The Mutua Madrid Open so far has definitely been one of the best tournaments of the clay court season, there has been quite a few tight matches with plenty of excitement and today produced some more that proved no exception to that rule.
However on the WTA side of things the semi-finals at the Madrid Open were pretty short and disappointing, my expectations were somewhat crushed by two ultimately straight forward wins. On the Victoria Azarenka vs Julia Goerges match, Julia looked a close second favourite to win the match, but Azarenka proved to be too aggressive and good for the German and closed out the match winning a comfortable 6-4 6-2. I think also Julia just bottled it under the pressure, also she had feet blisters from earlier in the week and I think by then the fatigue has set in as well so she proved to be no match for the mighty Belarusian. On the other semi final, Li Na vs Petra Kvitova proved to be somewhat even more easy, as in a surprise result the world no 6 got defeated by Petra again in straight sets 6-3 6-1, which was a really sub-par performance from the Chinese World no 1 player who was on form throughout the week. So Azarenka faces Kvitova in the final, I think Victoria will be a firm favourite to win, although Petra is one hell of a player too, so it might be tough to call, but overall I think Victoria will pull through. I also think Azarenka might even win a slam this year, she has the mentality as does Caroline, but more importantly she has the aggression, and its usually the aggressive players that have won slams in the past. Its only the injuries department that lets Victoria Azarenka down as she has had a stream of them over the years, but if she stays fit and healthy, she's in with a strong shout.
Thankfully on the ATP tour side of things, we were given two very interesting matches, the first of which was the much anticipated Rafa vs Roger showdown. We would all be hoping it wouldn't be the short lived affair that was Federer's inglorious defeat at Miami, and thankfully it wasn't as Roger brought glimpses of some of his finest tennis to the match. While both players weren't at their full best, they did produce a very fine match which stretched to 3 sets, with Federer taking a close first set, while Rafa ramped it up a notch to take the 2nd and the deciding 3rd, winning in 5-7, 6-1, 6-3. It was good to see Roger impose himself on Rafa once again on clay, even if it was just for one set, which was quite impressive as that's more than he's managed to take off Nadal in quite a while on clay. After the win in his interview Rafa was asked his thoughts on the final to which he replied "To be honest I'd rather play Bellucci!".
Which brings us onto the other men's semi final which saw the formidable and yet unbeaten Novak Djokovic take on the unseeded Thomaz Bellucci. My concerns that this match might be a total walk in the park for Djokovic actually proved to be largely unfounded as Bellucci really came out all guns blazing, and produced some amazingly pulverising forehands against Djokovic who looked tired and beaten at the start in the first set. But Djoky being Djoky did what he had to do and stepped up his game in the second set and sealed it out in the third, winning 4-6 6-4 6-1.
This again has been quite a tough match for Djokovic and it certainly shows one thing that on clay he cannot demolish players, he can try but he struggles to do so, as this is the second set he has dropped so far in the tournament, as on hard court he wouldn't have dropped a single set. And this might give Nadal the almighty advantage he needs as he can demolish these lower ranked players on clay, he would have slayed Bellucci and often defeated Ferrer in straight sets, something which Djokovic was clearly unable to do.
So tomorrow might just mark the end of Djokovic's winning reign so far this year, although it might not, as it remains to be seen. One of Rafa's great aspects is his humbleness as a person and a champion, but at times he sounds a bit too humble, he's already said how he feels Djokovic is a better player than him and he could lose this match tomorrow even if he plays well. It shows the chinks in Rafa's armour are starting to show, but I hope he can remain unbeaten on clay for now, I think he deserves to keep his record, but we shall see. But it also sounds like Rafa is losing some of his confidence while Djokovic's grows in strength. But of course we have to remember that's Rafa off court, on court he's an absolute demon, an unbelievable player and a warrior who fights till the very last point. One way or another its the dream final once again we want to see, as the World No.1 and No. 2 battle it out to take the title. Whichever way it goes it going to be a belter.
The final part ramorra!!
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