Murray's Dogged Defence Display Madrid Hot Shot 2016
Murray's Dogged Defence Display Madrid Hot Shot 2016
May072016
Defending champion Andy Murray reached the Madrid Open final with a straight-set victory over Rafael Nadal.
British number one Murray beat the nine-time French Open champion 7-5 6-4 in two hours 11 minutes.
The 28-year-old Scot will face either Novak Djokovic or Kei Nishikori in Sunday’s final at Caja Magica.
Murray is looking to hold on to his world number two ranking, which he will lose to Roger Federer unless he retains his title in Madrid.
Murray, who sent down eight aces and saved 11 of 13 break points, said he has been working hard to improve his serve before the French Open, which begins on 22 May.
“I have spoken to a number of coaches, many who work with young players developing technique, to understand such things as different grips, position on the court and the ideal spot to make contact with the serve,” he told Sky Sports.
“You sometimes get bad habits when you are a professional, not as much technical side as the tactical and physical.”
Murray established an early lead in the opening set of the semi-final, earning three break points in Nadal’s second service game and holding his composure to break the Spaniard.
The momentum appeared to swing Nadal’s way when he responded by taking Murray’s serve, but it was the Scot who took the first set with a winning forehand that broke the home favourite for a second time.
World number five Nadal, 29, was looking for a third successive tournament victory following wins in Monte Carlo and Barcelona last month.
But Murray followed his only double fault with an ace at 2-2 to hold in the second set before immediately breaking Nadal.
Nadal repelled a first match point with a break of his own, but Murray did not waste a second opportunity to repeat his victory over the Spaniard 12 months ago.
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British number two Aljaz Bedene is one match away from the main draw of the Italian Open after a 4-6 6-3 6-1 win over Omar Giacalone in qualifying.
The 26-year-old world number 59 will next face either Dusan Lajovic or Kenny de Schepper, who are 70th and 154th respectively in the world rankings.
Britain’s Heather Watson, Naomi Brody and Laura Watson will compete in ladies’ qualifying ‘ later on Saturday.
Andy Murray, seeded second, is likely to be in action in Rome on Tuesday.
The 28-year-old Scot has been granted a bye in the first round and will meet either Borna Coric or a qualifier in the second round.
The Italian Open is the final major ATP World Tour tournament on clay before the French Open, which begins in Paris on 22 May.
ATPWorldTour.com previews Saturday play at the Mutua Madrid Open
SEMI-FINAL PREVIEW: No. 5 seed Rafael Nadal and No. 2 seed Andy Murray will meet on Saturday in a rematch of the 2015 Mutua Madrid Open final and for a spot in the 2016 final. Nadal is on a 13-match winning streak, coming off consecutive clay-court titles at ATP Masters 1000 Monte-Carlo and Barcelona. He is also 7-1 on clay and 17-6 overall against Murray, including a three-set win in Monte-Carlo on April 16. Nadal’s lone clay-court loss to Murray came at the Caja Mágica one year ago, when the Brit was not broken in his 63 62 championship victory.
Murray needs to win his third Madrid title this week in order to remain No. 2 in the Emirates ATP Rankings. Should Nadal capture his fifth Madrid championship, he would pass Guillermo Vilas with an Open Era-record 50th title on clay and Novak Djokovic with a record 29th ATP Masters 1000 title. Djokovic, however, is still in the hunt for his second Madrid crown, which would break his ATP Masters 1000 title tie with Nadal. The World No. 1 is on a six-match winning streak against his semi-final opponent on Saturday, 2014 Madrid finalist Kei Nishikori. Djokovic has also swept 13 straight matches against other Top 10 players, claiming 29 of 30 sets during that stretch.
In the doubles semi-finals, Nicolas Mahut and Marcelo Melo continue their race for No. 1 in the Emirates ATP Doubles Rankings. If Mahut and Pierre-Hugues Herbert defeat Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau, then Melo and Ivan Dodig lose to Rohan Bopanna and Florin Mergea, Mahut will become the 49th doubles No. 1 on Monday. If the Frenchmen fall on Saturday, Melo will reclaim the No. 1 ranking even if he and Dodig are defeated by the defending champions Bopanna and Mergea. If Mahut and Herbert meet Melo and Dodig for the title on Sunday, the winner will be No. 1.
Mahut and Herbert are on a 15-match winning streak with ATP Masters 1000 titles at Indian Wells, Miami and Monte-Carlo. They are bidding to become the first doubles team or singles player to sweep the first four ATP Masters 1000 tournaments in a calendar year. Individually, Mahut is on a 19-match winning streak that includes his Rotterdam championship alongside Vasek Pospisil.
Top seed stays perfect against Canadian
A dominant Novak Djokovic improved to 7-0 in his FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry against Milos Raonic with a 6-3, 6-4 quarter-final victory at the Mutua Madrid Open on Friday.
The Serb remains on track to win a record-breaking 29th ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title and will face Kei Nishikori on Saturday. Djokovic has won his past 13 matches against Top 10 players and has only dropped one of 30 sets in that span.
“One of the keys of the match was getting as many returns back in play as possible,” Djokovic said. “I knew that before I stepped on the court that I should not give him too many free points on his serve. That’s where the big servers get a lot of confidence.
“I returned exceptionally well. Every single player, especially big servers, have their patterns when it’s close. But sometimes it’s just instinct. It’s just anticipation, trying to be in the right balance and looking at the toss.”
Raonic, who was broken in his first three matches, only missed three first serves (18/21) in the first set. However, Djokovic neutralised Raonic’s power and converted on the only break point of the opening set to improve to 16-1 in sets against the towering Canadian.
The top-ranked player in the Emirates ATP Rankings reasserted his control over the match early in the second set, breaking Raonic for a second time after the changeover. Raonic raised his level and held three break points as Djokovic served for the match at 5-4 in the second set, but ultimately succumbed in one hour and 44 minutes.
ATPWorldTour.com previews the draw for the Internazionali BNL d’Italia
World No. 1 Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal are on a quarter-final collision course at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia, set to begin on Sunday in Rome.
Between them, Djokovic and Nadal have won the past 11 editions of this ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament, held at the Foro Italico. Since 2005, Nadal has lifted the trophy seven times, with Djokovic winning the trophy the past two years to add to his successes in 2008 and 2011.
View Rome Draw
In what is arguably the toughest quarter of the draw, the 28-year-old Djokovic will open his campaign against a qualifier and in the third round could face 14th seed Gael Monfils, who has made a career-best start to the season. Nadal is set to meet either Munich champion Philipp Kohlschreiber or a qualifier in his first match and then could come up against 10th seed Milos Raonic or Nick Kyrgios.
Third seed Roger Federer is also slated in the top half of the draw as the Swiss looks to make a successful return to action after being forced out of Madrid with a back injury. The 34-year-old Federer is looking to claim the elusive Rome crown, having finished runner-up four times, most recently last year against Djokovic.
Federer faces a tough opening test against either Grigor Dimitrov or Next Generation star Alexander Zverev. Possible third-round opponents for Federer include Dominic Thiem, winner of 29 matches thus far in 2016, or Joao Sousa, who gave Nadal a stern test in the Madrid quarter-finals on Friday.
Sixth seed Kei Nishikori rounds out the top half of the draw. The Japanese, who is through to the Madrid semi-finals this weekend, is set to face Teymuraz Gabashvili or Viktor Troicki in the second round before a potential clash with 11th seed Richard Gasquet.
Second seed Andy Murray headlines the bottom half of the draw. The Scot is still in contention in Madrid, where he faces Nadal in the semi-finals on Saturday in the hopes of winning his first title of the season this week. Murray defeated Tomas Berdych in the quarter-finals on Friday and is again pitted in the same quarter as the Czech in Rome.
But first, Murray will open against either Next Generation star Borna Coric or a qualifier, before the possibility of Roberto Bautista Agut in the third round. Berdych begins against Albert Ramos-Vinolas or Sam Querrey and could meet Jack Sock or David Goffin in the third round.
Reigning Roland Garros champion Stan Wawrinka is looking to find his form after early exits in Monte-Carlo and Madrid. The fourth-seeded Swiss, who reached the Rome final in 2008 (l. to Djokovic), faces Benoit Paire or Bernard Tomic after a first-round bye and is seeded to meet No. 16 Kevin Anderson in the third round, though the South African opens against Feliciano Lopez.
No. 7 seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and No. 9 David Ferrer are potential quarter-final opponents for Wawrinka.
Third seeds defeat Peya/Zimonjic
Third seeds Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau reached the semi-finals of the Mutua Madrid Open as they edged seventh seeds Alexander Peya and Nenad Zimonjic 7-6(5), 7-6(2) on Friday at the Caja Magica.
Watch live doubles matches online at TennisTV.com
“It was an extremely difficult match with different conditions as we played with the roof closed,” said Rojer. “But we managed to play some good points in the crucial moments in the tie-breaks and that was the difference.”
After three successive opening-round losses together, Rojer and Tecau are through to their first semi-final since February in Rotterdam. They are bidding to reach their first final since lifting the trophy at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in London at the end of 2015.
Standing in the way of the Dutch/Romanian duo is the hottest doubles team of 2016. Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut are two wins away from a historic feat after rallying to down Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan 3-6, 7-6(4), 10-8 to reach the final four.
Herbert/Mahut, now 17-2 on the year, have swept the first three ATP World Tour Masters 1000 events of 2016 – the BNP Paribas Open (d. Pospisil/Sock), the Miami Open presented by Itau (d. Klaasen/Ram) and the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters (d. Murray/Soares). No doubles team has won the first four ATP World Tour Masters 1000 events in the same year.
Ivan Dodig and Marcelo Melo teamed to eliminate Vasek Pospisil and Jack Sock 6-3, 6-4 in the quarter-finals. Melo and Mahut are in contention to take over the top position in the Emirates ATP Doubles Rankings from Jamie Murray. Melo is guaranteed to reclaim top spot from Murray, who displaced the Brazilian almost five weeks ago, if Mahut does not advance to the final.
The Australian has dropped one game or less in two of his matches at this week’s ATP Challenger Tour event in Busan
After 10 years as a professional, John Millman has seen plenty of things on tour that he can only shake his head and laugh about now.
“I was at a Futures tournament in Korea in 2012 and watching a doubles match. We hear this motorbike coming all of a sudden and a pizza delivery guy gets out. He then walked on court and tried to deliver the pizza to the guy getting ready to return serve,” laughed Millman. “It was so funny, but it also makes you appreciate it more when you move to up to the higher-tier tournaments.”
Since then, Millman’s memories of Korea have come from his results on the court. At this week’s $100,000 ATP Challenger Tour event in Busan, he comes in as the No. 2 seed and has made his way through a potentially tricky draw with flying colours. In his quarter-final match on Friday against Liam Broady, Millman recorded a dominant double bagel victory that saw him drop just seven points in the second set.
Having reached the finals in Busan in 2012 and won two Futures events in Korea in 2014, Millman said he looks forward to playing here when he gets the chance.
“I play really well in Korea and Asia in general,” said Millman. “The Challengers here are well-run, it’s not too far away from Australia and the conditions are usually similar. Everyone is very nice to me, so it’s a real treat to play here.”
After an outstanding 2015 season on the ATP Challenger Tour that saw him win three singles titles and finish as runner-up in two other events, Millman has played exclusively on the ATP World Tour this year. Despite having solid results in 2016, he believes it’s important for him to occasionally play Challengers with the goal of making deep runs.
“I don’t think the level on the ATP Challenger Tour is that different from the level on the ATP World Tour,” he explained. “Men’s tennis is so strong these days and there are so many good players. This tournament is a great example of that because there aren’t any easy matches. I had to beat Austin Krajicek and Sergiy Stakhovsky just to get to the quarter-finals and they’ve both been in the Top 100.”
After advancing to the third round of this year’s Australian Open, Millman said he’s now setting his sights on reaching the second week of a Grand Slam. Having already moved through three matches this week in Busan, he’s confident he can do the same at Roland Garros.
“I’m just trying to get as many matches as I can now,” said Millman. “I’m very confident in my game and confident that all of these tournaments are the right preparation to lead me towards that.”