it’s Madrid and the French Open where the benefit of the rest should become evident. Seppi, Kohlschreber and Tsonga is his likely path to the Semi’s where a clash with Robin Soderling could await, a chance to seek some form of revenge. Clay court specialist Gael Monfils is in this section too but it’s unclear as to his level of fitness and you’d imagine he’d have too much rust to be a challenger here. I see Rafa setting up a long awaited match-up against Federer, this time I except the result to be different.
Since reaching the final at the Australian Open, Murray’s game has completely imploded, and with it so has his confidence. After falling to Federer in the AO final, his W/L ratio is 5/5 and some of his losses include Tipsarevic, Fish and Kohlschreiber. Murray’s form slump is a concern as he’s defending QF points both here and in Paris, so he’ll be desperate to get some wins but more importantly some confidence. He opens up against either Pablo Cuevas or a qualifier, followed by either Querrey or Andreev. Querrey is coming off his title winning week in Serbia, his 4th career title in what was his 2nd clay court final of the year. All in all though, a pretty comfortable draw for Murray and one that he needs to capitalise on. I can’t see him getting any further than Ferrer in the Quarters but at least he would’ve defended last year’s points and regained some belief in his game prior to the French.
There are a whole host of in-form players in the bottom half of the draw, none more so than Fernandon Verdasco who’s playing the best tennis of his career. In 2009 he reached the QF here and he’ll face big serving Ivo Karlovic first, a touch introduction to Madrid. Assuming he passes that test, he’ll have to negotiate another, Mezler, Nalbandian and Berdych all loom; the latter two face off in the best 1R match of the tournament. How much does Verdasco have left in the tank, and just as crucial, how much does he want to go deep here? I get the feeling with a R/U in Monte Carlo, a title in Barcelona and a SF in Rome, Verdasco’s got all the preparation he could’ve asked for and another long week might be the last thing he wants. He should set up a clash with Berdych in the 3R but even if he does advance, I can’t see him progressing any further.
Robin Soderling will be keen to have a long week as his clay season has been underwhelming other than a run to the final in Barcelona. He only reached the 2R in 2009 so he’s got the potential to pick up a few points but his draw is quite challenging and he’ll need to be on top of his game. Almagro is a tough opener but he should have too much class, Bellucci and Monaco are both tricky opponents, especially the former who could be due for a strong tournament. If he gets through that it’ll either be Verdasco or Bercych, and then Nadal. For the tournaments 4th seed, Soderling can feel hard done by with his draw, he’ll certainly have to work hard for everything he gets this week.
Andy Roddick finally makes his clay court debut and he’ll be looking to build on the stunning start he made to the season. The last tournament he entered was in Miami, his second title and fourth final from only six tournaments. Despite the fact clay is comfortably his worst surface, he still managed to reach the Quarters here last year and I see him doing the same again this year. He’ll likely face Lopez in the 2R, I can’t see him having another deep run. Gulbis could certainly beat him in the third but Roddick always seems to be able to find a way to wear down in form players and I see him doing that here. He’ll have Federer in the Quarters and this is where his tournament will end. All Andy will be looking to achieve from this week will be to once again familiarise himself with the clay, a QF showing would do just that.
Prediction: Nadal def. Federer
Despite the absence of many big names including Djokovic, Del Potro and Davydenko, this tournament promises to be entertaining. Question marks surround the form of Roger Federer and whether Nadal can continue his remarkable form. I'm predicting the same final as last year but with a very different result. Nothing about Federer's form would indicate a finals appearance I think he'll flick the on switch this week. In all honesty, it’s hard to see Nadal dropping a set let alone not claiming the title and interestingly if he does win the event he’ll clean sweep the clay MS events for the very first time.
. He is finally starting to show the talent everyone knew he had. One of my favorite players on tour. He will now be seeded in the French Open hopfully he can get a good draw.
