Madrid Masters 2016

by YvonneT Fri 29 Apr 2016, 11:26 pm

I'll update with the men's draw when it's out on Saturday, but the main news so far is who's in it - Djokovic is back after skipping this event for a few years and Federer has also decided to add the event to his previously bare schedule.

The women's main draw also starts Saturday, but without Serena who's played 3 events since last year's US Open. Some interesting opportunities at the top of the women's game coming up with Serena's defence of her French and Wimbledon titles looking shaky.

Men's Draw:
http://www.protennislive.com/posting/2016/1536/mds.pdf

Projected Quarter Finals
Djokovic-Tsonga
Wawrinka-Nishikori
Federer-Nadal
Murray-Berdych

by YvonneT Fri 29 Apr 2016, 11:44 pm

I'll repeat (& update) some of the info I posted at the end of Monte Carlo about the seeding situation for the French Open. The following are the live ranking points with anything dropping up to and including Rome deducted - so effectively race points for the French Open seeding:

1	Novak Djokovic	14550
2	Andy Murray	6835
3	Roger Federer	6925
4	Stan Wawrinka	6010
5	Rafael Nadal	5135
6	Kei Nishikori	3750
7	Jo Wilfried Tsonga	3265
8	David Ferrer	2470
9	Tomas Berdych	2580
10	Milos Raonic	2560
11	Marin Cilic	2625
12	Richard Gasquet	2545
13	David Goffin	2380
14	Gael Monfils	2415
15	Dominic Thiem	2330 (2490 Munich W)
16	John Isner	1965
17	Roberto Bautista Agut	1880
18	Gilles Simon	1855
19	Kevin Anderson	1740
20	Benoit Paire	1766 (1926 Estoril W)

To get second seed for the French, Murray must outscore Federer by over 90 points between Madrid and Rome. Wawrinka and Nadal have outside chances but need early losses for both Fed and Murray.

The eighth seed slot is wide open.

by YvonneT Fri 29 Apr 2016, 11:59 pm

Given Federer's recent record at Roland Garros, it would seem better to me for Murray to get the second seed (and for Federer to get it at Wimbledon which is fairly certain anyway given the seeding formula there). That's not to discount Nadal's reasonable claim to be second favourite at RG, simply that mathematically, 2nd seed is not really in his reach.

by YvonneT Sat 30 Apr 2016, 11:17 am

Projected quarter finals:
Djokovic-Tsonga
Wawrinka-Nishikori
Federer-Nadal
Murray-Berdych

Wawrinka could open against Kyrgios. Federer's R3 opponent is from Thiem, Del Potro, Paire and Sock.

Plenty of interesting matches from the get-go!

by Guest Sat 30 Apr 2016, 11:29 am

I see Wawrinka has to do well at the French to maintain his fourth position. Nadal has to hope he is not drawn with Djokovic at the quarter final stage (Djokovic being his biggest threat imo).

by summerblues Sat 30 Apr 2016, 4:52 pm

If I understand YTs table correctly, Nadal would seem to have a fighting chance to get #4 seeding for the FO, and then avoid any bad quarterfinals.

by Haddie-nuff Sat 30 Apr 2016, 5:14 pm

Here we go

http://www.atpworldtour.com/en/scores/current/madrid/1536/draws

by summerblues Sun 01 May 2016, 3:28 am

I see Zverev is not playing Madrid. I suppose he would have had to play qualies? Thiem is having another good week. He could quite conceivably finish the clay court season in Top 10.

Thiem is, when I am really honest with myself, not exactly the type of player I would normally be a huge fan of. But because of his SHBH and because of the dearth of players that are really to my liking, I find myself rooting for him quite a lot these days. So hopefully he can do well. I watched a bit of the first set of Zverev vs Thiem, and I thought they both played quite well.

Did anybody see Kyrgios? How does he look on clay?

by yloponom68 Sun 01 May 2016, 5:19 pm

It's now 6:17pm in Madrid and can't find a single draw online that HAS the player's name, rather than qualifier?? Already finished some main draw matches - and yet to update the draw with qualifiers' names? Strange - anyone find it complete anywhere?

Summer Blues - interesting - over the past while, Thiem is shaping up for me as someone I could possibly "follow" and "root for" as my "next player," once Rafa "moves on." Plenty of players out there who's tennis I really like - but yet to "find" that player who's game grabs my heart and emotions, watching a match.

by Belovedluckyboy Mon 02 May 2016, 3:28 pm

Fed withdrawn from Madrid, apparently his back was giving him problem.

by Haddie-nuff Mon 02 May 2016, 3:33 pm

Belovedluckyboy wrote:Fed withdrawn from Madrid, apparently his back was giving him problem.

At least it wasn't his knee Wink

by Guest Mon 02 May 2016, 3:33 pm

Start calling him sicknote soon!

by TRuffin Mon 02 May 2016, 3:53 pm

Sadly- with Fed, I think we are seeing what we've seen a thousand times with aging athletes.... out of blue- the body just starts acting up and a snowball effect begins.

He can't get any momentum without playing weekly, training keeps getting interrupted, and it all starts to pile on. Hoping for a surge during grass court at this point is about all I can see

by temporary21 Mon 02 May 2016, 4:08 pm

Sh£t is the word for that. Short of any lingering physical problems it's gonna really make it hard for him to get any momentum to make a push

by Haddie-nuff Mon 02 May 2016, 5:30 pm

Yet again we will be deprived of a Fedal match Whistle

by hawkeye Mon 02 May 2016, 6:03 pm

Sad for Federer and hope that it really is as he says ie a minor problem. But I'm glad that we won't see a FeDal quarter. It's just not right for them to meet so early. Hoping that Federer recovers and is well rested for Rome and a FeDal final king

by LuvSports! Mon 02 May 2016, 6:05 pm

HAddie thinks of Rafa when Feds is injured...

by temporary21 Mon 02 May 2016, 6:21 pm

I dont get it...

by Haddie-nuff Mon 02 May 2016, 6:44 pm

temporary21 wrote:I dont get it...

Me either. Erm

by Jahu Mon 02 May 2016, 8:10 pm

Should be blue clay, Fed would play Whistle

by It Must Be Love Mon 02 May 2016, 9:54 pm

Upset that Federer can't play, we could have had some cracking matches this week, not just a potential QF vs Rafa but also R3 vs Thiem would have been interesting.
Hopefully he can come back asap, and this is just really minor.

by Guest82 Tue 03 May 2016, 2:59 pm

Delpo a set and a break up on Thiem...

by LuvSports! Tue 03 May 2016, 3:46 pm

Very good win for Delpo.

by lydian Tue 03 May 2016, 5:36 pm

That is a cracking result against what many consider a dark horse for RG (or at least going very deep).
Great to see him unleashing FHs...what a shame the past few years.

I see Coric has turned over Almagro 62 62...weird given Almagro just won a clay title.
Nicolas is all at sea these days.

Dimitrov lost too. Quel surprise...

Oh...and what a surprise that a Karlovic match went 67 76 76...!

Anyway, serene progress from Nadal..3 and 3 vs Kuznetsov. Deeper challenges await...maybe Delpo himself in QF!

by Born Slippy Tue 03 May 2016, 5:40 pm

Notable that most of the finalists from the weekend have gone out. I suspect the change to the slightly quicker conditions in Madrid is causing them problems adjusting.

by bogbrush Tue 03 May 2016, 8:50 pm

Murray is just so passive, it's almost all about Stepanek.

by bogbrush Tue 03 May 2016, 8:52 pm

Haddie-nuff wrote:Yet again we will be deprived of a Fedal match

Yeah, cos it's not as if their matches have been dominated by clay meetings.

by Born Slippy Tue 03 May 2016, 8:58 pm

Great match. Stepanek absolutely red-lining and playing fantastic tennis. Murray's timing isn't there at all so he's going to really have to work for this.

by Haddie-nuff Tue 03 May 2016, 9:04 pm

bogbrush wrote:
Haddie-nuff wrote:Yet again we will be deprived of a Fedal match
Yeah, cos it's not as if their matches have been dominated by clay meetings.

Not sure what you are insinuating .. but just would have like to see the 2016 version of a Fedal match. read into that what you willo

by temporary21 Tue 03 May 2016, 9:15 pm

Its just lazy play. Hes dogged by it all the time. We always get an early round match like this, and he just coasts along with no game plan, knowing fully well his simple C game of putting the ball back will se him through.

Fair enough i guess, but hes really not had much of a game plan this season so far, just get it back and rely on the return. What EXACTLY is Amelie saying to him?

by temporary21 Tue 03 May 2016, 9:23 pm

Lo and behold, Murray decides to use his B game and Stepanek isnt fit ti clean his boots...

by Born Slippy Tue 03 May 2016, 10:51 pm

Kyrgios v Wawrinka looks the standout upcoming match.

by Born Slippy Tue 03 May 2016, 11:20 pm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yI0yebY5KEY

Got to love Tomic - always tries his hardest.

by sirfredperry Wed 04 May 2016, 8:18 am

temporary21 wrote:Its just lazy play. Hes dogged by it all the time. We always get an early round match like this, and he just coasts along with no game plan, knowing fully well his simple C game of putting the ball back will se him through.

Fair enough i guess, but hes really not had much of a game plan this season so far, just get it back and rely on the return. What EXACTLY is Amelie saying to him?

Well according to Murray's own account of the Stepanek match, Andy changed tactics in the third set. He got the ball higher by putting more spin on it and Stepanek wasn't anything like as effective. Of course, don't know if Andy thought this out for himself or got help from his team.

by bogbrush Wed 04 May 2016, 9:43 am

A player of Murrays stature should need to mess about to win. One thing I always like about Federer is his stubborn attitude to carrying on doing things the way he wants. It's not always smart but I get it.

You might draw from this that I don't tend to change my approach in business according to who I'm dealing with either, and you'd not be far wrong!

by LuvSports! Wed 04 May 2016, 11:34 am

You know BB, that was the first thing I thought of when I think of Feds's stubbornness - your business transactions Wink

by temporary21 Wed 04 May 2016, 12:22 pm

Fair play. If only he took it that seriously with a game plan to start

Feds stubbornness is the reason he isn't the undisputed best. he thought he could outdo rafa at basining for his prime and it cost him dearly

by hawkeye Wed 04 May 2016, 4:00 pm

temporary21 wrote:

Feds stubbornness is the reason he isn't the undisputed best. he thought he could outdo rafa at basining for his prime and it cost him dearly

by Guest82 Wed 04 May 2016, 4:25 pm

Kyrgios beats Stan...without creating a break point! Probably not a massive surprise.

I really enjoyed watching Stepanek v Murray yesterday. Stepanek was fun to watch...even hit a SABR at one point.

Never felt Murray would lose though.

by Born Slippy Wed 04 May 2016, 9:41 pm

Yeah was a good match. Steps was something like 35-20 winners/UEs at the end of the second set, clubbing insane flat forehands from everywhere. Decent work out for Andy in his first match.

by lydian Thu 05 May 2016, 12:55 am

Just shows that Stepanek has some talent for a 37 year old.
If the tour was a fair bit quicker he'd be playing until his 40s. Has been a Trojan for Czech Rep in DC.
On a different note, you should check out the racquets he plays with.
Totally custom racquets (Bosworths), check out the shape of them for a start...I'm not aware of other pros using them.

by Born Slippy Thu 05 May 2016, 1:25 pm

Solid win for Andy over Simon. Going to get tougher in the QF though - his record on clay against both Ferrer and Berdych is poor, so he will be underdog in that one. Hopefully we can get another Andy/Rafa SF though.

by LuvSports! Thu 05 May 2016, 7:51 pm

Querrey had a break point to go 5-1 up, now he's lost the set 6-4 picard

by lydian Thu 05 May 2016, 8:02 pm

Looks like he can't live with Rafa once he hit the higher gear...

by LuvSports! Thu 05 May 2016, 8:12 pm

Are you watching?

by lydian Thu 05 May 2016, 8:25 pm

Yes...Querrey came out of the blocks firing on all cylinders and Nadal was cold...the perfect start. Querrey couldn't sustain it and Rafa could only get better. After being 4-1 up he won 2 more games.

by CaledonianCraig Fri 06 May 2016, 12:26 pm

Murray surgically taking apart Berdych and heading for the semis. He leads the big Czech 6-3 5-2 and will shortly serve for the match.

by CaledonianCraig Fri 06 May 2016, 12:30 pm

A clinical win for Murray 6-3 6-2 to beat Berdych for the first time on clay and take an 8-6 lead in their head-to-head. Next up in the semis - more than likely Rafa.

by Mad for Chelsea Fri 06 May 2016, 12:35 pm

Very impressive from Murray today: serve clicked very well with just eight points dropped on serve all match, and returned well too. 20 winners, and dictated play throughout. Another very good clay court win, the way he's become a real force on that surface over the last two years is very pleasing indeed. Tomorrow's semi vs (most probably) Rafa is an intriguing prospect.

by lydian Fri 06 May 2016, 12:45 pm

Good win for Murray...and lets not forget this is an "altitude" also, so the faster conditions (its also semi-indoors) really suit his game. A much better judge of his clay prowess (vs RG) will undoubtedly be Rome. In this respect, he has a great chance against Rafa here in Madrid...after all Rafa has won Madrid far fewer times than MC or Rome which indicates just how different the surface/conditions are (although the event has only be held 7 times at Madrid on clay...this being the 8th...still he's won it 3/7 (42%)...vs. 7/11 (64%) Rome...vs 9/12 MC (75%)...so its definitely much lower).

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