Men's Tournament
ATP World Tour No. 2 Roger Federer ended his title drought in style with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over rival and reigning ATP World Tour Champion Rafael Nadal in the final of the Mutua Madrilena Madrid Open. This ends Nadal's 33 match clay-court winning streak.
This win should give Federer the much needed confidence to regain his supremacy in tennis, but his win is marred by the fact that Nadal seem tired and possibly injured in the final, courtesy of his epic semi-final match when he saved three match points in a dramatic final-set tie-break to beat Novak Djokovic of Serbia 3-6, 7-6(5), 7-6(9) in four hours and three minutes. Djokovic's attacking style in the semi-final match may possibly be a successful formula against the clay-court king Nadal in the future.
Women's Tournament
Dinara Safina continued to prove herself as the best player in the world, winning her second straight Premier-level Sony Ericsson WTA Tour title at the Mutua Madrilena Madrid Open with a 62 64 victory over the Top 10's newest member, Caroline Wozniacki.
Veterans, Patty Schnyder and Amélie Mauresmo, both unseeded, also made lots of noise in Madrid, coming into their own and winning through to the semifinals.
Monday, May 18, 2009
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Rome Results
Men's Tournament
Result
World number 1 Rafael Nadal won a record fourth Internazionali BNL d’Italia title with a hard-fought 7-6(2), 6-2 victory over defending champion and world number 3 Novak Djokovic at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 clay-court tennis tournament in Rome.
Analysis
Rafael Nadal - Nadal has already won 5 titles this year, including his first hard court Grand Slam title at the Australian Open, ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Indian Wells and ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Monte Carlo. His win can be attributed to his ability to raise his level of play in the first set tie break in the finals and the continual pressure he placed on Djokovic especially in the second set.
Novak Djokovic - His come-back-from-behind win over Roger Federer in the SF, when he was down early breaks in the second and third set, showed the improvement in his mental ability. He is gaining confidence with each and every match.
Roger Federer - An improvement in this tournament, beating Stepanek along the way (whom he lost to in the same tournament last year). However, his loss to Djokovic was without excuse, as he was up a break in the final two sets before succumbing to the Serb. Hard to see him regain his prior dominance given his current lack of confidence.
Andy Murray - A rare early exit in this tournament.
Women's tournament
Result
Newly crowned world number 1 Dinara Safina won her first title of the year at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia against her country-women, the rejunenated, Svetlana Kuznetsova, 6-3 6-2.
Analysis
Dinara Safina - Her ascent to number 1 had attracted recent controversy, as she has not won a Grand Slam in the past 12 months, and have cumulated enough ranking points to be number 1 through the number of smaller tournaments she has played. But attached to the number 1 ranking is confidence, and this was on display during this tournament, especially in her epic 3 hour win over Venus Williams in the SF, a player she had never won a set off of, 67(3) 63 64.
Serena Williams - The loss of her number 1 ranking seems to have taken some edge off her, and she again made an early round exit, despite telling the media that she deserved the number 1 ranking based on her 2 Grand Slam wins and 1 Grand Slam final result in the past 12 months. It will be interesting to see how Serena will perform in the next Grand Slam.
Result
World number 1 Rafael Nadal won a record fourth Internazionali BNL d’Italia title with a hard-fought 7-6(2), 6-2 victory over defending champion and world number 3 Novak Djokovic at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 clay-court tennis tournament in Rome.
Analysis
Rafael Nadal - Nadal has already won 5 titles this year, including his first hard court Grand Slam title at the Australian Open, ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Indian Wells and ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Monte Carlo. His win can be attributed to his ability to raise his level of play in the first set tie break in the finals and the continual pressure he placed on Djokovic especially in the second set.
Novak Djokovic - His come-back-from-behind win over Roger Federer in the SF, when he was down early breaks in the second and third set, showed the improvement in his mental ability. He is gaining confidence with each and every match.
Roger Federer - An improvement in this tournament, beating Stepanek along the way (whom he lost to in the same tournament last year). However, his loss to Djokovic was without excuse, as he was up a break in the final two sets before succumbing to the Serb. Hard to see him regain his prior dominance given his current lack of confidence.
Andy Murray - A rare early exit in this tournament.
Women's tournament
Result
Newly crowned world number 1 Dinara Safina won her first title of the year at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia against her country-women, the rejunenated, Svetlana Kuznetsova, 6-3 6-2.
Analysis
Dinara Safina - Her ascent to number 1 had attracted recent controversy, as she has not won a Grand Slam in the past 12 months, and have cumulated enough ranking points to be number 1 through the number of smaller tournaments she has played. But attached to the number 1 ranking is confidence, and this was on display during this tournament, especially in her epic 3 hour win over Venus Williams in the SF, a player she had never won a set off of, 67(3) 63 64.
Serena Williams - The loss of her number 1 ranking seems to have taken some edge off her, and she again made an early round exit, despite telling the media that she deserved the number 1 ranking based on her 2 Grand Slam wins and 1 Grand Slam final result in the past 12 months. It will be interesting to see how Serena will perform in the next Grand Slam.
Monday, May 11, 2009
Monte Carlo Memories
Result
World Number 1 Rafael Nadal captured his fifth straight Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters title with a 6-3, 2-6, 6-1 victory over third seed Novak Djokovic of Serbia to extend his winning streak to 27 matches at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 clay-court tournament and become the first player to win an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament for five consecutive years.
Analysis
Rafael Nadal - The best player in the world by far, especially on clay. His ability to finish a tight match against Djokovic in the finals, and to come back in all his matches in the tournament from an early break, shows how tough he is in the mental department.
Roger Federer - A wildcard into the tournament due to a late entry, a newly-married Federer lost his QF match against his compatriot Stanislas Wawrinka. It is worrying to see the once invincible Federer not able to win more points on his return of serve, and his lack of confidence is once again shown in his unforced forehand errors. These are the type of matches Federer must win to have any chance of regaining his dominance.
Novak Djokovic - A recent return to form from the Serb, reaching his first final in this event, and losing the match on a few key points, when he rushed the ball or went for too much.
Andy Murray - A good effort from the Scot, in reaching his first clay semi final, losing to eventual champion, Nadal.
Ivan Ljubicic - A wild card into the tournament, the former world number 3 regained some of his old form, by defeating current world number 5, Juan Martin del Porto, in the second round, before losing to Nadal in the QF.
World Number 1 Rafael Nadal captured his fifth straight Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters title with a 6-3, 2-6, 6-1 victory over third seed Novak Djokovic of Serbia to extend his winning streak to 27 matches at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 clay-court tournament and become the first player to win an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament for five consecutive years.
Analysis
Rafael Nadal - The best player in the world by far, especially on clay. His ability to finish a tight match against Djokovic in the finals, and to come back in all his matches in the tournament from an early break, shows how tough he is in the mental department.
Roger Federer - A wildcard into the tournament due to a late entry, a newly-married Federer lost his QF match against his compatriot Stanislas Wawrinka. It is worrying to see the once invincible Federer not able to win more points on his return of serve, and his lack of confidence is once again shown in his unforced forehand errors. These are the type of matches Federer must win to have any chance of regaining his dominance.
Novak Djokovic - A recent return to form from the Serb, reaching his first final in this event, and losing the match on a few key points, when he rushed the ball or went for too much.
Andy Murray - A good effort from the Scot, in reaching his first clay semi final, losing to eventual champion, Nadal.
Ivan Ljubicic - A wild card into the tournament, the former world number 3 regained some of his old form, by defeating current world number 5, Juan Martin del Porto, in the second round, before losing to Nadal in the QF.
Saturday, May 9, 2009
Tying the Knot
Love is in the air!
Roger Federer recently wed his long-time girlfriend Mirka Vavrinec in his hometown of Basel, while Andy Roddick and his fiancée, Brooklyn Decker, exchanged vows in a candlelit ceremony before close family and friends in Austin, Texas.
Both top players, who could have chosen lavish ceremonies and celebrations for their momentous events, opted for a low-key simple gatherings with close family and friends. Such a choice may be a reflection of the humble nature of these players, or the fact that they did not want their personal life to take over the spot-light of their tennis careers.
In a world where materialism prevails, and people compete on all levels, it is encouraging to see these top tennis players bucking the trend, and sending a message to the world that love and happiness can exist through simplicity.
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