Madrid 2015 Masters

[Carol]

Rafa is returning to his old racquet until the end of the season
He says that the new racquet is the right one and he will play with it in the future but he needs more time to practice and be ready with the new one
After the surgery I don't think it was the best decision to change racquets, I'm glad he's gone back to the old one, wise decision! :clap

http://www.dpa-international.com/news/sports2/nadal-feeling-the-pressure-as-clay-campaign-hits-boiling-point-a-44879612.html

 

[TennisFanatic7]

We're off with a win for Monaco over Almagro, 63 62. He will face Raonic in round 2.

 

[Carol]

Poor Almagro, after his foot surgery he is not the same player he was, I hope to see some improvement soon
I'm also thinking about Delpo who could have been #1, 2 or 3 in the ranking but his injuries are keeping him far of it and I don't see a promising future

 

[tented]

Monday, May 04, 2015

Manolo Santana Start 11:00 am

Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS) v Garbine Muguruza (ESP)

[5] Caroline Wozniacki (DEN) v [Q] Christina McHale (USA)

Not Before 3:15 pm

[11] Feliciano Lopez (ESP) v Benjamin Becker (GER)

Fabio Fognini (ITA) v Santiago Giraldo (COL)

Not Before 8:00 pm

[1] Serena Williams (USA) v Sloane Stephens (USA)

Not Before 9:30 pm

[9] Marin Cilic (CRO) v Jiri Vesely (CZE)

---

Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario Start 11:00 am

[9] Agnieszka Radwanska (POL) v Casey Dellacqua (AUS)

Not Before 1:00 pm

[16] John Isner (USA) v Adrian Mannarino (FRA)

Not Before 3:00 pm

Roberta Vinci (ITA) v Alize Cornet (FRA)

[11] Andrea Petkovic (GER) v Irina-Camelia Begu (ROU)

Jeremy Chardy (FRA) v [Q] Thomaz Bellucci (BRA)

Ernests Gulbis (LAT) v David Goffin (BEL)

---

Stadium 3 Start 11:00 am

[13] Lucie Safarova (CZE) v Tsvetana Pironkova (BUL)

Not Before 1:00 pm

Sam Querrey (USA) v [Q] Thanasi Kokkinakis (AUS)

[Q] Alejandro Gonzalez (COL) v Steve Johnson (USA)

Jerzy Janowicz (POL) v [LL] Joao Sousa (POR)

Bernard Tomic (AUS) v [Q] Luca Vanni (ITA)

---

Court 4 Start 11:00 am

Darija Jurak (CRO) / Arantxa Parra Santonja (ESP) v [WC] Vera Dushevina (RUS) / Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez (ESP)

Kaia Kanepi (EST) v Samantha Stosur (AUS)

Anabel Medina Garrigues (ESP) / Monica Niculescu (ROU) v Kristina Mladenovic (FRA) / Karolina Pliskova (CZE)

[3] Garbine Muguruza (ESP) / Carla Suarez Navarro (ESP) v Anna-Lena Groenefeld (GER) / Alexandra Panova (RUS)

Rohan Bopanna (IND) / Florin Mergea (ROU) v Marin Draganja (CRO) / Henri Kontinen (FIN)

---

Court 5 Start 11:00 am

Michaella Krajicek (NED) / Barbora Strycova (CZE) v Janette Husarova (SVK) / Raluca Olaru (ROU)

Not Before 12:30 pm

[8] Andrea Hlavackova (CZE) / Lucie Hradecka (CZE) v [WC] Paula Badosa Gibert (ESP) / Sara Sorribes Tormo (ESP)

[WC] Madison Keys (USA) / Lisa Raymond (USA) v Marina Erakovic (NZL) / Julia Goerges (GER)

[6] Caroline Garcia (FRA) / Katarina Srebotnik (SLO) v Casey Dellacqua (AUS) / Yaroslava Shvedova (KAZ)

---

Court 6 Start 12:30 pm

[5] Raquel Kops-Jones (USA) / Abigail Spears (USA) v Zarina Diyas (KAZ) / Shuai Peng (CHN)

[7] Bethanie Mattek-Sands (USA) / Lucie Safarova (CZE) v Jarmila Gajdosova (AUS) / Ajla Tomljanovic (CRO)

Alla Kudryavtseva (RUS) / Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS) v Silvia Soler-Espinosa (ESP) / Maria-Teresa Torro-Flor (ESP)

 

[GameSetAndMath]

Rafa has said that he will use the old racquet until the end of this season and then switch to his new racquet in the off season when he will have time to practice with the new racquet. Even here Rafa has to chase Roger.

 

[herios]

Bolelli upset Anderson today, this result is not unexpected on clay.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

Bolelli upset Anderson today, this result is not unexpected on clay.

It makes things easier than before for Rafa

 

[herios]

Bolelli upset Anderson today, this result is not unexpected on clay.

It makes things easier than before for Rafa

Not exactly. Anderson is tame on clay. He is getting upset easily.

 

[Moxie]

Bolelli upset Anderson today, this result is not unexpected on clay.

It makes things easier than before for Rafa

Not exactly. Anderson is tame on clay. He is getting upset easily.

I think GSM is right. Rafa doesn't like to start with tall guys with big serves. It's frustrating and doesn't help with his rhythm. And Bolelli isn't exactly a clay-courter, either.

 

[herios]

It makes things easier than before for Rafa

Not exactly. Anderson is tame on clay. He is getting upset easily.

I think GSM is right. Rafa doesn't like to start with tall guys with big serves. It's frustrating and doesn't help with his rhythm. And Bolelli isn't exactly a clay-courter, either.

He was not going to meet Anderson in the first round. But for each his own opinion. There was no way Anderson could create a problem for him on clay.

 

[Moxie]

Not exactly. Anderson is tame on clay. He is getting upset easily.

I think GSM is right. Rafa doesn't like to start with tall guys with big serves. It's frustrating and doesn't help with his rhythm. And Bolelli isn't exactly a clay-courter, either.

He was not going to meet Anderson in the first round. But for each his own opinion. There was no way Anderson could create a problem for him on clay.

I didn't go back to the draw before commenting, but I still think having Anderson out of the way is a benefit, to GSM's point. But, no, I don't think either Bolelli or Anderson is a problem. Bolelli just likely less so.

 

[Fiero425]

I think GSM is right. Rafa doesn't like to start with tall guys with big serves. It's frustrating and doesn't help with his rhythm. And Bolelli isn't exactly a clay-courter, either.

He was not going to meet Anderson in the first round. But for each his own opinion. There was no way Anderson could create a problem for him on clay.

I didn't go back to the draw before commenting, but I still think having Anderson out of the way is a benefit, to GSM's point. But, no, I don't think either Bolelli or Anderson is a problem. Bolelli just likely less so.

OMG, these draws are brutal! :eyepop I just can't see the top 4 making it through to the semi's! The women have it even tougher; Azarenka unseeded took out #16 Venus yesterday! Halep's gone along with Bouchard and Kerber! The same is quite likely to happen in the men's draw in very early rds! If I know all the players and their potential, that's saying something! I just haven't paid that much attention to the "also-rans" on either tour, but they're definitely better than past pros and capable of upsetting the top echelon; esp. since it's clay! Can any team stop the juggernaut that's Hingis/Mirza? :eyepop :clap

 

[herios]

Early winners today: Isner and Querrey

 

[herios]

Steve Johnson also makes the second round, so the Americans are 3 for 3 today.

 

[tented]

Steve Johnson also makes the second round, so the Americans are 3 for 3 today.

Personally, I would have preferred Mannarino beating Isner, and Kokkinakis defeating Querrey, but I'm happy for Johnson.

 

[herios]

Steve Johnson also makes the second round, so the Americans are 3 for 3 today.

Personally, I would have preferred Mannarino beating Isner, and Kokkinakis defeating Querrey, but I'm happy for Johnson.

Not much love for the big Americans

 

[tented]

Steve Johnson also makes the second round, so the Americans are 3 for 3 today.

Personally, I would have preferred Mannarino beating Isner, and Kokkinakis defeating Querrey, but I'm happy for Johnson.

Not much love for the big Americans

None, really. Isner is the least interesting active player (yes, even more than Karlovic), and Querrey will ultimately never amount to anything beyond what he has already achieved (i.e., not much), whereas Kokkinakis hopefully has a bright future ahead. This was a missed opportunity.

 

[herios]

Personally, I would have preferred Mannarino beating Isner, and Kokkinakis defeating Querrey, but I'm happy for Johnson.

Not much love for the big Americans

None, really. Isner is the least interesting active player (yes, even more than Karlovic), and Querrey will ultimately never amount to anything beyond what he has already achieved (i.e., not much), whereas Kokkinakis hopefully has a bright future ahead. This was a missed opportunity.

I am watching Kokkinakis results and I think he is doing very well, considering how young he is. He is pushing through the qualifications, did it in Istanbul and here in Madrid as well, but in both events he lost his opener in the main draw. It is part of a learning curve. He is not there yet to tackle top 100 players match after match. But he will improve very soon, he is very young.

 

[herios]

The committed F3 is back, he routes Giraldo quickly

 

[Puppet Master]

Rafa said a key thing in his Madrid preview today. This is not the actual quote, but take my word for it. When asked about the form Novak is in, he said Novak is playing on another level than the rest, but he shouldn't worry about Djoko when he can't even get to play him. Now for the interesting part, he said that he HAS to improve to REACT to that level. (This one is the actual quote.) This is really encouraging from his side, and gave us a strong hint that he still believes that his place is at the top of the ranking, as it was a year ago in this period.