Madrid Masters Thread

by **JuliusHMarx** Tue 5 May - 13:12

First topic message reminder :

Take it away Jahu.

by Jahu Sat 9 May - 20:25

Followed by a crazy shot.

by LuvSports! Sat 9 May - 20:25

Breaks back.

by CaledonianCraig Sat 9 May - 20:25

Murray digs in and breaks back.

by Jahu Sat 9 May - 20:25

Kei gifts back the break with some useless UE.

Andy got his breath back, looking better.

by Jahu Sat 9 May - 20:28

Why are ball girls so mature or old or whats the word, on this tournament?

They look like 18, never seen older.

And a little like school girls uniforms, just how japanese man like 'em.

I think Kei is lost cause of that... Laugh

by Guest Sat 9 May - 20:48

Murray in straights.

Hand Rafa the trophy now.

by LuvSports! Sat 9 May - 20:48

Murray wins, wow.

by CaledonianCraig Sat 9 May - 20:49

Well done Andy. Into his first Masters clay court final in beating Kei Nishikori 6-3 6-4.

by Jahu Sat 9 May - 20:49

Andy wins.

Kei not at his best today, so good that it ended in 2 sets, to give Andy a quick match and to relax for Nadal.

by Jahu Sat 9 May - 20:50

legendkillarV2 wrote:Murray in straights.

Hand Rafa the trophy now.

Look who is jinxing now laughing

by summerblues Sat 9 May - 20:50

Pretty impressive from Murray. Nishi was not quite at his best, but was playing well enough so that he could have won if Murray had not been playing well.

by Guest Sat 9 May - 20:52

Jahu wrote:
legendkillarV2 wrote:Murray in straights.

Hand Rafa the trophy now.

Look who is jinxing now

I just want it to be as painless as possible so he doesn't get lead in the legs.

by summerblues Sat 9 May - 20:53

So, Nole skips the tournament and Fed goes out early, yet we get two of the Big 4 in the final once again (including Andy on clay).

Good luck Andy for tomorrow.

by CaledonianCraig Sat 9 May - 20:56

So all in the last week Andy has won his first clay court title and reached his first clay Masters final. Like anyone speaking truthfully and not jinxing, Rafa will be hot favourite tomorrow. He's playing much better now and Andy has had a tough week. If he is competitive and if it is a couple of tight sets then I'll be pleased.

by Guest Sat 9 May - 20:57

Andy pondering skipping Rome depending on what happens tomorrow chin

by summerblues Sat 9 May - 21:00

legendkillarV2 wrote:Andy pondering skipping Rome depending on what happens tomorrow

I would not be surprised if he does skip Rome - he has now been in back-to-back clay court finals. May as well rest for the FO.

Which goes back to my Rome thread thoughts that Nole's draw may end up easier than it looks.

by Jahu Sat 9 May - 21:03

He should skip Rome.

He done enough clay for now, rest for RG.

by Jahu Sat 9 May - 21:04

legendkillarV2 wrote:
Jahu wrote:
legendkillarV2 wrote:Murray in straights.

Hand Rafa the trophy now.

Look who is jinxing now

I just want it to be as painless as possible so he doesn't get lead in the legs.

He has those industrial strength carbon fiber insoles and those wrapped around ankles, he can take it Laugh

by CaledonianCraig Sat 9 May - 21:05

legendkillarV2 wrote:Andy pondering skipping Rome depending on what happens tomorrow

Hmm not sure about that.

I am sure he must be feeling a bit knackered just now as he has played 8 matches in the 7 days so I can understand how he probably wants to guard against burn-out for RG. However, he has a big stack of points to defend in Rome (QF last year) so it makes sense to attempt to defend them. There again though he has banked a lot of points (probably much more than even he expected) in the last seven days so that would compensate for dropped points in Rome. Tough one.

by **laverfan** Sat 9 May - 21:27

Good to see Murray in a Clay MS final. He needs to forget past history, and play controlled aggression.

@BS... Nishikori is no where near the form that he needs to challenge at RG.

by CaledonianCraig Sat 9 May - 21:29

Jahu wrote:He should skip Rome.

He done enough clay for now, rest for RG.

And give Roger a chance. Wink

by Jermaine2015 Sat 9 May - 21:35

Andy Murray would be ill advised to skip Rome, as Rome is far more similar to Paris than Madrid is.

by **laverfan** Sat 9 May - 21:42

@CC ... Federer has his hands full Nadal, IIRC. Wink

by CaledonianCraig Sat 9 May - 21:44

laverfan wrote:@CC ... Federer has his hands full Nadal, IIRC.

Oh yes but of course.

by Jahu Sat 9 May - 22:09

CC, after elections, some dose of fun has been injected into you, I see.

GOOOD!!! Happy for Nicola? laughing

Fed will do good to go to a Rome SF Laugh

by Jahu Sat 9 May - 22:11

laverfan wrote:Good to see Murray in a Clay MS final. He needs to forget past history, and play controlled aggression.

@BS... Nishikori is no where near the form that he needs to challenge at RG.

I think Kim is taking care of that now and teaching him step by step Laugh

by Silver Sat 9 May - 22:37

CaledonianCraig wrote:
Jahu wrote:He should skip Rome.

He done enough clay for now, rest for RG.

And give Roger a chance.

Hold your horses, he's only just reached his second final! Yahoo

Fantastic win for Andy, I am shocked.

by **laverfan** Sat 9 May - 23:51

Jahu wrote:
laverfan wrote:Good to see Murray in a Clay MS final. He needs to forget past history, and play controlled aggression.

@BS... Nishikori is no where near the form that he needs to challenge at RG.

I think Kim is taking care of that now and teaching him step by step

He has Kim, Mauresmo, Bjorkman, Judy,... all teaching him the The [Gentle] Art of War vis-a-via Tennis.

by Haddie-nuff Sun 10 May - 1:59

CaledonianCraig wrote:So all in the last week Andy has won his first clay court title and reached his first clay Masters final. Like anyone speaking truthfully and not jinxing, Rafa will be hot favourite tomorrow. He's playing much better now and Andy has had a tough week. If he is competitive and if it is a couple of tight sets then I'll be pleased.

See you on the dirt CC

by Belovedluckyboy Sun 10 May - 9:18

Murray played very well on clay this season, but I was surprised by how Kei played in the SF match. I thought he played better vs Ferrer. Rafa vs Murray should be a good one, and this is a good test for Rafa, to see if he's still consistent enough to play well match after match. Rafa needs to play well from now on, in Rome, he has tough opponents in his way -Isner, Stan, Fed or Berdych again, and then most likely Djoko in the final should Rafa make it that far. Rafa has many points to defend too and has to at least defend his 1600 points to stay at no.4 seeding for the FO.

by temporary21 Sun 10 May - 12:28

What time is the final on UK time? Ive gotta head out and I dont wanna miss it.

by CaledonianCraig Sun 10 May - 12:31

temporary21 wrote:What time is the final on UK time? Ive gotta head out and I dont wanna miss it.

It will be startng shortly after 6pm (UK time) temp.

by Josiah Maiestas Sun 10 May - 12:45

Andy seemed ready for any way that Nishikori went with his serve, great performance by the veteran. Can he still play so freely when returning Nadal's serve? I very much hope so cuppa

by It Must Be Love Sun 10 May - 16:13

Murray will take this one I feel, and will probably be one of the biggest victories outside slams in his career.
Nadal has to play at a high level to beat any of the top 4, and atm he just isn't playing at that level, and hasn't done all year.

by Haddie-nuff Sun 10 May - 16:22

It Must Be Love wrote:Murray will take this one I feel, and will probably be one of the biggest victories outside slams in his career.
Nadal has to play at a high level to beat any of the top 4, and atm he just isn't playing at that level, and hasn't done all year.

He played the best match yesterday that he has played all season.. what match was you watching.??? Jixing again IMBL Rolling Eyes

by temporary21 Sun 10 May - 16:40

Its a rarity for these two to meet, almost as rare as Fed Nadal nowadays. As such it should be something to savour. I think it will be close, but if that semi Rafa turns up then Murrays gonna go the way of Scottish Labour

by It Must Be Love Sun 10 May - 17:01

Haddie-nuff wrote:

He played the best match yesterday that he has played all season..

I agree with that actually, but his standards as a whole have been quite low this season.

by Jahu Sun 10 May - 18:00

Come on Andy, bake him like a haggis.

by summerblues Sun 10 May - 18:02

Andy

by CaledonianCraig Sun 10 May - 18:02

Nadal 80% at his best I reckon will win regardless - he is that good on clay. Remember this is Murray's first Masters clay court final whereas Rafa has won NINE slams on clay. No contest.

by Jahu Sun 10 May - 18:03

So if Rafa wins, stays within top 4, if he loses drops to 7.

Quite some incentive there before RG seeding.

by Jahu Sun 10 May - 18:05

CaledonianCraig wrote:Nadal 80% at his best I reckon will win regardless - he is that good on clay. Remember this is Murray's first Masters clay court final whereas Rafa has won NINE slams on clay. No contest.

It's the opposite, Andy will NOT think its his first Masters clay Final, he will just crush the ball I hope, why scare yourself with facts if I was Andy.

by Jahu Sun 10 May - 18:07

If Andy serves like yesterday, it will be all sexy in 2 sets, to the delight of Spanish Public and Brit Holiday Home owners Laugh

by CaledonianCraig Sun 10 May - 18:07

There is a difference between scaring myself and recognising the presence of a legend.

by Jahu Sun 10 May - 18:10

CC, inject yourself with some Kyrgios power, see how he slapped the legend and his idol, fearless ball hitting.

Think Andy ain't lacking in that department.

Nadal to get 1 time violation I think, on a game where he will know he will get broken.

by summerblues Sun 10 May - 18:21

Sweet return. Just like last night.

by Jahu Sun 10 May - 18:21

That's it, pound him, 3 BP for Andy.

Break him NOW.

by Jahu Sun 10 May - 18:23

Andy breaks, don't let it go, boom boom boom.

by summerblues Sun 10 May - 18:23

Good start. Keep it up boy.

by Jahu Sun 10 May - 18:27

Nadal has no feel for the ball on cold clay, spin and bounce ain't working like when sunny and heat.

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