Madrid 2015 Masters

[Fiero425]

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.

What would be the point if he didn't believe and say that? Roger's in it for the same reason; even though it's getting harder and harder to stay there for both of them! Roger's the strangest #2 outside of "also-rans" like Haas, Ivanisevic, and Stich back in the day! He hasn't won a major since 2012 Wimbledon and only played 1 final since IIRC! This has got to blow up sooner or later; "the Big 4" may be crumbling with Raonic, Kei, and others knocking on the door finally! Did I see Rafa drop to #7 in the world? He's got a lot of points to defend and I just can't see it even on clay here in Madrid and next week in Rome! His draw is tough with Isner playing well in his next match! :angel: :dodgy:

 

[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.

What would be the point if he didn't believe and say that? Roger's in it for the same reason; even though it's getting harder and harder to stay there for both of them! Roger's the strangest #2 outside of "also-rans" like Haas, Ivanisevic, and Stich back in the day! He hasn't won a major since 2012 Wimbledon and only played 1 final since IIRC! This has got to blow up sooner or later; "the Big 4" may be crumbling with Raonic, Kei, and others knocking on the door finally! Did I see Rafa drop to #7 in the world? He's got a lot of points to defend and I just can't see it even on clay here in Madrid and next week in Rome! His draw is tough with Isner playing well in his next match! :angel: :dodgy:

Man, you need to calm down about those "the big 4 will crumble" posts. Isn't Fed your favourite? Or are you just tired of seeing them on the top and want someone else to take a swing at it? It makes no sense to me personally. You can dislike one of them, or even two of them, but all four? Come on...

 

[Puppet Master]

In no way am I provoking you, I am just wondering why would you rush the complete decline of the big 4, it is inevitable anyway.

 

[Carol]

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.

What would be the point if he didn't believe and say that? Roger's in it for the same reason; even though it's getting harder and harder to stay there for both of them! Roger's the strangest #2 outside of "also-rans" like Haas, Ivanisevic, and Stich back in the day! He hasn't won a major since 2012 Wimbledon and only played 1 final since IIRC! This has got to blow up sooner or later; "the Big 4" may be crumbling with Raonic, Kei, and others knocking on the door finally! Did I see Rafa drop to #7 in the world? He's got a lot of points to defend and I just can't see it even on clay here in Madrid and next week in Rome! His draw is tough with Isner playing well in his next match! :angel: :dodgy:

Well, we'll see what Rafa is going to do from now but his is not yet 34 years old like Roger so he still can win more matches and tournament and what about instead to drop to #7 he can reach the #2? he has time to do it if his head would work in the right way and many of us are still expecting better good results by him

 

[Fiero425]

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.

What would be the point if he didn't believe and say that? Roger's in it for the same reason; even though it's getting harder and harder to stay there for both of them! Roger's the strangest #2 outside of "also-rans" like Haas, Ivanisevic, and Stich back in the day! He hasn't won a major since 2012 Wimbledon and only played 1 final since IIRC! This has got to blow up sooner or later; "the Big 4" may be crumbling with Raonic, Kei, and others knocking on the door finally! Did I see Rafa drop to #7 in the world? He's got a lot of points to defend and I just can't see it even on clay here in Madrid and next week in Rome! His draw is tough with Isner playing well in his next match! :angel: :dodgy:

Well, we'll see what Rafa is going to do from now, but he's not yet 34 years old like Roger so he still can win more matches and tournaments. What about instead the drop to #7; Nadal can reach #2? He has time to do it if his head would work in the right way and many of us are still expecting better and good results by him

I still haven't seen much chatter at all about Rafa dropping to #7! Normally people have it all calc'd out before it happens, but for some reason I got no warning! :shy: uzzled :nono :angel: I've been saying that I didn't think Rafa would defend all those points from last season; 1 win and a finalist in the other! Who knows, he might surprise us all and win both Madrid & Rome, but I doubt it right now with what I've seen of Rafa's play! :cover :nono :angel: :dodgy:

 

[tented]

Tuesday, May 05, 2015

Manolo Santana Start 11:00 am

[4] Petra Kvitova (CZE) v CoCo Vandeweghe (USA)

[3] Maria Sharapova (RUS) v [Q] Mariana Duque-Maria (COL)

Not Before 3:15 pm

Fernando Verdasco (ESP) v Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (ESP)

[WC] Pablo Andujar (ESP) v Jack Sock (USA)

Not Before 8:00 pm

[10] Carla Suarez Navarro (ESP) v [Q] Julia Goerges (GER)

Not Before 9:30 pm

[8] Stan Wawrinka (SUI) v Jerzy Janowicz (POL) OR Joao Sousa (POR)

---

Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario Start 11:00 am

Ajla Tomljanovic (CRO) v Victoria Azarenka (BLR)

Not Before 1:00 pm

[10] Grigor Dimitrov (BUL) v Donald Young (USA)

[12] Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA) v Lukas Rosol (CZE)

[5] Milos Raonic (CAN) v Juan Monaco (ARG)

[14] Roberto Bautista Agut (ESP) v [WC] Marius Copil (ROU)

Ivo Karlovic (CRO) v Richard Gasquet (FRA)

---

Stadium 3 Start 11:00 am

Varvara Lepchenko (USA) v Barbora Strycova (CZE)

Not Before 1:00 pm

[13] Gael Monfils (FRA) v Viktor Troicki (SRB)

Not Before 3:00 pm

[14] Karolina Pliskova (CZE) v Caroline Garcia (FRA)

[7] Ana Ivanovic (SRB) v Elina Svitolina (UKR)

[Q] Alejandro Falla (COL) v Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER)

Gael Monfils (FRA) / Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA) v Grigor Dimitrov (BUL) / Jurgen Melzer (AUT)

---

Court 4 Start 11:00 am

[7] Bethanie Mattek-Sands (USA) / Lucie Safarova (CZE) v Klaudia Jans-Ignacik (POL) / Andreja Klepac (SLO)

Not Before 1:00 pm

Pablo Cuevas (URU) v [Q] Albert Ramos-Vinolas (ESP)

[Q] Daniel Gimeno-Traver (ESP) v Nick Kyrgios (AUS)

Martin Klizan (SVK) v [WC] Marcel Granollers (ESP)

Santiago Giraldo (COL) / Scott Lipsky (USA) v Marin Cilic (CRO) / Viktor Troicki (SRB)

Jamie Murray (GBR) / John Peers (AUS) v Leonardo Mayer (ARG) / Juan Monaco (ARG)

---

Court 5 Start 1:00 pm

[15] Sara Errani (ITA) v Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS)

Lara Arruabarrena (ESP) / Irina-Camelia Begu (ROU) v [WC] Vera Dushevina (RUS) / Mari­a Jose Marti­nez Sanchez (ESP)

[1] Martina Hingis (SUI) / Sania Mirza (IND) v Janette Husarova (SVK) / Raluca Olaru (ROU)

Chen Liang (CHN) / Katalin Marosi (HUN) v Casey Dellacqua (AUS) / Yaroslava Shvedova (KAZ)

---

Court 6 Start 1:00 pm

Leonardo Mayer (ARG) v Gilles Muller (LUX)

Juan Sebastian Cabal (COL) / Adrian Mannarino (FRA) v Simone Bolelli (ITA) / Fabio Fognini (ITA)

[2] Ekaterina Makarova (RUS) / Elena Vesnina (RUS) v [WC] Madison Keys (USA) / Lisa Raymond (USA)

Kevin Anderson (RSA) / Jeremy Chardy (FRA) v [WC] Mahesh Bhupathi (IND) / Nick Kyrgios (AUS)

 

[mrzz]

I still haven't seen much chatter at all about Rafa dropping to #7! Normally people have it all calc'd out before it happens, but for some reason I got no warning!

Yes you got. Not too long ago we were discussing that it was a five horse race to number #4 before RG, and that Nadal wasn't leading it... but remember that he may not defend all his points and yet do not fall to #7. As always, checking http://live-tennis.eu/ helps. For example, if he defends "only" 380 points he would tie at least Berdych for #6, and could be ahead of Nishikori if he falls early, etc and etc. There are a lot of combinations, but anything short of semis for Nadal would almost surely translate to #7 in the next week.

 

[Fiero425]

I still haven't seen much chatter at all about Rafa dropping to #7! Normally people have it all calc'd out before it happens, but for some reason I got no warning!

Yes you got. Not too long ago we were discussing that it was a five horse race to number #4 before RG, and that Nadal wasn't leading it... but remember that he may not defend all his points and yet do not fall to #7. As always, checking http://live-tennis.eu/ helps. For example, if he defends "only" 380 points he would tie at least Berdych for #6, and could be ahead of Nishikori if he falls early, etc and etc. There are a lot of combinations, but anything short of semis for Nadal would almost surely translate to #7 in the next week.

I do remember the conversation about how #4 was up for grabs, but there was no hint of Rafa dropping to #7 and it doesn't look good for him! :ras: :angel: :dodgy:

 

[mrzz]

Well, we'll see what Rafa is going to do from now but his is not yet 34 years old like Roger so he still can win more matches and tournament and what about instead to drop to #7 he can reach the #2? he has time to do it if his head would work in the right way and many of us are still expecting better good results by him

Well, that 34 years old is precisely the #2 right now, so he is still winning matches and tournaments in spite of it. But if Nadals makes a serious effort, maybe he can prove that 29 is the new 34...

 

[mrzz]

I do remember the conversation about how #4 was up for grabs, but there was no hint of Rafa dropping to #7 and it doesn't look good for him! :ras: :angel: :dodgy:

Sorry Fiero, but if the guy is not leading a five horse race to #4, he is from #5 to #9... average point is precisely #7.

I can't believe I just used an emoticon... it is against my principles.

 

[Carol]

Well, we'll see what Rafa is going to do from now but his is not yet 34 years old like Roger so he still can win more matches and tournament and what about instead to drop to #7 he can reach the #2? he has time to do it if his head would work in the right way and many of us are still expecting better good results by him

Well, that 34 years old is precisely the #2 right now, so he is still winning matches and tournaments in spite of it. But if Nadals makes a serious effort, maybe he can prove that 29 is the new 34...

You are proving my point. Because Nadal has played badly then some people have the confidence that he could drop to #7 but wait, he doesn't need too much physical effort to do better, he just needs to find out in his mind who he is and then he could make it easier. He is still 28 though he wiil be soon 29 but still 6 years younger than Roger (almost 35) who has played better for one year and a half (without have won any GS) and he has been able to reach the #2. If he could make it then Nadal can do it too
And everybody is thinking on clay but they should remember that Nadal even his last bad Wimbledons matches he can play well on grass and the proof is his two Wimbledon titles so we'll see what is happening in this next season

 

[GameSetAndMath]

Here is an even more interesting question. How badly Rafa should perform in Madrid and Rome so that he gets seeded outside of top 8 at RG (Note: this is possible, but not probable)? Then we could
potentially see RG final in the first week itself and save days of our lives.:devil

 

[Fiero425]

Here is an even more interesting question. How badly Rafa should perform in Madrid and Rome so that he gets seeded outside of top 8 at RG (Note: this is possible, but not probable)? Then we could potentially see RG final in the first week itself and save days of our lives. :devil

Be still my heart! "It's time to pay the Devil Rafa!" :lolz: :angel: :dodgy:

 

[Carol]

Funny comments about posibilities :laydownlaughing :lolz: :snicker
What about to talk about other players "posibilities" winning or losing?
Let me see and to talk during the tournament.......:devil

 

[herios]

You are proving my point. Because Nadal has played badly then some people have the confidence that he could drop to #7 but wait, he doesn't need too much physical effort to do better, he just needs to find out in his mind who he is and then he could make it easier. He is still 28 though he wiil be soon 29 but still 6 years younger than Roger (almost 35) who has played better for one year and a half (without have won any GS) and he has been able to reach the #2. If he could make it then Nadal can do it too

You got your match wrong. Roger is not almost 35, he is 33 going on 34 later than Rafa turns 29. So the gap is not even 5 years between them.

 

[mrzz]

You got your math wrong. Roger is not almost 35, he is 33 going on 34 later than Rafa turns 29. So the gap is not even 5 years between them.

Wow! Nadal is closing on Federer on that too! I bet that in three years time he will be older than him.

 

[Carol]

You got your math wrong. Roger is not almost 35, he is 33 going on 34 later than Rafa turns 29. So the gap is not even 5 years between them.

Wow! Nadal is closing on Federer on that too! I bet that in three years time he will be older than him.

According to Fed fans he will soon :laydownlaughing :lolz:

 

[Carol]

You are proving my point. Because Nadal has played badly then some people have the confidence that he could drop to #7 but wait, he doesn't need too much physical effort to do better, he just needs to find out in his mind who he is and then he could make it easier. He is still 28 though he wiil be soon 29 but still 6 years younger than Roger (almost 35) who has played better for one year and a half (without have won any GS) and he has been able to reach the #2. If he could make it then Nadal can do it too

You got your match wrong. Roger is not almost 35, he is 33 going on 34 later than Rafa turns 29. So the gap is not even 5 years between them.

Oops, I thought Roger was 34 already. Ok, he will be in June so he is 4 years and 11 months older than Rafa......:snicker :laydownlaughing

 

[isabelle]

La Monf and Mayer won

 

[Murat Baslamisli]

Looks like Young hurt himself against Grigor. Dimitrov goes through, 6-3, 3-0. Anyone saw?