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

[stroke]

Thiem in rock solid prince of clay form in winning 1st set 6-4 vs Fognini. Fognini was in rock solid princess mode but Thiem seems unaffected. Thiem on court demeanor is nearly perfect.

[stroke]

It was a great match won by Thiem. Just brutally good, 17 winners, 12 unforced errors for the match. No doubles, and a massive kick serve all day. He may have the best sub 6'4" serve on tour. He is right there with Fed in that department to me. Per match stats, his forehand averaged slightly more rpm's for the match than Fognini. Very impressive.

[nytennisaddict]

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.

hehe, me being a nadal fan.... clay court season is my fave too.

[don_budge]

Roger bagels "The Amazing Mr. Monfils" and then Monfils turns on the after burners looking truly amazing. But serving at 4-2 and up a break I had a feeling that a key double fault was going to leak into Monfils' serve game. Sure enough he double faulted back to back to get it back on serve.

[don_budge]

Roger bagels "The Amazing Mr. Monfils" and then Monfils turns on the after burners looking truly amazing. But serving at 4-2 and up a break I had a feeling that a key double fault was going to leak into Monfils' serve game. Sure enough he double faulted back to back to get it back on serve.

"The Amazing Mr. Monfils" didn't fold this time. He made Federer beat him. In the end Roger threw everything and the kitchen sink at him before Monfils finally buckled in the tie-breaker. Truly an extraordinary match. One of the best two out of three this year. In my ever so humble opinion.

[stroke]

"The Amazing Mr. Monfils" didn't fold this time. He made Federer beat him. In the end Roger threw everything and the kitchen sink at him before Monfils finally buckled in the tie-breaker. Truly an extraordinary match. One of the best two out of three this year. In my ever so humble opinion.

[stroke]

db I felt the way, but I had it at the Thiem Fabio match. Joking aside, Monfils did fight back and make Fed earn it, which was impressive after that 1st set bagel, where he pretty much just gave away the set in about 15 minutes

[stotty]

The draw has panned out beautifully. No duffers in the pack. Everything will have to be earned from here on in. I'm really looking forward to Thiem and Roger. It will be a taxing match if Thiem gets his way.

[don_budge]

db I felt the way, but I had it at the Thiem Fabio match. Joking aside, Monfils did fight back and make Fed earn it, which was impressive after that 1st set bagel, where he pretty much just gave away the set in about 15 minutes

I watched a good part of the Thiem/Fognini and Fabio was never in the match. Thiem got early breaks in both sets it seems and pretty much routinely held serve to win it. I was falling asleep at different points of the match. Federer and Monfils was an engrossing match of contrasts...contrasts are what make life interesting. The first set was over in something like fourteen minutes and the bagel was only the beginning of the story of how out of it Monfils was. But "The Amazing Mr. Monfils" channeled the white light of inspiration somehow and completely turned the corner at the beginning of the second set. He broke early in both the second and third sets forcing Federer to exhibit some of the rarest form of patience and will that completely baffles me. How does he do it?

He's a hunter. Once he was behind Monfils he just hunted him and kept him in his sights waiting to get the shot at him. His reliance on sheer will and guile was on full display for any trained eye to appreciate what was going on. While Monfils may not be the greatest player in the world these days he showed what makes him dangerous...particularly so against Federer. Monfils is one of the guys who somehow get all of the planets and stars to line up in formation when they play Federer...it brings out the God like game in them. Kyrgios is the same way.

That was one amazing match yesterday. The duration of the match was completely captivating. I ask myself if it is because of my bias and the answer is no. Roger is the only player that can bring it to the court like he does. It goes along with the concept of it not being a tournament unless he is there. He brings something to the game the rest of the bunch together cannot match.

As stotty points out "the draw has panned out beautifully". Not a clunker in the bunch. A-list match ups. Novak Djokovic against Marin Cilic has the potential. Cilic has the doldrums but some of his past performances against Djokovic have been borderline inspirational. Federer versus Thiem...I think that stroke has said all that can be said. Except perhaps that these two one-handed backhands are right at the top of the game. Federer has the defeat of their last meeting in his craw and that is a dangerous place to be. Thiem is in the crosshairs...except I wonder how much Federer relishes a match against Djokovic. Is this one he wishes to avoid at this point? Tsitsipas versus Zverev? How could it be any better for the timing of this meeting? It cannot. Wawrinka versus Nadal? Come on.

[don_budge]

2019 Mutua Madrid Open QuarterFinal Match(es) of the Day...

Roger Federer versus Anybody. By sheer coincidence Dominic Thiem is no longer just anybody and his development in the last couple of months is only a tip of the iceberg in terms of the effort and patience that he has exhibited to get there. Thiem has an element of the old school in him probably courtesy of installation by the rather enigmatic coach he employs. The match of the day might go as a matter of default as all four matches have a rare dramatic potential that we have witnessed in the last ten years in tennis. The Stefanos Tsitsipas versus Alexander Zverev is just a beauty as well. Supposedly no love lost let's just see if Alexander can summon the dragon. That was a fine display against the up and coming Polish Hurkacz. Zverev showed some balls to come back from a set down looking yet another colossal disappointment in the eyes.

[stroke]

Novak the strongest quarter final favorite by far(no surprise vs Cilic) at 1/6, Nadal at 4/13, Thiem at 4/9, Stefanos at 14/19.

[stroke]

If I had to pick someone to bet on, and I do not bet, I would bet on Stan at 3/1. And all matches today are superb, but if I had to choose only one to watch, It would be Stefanos vs Alex. Ironically, that is the only one not played on Manolo Santana court.

[stroke]

Cilic withdraws, certainly does nothing to hurt Novak's chances with a day off before he plays Thiem or Roger. If Roger can pull this one out today, it will go down as one of his most impressive feats. Thiem is so tough on clay and seemingly just getting better on it.

[don_budge]

As the serve goes so goes Roger. Who said that? I guess I did. Ivo Karlovic leads the tour in holding serve 95% of the time. Federer is second on the tour ahead of John Isner and Milos Raonic with 93-something%. Thiem is further down the list at 82%. Federer breaks Thiem's first service game to go up 2-0 in the first set.

[stroke]

Roger looking like only he has ever looked out there winning the 1st set routinely. So impressive to routine Thiem on clay like that. I saw that hold percentage thing about him only behind Karlovic. Was not surprised.