In between Grand Slams tennis thread

jcf

hopefully not as he's a cheat and a disgrace to the game

walshb

jcf wrote: »

hopefully not as he's a cheat and a disgrace to the game

Too late. Match underway!

Mo14

Nice to see Rafa win today, although Novak obviously wasn't at his best. Looking forward to the rest of the clay court season now.

Rob2D

jcf wrote: »

hopefully not as he's a cheat and a disgrace to the game

Dude, you are like a broken record.

I mean, I wouldn't really be a fan of his either but credit where credit is due and all that.

walshb

Rafa's serve, and Novak being a wee bit flat made for the win today. Rafa's percentage on the first serves was approx 80 percent.

Rjd2

Good win for Nadal who to be fair had a much easier week than Novak coming into this final.

Looking at the field for Barcelona next week he should cruise that as well.

jupiterjack

good to see rafa win today, this should set him up for rest of clay court season.

walshb

I will still back Novak to win the French should he and Rafa both make the final.

jcf

Well since Madrid beat Barça on saturday, we'll give Rafa this one ...


:P

TennisElite

Can Murray give Nadal a game in Barcelona? He has it in him?

Mo14

Has anyone been watching Eurosport's coverage of Stuttgart the past few days? The camera angles are infuriating sometimes, important points and we can't see what happens because the camera's still on the players back from between points. (I assume most of you are off watching Barcelona with your fancy Sky Sports )

Rjd2

Stuttgart has had some cracking games, Barthel was superb against Aazrenka but couldn't get the job done.

Semi finals tomorrow, Aggy v Azarenka and Sharapova v Kvitova should be good.

And the camera angles are awful, person doing them probably he thinks he is Malick. :rolleyes:


Barcelona has been dull enough, I can't get excited by it as its so obvious that Rafa will win it. Rafa games are dull on clay as the difference in class is huge unless its a really good player playing him.

jupiterjack

is rafa goin to win all clay court titles this year..

Rjd2

jupiterjack wrote: »

is rafa goin to win all clay court titles this year..

Don't think it will be a total clean sweep, I expect Novak or Roger to win one but regarding the French? Rafa will win that.

jcf

jupiterjack wrote: »

is rafa goin to win all clay court titles this year..

if he continues his disgusting play acting and scumbag intimidation tactics then yes probably.


what a scumbag.

Johnmb

jcf wrote: »

if he continues his disgusting play acting and scumbag intimidation tactics then yes probably.

If that was all he had going for him, the other players would have countered it by now. His game just suits clay, especially with his current opponents. Djokovic has a good chance though, as he proved last year, but I think Nadal's confidence will be well up compared to then after their last meeting.

Rob2D

Go on the Haas!

Great to see Tommy back in great form again, he was always one of my favourites.

jupiterjack

jcf wrote: »

if he continues his disgusting play acting and scumbag intimidation tactics then yes probably.


what a scumbag.

didnt notice any of those tactics myself while watching.

RosyLily

The draw for the Mutua Madrid Open has been made. Some interesting possible matches there. Earlier today, Andy Murray announced that he would not be taking part in the tournament due to a persistent back injury.

First round match between Milos Raonic and David Nalbandian could be great! Both got great serves and powerful ground strokes. In a way, I think Raonic is a bit like Nalbandian. And, the winner will play Roger Federer in the 2nd round.

Speaking of the Swiss, he hasn't got the easiest of times in Madrid. He's in Djokovic's half of the draw and is accompanied by the likes of Ferrer, Lopez and Almagro.

Djokovic is defending here. He'll be looking to improve on Monte Carlo and get himself psyched up for RG.

Nadal is in the bottom half of the draw...along with Isner, Tsonga, Verdasco, Berdych and del Potro. Rafa could meet del Potro in the QF, provided they get through the earlier rounds...that's one match I'd love to see!:)

Quite a strong field there! It'll be interesting to see who shines and who shíts over the course of the tournament.

RosyLily

Madrid Open kicked off today. Some surprises in the women's side of things. American qualifier Varvara Lepchenko dumped out 11th seed Francesca Schiavone in three sets 6-4, 6-7, 6-3. 14th seed Dominika Cibulkova was beaten by Italy's Roberta Vinci in straight sets 6-3, 6-2. No.1 Victoria Azarenka had a tougher time defeating Svetlana Kuznetsova. Although the score line suggests otherwise, Sveta made it tough for Vika in the first but fell away a bit in the second. Maria Sharapova had an easier route into the second round, defeating Irina-Camelia Begu in straights (6-0, 6-3).
Also through to the second round are Agnieszka Radwanska, Ana Ivanovic, Angelique Kerber, Caroline Wozniacki and Maria Kirilenko.

Not much happening on the men's side of the draw. That won't be kicking off properly until tomorrow. However, Nikolay DAvydenko did beat Ivo Karlovic 7-6, 6-3 to set up a second round date with Rafael Nadal. South African Kevin Anderson also had a relatively easy day at the office, beating Alex Bogomolov Jnr. 6-3, 6-2.

Playing tomorrow are: Serena, Kvitova, Jankovic, Errani, Kanepi, Ferrero, Stosur, Venus and Li.

jcf

as usual the classless pile of sh*t Nadal has an easy draw, I used to think it was cos he was the top seed, but no, still gets it as no.2 - dark times ahead for tennis as that little cheating c*nt will dominate.

RosyLily

Moving on, Serena, Kvitova, Radwanska, Azarenka and Safarova all made it through to the second round. Although, Serena wasn't happy with her form...but that's nothing new!:P

Venus is still playing her match against Angelique Kerber. V has just won her service game and is now only 3-4 down in the first set. Baghdatis-Garcia Lopez is still going also (2 hr and 20 mins atm); G-L won the first 6-4 but Marco stormed back in the second to win it 6-3. Baggy is now serving to stay in the match as it's 5-4 in G-L's favour.

Interestingly, Aga Radwanska will move up to No.3 in the world when the rankings are released, knocking Petra Kvitova from her perch. Aga has had a great year so far!! She just needs to find a way to defeat Victoria Azarenka; Vika has beaten her on 5 occasions this year....her only 5 losses this season. Which is pretty impressive in itself!

RosyLily

Venus Williams is gone. Beaten 6-4, 6-1 by Kerber. Nice scalp for the German.

jupiterjack

World No. 2 Rafael Nadal was untroubled in his opening second-round match at the Mutua Madrid Open on Wednesday, dismissing Nikolay Davydenko 6-2, 6-2 at La Caja Magica.

jupiterjack

Djokovic fumes over blue clay after three-set win.

MADRID (AP)—Novak Djokovic needed three sets to win his first match on the blue clay at the Madrid Open on Tuesday, and then stepped up his criticism of the new surface.

jupiterjack

World No. 6 David Ferrer advanced to the third round of the Mutua Madrid Open on Wednesday as he dismissed Czech Radek Stepanek 7-6(4), 6-2.

adamski8

i cant look at that blue court, looks lik my tv is ****ed! horrible. yellow ball in soccer=great for the viewer and players in snow and dark conditions, what the hell does blue clay do, apart from creating controversy!

jupiterjack

nadal serving for the match v verdasco

jupiterjack

nadal making very hard work of it, verdasco break point.

jupiterjack

verdasco just breaks back, nadal still a break up.