Ok coke, so here's another update on the state of affairs on the Mutua Madrid Open, as it draws closer to its conclusion, all the ladies quarter finals matches are now out of the way and then men's will be soon done as well, which I will update later on as they are all done.
So let's for a change start off with the ladies, and the quarter finals match-ups were all intruiging to say the least. First off we had the world no.1, Victoria Azarenka take on the defending French Open champion, Li Na, in a pretty competitive encounter. Vika in the first set was for once completely outhit by Li Na, with her powerful groundstrokes, and went on to take the 1st set. In the 2nd however, Victoria soon found her form and went onto to break and levelled the match, and in the decider, Victoria stamped her authority on the match with a 4-0 lead, but Li Na mounted a brief fightback to lift the next three games. But in the end it wasn't enough as Victoria went on to close out the match and securing her place in the semi finals with a 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 win.
Next up we had a much anticipated match between the former World No.1's, Maria Sharapova and Serena Williams, and on paper this one promised to be a real belter, or as the Eurosport commentator Sam Smith said, it promises to be like watching Barcelona against Real Madrid. However it was more like watching Barcelona against Dunfermline, as Serena (clearly Barcelona here!) took the mighty Sharapova apart in an incredible display in the 1st set. In the 2nd, things got a bit more competitive, but Sharapova struggled badly to hold onto her serve, and with the sun getting in her field of vision, she double faulted about 8 times, which didn't help matters at all. And in the end, Serena proved to be way too solid and good for the World No.2, and managed to book her place in the semis with an emphatic 6-1, 6-3 win. This really was a bit of shock, but in another way it was a real reminder that when Serena is on form, that no one can even live with her on a tennis court, and this certainly was the case today. And based on this performance you would be mad to write off Serena's chances for lifting the title, which she stands a great chance doing so with that display.
So next up was the newly appointed World No.3, Agnieszka Radwanska, who took on the impressive qualifier, Varvara Lepchenko, and the two of them played a competitive high quality match. Lepchenko frequently looked threatening to Aga on her serve, taking her to duece several times and Aga surviving several break points, although Lepchenko did break Aga in the first set, but was immediately broken for Aga to close out set 1. In the 2nd set, Lepchenko again took an early break at 2-1, but after a long mini-battle, Lepchenko under pressure handed the break back to Aga once again, and from then on it was the world no.3 that dominated the play, despite yet another break of serve from Leppy, Aga defied her again and won the match in 6-4, 6-4.
This was an entertaining match from both players, and Agnieszka really showed just why she is such a top player, and what she lacks in raw power, she makes up for with sheer creativity and her canniness in reading the game so well. Her next opponent however is her nemesis as she will face Victoria Azarenka once more, for the 6th time, and so far this year Victoria remains the only player who has defeated Aga. So I'm already thinking the result of this one has been written before the match has even started, and I think Victoria will drub Radwanska yet again, which is a real pity, and I'm starting feel sorry for Agnieszka when she steps out on court against Victoria, as you feel its just a thankless task, putting in all the hard work, only to be defeated once again. But you never know each match is different, so you can never predict what exactly will happen, but I think its a pretty safe bet that Azarenka will come through with ease yet again.
And finally we had Sam Stosur, who played another impressive qualifier, Lucia Hradecka, who had already upset Petra Kvitova, the defending champion earlier in the tournament. So could Lucia pull off another upset?????? Yup as it turned out she did! However the match itself was very tight as it took two tiebreakers to separate the two women, who both came out strong, playing rapid fire tennis, with alot of power and pace. Hradecka also almost put Milos Raonic to shame as she served up 19 aces throughout her match against Stosur (who by contrast managed only 3!). So Lucia now will go through to her first Premier Mandatory semi final, but she will face an even bigger mountain ahead of her in the form of Serena Williams. Can she upset another slam champion????? Hmmmmm not so sure about that one, I'd really have to say that Lucia's journey will end tomorrow, but stranger things have happened, so watch this space.
So onto the men's which saw the quarter finals begin with big Del Potro taking on the dog, Alexandr Dolgopolov, the unpredictably talented Ukranian player. However big Delpo had no trouble getting past the Dog, as he broke him in both sets to get the semi final place booked, with a 6-4, 6-3 win. Tomas Berdych also had no trouble whatsoever against Fernando Verdasco, who only yesterday had the win of his career against Rafa, but he had little left against the big Czeck, who dismissed him in 6-1, 6-2.
And now onto the big upset of the day, the World No.1, Novak Djokovic who took on his fellow countryman, Janko Tipsarevic, who is the World No.8. And from the start we knew this could be quite a competitive match, and it sure turned to be that in the 1st set, with Djoko looking the more impressive on serve earlier on, whereas Tipsy had struggled with his first two service games. However after that things settled down for Tipsy, and it soon went to a tiebreak, where Djokovic, kept slipping and sliding on the surface, and we could see him get visibly more and more frustrated with the clay, and his dip in level cost him the 1st set tiebreak. In the 2nd things didn't get any better for the Serbinator as he got broken again by Tipsarevic, and at 5-3, Tipsy did what a year would have been unthinkable in defeating the best player in the world in straight sets in 7-6(2), 6-3.
It really does appear that the blue clay has been the main culprit in the loss of both Djokovic and Rafa's matches, and the slippery surface certainly has helped upset the odds. But it also seems almost mistifying how these guys are the best players in the world, yet somehow they just can't adapt as well to the surface as well as the other players on tour have, such as Tipsarevic, Berdych and Del Potro. And I don't know if its just a psychological hindrance they have about the blue clay that has haunted them on the court, but you really think whatever it was both of them should have tried to focus more on their game and put aside their concerns and just try and win, however that's easier said than done of course. However one thing is for sure, next year if that blue stuff is still there, Rafa and Djoko will be nowhere to be seen in Madrid!
And as additional note regarding the surface this was something that
Victoria Azarenka answered to really well to in her post match press
conference, as she too wasn't happy with the surface, but she
acknowledged that those are the surface conditions, and that you can't
let it affect your concentration, and that there was no use in
complaining about it just now, and it was something best left to discuss
once the tournament was over. And that's so far what she has done,
just gotten on with her game, as have done alot of the female players
(even Serena!!).
But getting back to Tipsarevic, I think he deserves full credit for playing a solid match against Novak, and he has earned his rightful place in the semi finals, where he will play a not so enviable match against Roger Federer, who has just defeated David Ferrer with ease in 6-4, 6-4. And Tipsy's head to head against Roger isn't so good as he has yet to win a single match against him, and with the other two guys gone, I really have to say that Federer is now the firm favourite to win the title. Its also a testament to Roger's impeccable all round skill on any surface or any court in the world, that he can adapt and move so smoothly, as I have yet to even see him slip on the blue clay, in fact I think I've only ever seen him slip once anywhere! (and that was the ATP tour world finals 2010 final). Its also testament to ladies on the WTA tour who have just gotten on with it, and not complained as much, as well as the ATP tour players, such as Del Potro, Ferrer, Berdych, Tipsarevic and of course Federer, who rather than whinge and moan about the surface, just get on with it, which I think is something Rafa and Djoko should have done more of, and just maybe then they would still be in this tournament. But anyway its a whole big argument, and Madrid certainly has sparked nothing but controversy this week.
Oh and as an update the draw for the Internazionali BNL Italia (Rome Open) for the men and ladies, with the men Andy Murray will be in the same half of the draw as Rafa and Berdych, but he's not in the same section as Berdych which is a good thing, who will have to face Rafa, but you don't fancy his chances against the King of clay, but you never know. Rafa himself will have a very tough first round opponent, well potentially anyway as he could face Milos Raonic, which will be a real test if he does. Djokovic and Federer are again in the same half of the draw again as well, and Djoko will face the likes of Tsonga, and Del Potro, whereas Fedora will face big John Isner, who has already beaten him once this year, so its no easy!
As for the ladies in Rome, Victoria Azarenka will face the likes of Li Na, Sabine Lisicki, and of course maybe Serena Williams in the semis (and they play tomorrow in the final of Madrid!). Caroline Wozniacki will also have to face Serena Williams once more, and to her credit, I think she did fairly well against Serena in their last match, as she was the only player that managed to get into Serena's head for one set at least! Maria Sharapova, who will dust herself down after losing to Serena in Madrid will face the likes of Sam Stosur, Ivanovic and Venus Williams.
Sooo anyway more will follow on the men's semi finals and ladies too.
That's it for now!
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