Madrid Quarterfinals

Just a few minutes the Madrid quarterfinals were set so here goes my typical mid-week Masters post.  The final 8 are set in both the men's and women's fields.

ATP
1) Rafael Nadal (ESP)
2) Novak Djokovic (SRB)
3) Roger Federer (SUI)
5) Robin Soderling (SWE)
6) David Ferrer (ESP)
7) Tomas Berdych (CZE)
Michael Llodra (FRA)
Thomaz Bellucci (BRA)

It has been a good week for the top 8 seeds, who have compiled a 12-2 record (not counting walkovers)over their first two matches.  Only Murray's loss today to Bellucci and Melzer's loss to Gimeno-Traver have spoiled the party.  While we did not get to see the Nadal/Del Potro match due to the Argentine's withdrawal, there should be plenty of good tennis left in store.  Only 3 of the 8 quarterfinalists for a year ago are still here (Nadal, Federer, and Ferrer).

A couple matches are worth mentioning.  First, Ferrer's R32 win over Mannarino had the very strange scoreline of 7-5, 0-6, 6-0.  Then, the epic Federer/F.Lopez clash yesterday where Lopez blew mini-break lead in the 3rd set tiebreak and Federer found a way to win 7-6(13), 6-7(1), 7-6(7).  That has potential to be one of the matches of the year.  Just one break of serve each in the entire match.

But as good as the top 8 have been, the next 8 (seeds 9-16) were downright awful, compiling a 1-8 with only Monfils winning a match (over Karlovic).  Almagro was in the semis last night, Monfils and Verdasco made the quarters, but they scarcely even played.  This opened the door for players like Llodra and Bellucci, who reached his first career Masters quarterfinal.

Tomorrow's quarters:
-Nadal vs Llodra
-Federer vs Soderling
-Berdych vs Bellucci
-Djokovic vs Ferrer

We ought to get a couple good matches tomorrow esp. Fed/Sod and Djoker/Ferrer.

WTA
4) Victoria Azarenka (BLR)
6) Na Li (CHN)
16) Petra Kvitova (CZE)
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS)
Julia Goerges (GER)
Dominika Cibulkova (SVK)
Lucie Safarova (CZE)
Bethanie Mattek-Sands (USA)

I suppose we need to just learn to enjoy the chaos, as it seems like it is returning to the WTA tour.  Whereas Wozniacki, Zvonareva, and to a lesser extent Jankovic and maybe some others, were for a time taking take of business, we now have Premier mandatory tournament with only 3 seeds left by the quarterfinals.  Are we going to another "Rezai" take this tourney or will Vika get it done?  It is worth noting that Azarenka has looked great, dropping just 5 games in 3 matches, including handing Dushevina a pair of bagels.  I am told she has done enough to snatch the #4 ranking from Schiavone but I'm not looking at the rankings until after the Rome and the "skewness" is over with.

At the beginning, it looked like this tournament would be go along the same lines as the men (top 8 dominating, next 8 struggling).  The top 8 went 15-1 through 2 rounds with Jankovic losing a tough match to Safarova.  At the same time, the next 8 managed to go only 5-7 with just Kvitova surviving.  Then BAM, the top went 2-5 in R16 and here we are with the younger players we've been wondering whether or no they will be stars, less Wozniacki and Radwanska.  We have Goerges, Pavlyuchenkova, Cibulkova, Azarenka, and Kvitova.  But who's this Mattek-Sands charater?  And on clay?  Looks like we'll have a seeded American at Roland Garros regardless of whether the Williams play.  I am happy to see Safarova regaining her form that she left on this Madrid clay last year and wish she and Jankovic could have saved their meeting for a later round, since JJ has been playing pretty well herself.  Safarova and Li are the only 2 players who are repeating quarterfinalists from last year.  Stosur missed it by one round, but the others flamed out early.

Tomorrow's quarters:
-Pavlyuchenkova vs Goerges
-Azarenka vs Safarova (probably the best match)
-Li vs Mattek-Sands
-Kvitova vs Cibulkova (also could be good)


I also wanted to mention that the Fed Cup's Europe/Africa Zonal Group II and III ties are taking place this week in Cairo, Egypt.

Group II
Pool A:  Finland, Morocco, Portugal
Pool B:  Armenia, Bosnia, Georgia, Turkey

Morocco and Turkey were promoted from Group III last year while Bosnia and Portugal were demoted from Group I.  This is the group that Wozniacki and Denmark will be playing in next year.  Based on the couple names I know, I expect Portugal (Larcher de Brito) and Georgia (Tatishvili) to come through.

Group III
Pool A:  Algeria, Lithuania, Montenegro, South Africa
Pool B:  Egypt, Ireland, Moldova, Norway, Tunisia

Norway and South Africa were demoted last year.  Lithuania, Montenegro, and Tunisia are returning to Fed Cup competition after not competing since 2008 (LTU/MNE) and 2006 (TUN).  In case anyone cares, Malta and Liechtenstein are not competing this year.