Madrid 2015 Masters

[Denis]

Draw is out:

http://www.atpworldtour.com/posting/2015/1536/mds.pdf

Nadal gets to build his confidence against Wawrinka/Dimitrov and Fed.

Nishi's draw is pretty tough with Gulbis as a potential first opponent and Ferrer later on, a guy Nishi does not do too well against.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

MADRID OPEN - ATP 1000 - 3rd May to 10th May

The draw for the Madrid Masters is out.

Here are the projected quarterfinals

Federer vs. Berdych
Nadal vs. Wawrinka
Ferrer vs. Nishikori
Raonic vs. Murray.

Assuming both reach SF, we will have a Fedal Match after long time.

 

[Denis]

Fed might face Kyrgios as a first opponent. That should be interesting.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

Fed might face Kyrgios as a first opponent. That should be interesting.

and he follows up with Isner and then Berdych and then Rafa.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

Rafa has fairly easy early rounds. It could be Baby/Adolescent/Man (Translation: Grigor, Fog, Stan) in the quarterfinals. If Rafa clears that he may have a familiar foe in SF and an easy opp in Finals.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

As expected JMDP is missing.

Andy will be playing La Monf in R16 and that could be an interesting match considering the recent renaissance of Gael.

 

[Denis]

Rafa has fairly easy early rounds. It could be Baby/Adolescent/Man (Translation: Grigor, Fog, Stan) in the quarterfinals. If Rafa clears that he may have a familiar foe in SF and an easy opp in Finals.

Lol an 'easy' opponent in the finals?

Do you consider anyone not named Novak Djokovic an easy opponent?

 

[GameSetAndMath]

Rafa has fairly easy early rounds. It could be Baby/Adolescent/Man (Translation: Grigor, Fog, Stan) in the quarterfinals. If Rafa clears that he may have a familiar foe in SF and an easy opp in Finals.

Lol an 'easy' opponent in the finals?

Do you consider anyone not named Novak Djokovic an easy opponent?

Agree, bad phrase (but I still maintain my insinuation, especially if Rafa can reach that far, he probably has found his A game). But, I think man will slay Rafa.

 

[Denis]

Nadal is a nightmare match up for Stan. Don't think it will happen. Maybe Dimitrov can bother him on a good day. Otherwise Kyrgios maybe or Berdych?

Tbh, I don't really see that much opposition for Rafa till the final.

 

[nehmeth]

Nishi's draw is pretty tough with Gulbis as a potential first opponent and Ferrer later on, a guy Nishi does not do too well against.

Ernie is 1-9 for 2015. I doubt it will be that tough of a first round.

http://www.atpworldtour.com/Tennis/Players/Top-Players/Ernests-Gulbis.aspx

 

[Denis]

Nishi's draw is pretty tough with Gulbis as a potential first opponent and Ferrer later on, a guy Nishi does not do too well against.

Ernie is 1-9 for 2015. I doubt it will be that tough of a first round.

http://www.atpworldtour.com/Tennis/Players/Top-Players/Ernests-Gulbis.aspx

Yes I know, but he's also a RG semifinalist and can be serious trouble when on. But yeah it appears he's on his way to the challenger tour once more.

 

[herios]

A notable top 20 absence is Gilles Simon. Another one who has not entered in the qualies, Dolgopolov, who's ranking has fallen enough for not getting direct entry.
I think he may opt got the qualifications in Rome instead.

 

[Murat Baslamisli]

Can Triple F beat Rafa 3 times in a row?

 

[herios]

The big question is the following, will Nadal defend his title? Anything else, he is out of the top 4, and could go down easily to 7. No pressure

 

[GameSetAndMath]

The big question is the following, will Nadal defend his title? Anything else, he is out of the top 4, and could go down easily to 7. No pressure

Once he goes below 4, it does not matter where exactly he lands up (assuming he remains in top 8)

 

[Moxie]

We shall see. If he can't overcome a fairly soft draw...that would be a bad indicator.

 

[herios]

The big question is the following, will Nadal defend his title? Anything else, he is out of the top 4, and could go down easily to 7. No pressure

Once he goes below 4, it does not matter where exactly he lands up (assuming he remains in top 8)

It does for the longer haul. the more he has to bypass to return in the top 4 the more work. For RG I agree, it does not matter.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

The big question is the following, will Nadal defend his title? Anything else, he is out of the top 4, and could go down easily to 7. No pressure

Once he goes below 4, it does not matter where exactly he lands up (assuming he remains in top 8)

It does for the longer haul. the more he has to bypass to return in the top 4 the more work. For RG I agree, it does not matter.

After RG, it usually does not matter to Rafa what is his ranking. :snicker

 

[GameSetAndMath]

It has been more than a year since a Fedal match was played (last one was AO'14)
and it has been more than three years since Roger won one of them (last one was IW'12).
Let us see if one or both of the above events materialize in Madrid.

Although Rafa is good on clay, I believe that Roger has a winning H2H on Madrid Clay over Rafa.
That fact combined with current form of Rafa, would make it a nice opportunity for Roger, assuming both of them reach there, which of course is not given (it is even possible that neither reaches there).

 

[Puppet Master]

It has been more than a year since a Fedal match was played (last one was AO'14)
and it has been more than three years since Roger won one of them (last one was IW'12).
Let us see if one or both of the above events materialize in Madrid.

Although Rafa is good on clay, I believe that Roger has a winning H2H on Madrid Clay over Rafa.
That fact combined with current form of Rafa, would make it a nice opportunity for Roger, assuming both of them reach there, which of course is not given (it is even possible that neither reaches there).

In Madrid they have me 3 times, with Rafa winning 2 of those meetings. However, with Rafa not being even close to his best, I can totally see Roger beating him here. Let's see how the rest of the tour behaves without Novak around.