Coming into the quarter-finals you saw four big favorites: Wavrinka, Nadal, Federer and Djokovic. Wavrinka got tested against “Missile” Milos Raonic, but came through in the end 7-6 6-2. Then we had the match everyone felt they knew the script to: Nadal vs Ferrer. The stats were solidly in Nadal’s favour: he had won 10 of their last 11 meetings and the last time Ferrer beat him on clay was July, 2004 in the QFs of Stuttgart when Nadal was ranked No. 57. Much has changed since then of course. But already from the outset Ferrer looked super-focused and ready …
Nadal vs Ferrer
I don’t want to be a grouch, but the above is not really the most exciting line-up for the Madrid Open Quarterfinals. The absence of Djokovic and Federer stand out as glaring holes and personally I would have liked Haas and Dimitrov to beautify the draw with their all-court games and one-handed backhands. But enough whining. We still have some great matches to look forward to. My pick for the Madrid Open Semi-finals: Nadal, Nishikori, Murray, and Tsonga. Some thoughts on the separate matches: Nadal vs Ferrer. Ferru is a runner, a terrier, but how is he going to beat …
That’s the sem-final line-up of Roland Garros. Not a very surprising one either, three top players in the world and I would put Ferrer as number 4 when it comes to clay court tennis (#6 in the overall rankings). We start tomorrow’s play with Nadal vs Ferrer. Like I wrote in my previous post, Nadal looks absolutely unbeatable. He’s moving fantastically, the courts are slower which allows him time to chase down everything and the extra time also benefits the giant swing on his forehand. I would love to see a stat on how many winners vs unforced errors he …