OK here's a quick update on the WTA/ATP tour event finals that finished today for the men's it was the Barcelona open and the ladies we had the Porsche tennis grand prix from Stuttgart. So let's have a quick look at the finals...
Starting with the ladies we had Maria Sharapova who took on the former French open champion, Li Na in the final, which looked to be a real tough test for the world no.2, as Maria had to do things the hard way to reach the final having been taken the distance in her last three matches at the event. However Maria was more in control in the final, as she broke Li Na twice in the opening set to take a 4-1 lead, but Li Na did manage to fight back and get one of the breaks back, before Maria closed out the set. In the 2nd it was an even pegged fight until 3-3 and it was Maria that made the decisive break and at 5-3 with Li Na serving to make it 5-4, the Chinese No.1 suffered a cruel twist of fate as she double faulted to hand the match and the title to Maria with a 6-4, 6-3 victory.
While it wasn't the best final it did have some good moments and both women traded some great rallies, and Li Na has usually been a good match up against Maria, as she too is a big hitter and is therefore quite dangerous to the Russian. However it was a shame for Li Na that she wasn't able to push the match into a decider and no player I'm sure wants to lose a match by double faulting, as Li did today. But for Maria its another successful title defence on clay and it also records her 16th straight match win on clay since last year she remains undefeated on the red dirt, and it was her 29th title of her career. And if Maria maintains this level then there is no reason that she can't go on to defend her French open title next month, whether or not that happens we will need to wait and see, but for the Russian she couldn't have asked for a better start to her clay season.
Which brings me onto the men's final from Barcelona, which was between Rafa Nadal and his compatriot Nicolas Almagro. Judging by their head to head, Rafa came into this match as the overwhelming favourite to win it as he had a 9-0 record over Almagro. But it was Almagro that got off to the better start as he broke Rafa's serve straigh away, and took a 3-0- lead. However it soon turned out to be no more than a slow start as Rafa's soon broke back and went on to break Almagro himself to take the opening set, after some resistance at 4-4 from Nicolas. In the 2nd set Rafa secured an early break and from there, it was a simple case of holding serve, which it turned out to be for Rafa as sped to victory to clinch his 8th title in Barcelona and his 54th career title with a 6-4, 6-3 victory.
Again this wasn't a classic final, but Almagro did put up some decent resistance before he fell to the mighty Rafa, who at times wasn't at his best, but he had more than enough to take down his compatriot. Regardless of his loss Almagro showed very promising signs and its a really good start to his clay court season, and no doubt he will continue to do well on his best surface, having already won 12 titles on the red stuff. But today it was all about Rafa and after losing to Djokovic last week in Monte Carlo, I'm sure this victory will give him a reassuring shot in the arm. However Djokovic still remains Rafa's biggest obstacle not just on the clay but as a player overall, and I think this year its going to be tougher for him to win at the French Open than before, especially as he is still not quite 100% back on form. It also will depend on how the draw will work out, and as no doubt most people would rather see Rafa and Nole drawn on opposite sides to ensure a final showdown in Paris, but it could well work out that they will be in the same side of the draw. But we will just have to wait and see how things will pan in once we reach Roland Garros which is still another month to go.
So that's it for now, more to follow once the Mutua Madrid Open get's under way in a week's time, where the big four will be reunited on the men's tour as Roger Federer returns after an extended break from the tour. Andy will also be back and having just lost his No.2 ranking to Federer again, he will be looking to try and get it back, but that will all depend on how he get's on in Madrid. The good news for Andy is that as he didn't play Madrid last year, he stands to gain more points than he will lose. And hopefully with the hard practice he has been putting in with Ivan Lendl on the clay courts, he will be able to get some match wins under his belt to give him the much needed boost he needs to jump start his clay court season.
But that's all for now, more to fellow next week from Madrid.
Until then bye the nowwwww!
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