Tennis News

The clay court season continues on with Barcelona as Rafael Nadal looks to bounce back from the disappointment of failing to win the Monte Carlo Masters for the third time in a row. Nadal had previously won the tournament on each of his last eight appearances, only missing out in 2010 when he withdrew with fatigue and losing to Nicolas Almagro in last year’s QF. 2014 saw Kei Nishikori pick up the title and the Japanese star will be No.1 seed this week.

Check out the Full Draw Here: ATP Barcelona 2015 Draw

Watch the matches live: ATP Barcelona Live Streaming

Nishikori was outstanding on Spanish clay last year, winning this event and then making the final of Madrid where he controlled the match against Nadal before his body broke down and he was forced to retire. Also defending finals points this week is Santiago Giraldo who is 15th seed this week. The Colombian looks likely to suffer a rankings fall with Nishikori looming in round three. Nishikori should see off either Teymuraz Gabashvili or Pablo Carreno Busta easily but Alexandr Dolgopolov may prove a tough opponent for Giraldo if the Ukranian can defeat Joao Sousa.

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Pablo Cuevas returns to his favoured clay after going 1-2 during Miami and Indian Wells. The Uruguayan did not play Monte Carlo but is back for this event and opens against either Jan Lennard Struff or wildcard Roberto Carballes Baena. It will be the third year in a row that Baena gets a wildcard and he is winless in his first two outings. Roberto Bautista Agut will be Spain’s best hope of a quarter finalist from the top quarter of the draw. The 7th seed took Nishikori to three sets last year in Barcelona and also made the semi finals of Madrid. He will most likely open against Thomaz Bellucci. The Brazilian plays Yuichi Sugita who has never won an ATP match on clay.

Marin Cilic shook off some rust in his second tournament of the year, making the quarter finals in Monte Carlo. He was brushed aside with ease by Novak Djokovic there but did pick up a win over Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. Tsonga can avenged the straight sets loss in the quarter finals here but will probably need to make it past two Spaniards to get that far. Marcel Granollers should be favoured to beat Marinko Matosevic to set up his opener with 9th seed Tommy Robredo next up should he outlast Joao Souza or Mikhail Kukushkin. However, Robredo had been far from stellar in South America on the clay, going just 2-3 and may be there for the taking in that match.

Cilic begins against either Dominic Thiem or Victor Estrella, the latter of which retired in his last match at Monte Carlo. Meanwhile, Thiem disappointed in his first match at the same event with a straight sets loss to Lucas Pouille. Martin Klizan comes into this tournament with a clay title this month in Casablanca but followed it up with defeat to Victor Troicki at Monte Carlo. Klizan should face Juan Monaco in round two, hoping to improve on his 0-6 4-6 loss in their only other meeting.

Four times finalist David Ferrer will like his section of the draw, given the number of wildcard and qualifier entries. The first of those to face him could be Albert Montanes, who plays Ricardas Berankis in round one. Montanes is at home on the clay, much unlike Berankis who has played sparingly on the surface in recent years. Nick Kyrgios will have the opportunity to test himself at a higher level on clay this year although either Thiemo de Bakker or Elias Ymer provide him with a far from tough beginning to his tournament. Kyrgios won two clay events back to back in April last year although they were on the green clay in America, which plays quite differently to traditional European clay.

With Ernests Gulbis terribly out of form and potentially still carrying an injury, an opportunity is there for a player to make a nice run to the quarter finals. Benoit Paire has managed to force himself back into the top 100 after falling to 149 early in the year. He will play the young qualifier Jaume Munar, who surprised Daniel Munoz de la Nava and Pedro Cachin to earn his spot in the draw. Philipp Kohlschreiber may also play a qualifier in Martin Fucsovics. Fucsovics is 1-0 against Andrey Kuznetsov whom he plays in round one, but the Russian is slightly more accomplished at the highest level. Kuznetsov and Kohlschreiber played at this event in 2013, Kohlschreiber winning a third set tiebreak.

Rafael Nadal heads the final quarter of the draw with what looks like the toughest route of any of the top four seeds to the semi final. He was outplayed by Novak Djokovic for large parts of the Monte Carlo final after a fast start and will be keen to bounce back by taking the title here.

He most likely will have to play the man who defeated him at this event last year. Nicolas Almagro would lose the semi final after but his win in the quarters ended a long losing streak. Almagro is 2-0 against Lorenzi whom he plays in round one. 2014 French Open winner Andrey Rublev plays his first ATP clay event and couldn’t have asked for a much tougher opening round opponent. The qualifier plays 2010 winner Fernando Verdasco in what will likely be a step too far but should at least give an indication of what he can expect on the surface in the year to come. Fabio Fognini awaits the winner and given that the Italian already has a clay win over Nadal this year, there is no doubt that he can take advantage should the No.2 seed be below par.

Feliciano Lopez is one of three other Spaniards in the bottom quarter of the draw and the one with the best chance of progressing to a projected quarter final with Nadal. Qualifier James Ward or Marsel Ilhan are first up, the latter of which is coming off a final on the clay in Mersin Challenger. However, it is more likely to be Leonardo Mayer who poses the first threat to the World No.12. Mayer lost their only meeting at the 2012 Australian Open but will have a much better chance this time round, assuming he sees off either Pablo Andujar or Albert Ramos.

For match previews and predictions, click Here: ATP Barcelona 2015 Tips

For Rafael Nadal, the simple fact that he was able to contest a competitive match against the undisputed world No. 1 Novak Djokovic in a semi-final round of a Masters 1000 event is a very positive sign for just a few weeks before the start of the French Open.

The seven-time champion at Monte Carlo took on his longtime rival in an entertaining battle on Saturday afternoon, and while he succumbed to the in-form Djokovic 6-3, 6-3, it was a far more competitive battle than the scoreline suggests.

“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.”

Nadal even started the match with an early break for a 2-0 lead but was unable to hold onto it.

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“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.”

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.

“In general, from where I came one week ago, two weeks ago, after what happened in Miami, I go to the next tournament with the feeling that I made a big improvement in my game, in my mental part. I hope this tournament is a key moment for my season.

“We cannot forget that I got injured last year for six months. So for six months, I didn’t play one match of intensity, because when I came back I played two tournaments (in 2014). It is difficult to have a feeling after that. Then Basel, having that appendicitis… So there were six months without playing that kind of (high) level matches.”

The Spaniard still refuses to project into the future, opting instead to think positively about his gradual return and focus on each step along the way.

“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.”

World No. 1 Novak Djokovic has turned back the clock to 2011, where he was once nearly unstoppable during his tear through the ATP World Tour. Four years later, the Serbian star is once again in peak form and proved that while he may not always be playing his best tennis, he will certainly be difficult to topple.

On Sunday afternoon 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.

“It was a battle,” Djokovic said. “I was up a set and 3-2, then a (rain) interruption, we came back, I had a break point but he played some amazing shots. If I made the break there, maybe the match could be done in two sets.

“He had his chances as well. The third set started very well at 4-0. I just lost that service game for no reason. After that, every single game went the distance: deuce, advantage. It was a real fight. I was trying to mentally stay tough and fight my way through.”

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The third set was the pivotal turn, as Djokovic stormed to a 4-0 lead before Berdych clawed his way onto the scoreboard. In the end, the Serb took home €628,100 and 1,000 Emirates ATP Rankings points and extended his head-to-head lead to 19-2.

“I left him a big gap in the third set,” said Berdych. “That was the decider, definitely. It was really just about a couple of points that didn’t go my way. He defended them very well… I was making him run all the way through those three sets. There was just a couple of things that didn’t go as I would like to.”

While the Monte Carlo Masters event occupied the majority of the ATP World Tour’s top competitors this week, the 18-19th April saw several of the WTA’s notable star compete for their respective nations in Fed Cup semi-final and playoff matches.

The main takeaway from the weekend is that both the Czech Republic and Russia are through to the final of the tournament, which will take place in November. It marked the fourth final in five years for the Czech team — a remarkable achievement.

WORLD GROUP SEMIFINALS

Czech Republic def. France 3-1
Venue: Cez Arena, Ostrava, CZE (hard – indoors)

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Lucie Safarova (CZE) d. Caroline Garcia (FRA) 46 76(1) 61
Petra Kvitova (CZE) d. Kristina Mladenovic (FRA) 63 64
Petra Kvitova (CZE) d. Caroline Garcia (FRA) 64 64
Lucie Safarova (CZE) v Kristina Mladenovic (FRA) not played
Kristina Mladenovic/Pauline Parmentier (FRA) d. Lucie Safarova/Barbora Strycova (CZE) 06 63 [10-8]

Russia defeated Germany 3-2
Venue: Adler Arena, Sochi, RUS (clay – indoors)

Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS) d. Julia Goerges (GER) 64 64
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS) d. Sabine Lisicki (GER) 46 76(4) 63
Andrea Petkovic (GER) d. Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS) 62 61
Angelique Kerber (GER) d. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS) 61 60
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova/Elena Vesnina (RUS) d. Sabine Lisicki/Andrea Petkovic (GER) 62 63

WORLD GROUP PLAY-OFFS

Italy defeated USA 3-2
Venue: Circolo Tennis Brindisi, Brindisi, ITA (clay – outdoors)

Serena Williams (USA) d. Camila Giorgi (ITA) 76(5) 62
Sara Errani (ITA) d. Lauren Davis (USA) 61 62
Serena Williams (USA) d. Sara Errani (ITA) 46 76(3) 63
Flavia Pennetta (ITA) d. Christina McHale (USA) 61 61
Sara Errani/Flavia Pennetta (ITA) d. Alison Riske/Serena Williams (USA) 60 63

Netherlands defeated Australia 4-1
Venue: Maaspoort Sports & Events, ’s-Hertogenbosch, NED (clay – indoors)

Kiki Bertens (NED) d. Jarmila Gajdosova (AUS) 61 63
Casey Dellacqua (AUS) d. Arantxa Rus (NED) 75 63
Kiki Bertens (NED) d. Casey Dellacqua (AUS) 62 63
Arantxa Rus (NED) d. Jarmila Gajdosova (AUS) 06 75 75
Richel Hogenkamp/Michaella Krajicek (NED) d. Casey Dellacqua/Olivia Rogowska (AUS) 62 76(3)

Switzerland def. Poland 3-2
Venue: Centrum Rekreacyjno Sportowe, Zielona Gora, POL (hard – indoors)

Agnieszka Radwanska (POL) d. Martina Hingis (SUI) 64 60
Timea Bacsinszky (SUI) d. Urszula Radwanska (POL) 62 61
Timea Bacsinszky (SUI) d. Agnieszka Radwanska (POL) 61 61
Urszula Radwanska (POL) d. Martina Hingis (SUI) 46 75 61
Timea Bacsinszky/Viktorija Golubic (SUI) d. Agnieszka Radwanska/Alicja Rosolska (POL) 26 64 97

Romania defeated Canada 3-2
Venue: Arena Maurice Richard, Montreal, CAN (hard – indoors)

Francoise Abanda (CAN) d. Irina-Camelia Begu (ROU) 46 75 64
Alexandra Dulgheru (ROU) d. Eugenie Bouchard (CAN) 64 64
Andreea Mitu (ROU) d. Eugenie Bouchard (CAN) 46 64 61
Alexandra Dulgheru (ROU) d. Francoise Abanda (CAN) 36 75 62
Gabriela Dabrowski/Sharon Fichman (CAN) d. Andreea Mitu/Raluca Olaru (ROU) 61 46 [10-5]

The draw for the 2016 Fed Cup by BNP Paribas will be held in Paris on Wednesday 3 June. The top two seeds in the 2016 World Group will be the 2015 finalists, while the remaining seeds will be based on the ITF Fed Cup Nations Ranking of 20 April.

It has been a bizarre few months for Polish No. 1 Agnieszka Radwanska and she will look to put it all behind her when she begins her campaign at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix event in Stuttgart. She will begin her week against Italy’s Sara Errani. She has faced her Italian adversary on nine previous occasions and leads the head-to-head series 7-2. However, their clay court h2h is 2-2 and it will be interesting to see if the Polish star can bring an end to her turbulent few months on the tour.

After alternating between wins and losses for the first three tournaments of the season all the way up to the Miami Masters, it was clear that Radwanska was far from her usual self. Even though she was armed with a part-time coach in Martina Navratilova, the Polish star was unable to get a foothold in many of her matches and began suffering surprising losses, such as a 6-4, 6-4 fall to Heather Watson. She managed to reach the fourth round in Miami and the semi-final stage in Katowice, but it was not enough to turn the tide in her favour. Katowice was a tournament tailor made for her success and she was still unable to win the title on home soil.

Most recently, Radwanska suffered a bizarre 6-1, 6-1 loss to Timea Bacsinszky at the Poland vs. Switzerland Fed Cup tie after beating Martina Hingis on Saturday 6-4, 6-0.

While Sara Errani’s 2015 WTA season has not been anything to write home about, she has not been struggling as much as her Polish counterpart. She reached the semi-final stage in Monterrey and the quarter-final round in Charleston. Most recently, she defeated Lauren Davis in the Italy vs USA tie. She then lost to Serena Williams in three sets on Saturday.

This marks the 10th time that Radwanska and Errani will cross paths on the professional tour, with the Pole leading the series 7-2. Radwanska won their most recent meting nearly two years ago in Toronto, while Errani won their most recent clay court meeting at the 2013 French Open. Given the recent trajectories for both players, it is safe to assume that Errani, the better clay court player, will have the advantage this time around.

Following an entertaining day of semi-final action, two competitors stand tall in the wake of Saturday night’s contests, as world No. 1 Novak Djokovic and Czech No. 1 Tomas Berdych cross paths for the 21st time on the professional tour. Djokovic leads the head-to-head series 18-2 and has not lost to Berdych in nearly two years.

In a blockbuster semi-final encounter, Novak Djokovic was able to outplay Rafael Nadal in a thrilling encounter to edge out a close straight sets victory. Djokovic suffered from a slow start and was down a break early on but rarely faced much trouble from that point onwards. He did pay some impressive, high-quality tennis with his greatest adversary, though. Eventually, he won the match 6-3, 6-3.

“I did have a slower start than he did in the match,” admitted Djokovic. “He started very aggressive, playing good, serving well, having a break point for a double break. I played a good point there. I won a very important game not to allow him to have the advantage of 3-0.”
While many anticipated a more competitive semi-final, Tomas Berdych breezed into the Monte Carlo final for the first time in his career with a straight sets victory against Gael Monfils. He defeated the Frenchman 6-1, 6-4 in a match that lasted just 67 minutes.

“This year is going pretty well,” said Berdych. “It’s going almost the way we set it up. We’re missing a trophy yet as a team and me personally, but it’s another chance tomorrow. I think I’m going to try to put myself [to be] in the best possible position to be ready for it.”

This marks the 21st time that Djokovic and Berdych will meet on the professional tour, with the top seed holding a dominant 18-2 record against his adversary. In 2014, Djokovic demolished Berdych 6-2, 6-0 in the China Open final to hand the Czech his most embarrassing victory ever. He then followed up with 6-2, 6-2 victory at the World Tour Finals to put an emphatic finish to their series for the season. However, this season was a little different: Berdych was able to take a set off Djokovic in their semi-final encounter in Dubai but still managed to lose a bagel set in the process. He could take into consideration that his last victory against the Serb took place on clay at the Rome Masters, but Djokovic is a far different animal on this surface now.

For the first time in 2015, Djokovic and Nadal took part in a professional encounter. They had not stepped across the net from each other since their last official meeting back in Roland Garros. The blockbuster affair was one that many anticipated for Saturdy’s main attraction, and while the final score may indicate a mild contest, it certainly had its high points.

Djokovic suffered from a slow start and was down a break early on but rarely faced much trouble from that point onwards. He did pay some impressive, high-quality tennis with his greatest adversary, though. Eventually, he won the match 6-3, 6-3.

“When you get to play somebody who has won so many times, so many matches on clay courts, he’s no doubt the best player that ever played the game on this surface, you got to use the opportunities. You have to be able to step in. This is the only way I was going to win against him or any other match that I play against him, especially on this surface, is to be aggressive and play my style of the game. I was aware of that.

“I’m just very pleased with the performance, honestly. Other than the first three games that I was getting into the match, it was a really, really solid performance.”

In the earlier contest of the day, Tomas Berdych breezed into the Monte Carlo final for the first time in his career with a straight sets victory against Gael Monfils. He defeated the Frenchman 6-1, 6-4 in a match that lasted just 67 minutes.

“This year is going pretty well,” said Berdych. “It’s going almost the way we set it up. We’re missing a trophy yet as a team and me personally, but it’s another chance tomorrow. I think I’m going to try to put myself [to be] in the best possible position to be ready for it.”

Djokovic and Berdych will next take part in their 21st encounter on the AP World Tour to determine the 2015 champion at the Monte Carlo Masters.

The top seed continues to prove he is a near unstoppable force on the ATP World Tour with his thrashing of Marin Cilic to reach the semi-final stage of the first clay court Masters 1000 event of the season. He defeated Cilic 6-0, 6-3 to advance his record to 12-0 against the reigning US Open champion.

“I [have] got to prepare myself mentally for that. Other than the mental part, I think physically I’m ready. I’m not exhausted. I haven’t spent too much time on the court. Also, I’m feeling the ball really well. Hopefully, I can perform well. I know that I’m going to need to keep the high level of performance throughout the entire match tomorrow.”

It was not the easiest of matches for Rafael Nadal, but following a turbulent second set, he was able to overcome his fellow countryman David Ferrer in three sets to advance to the semi-final stage in Monte Carlo. He defeated Ferrer 6-4, 5-7, 6-2 in two hour and 45 minutes.

The real trouble that Nadal faced was late in the second set, when he allowed Ferrer to regain one of his breaks, then failed to serve out the match at 5-4. Ferrer won three consecutive games overall to send the match to a decider. However, Nadal took command of the match early in the third set and jumped to a 2-0 lead and held onto it en route to victory.

“I think I played at the highest level [in a] long time, for a long time; three hours almost,” said Nadal. “The way I played the third [set] after losing [a] disappointing second [set], it was a great third set in terms of tennis, in terms of physical performance, in terms of mentality.”

Following their three meetings last year, Nadal leads Djokovic 23-19 in the head-to-head series. Rafa is 14-4 against Djokovic on clay but the gap has closed to 5-4 on that surface since 2011, which certainly evens out Djokovic’s chances on Saturday afternoon. Given that he has a proven track record against Nadal at clay court Masters 1000 events, he is very likely to edge out the Spaniard en route to the final.

A surprise semi-final that no one expected is scheduled to take place on Saturday afternoon in Monte Carlo, as Tomas Berdych will meet Gael Monfils to determine one of the finalist at the first clay court Masters 1000 event of the season. Berdych has encountered Monfils on six previous occasions on the ATP World Tour, and holds a 5-1 lead in the head-to-head series.

For the third time in his career, Tomas Berdych is through to the semi-final stage of the Mote Carlo Masters event, following a retirement win against Milos Raonic. He Canadian was forced to retire during the match at 5-2 down with a foot injury.

“So far everything is going well,” said Berdych. “My preparation is really good. I’ve done as much as I could, playing on the clay right after the Miami, which is a good sign for me. I’m able to execute it in the matches.”

Berdych’s upcoming opponent, Gael Monfils, actually had to play the entirety of his match to reach the semi-final, but it was anything but difficult. The Frenchman thrashed Grigor Dimitrov 6-1, 6-3 to secure his spot in the tournament. The first set lasted 22 minutes and the entire match lasted 58 minutes.

“Today, I wanted to make him run a lot, left [to] right, left [to] right [on] a lot of points,” said Monfils. “I tried to dictate with my forehand, move him around the court, short [and] back. I was like trying to play very deep and very high and heavy to tell him: ‘Grigor, you need to stay back.’”

This marks the sixth time that Berdych and Monfils will cross paths on the ATP World Tour, with Berdych leading the series 4-1. Berdych won their most recent encounter just a few weeks ago at the Miami Masters event. The Frenchman’s sole win against Berdych came in the 2013 French Open, where he defeated the Czech native 7-6 6-4 6-7 6-7 7-5. Given that his only win against Berdych was on clay, it will be interesting to see if that plays a factor in their upcoming encounter.