Mutua Madrid Open...ATP 1000...Madrid, Spain

[don_budge]

Finally...a tennis tournament. How many years have I been starting these threads on tennisplayer.net? By now you know that by definition (in the don_budge lexicon) a tournament is not a tournament unless a certain someone is in the draw. He's here my friends. It's lovely to see you again my Friend. Roger Federer making a rare clay court appearance at the Madrid Open and he has his work cut out for him. It will be interesting if he has any tricks up his sleeve left. Nobody in their right mind gives him a chance here on the dirt...except me. Perhaps based more on hope than fact...nonetheless. Hope is such a nebulous term...sometimes it just means pie-in-the-sky. Sort of like what Obama was blablaing about. Remember him...Oblabla? I have a feeling that he is going to find his way into the news in the near future. Just a hunch.

At any right...here's the draw:

https://www.atptour.com/en/scores/current/madrid/1536/draws?matchtype=singles

There is going to be a ton of good tennis. Djokovic, Nadal, Thiem and Tsitsipas are here as well. Nick Kyrgios in the house. Let's just start with Nick for the moment as he is ready to lace up his tennies to play Jack Struff. That should be a good start.

[don_budge]

Nick Kyrgios in the house. Let's just start with Nick for the moment as he is ready to lace up his tennies to play Jack Struff. That should be a good start.

Vintage Kyrgios so far in the first round. He loses the first set in 37 minutes. Rather a quick set for a tie-breaker. Kyrgios strategy is to win his serve with quick bombs. Ofter serving without bouncing the ball. Instead tossing the ball up into the air once or twice. Lots and lots of drop shots. No effort whatsoever on the Struff serve. Jan-Leonard Struff that is...not Jack. Kyrgios won like two points on Struff's serve. But he slightly miscalculated in the tie-breaker and lost it. But not before he smashed his racquet to smithereens towards the end.

Classic Kyrgios. Vintage Kyrgios. It's like he left his brain at home. Rather entertaining to watch I can imagine for the crowd. In a sad sort of way.

[don_budge]

Oh yeah...he has served underhand a couple of times.

[stroke]

Vintage Kyrgios so far in the first round. He loses the first set in 37 minutes. Rather a quick set for a tie-breaker. Kyrgios strategy is to win his serve with quick bombs. Ofter serving without bouncing the ball. Instead tossing the ball up into the air once or twice. Lots and lots of drop shots. No effort whatsoever on the Struff serve. Jan-Leonard Struff that is...not Jack. Kyrgios won like two points on Struff's serve. But he slightly miscalculated in the tie-breaker and lost it. But not before he smashed his racquet to smithereens towards the end.

Classic Kyrgios. Vintage Kyrgios. It's like he left his brain at home. Rather entertaining to watch I can imagine for the crowd. In a sad sort of way.

He will never win on clay I do not think. He is so talented that he will probably win a 1000 or Grand Slam on a surface other than clay. There are no shortcuts on clay. It is the ultimate put your hard hat on go to work surface. Copy "sad".

[stroke]

Tsitsipas looked very good beating a very tough Cuevas in Estoril final. Tsitsipas, Thiem, and Fognini going into Madrid very hot to contend with the big 3. Very interesting.

[stroke]

Fritz takes the 1st set in tiebreaker vs Grigor, who was playing very well. Taylor now up 4-1 in 2nd. I have always liked Taylor's game, but this could certainly be one of his biggest wins. Up next though is Novak. These Masters 1000's in a way are tougher than the Majors in that the concentrated draw these tough matches are on from the very start.

[don_budge]

He will never win on clay I do not think.

He won beating Richard Gasquet 6-2, 6-3. No muss...no fuss. The winner of Gael Monfils and Marton Fucsovics next. An interesting matching its own right..."The Amazing Mr. Monfils" can be interesting at times.

Nadal vs FAA could be something.

Felix Auger-Aliassime is perhaps the most compelling question mark of the future on the current radar screen. He is the youngest of the bunch and he has had a huge developmental growth spurt in the past six months or so. Sort of along the lines that Stefanos Tsitsipas experienced approximately a year and a half ago. But Felix brings another element to the court that even Stefanos may be lacking in. A raw athleticism similar to "The Amazing One"...Gael Monfils. But it isn't just the athleticism...this young man also has his head on straight and he isn't playing for second place in any given tennis match. Including this one against Señor Nadal.

Nadal is looking a bit vulnerable these days but if we have learned anything from the past...he is not to be counted out until the Fat Lady sings. But here is the notion of fresh and young legs. The one that has been discounted in the rivalry between Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer recently. There are not better legs on the tour than those under young Felix Auger-Aliassime at this point in time. He dispatched his countryman, friend and even perhaps his idol Denis "The Menace" Shapovalov in the first round and he is looking for scalps. Here is a chance to put his name in the hat for all of the titles for any tournament he plays in. The question only becomes a matter of is he ready to step up and be a man about it. It is only a matter of time.

Something indeed...stroke.

[stroke]

Fognini looked every bit as focused and on as in Monte Carlo. He looks to me to be able to just take the ball on better with his compact strokes off both sides than the 2 coming on fast contenders, Thiem and Tsitpitas. And he has more firepower(significantly) on that forehand than Novak. This is a very good tournament, unusually interesting even for a Masters 1000.

btw db, that remark I made about not winning on clay ever was about Nick, not Roger. Even though I would not pick Roger either in Madrid here or the FO, he is in the mix to me, never out of consideration. If he can get past likely Thiem in the 4th round here, look out. He would even more so have everyones complete attention(if possible) should that happen,

[nytennisaddict]

interesting interview with fed about this tourney on yt... the part relevant here, is that madrid, while the clay surface speeds are similar to other clay court tourneys, is a very different tourney than RG, due to altitude, and the ball moving much faster in the air. according to RF, unlike typical clay tourneys (eg. at sea level), in madrid, it's possible to serve your way out of trouble, and end points sooner. not sure if that's "common" knowledge around here, but i thought it was interesting (and i never took that into account when guessing predictions).

[stroke]

interesting interview with fed about this tourney on yt... the part relevant here, is that madrid, while the clay surface speeds are similar to other clay court tourneys, is a very different tourney than RG, due to altitude, and the ball moving much faster in the air. according to RF, unlike typical clay tourneys (eg. at sea level), in madrid, it's possible to serve your way out of trouble, and end points sooner. not sure if that's "common" knowledge around here, but i thought it was interesting (and i never took that into account when guessing predictions).

Nadal has "only" won it 5 times, which certainly pales in comparison to all his other King of Clay tournament titles(Monte Carlo, Rome, FO etc.), so this is probably true.

[stroke]

Next round the match up of the tournament so far, Thiem vs Fognini. I am sure Thiem will be the favorite, but from what I have seen of Fognini of late, his game when he is on could be even too good for Thiem on clay.

[stroke]

Alex in early trouble vs the little beast Ferrer, with the crowd going crazy at about every point Ferrer wins. Sounds like a soccer crowd and Ferrer is home team. Looks like a nightmare for Alex, Ferrer on clay.

[don_budge]

Round of Sixteen...Mutua Madrid Open 2019

Next round the match up of the tournament so far, Thiem vs Fognini. I am sure Thiem will be the favorite, but from what I have seen of Fognini of late, his game when he is on could be even too good for Thiem on clay.

Alex in early trouble vs the little beast Ferrer, with the crowd going crazy at about every point Ferrer wins. Sounds like a soccer crowd and Ferrer is home team. Looks like a nightmare for Alex, Ferrer on clay.

Ladies and Germs, fasten your seatbelts. What we have here is a real live tennis tournament. Roger Federer in the house making it official. Without him...some of the luster is definitely lost. But as it is things are getting pretty darn interesting. One interesting aspect of this tournament is that a lot of the old standbys are either missing or have already left the stadium. Guys like Tomas Berdych, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Andy Murray and a host of others no longer participate due to injury or are being phased out of the game. There are new faces appearing daily or weekly. Some of the in betweeners are finding plenty of drama on the tour as the struggle to survive and for legal tender become the reality of the day for them.

Starting with Alexander Zverev. This "kid" is all of twenty-two years of age but he has been around forever. Or so it seems. He turned professional in 2013...probably at least three years too early. His game is stunted and he still plays exactly as he did as a junior. Exactly as he did when he was sixteen years old. No evolution. No discernible development or broadening of his concept of tennis. Just another cookie cutter who peaked a bit early and now struggles to find out just what it takes to win a tennis match these days let alone a tournament. A good win over one of the old standbys who now has been shown the door out of the stadium. David Ferrer...the "EveryReady Energizer Bunny". Gone and quickly forgotten. Great competitor...limited skills. Typical of many of the old standbys. Early on I picked up on the limitations of Alexander. I harped on his mental deficiencies. He wasn't ready for the role he was cast in and now he is a real basket case. He has a look at redemption here in his next match with Hubert Hurkacz. Hurkacz with a couple of really nice wins over Minaur and Pouille in the first two rounds. Here a fairly recent name that has been tossed into the hat. He is starting to get his feet under him and his head in the game. His development has been more gradual and his publicity minimal compared to Zverev's but he seems to be on more solid ground. His trajectory seems to be on the upswing. I am pulling for Zverev to come out of his nosedive. I really don't relish the fact that I predicted what has happened to him. But I just haven't seen anything to make me believe otherwise. He has his hands full with another twenty-two year old. I think Zverev must feel like he is in his forties with all of the disappointments he has experienced recently.

Novak Djokovic plays an "old standby" in Jeremy Chardy and it is difficult to see anything other than the old inevitable. Just below in the draw is one Marin Cilic versus Laslo Djere. Djere is another of these players that are beginning to believe that they belong in the big leagues. He has beaten Dusan Lajovic and Juan Martin del Potro in the first two rounds. Juan Martin is another of the stars of the recent past who struggles to find his place at the top. Cilic is another player who reached a certain level and then seemed to lose the belief that he belonged there. It's a real mind game up there in the stratosphere. The air changes and it's hard to catch your breath. Pariticularly in Madrid where the ball is flying just a bit faster than it should on the dirt.

Because that brings us to Roger Federer making a rare clay court appearance. Federer defeated another of the "old standbys" in Richard Gasquet in the second round without any noticeable difficulty. So he cruises into his next match against a player who he should be able to handle rather easily on paper but it isn't always so with "The Amazing Mr. Monfils". Monfils managed to survive one of his adventures in the first two rounds but now he has a familiar rival on the other side. Monfils is another of the old guard who has been showing up recently now and then with rather mixed and less than exciting results. Even streakier than before when he was truly amazing. Come on Roger...pedal to the metal and don't waste any energy here. The Federer game goes as the serve goes. His serving game is so good since the racquet change that he plays the game just as it should be played. Taking immaculate care of his serve and just patiently chipping away at his opponents until he cracks. Monfils has always been a bit frail in the mental department...Federer to exploit it with his scalpel.

Fabio "Fabulous" Fognini versus Dominic Thiem. This match doesn't not need a single comment as stroke has already said what needs to be said. But this is a big, huge match for both players and that is what is interesting here. Who will show up to take care of business? If both show up we will have a couple of these Musketeer like sword fighters trying to castrate each other. But if both go "soy boy" it will turn into a love fest and a big hug at the end. I'm hoping for the sword fighters. I want to see some blood...and guts. Stefanos Tsitsipas versus Fernando Verdasco in the match below in the draw. Tsitsipas taking care of business and if he is going to be the "Real Thing" then he must take care of players like Verdasco who admittedly can be dangerous but must be dispatched of. It is imperative that Tsitsipas take care of business here and he seems to be doing so. I like his attitude. He isn't over impressed with himself and doesn't take the new found adulation to heart...or to his psyche. Mentally he seems to be a bit tougher than some of the other twenty somethings and this is what separates the chaff from the seed on the tour. Mental toughness.

I wrote about Alexander Zverev...and I never get tired of writing about him. He is a classic case of the psychological head case in tennis. He needs to get it going here against an opponent that he should dispatch. It isn't going to be that easy though. Hubert is making a statement these days. Down below are two more of the "old standbys" looking for the right for all intents and purposes to take on Fafa Nadal. Stan Wawrinka versus Kei Nishikori. Stan owns him historically but both have been a bit sporadic as of late. Even more than usual. Both of these players have made a career of sporadic. Never finding the consistency that is the hallmark of a "great" tennis player. Fafa Nadal versus Francisco Tiafoe. Tiafoe has to come out of the box with something that I don't know if he possesses. But Nadal invinciblilty on clay doesn't seem to translate in the Madrid Open due to the atmosphere or whatever it is that changes things the higher up you go. It certainly didn't seem to bother him against Felix Auger-Aliasimme. I notice that Felix seems to suffer from inconsistent serving at times. It isn't so much in the head as some would believe but the service motion needs some grease...a lube job. If it doesn't flow like it should under pressure then look for friction.

[stroke]

This tournament is about as good as it gets. So many great matches today, and it is only going to get better. Minority opinion, but the clay court season if my favorite.

[stroke]

Cilic pulls it together and wins in 3 vs Djere. Surprisingly to me, the oddsmakers had Cilic as a big underdog in this match. Cilic has been struggling to win matches this year.