Tennis Weekly Wrap: Madrid Masters, Federer Gets Revenge, Safina Got What it Takes by Nadya Vlassoff
Last
week in Madrid, Spain, thousands of rabid tennis
spectators crowded around the architecturally
dazzling new Magic Box courts for the Masters
Series tournament in Madrid, which was a part
of the restructured ATP tour’s $4.5 million premier
tournament. The Madrid Masters brought the top
seeds on both sides of the gender net together
for a Spanish set clash of the tennis titans.
However, The Magic Box was thrilling for a more
relevant reason, as Rafael Nadal lapped up the
love from his hometown crowd. After reading and
watching Nadal’s dominance from afar, Spanish
tennis fans finally got to watch their local hero
live in the on-court flesh. Although the tennis
rain in Spain didn’t quite stay mainly on Nadal’s
plain, the Masters in Madrid saw a lot of entertaining
action from both the men and women.
On
the women’s side, newly #1 ranked Dinara Safina
flew into Madrid to ace her critics for one
of the biggest clay court tournaments of the
year. On the men’s side, Roger Federer returned
to the court to shake off potential suspicions
surrounding his game and fight to reclaim his
seat in the ATP throne after largely being overshadowed
by Rafael Nadal for the past year. The doubles
teams amped up the action with world #1’s Liezel
Huber and Cara Black in town to warm up for
the French Open. On the ATP side fans saw another
battle between Mike and Bob Bryan and Daniel
Nestor and Nenad Zimonjic.
With
the clay surface of Roland Garros only days
away, there were plenty of early surprises in
Spain. Serena Williams, following a first round
exit at the Italy Open the week before, pulled
out in the first round with a nagging injury.
Other top seeds struggled while older veterans
took advantage of the opportunities, as former
world #1, Amelie Mauresmo, and former French
Open quarterfinalist, Patty Schnyder, came out
in full force, taking out a slew of ranked names
between them. However, the Madrid tournament
belonged to Dinara Safina who has been riding
an incredible wave of success since her rise
to the top spot on the WTA rankings.
In the final, Safina squared off against the
young Dane Caroline Wozniacki, who although
young, has been enjoying the best year of her
career, including success on clay. Wozniacki’s
impressive run came to an end, as Safina’s powerful
ground game controlled the final, leaving Wozniacki
unable to defend crucial points. Safina got
three break points and that was all she needed
to win the match 6-2, 6-4. In the past three
weeks Safina reached three tournament finals,
winning two in a row. Could a title at the French
Open be on tap for the new Russian powerhouse?
If competition continues go Safina’s way, another
appearance in the final at Roland Garros may
be already predestined. Maybe this year will
be Dinara Safina’s year.
The
men’s final lived up to the hype as Spanish
tennis fans were courtside for biggest rivalry
of the decade as hometown hero Rafael Nadal
walked on to the court to face Roger Federer.
Only a day earlier Nadal managed to hold off
court nemesis Novak Djokovic in an epic 4-hour
battle to book his place in the final. When
the final dawn on Sunday, Nadal also squared
off against fatigue. Federer was on point for
every return as Roger served up 15 aces while
also nailing winners at angles that made one
question whether Nadal would normally return
Federer’s Sunday best. Nadal, however, hampered
by a failure to get proper rest, was unable
to race the court in the manner fans are accustomed
to seeing. Unfortunately for Spanish fans but
a boon for Federer, Rafa’s legs gave out when
he needed them the most.
Federer took his first final of the year with
only his second victory against Nadal on a clay
court surface. Federer and Nadal have now faced
each other 20 times, with Rafael leading the
rivalry 13-7. Ever the Spanish gentleman, Nadal
gave Federer the proper credit for winning the
points that mattered the most. For Roger Federer,
Madrid was an important win since he needs all
of the confidence he can muster up going into
the French Open. Rafael Nadal is looking for
his 5th consecutive title in Paris, but if Federer
can wear him down the same way he did inside
the Magic Box, the rivalry hasn’t reached a
fork in the tennis road just yet.
Cara Black and Liezel Huber were back to winning ways after they were bounced in the quarter-finals of the 2009 Australian Open. Black and Huber took their third title of the year with a victory over Kveta Peschke and Lisa Raymond. With the match split at one set apiece, it went to a tiebreak. But the momentum was all on Huber and Black’s side as they dominated to take it all at 10-6. The Madrid win brings their title wins to 25, an impressive number for a duo that has only played together since 2007.
Daniel Nestor and his partner Nenad Zimonjic beat Simon Aspelin and Wesley Moodie in straight sets to take another title after having lost early in Belgrade only a week prior. The masters Series marked the first victory in Madrid for the duo, although Nestor had won the title three times previous with his former partner Mark Knowles. With the Mutua Madrilena Madrid Open trophies in hand, the pair brought their season record to 26-7, as well as sweeping the clay court Masters Series events this year. Looking ahead to French clay, Nestor and Zimonjic are a heavy favourite to win in Paris.
With the French Open now boiling down to minutes away, and a few more tournaments winding downing before everyone makes their way to Paris, both the men and women will be competing to find their clay place at Roland Garros. There are plenty of contenders on both the WTA and ATP tours, young and upcoming to older, more experienced veterans who (at least a few) don’t easily fall prey to the excitement of a slam atmosphere. For fans, however, the most important thing is a faith in their favourite on-court stars who play for the love of the game and gladly soak up the love that comes with victory.
Hi! I really wish sports writers would stop qualifying Federer's victory in Madrid. Why does every sentence have to talk about how tired Nadal was and how his legs gave out? Roger controlled the match, played aggressively and won the big points. The score was only 6-4, 6-4 so it wasn't a blowout. Why is it that every time Nadal loses a match people start making excuses for him? Did anyone do that at the Australian Open last year when Federer, sick with mono, lost to Djokovic? Speaking of whom, the Djoker gets crucified when he retires or acts tired during a match. Nadal is the fittest player on the tour, and he got a walkover from Kohlschreiber while Federer had to play all of his matches. If he can't even finish a small tournament without getting tired, maybe he needs a fitness coach! So give credit where it's due. Federer won the match fair and square!
Last
week in Madrid, Spain, thousands of rabid tennis
spectators crowded around the architecturally
dazzling new Magic Box courts for the Masters
Series tournament in Madrid, which was a part
of the restructured ATP tour’s $4.5 million premier
tournament. The Madrid Masters brought the top
seeds on both sides of the gender net together
for a Spanish set clash of the tennis titans.
However, The Magic Box was thrilling for a more
relevant reason, as Rafael Nadal lapped up the
love from his hometown crowd. After reading and
watching Nadal’s dominance from afar, Spanish
tennis fans finally got to watch their local hero
live in the on-court flesh. Although the tennis
rain in Spain didn’t quite stay mainly on Nadal’s
plain, the Masters in Madrid saw a lot of entertaining
action from both the men and women. 
With
the clay surface of Roland Garros only days
away, there were plenty of early surprises in
Spain. Serena Williams, following a first round
exit at the Italy Open the week before, pulled
out in the first round with a nagging injury.
Other top seeds struggled while older veterans
took advantage of the opportunities, as former
world #1, Amelie Mauresmo, and former French
Open quarterfinalist, Patty Schnyder, came out
in full force, taking out a slew of ranked names
between them. However, the Madrid tournament
belonged to Dinara Safina who has been riding
an incredible wave of success since her rise
to the top spot on the WTA rankings.
The
men’s final lived up to the hype as Spanish
tennis fans were courtside for biggest rivalry
of the decade as hometown hero Rafael Nadal
walked on to the court to face Roger Federer.
Only a day earlier Nadal managed to hold off
court nemesis Novak Djokovic in an epic 4-hour
battle to book his place in the final. When
the final dawn on Sunday, Nadal also squared
off against fatigue. Federer was on point for
every return as Roger served up 15 aces while
also nailing winners at angles that made one
question whether Nadal would normally return
Federer’s Sunday best. Nadal, however, hampered
by a failure to get proper rest, was unable
to race the court in the manner fans are accustomed
to seeing. Unfortunately for Spanish fans but
a boon for Federer, Rafa’s legs gave out when
he needed them the most.