Tennis News

Following a less-than-stellar week in Madrid, 17-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer will look to reverse his recent misfortunes and complete his French Open warm-up in successful fashion. He will begin his 2015 Rome Masters 1000 event campaign against Pablo Cuevas, whom he met in the final of the Istanbul final just two weeks ago. This is just the second time that these two competitors will meet on the professional tour, with Federer leading the head-to-head series 1-0.

Just days after he won his 85th title on the tour, the former four-time champion in Madrid suffered a tight three-set loss to rising Aussie star Nick Kyrgios. In what turned out to be an enthralling encounter on the tour, Kyrgios was able to save several match points to eventually snatch the deciding points in the third set tiebreak. He won the contest 6-7(2), 7-6(5), 7-6(12).

Although Federer was far from his worst, he admitted that he was simply unable to return Nick’s monster first serves.

“My problem was I couldn’t return his first serve,” said Federer, who won 18 of 85 first serve return points. [It] was just a horrible performance on the return. “As the match went on it got so bad that I just couldn’t get into decent positions on the return, so it made it very difficult to get any sort of rhythm after that.”

Federer will next come up against Pablo Cuevas, who secured his spot in the second round of the tournament with a straight sets win against Paolo Lorenzi. He struck five aces, won 81% of his first service points and faced no break points en route to the 6-3, 6-2 win in one hour and 17 minutes.

This is the second t time that these two competitors will meet on the professional tour, yet it is still one that will likely favour the vastly more experienced Federer. He was able to deny Cuevas a fourth ATP World Tour title by handing him his first defeat in a tournament final and will be keen to add to that en route to the third round in Rome.

The top player on the ATP World Tour took the week off in Madrid, a decision that will allow him to be a significant force in Rome. Novak Djokovic will begin his campaign against Nicolas Almagro, whom he has faced on three previous occasions on the professional circuit. The Serb leads the head-to-head series 3-0.

Djokovic, who already has a clay court Masters 1000 title to his name this season, has a 30-2 record so far this season and appears to be near-unstoppable on the tour. Most recently at the Monte Carlo event, Djokovic overcame a determined Tomas Berdych in three sets to lift his third Masters 1000 title of the season. He won the match 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 in a contest that was interrupted by a rain delay midway through the second set. Djokovic eventually won the match in two hours and 43 minutes to extend his winning streak to 17 consecutive matches.

“I want to build a platform to get off and perform well,” Djokovic admitted at the Foro Italico Saturday. “At this level you need freshness of mind and also fresh legs in order to perform well to overcome the challenges of long and exhausting matches on this surface. I hope my decision to skip Madrid will positively effect this week and Roland Garros. We’ll see.

“I have done things in the right way over the past couple of weeks. My whole team is here – both coaches – so we are taking it really seriously and we hope to have a good result.”

Spain’s Nicolas Almagro began his week in Rome with a straight sets victory against Italy’s Luca Vanni. He struck seven aces, won 88% of his first service points and saved all three of the break points he faced en route to a 6-4, 6-3 win in one hour and 18 minutes.

This marks the first time in three years that Djokovic and Almagro will meet on the professional tour. Djokovic leads the head-to-head series 3-0, including a clay court victory at this event seven years ago.

Following an exceptional start to his clay court season this year, which includes an undefeated streak with two title wins, Andy Murray will look to carry this momentum forward in his final warm-up event ahead of the French Open. He will begin his Rome campaign against Jeremy Chardy, whom he holds a 5-1 lead over in the head-to-head series.

The world No. 3 maintained his undefeated clay court streak when he defeated Rafael Nadal in straight sets to lift the Mutua Madrid Open title on Sunday. It was Murray’s second win at this event but his first since the tournament moved to clay. Following a solid opening set of tennis, Murray stunned the all-Spanish pro-Rafa crowd by breaking for a 4-0 lead in the second set. From there, he finished the match 6-3,6-2 for his first win against Nadal on clay.

“I think I wasn’t expecting this a couple of weeks ago, so when things are unexpected, it feels nicer,” admitted Murray. “I didn’t feel like I put too much pressure on myself the past couple of weeks, which is a good thing

It is difficult to determine the outcome of this particular contest. On one hand, Murray’s recent streak is a positive sign for his French Open goals, yet he may also be worn out following two action-packed weeks on the tour. He leads Chardy 5-1 and should have little trouble advancing, yet he may need three sets to get the job done this time around.

Jeremy Chardy denied a potentially dramatic rematch between Murray and Lukas Rosol when he defeated the Czech No. 2 in straight sets 7-6,6-4 to advance to the second round of the tournament. He struck 10 aces, won 78% of his first service points and saved the only break point he faced to close out the match in one hour and 37 minutes.

Maria Sharapova will attempt to right the wrongs that have occurred in her pre-French Open warm-up title defenses this season when she begins her Rome campaign on Tuesday afternoon against Jarmila Gajdosova. This marks the first time that the two competitors will cross paths on the professional tour.

Following her surprise exit at the start of the Stuttgart Open this year, a tournament where she was the defending champion, Sharapova was ousted in the semi-final round in Madrid at the hands of Svetlana Kuznetsova. It was a surprising defeat given that she had beaten Caroline Garcia and Caroline Wozniacki to reach that stage of the tournament.

Given that she is coming off a recent injury, Sharapova is confident she will get back on the horse soon:

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“Yeah, I think about ten days ago I think I started from somewhere around zero. I’ve come to a good stage; not the best one. It’s been a while. I was just thinking it’s been a while since I played five matches in six days. I think it was back in January. So it’s great to be back in that position, but it takes a lot more to continue that. I have to build on that. I have to build being able to step up every day, because it doesn’t get easier. It gets tougher.”

Jarmila Gajdosova reached the second round in Rome with a three-set victory against Elena Vesnina. She struck eight aces, won 66% of her first service points and converted six break points to win the match 1-6, 6-2, 7-6(14) in two hours and nine minutes. It was an impressive win for the Slovakian native, as she rallied from a set down and fought through an incredibly tight third set tiebreak to get the job done in the end.

This marks the first time that Sharapova and Gajdosova will cross paths on the professional tour and it is likely a contest that will favour Sharapova, as she works her way back to top form.

In one of the more surprising finals in recent memory, Andy Murray defeated Rafael Nadal in straight sets to lift the Mutua Madrid Open title on Sunday. It was Murray’s second win at this event but his first since the tournament moved to clay.

Murray stormed to a 3-0 start against Nadal and looked the sharper of the two competitors. While the Spaniard woke up shortly thereafter, he was unable to regain the break and dropped the opening set. Murray then added to his momentum by breaking for an early 2-0 lead in the second set before he stunned the crowd by breaking again for a 4-0 lead. From there, he finished the match 6-3,6-2 for his first win against Nadal on clay.

“I think I wasn’t expecting this a couple of weeks ago, so when things are unexpected, it feels nicer,” admitted Murray. “I didn’t feel like I put too much pressure on myself the past couple of weeks, which is a good thing.

“Obviously to win a Masters 1000 on clay for me is a step in the right direction. It’s something I had never done before. So that’s good progress there. To win against Rafa on clay in a final in Spain is an extremely difficult thing to do, and I’m proud that I’ve managed to do that.”

Nadal, who commit far too many unforced errors for comfort, dropped to 8-3 on clay this season and has also dropped outside of the Top 5 for the first time since 2005.

“I’ve played a couple good matches [this week], especially yesterday’s match,” said Nadal. “It’s one of the best matches I have played in a long time. So I cannot leave Madrid not happy. I have leave happy and just delete what happened today. I will just stay with the good things that happened this week, and there are a lot of them, more good than bad. I will try to recover in Rome the feelings. I think I’ve made a step forward and I’m playing better. My game is better.”

Murray and Nadal are both scheduled to compete in the Rome Masters this week.

With the French Open just 2 weeks away, the Internazionali BNL d’Italia provides the final opportunities for the top players to tune up their game. It is also notable for the fact that if Rafael Nadal doesn’t win this event, it will be the first time he has failed to win a clay Masters 1000 event since 2004 – a year in which he did not compete in any of them. Nadal is a seven time winner in Rome and has made the last six finals.

Novak Djokovic returns after missing Madrid and has to remain the favourite on his form and Nadal’s continued struggles. Last year, he picked up his third Rome title with a three set win over Nadal. He begins his title defence against Nicolas Almagro, who saw off the threat of wildcard Luca Vanni in round one. He is 3-1 against Almagro, with the sole win for the Spaniard coming in a 2004 Challenger match.

In their fourth career meeting (first in ATP main draw), Roberto Bautista Agut will hope to get the better of his countryman Marcel Granollers. Bautista Agut was defeated by Kei Nishikori for the second time in three tournaments in Madrid last week, making each of his last four losses be to a top 10 player. The winner faces a qualifier – either Thomaz Bellucci or Diego Schwartzman. Bellucci qualified without dropping a set while Schwartzman needed 3 to see off Benoit Paire.

Australian tennis continues to rise with two players now in the top 35 and they could meet in round two. Nick Kyrgios stunned Roger Federer in Madrid but was unable to follow up his victory in the next round, losing to John Isner. He will have to pull off another surprise win by defeating 11th seed Feliciano Lopez. The Spaniard is in far from great form, going 3-4 since Miami. Bernard Tomic, now ranked 26, plays Viktor Troicki for the first time on clay. Tomic does lead the head to head 2-1 but all three matches were on hard courts. Kei Nishikori rounds off the first quarter of the draw. He failed to defend his final points in Madrid, losing in the semi finals to eventual winner Andy Murray. Nishikori, 29-6 on the year, will play Jiri Vesely after the Czech overcame Ernests Gulbis in three sets on Sunday. A quarter final clash with Djokovic offers a lot of intrigue and will give a further idea of Nishikori’s French Open credentials.

Andy Murray‘s stunning run to the Madrid title made it two clay titles in two weeks after failing to win one in his career previously. Although Nadal was far from his best in the final, three top 10 wins in the week suggest that Murray could be more than easy pickings for the best in Paris. He opens against Jeremy Chardy, who beat Lukas Rosol in straights in round one. Another Frenchman could be on the cards in round three if Jo-Wilfried Tsonga can live up to his 13th seeding position. Tsonga is 0-2 against the top 10 this year but will be confident going into round two if he sees off Sam Querrey. The Frenchman already has a win over likely opponent David Goffin at Monte Carlo this year.

David Ferrer has lived up to his seeding in the past two Masters events in Madrid and Monte Carlo by making the quarter finals but was defeated at this stage both times, to Nishikori and Nadal respectively. This time round, Andy Murray is the projected quarter finalist if seedings hold. While he is 6-9 against Murray, Ferrer does lead 4-0 on the head to head, most recently winning at the 2012 French Open in 4 sets. Richard Gasquet plays Thomas Fabbiano for the opportunity to play Ferrer and reverse an ugly 3-8 head to head. Ninth seed Marin Cilic is still finding his feet on the year, hoping to turn around his current 3-4 record in 2015. Guillermo Garcia-Lopez is first up for the Croatian with either Alexandr Dolgopolov or Martin Klizan waiting in round two. Cilic is 3-0 against Klizan while going 1-1 against Dolgopolov.

By virtue of being drawn in the opposite half of the draw to Djokovic, Rafael Nadal will have a much better chance of making his seventh straight final at this event. It’s a route that doesn’t look too troubling, even with Nadal not at 100% of his ability. 16th seed John Isner did take Nadal to three sets in Monte Carlo but it will be a tough ask to do that again even with Isner playing good tennis at this moment in time. Isner will still most likely have to beat Leonardo Mayer to get there, after the Argentinian defeated Federico Gaio in round one on Sunday.

Stanislas Wawrinka, the other top 8 seed in this quarter, could do with a good run after failing to make it past the last sixteen in his last four tournaments. He may well do that this time round, but defeating Nadal will still remain a tough ask with their lopsided head to head. Wawrinka will open against Juan Monaco or Dusan Lajovic while Gilles Simon will play Jack Sock in his first match of the tournament. Dominic Thiem will hope to return to form when he faces Simone Bolelli in round one. The highly touted Austrian has seen a number of shock defeats in the past month, while also losing just three games to Fabio Fognini in Munich in the same time period.

Likely semi final opponents for Nadal in the case that he gets there include Federer and Tomas Berdych. It was thought that Berdych might trouble Nadal in Madrid but it was never all that close, Nadal winning 76 61. All of Berdych’s defeats this year have come to top 10 players, including the Monte Carlo final which he lost in three sets. Despite a surprise win over Santiago Giraldo in round one, wildcard Matteo Donati is unlikely to be much of a threat to the Czech. A third round clash intrigues with most likely Grigor Dimitrov, although Fabio Fognini and perhaps Jerzy Janowicz will have something to say about that as they compete for a place in the third round. Berdych lost to Dimitrov at this event last year, a week after beating him in Madrid.

After losing from match point up to Nick Kyrgios in Madrid, Roger Federer will be out to ensure it doesn’t happen again in Rome. He may play an opponent whom he already has a win over this year in Pablo Cuevas. The Uruguayan lost in straight sets but will relish the opportunity for another crack and should beat Paolo Lorenzi in round one and extend the head to head to 4-0 over the wildcard. A big serving Kevin Anderson seems the most logical option for an early Federer shock but in reality, it seems very unlikely that the South African could win in a possible third meeting. Anderson needed two tiebreaks to defeat Florian Mayer in three sets and will likely play another German in round two, with Philipp Kohlschreiber taking on Donald Young for a spot in the second round.

A blockbuster final has been set for Sunday afternoon at the Mutua Madrid Open, as two members of the Big Four, Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray, meet to determine who will lift the title just weeks ahead of the French Open. For Nadal, this is an opportunity to win his seventh title in Madrid, while Murray will look to follow up on his first clay court title last week with a Masters 1000 crown to his name on clay. Nadal leads the head-to-head series 15-5, including a 6-0 record on clay.

While the first set was a competitive affair, world No. 4 Rafael Nadal produced a solid performance to defeat Tomas Berdych 7-6(3), 6-1 and advance to the final of the Madrid Open. It was a promising performance from Rafa, who looked as though he was swinging freely and with confidence.

“For the past couple of days I have been playing better and better every day,” said Nadal. “That’s always very good news. I am in the final. I am happy for that. I am enjoying a lot the fact that I am playing in front of an unbelievable crowd. For me, that’s the best crowd in the world without any doubt. So that gives me a lot of really positive energy.

In a surprisingly straightforward encounter on Saturday, British No. 1 Andy Murray defeated Kei Nishikori in straight sets to secure his spot in the final of the tournament. He won the match 6-3, 6-4 to advance his undefeated streak on clay this season to 9-0.

“This year and in the off-season I put in a lot of hard work on my game and made a few changes and tried to get back to playing the way that I was playing when I was my most successful,” said Murray. “I think today I was pretty aggressive. I tried to dictate a lot of the points, especially when he was serving, and it worked well.”

This marks the 21st time that these two competitors will cross paths on the professional tour, with Nadal leading the head-to-head series 15-5. He is also 6-0 against Murray on clay, including two consecutive wins on the red dust in 2014, the latest of which was the semi-final stage of last year’s French Open event. While Murray is riding a significant wave of momentum heading into the final, Nadal appears to be back to near-100-percent form and that could signal the end of Murray’s undefeated streak this season on clay.

“Against Rafa it is going to be extremely difficult, especially playing here in Spain. I think he’s played very well this week, too. Hopefully I can put in a good performance and make it tough for him and see what happens.”

Following solid displays in their quarter-final showings, Andy Murray and Kei Nishikori will meet to determine who will advance to the final of the Mutua Madrid Open. Both players are in fine form heading into their fifth overall encounter on the tour. Murray leads the head-to-head series 3-1, yet the Japanese No. 1 won their most recent meeting at the World Tour Finals last season.

Seeded second at this year’s tournament, and with a title to his name on clay heading into the semis, Murray advanced in impressive fashion with a straight sets win against Canada’s Milos Raonic. The Briton hit 19 winners and saved all five of the break points he faced during the match to win the encounter 6-4,7-5 in one hour and 41 minutes.

“I feel like I’ve been moving well,” said Murray. “The first couple of weeks on the clay, I tried to work on it quite a lot in my training block before I started playing the tournaments.

“Because I feel healthy this year, I’m not worrying about my back or worrying about things when I am put in difficult positions on court. That obviously gives me a bit more confidence in the movement.”

In the last match on court that day, Kei Nishikori and David Ferrer met in a rematch of their 2014 meeting in Madrid yet the match could not have been more different. While the outcome was the same, a straight sets win for Kei, it was a far easier meeting this time around. Nishikori dominated the encounter, as he struck 22 winners and converted five break points to earn the victory in one hour and 12 minutes.

This marks the fifth time that Murray and Nishikori will meet on the professional tour with Murray leading the series 3-1. While Murray has performed better historically in this rivalry, it is Nishikori who won their most recent meeting last season at the World Tour Finals and is in fit enough shape to add to that this week in Madrid.

Following their impressive displays on Friday, Rafael Nadal and Tomas Berdych will cross paths for the 23rd time on the professional tour to determine who will advance to the final of the Mutua Madrid Open. The Nadal vs Berdych head-to-head series stands at 18-4 and the Spaniard held a 17-match win stream dating back to 2006 that was snapped by Berdych during their most recent meeting at this year’s Australian Open quarter-final.

Six-time champion Rafael Nadal found himself faced with an intriguing obstacle in the form of an inspired Dimitrov during his quarter-final round match on Friday afternoon. While he did lose a break during the second set, he was still able to win the match in straight sets and advance to the following stage of the tournament. He defeated the Bulgarian 6-3,6-4 in one hour and 49 minutes.

“Overall I’m satisfied; I’m happy,” said Nadal. “I have made it to the semi-finals, and I think that’s a great result for me, especially after losing in Barcelona the way I did.

“My goal is [to] feel myself playing better every day. That’s my real goal. Then obviously, the goal is always the same, [to] try to have the [best] result possible.”

In a Herculean effort on court, Tomas Berdych rallied back from a set down and the brink of defeat to save a match point and defeat John Isner in three sets. He won the match 3-6, 7-6, 7-6 in a match that was clearly decided in the tiebreaks.

“I’m really looking forward [to] that challenge,” Berdych said. “It’s going to be a nice match.”

“Today was really about just a few points, which decided both sets in the tie-breaks,”

This marks the 23nd time that Nadal and Berdych will cross paths on the professional tour, with Nadal leading the series 18-4. The Spaniard was on a 17-match win streak against Berdych before the Czech No. 1 snapped that streak recently during the quarter-final stage of the Australian Open. While he now holds the confidence to know he can beat Nadal again, he will have to face the Spaniard on clay, which only

While it appeared as though two of the tour’s top competitors were en route to another blockbuster final on clay, both Maria Sharapova and Serena Williams were handed similar losses in their semi-final matches to make room for the surprise final at the Mutua Madrid Premier event, as the new final now features Petra Kvitova and Svetlana Kuznetsova. Kvitova leads the head-to-head series 3-1, although has also lost their only previous clay court meeting – their last meeting on the tour at the 2014 French Open.

In undoubtedly the biggest upset in recent memory, Serena Williams had her incredible win streak snapped in Madrid on Friday afternoon when she suffered a straight sets loss to Petra Kvitova in the semi-final round. Kvitova’s 6-2, 6-3 win against the American ended her 27-match win streak from 2014, as well as her incredible 3+ year streak at Premier events.

“Yeah, I think she just played well today,” Williams said. “I mean, she went for broke on every serve, every return. I hit some second serves, 170, 175, and she just hit them for winners. I was very slow off the mark. After my serve I wasn’t moving as well as I should have. You know, I wasn’t in it.

“I wasn’t Serena today. I think that was the main thing.”

Earlier in the day, Svetlana Kuznetsova began the day’s trend of massive upsets, as she comfortably ousted defending champion Maria Sharapova in straight sets to secure her spot in the final. She defeated her fellow Russian 6-2, 6-4 in a surprisingly straightforward affair. While Sharapova had her opportunity in the second set, she was unable to capitalize.

“I feel very happy, it was a very tough match,” Kuznetsova said. “I was playing good, serving good – everything was working well.”

This is set to be the fifth time that Kvitova and Kuznetsova will cross paths on the professional tour, with the Czech No. 1 leading the head-to-head series 3-1. However, it is the Russian who won their most recent encounter, one that took place in the third round of last year’s French Open event. Given that Kuznetsova holds a win against Kvitova in their only clay court encounter, it should add an extra layer of intrigue ahead of Saturday’s final.