Tennis News

After their shocking meeting at the Rio Open several months ago, where a momentous upset brought an end to the clay court king’s impressive semi-final win streak on the red dust, Rafael Nadal will have the opportunity to avenge his earlier loss to Fabio Fognini when they meet in the third round in Barcelona on Thursday. This marks the sixth time that the two competitors will cross paths on the ATP World Tour, with Nadal leading the head-to-head series 4-1.

Although faced with a less-than-ideal opening match in Barcelona, Rafael Nadal dispatched Nicolas Almagro in straight sets to start his campaign in solid fashion. He defeated his fellow countryman 6-3, 6-1 in an uneventful match that only saw a marathon final game before Nadal closed out the contest on his fifth attempt.

“I had a few mistakes in that game,” he said. “It was a strange finish, but a very solid performance, so I’m very happy for that.”

His upcoming opponent is Fabio Fognini, who defeated Russian youngster Andrey Rublev in three sets 6-3, 4-6, 6-1 to reach the third round in Barcelona. He struck seven aces, won 70% of his first service points and converted six break points to close out the match in one hour and 43 minutes.

This marks the sixth time that Nadal and Fognini will meet on the professional tour, with Nadal leading the series 4-1. His only blemish came in their most recent encounter against the Italian, and to the surprise of many, it occurred on his beloved clay court surface. Fognini rallied back from a set down to defeat the Spaniard 1-6, 6-2, 7-5, thus putting an end to Nadal’s remarkable 52-match win streak in ATP World Tour level semi-finals on clay. The Spaniard will look to avenge that loss en route to the quarter-final round of the tournament.

The second round of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix continues to bring with it some enthralling match-ups, as this time three-time defending champion Maria Sharapova begins her campaign in Stuttgart with another encounter against Germany’s Angelique Kerber. It will marks the seventh meeting between the two competitors, as they have played on every surface in tennis. Sharapova leads the head-to-head series 4-2.

The Russian superstar was most recently seen in Miami, where she lost in straight sets to Gavrilova. The Russian wildcard took command of the contest early on, as she found a break while up 4-3 and closed out the opening set in one hour and eight minutes. Sharapova has not played a match since her surprising loss to Gavrilova and she later spent some time on the sidelines with a leg injury. Despite the turbulent couple of weeks, she is confident that she will be able to perform at this week’s event, where she is the defending champion.

‘Despite everything, it’s always a nice feeling to come back to an event where you’ve had a really good record. where you’ve had some great matches, great memories,’ Sharapova told the WTA website. ‘Some of the best matches of my career have been played on that court. But every year you come back to a tournament you start from the very beginning, and that’s what I’ll be doing this year to try and defend my title.’

The Russian will first come up against Angelique Kerber, who defeated Alexa Glatch in straight sets to set up the second round thriller. She defeated her American adversary 6-2, 7-5.

Sharapova and Kerber have crossed paths on six previous occasions on the professional circuit, with the Russian sensation leading the series 4-2. They have also met on all surfaces in tennis, including carpet in Paris. Kerber won their most recent meeting at last year’s Wimbledon Championships but has never defeated Maria on clay, including their Stuttgart meeting back in 2013. As a three-time defending champion at this event, Sharapova will look to confidently extend her win streak to 3-0 on clay against Kerber.

The second round of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix will feature a blockbuster match-up between Simona Halep and Garbine Muguruza. It will mark the third ever encounter between the pairing, with the Spaniard leading the head-to-head series 2-0. This will also mark their first ever clay court encounter, so it will be interesting to see how different this turns out to be.

Following an excellent start to her 2015 season, which included title wins in Dubai and Indian Wells, Simona Halep most recently reached the semi-final stage in Miami, where she lost to Serena Williams. She will now begin her clay court season with an exceptionally tough obstacle in Garbine Muguruza.

“A tough match is awaiting me tomorrow,” Halep said on Tuesday. “I want to adapt myself to the clay, find my game a little bit and see how I have to play in the next tournaments. But here it’s pretty tough. Everyone is playing good tennis on a high level. It will be difficult, but I will fight for it, for sure.”

“I have to change some things from hard to clay courts, and maybe first I need a match to remember my style from the last years, my game,” she said. “But on clay you have time to think about the points, and I like to think. I always like to know what I’m doing for every shot. I like to be a little creative on the court. It’s my style. If I see something that’s not working for me in a match, I’m changing it.”

The Spaniard began her campaign in Stuttgart with a 6-1, 6-4 victory against Barbora Zahlavova Stycova. She won 76% of her first service points to close out the match in one hour and 15 minutes.

This marks the first time that these two competitors will meet on the professional tour and could make for an entertaining and unpredictable contest between two of the top competitors on the WTA tour. The Spaniard leads the head-to-head series 2-0 and will look to remain undefeated against the Romanian in their first ever clay court encounter.

Last Saturday, Nadal took on his longtime rival Novak Djokovic in an entertaining battle, and while he succumbed to the in-form Djokovic 6-3, 6-3, it was a far more competitive battle than the scoreline suggests. Overall, while he was pushed to three sets against the likes of John Isner, Nadal finds solace in the fact that he was able to pull through various obstacles en route to the final four of the tournament.

“For me, is a very positive week. The most positive week of the season, without any doubt,” said Nadal. “I think, if I am able to keep doing that in the next tournament in Barcelona, and I have a tough draw, I will say that I am very well again.”

“The way that I played yesterday and for moments today is the way that I want to play. Just with more matches playing like this, I will be confident enough to play. That level will not be the exception; it will be the normal thing. That is the thing that I need to make happen.”

His upcoming opponent, Nicolas Almagro, breezed into the second round by playing less than four games in his opening match against Paolo Lorenzi. The Italian retired 10 minutes into the match, which allowed the Spaniard easy entry into the following stage of the tournament.

This marks the 13th time these two competitors will clash on the ATP World Tour, with Nadal holding a solid 11-1 record against Almagro. The record includes an 8-0 clay court record, including ones in Barcelona and Acapulco in 2013. However, Almagro shocked the tennis community last season when he rallied from a set down to beat Nadal in the decider of the Barcelona quarter-final. Nadal will have an opportunity to right that wrong on Wednesday afternoon.

In an intriguing second round Barcelona Open encounter, reigning US Open champion Marin Cilic will step across the net from the oldest player to win a maiden ATP World Tour title in Victor Estrella Burgos for their first professional meeting on Wednesday afternoon.

Following an extended spell on the sidelines recovering from an injury, US Open champion Marin Cilic began his 2015 season this week in Indian Wells, where suffered a premature exit in his opening match in the desert but he was able to make up for it over the coming weeks with better showings in Monte Carlo.

After the world No. 9 lost to Juan Monaco in straight sets 6-4, 6-4 , he revealed that he was pleased with his performance, as he didn’t have high expectations for his first match back on tour. He even had some lingering pain in his shoulder, which is why he was unable to serve well.

“I wasn’t expecting that I’m going to be playing great tennis, which is always difficult in the first couple of matches,” he said. “Some players do feel great from the beginning, but I’m the kind of player that needs a few matches to get into it.”

He then surprised many when he was able to put on an impressive showing at the Monte Carlo Masters event to reach the quarter-final stage of the tournament. He defeated Florian Mayer and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga to secure his spot in the final eight alongside Novak Djokovic. While he was absolutely no match for the top ranked Serb, it was still a dramatically improved week than that at Indian Wells.

The Croat will next encounter Victor Estrella Burgos, who reached the second round in Barcelona with a straight sets victory over Dominic Thiem in their first round match. He defeated the Austraian 6-3, 7-6(3) in a match where he struck six aces, won 71% of his first service points and saved eight break points to finish in one hour and 20 minutes.

This marks the first time that Cilic and Burgos will cross paths on the ATP World Tour and could make for a more intriguing match-up than many fans and pundits could expect. The Dominican Republic native has already won his first title on the tour this season and will be motivated to secure a win against the reigning US Open champion.

While many have contemplated whether former world No. 1 Rafael Nadal will be fit enough to continue his remarkable streak at the French Open, his coach and uncle, Toni, is quite confident that the June Grand Slam result will be the same as it has been over the past few years.

“I firmly believe that if we walk this way, Rafa can win the Roland Garros. He’s not physically at 100%” Toni said told Canal + (via tennisworldusa.org) ’The problem is to maintain this level for a long time. Roland Garros courts fit with his way of playing, but the first goal is to come back feeling good on the court, hitting with high intensity and never letting the guard down, which is one thing we haven’t done in the recent tournaments.”

Most recently, eventual champion Novak Djokovic toppled Nadal in the semi-final round of the Monte Carlo Masters event. While the final score was 6-3, 6-3, it does not adequately represent the competitiveness of the encounter. The Spaniard held a break lead at the start of the match but was unable to maintain that lead as the contest went on.

While the end result was not what they wanted, the pair left Monte Carlo with positive emotions about their week there.

“We leave Monte Carlo in a better way than when we arrived here. We approached in the right way even if we knew that Rafa wasn’t playing at his best. Against Djokovic he wasn’t enough physically prepared, he wasn’t used to such high intensity. Moreover, the tough match against Ferrer prejudiced a bit his physical form. To play against the best player in the world you have to be perfectly prepared, and we weren’t. Until the physical form supported him, he played in a good way.”

Even Nadal himself expressed his satisfaction with his performances this past week in Monte Carlo, although he refused to project into the future.

“For me, is a very positive week. The most positive week of the season, without any doubt,” said Nadal. “I think, if I am able to keep doing that in the next tournament in Barcelona, and I have a tough draw, I will say that I am very well again.

“The most important thing, what’s helping me really, is that I am with the right motivation to play tennis, the right motivation to work hard every day, and with the right attitude. That’s why I was able to play better this week than the previous weeks.”

Few players have ever taken part in the roaring start that world No. 1 Novak Djokovic secured for himself during the first third of the year. In fact, no one has ever managed to win the first three Masters 1000 titles of the year I consecutive fashion, which is just what he completed on Sunday afternoon in Monte Carlo. To top that off, he also won the season-opening Grand Slam in Melbourne, which only serves as more proof that the Serbian star is in near-unstoppable form at the moment.

With much to be thankful for in his life, both personally and professionally, Djokovic has formulated a new outlook on life, which he believes has helped him compartmentalize his success and use it to his advantage.

“I’m 27,” said Djokovic. “Obviously I’m experiencing the time of my life on the tennis court, and also private life is very good. I became a father. I’m just trying to sometimes pinch myself and say, ‘Where am I at this point in my life?’ I’m very grateful for this, for everything that I have. That’s the kind of philosophy.”

Following his 6-3, 6-3, victory over clay court specialist Rafael Nadal, Djokovic overcame a determined Berdych in the tournament final to close out the victory in three sets in a total of two hours and 43 minutes. While it was not the prettiest of matches for the top seed, he was able to fight through it and secure the victory, even when not playing his best tennis.

“I was just trying to stay with the right intensity and focus for each point because obviously you get tense when you’re not feeling so comfortable on the court. When you start missing, you kind of back up. I had to adjust my position and movement on the court several times. In the end I’m sitting here with this trophy that is very special to me. This is what matters. Sometimes winning ugly is necessary. It’s been a remarkable start of the season for me. I couldn’t ask for a better start of clay court season.”

Now that he has armed himself with a fresh perspective on himself and his life, Djokovic plans on using his recent success as a form of motivation and incentive to complete the year in grand fashion.

“The fact that now I won (the first) three Masters 1000 in a row and nobody ever has done that, of course I’m aware of that. That has given me more motivation. I’m very proud of what I have achieved. It can only serve as an incentive, imperative for what’s coming up.”