Madrid/Rome Preview, plus 5 more champions

I'll do a little preview post for the upcoming Masters/Premier events in Madrid and Rome.  And farther down I'll comment on our 5 newest champions.

ATP


Rafael Nadal is the defending champion of both events.  He beat Federer in the final of Madrid and Ferrer in the final of Rome, all names who are likely to be at the forefront again this year along with Djokovic.  Only Nadal and Ferrer as well as Ernests Gulbis made at least the quarterfinals of both tournaments last year.  Somehow I'm not seeing the Latvian repeating that feat.  Here's the players with at quarterfinal points on the line:
-Nadal (won both)
-Federer (Mad final)
-Ferrer (Rom final/Mad SF)
-Gulbis (Rom SF/Mad QF)
-Almagro (Mad SF)
-Verdasco (Rom SF)
-Murray, Melzer, and Monfils (Mad QF)
-F.Lopez, Wawrinka, Tsonga, and Djokovic (Rom QF)

The biggest question is whether Djokovic and his now 27-0 record can challenge Nadal on clay.  I am also interested to see where Federer is at relative to the Djoker on clay as its been awhile since they've met on clay (Rome '09, won by Novak) and they only played 3 times on clay (Fed leads 2-1).  This tournament has only been contested 2 years and it has been Federer vs Nadal both times with each winning one.  Can Djokovic break that up this year?

Another interesting question is whether the Americans will do anything at all.  This will really be Fish's first clay season after his weight loss.  Roddick returns to the surface after basically a 2 year absence.  Querrey and Isner have shown they can win on dirt (met in the Belgrade final last year), but haven't really played the biggest names.

And then, what about Murray?  He took Nadal the distance in Monte Carlo.  What about the second-tier Spaniards, can they go deep at a tournament, especially Ferrero in his return to the spotlight?  Can Gulbis regain any of his magic from last year, when he took out Federer?  We will find our answers in the next fortnight.

WTA


After a tumultuous season last year which saw Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez and Aravane Rezai win these 2 tournaments a year ago, are the top 10 players ready to step up and win some big tournaments this time around?  Nothing against Martinez Sanchez and Rezai but they have both been downright awful since those two big wins and stand to drop way way down in the rankings.  In fact, Rezai has already been eliminated in Madrid which means there will be only one French seed at Roland Garros, and there may be no Spaniards.  The women did do better than the men by having 4 players reach the quarterfinals or better at both tournaments in Venus Williams, Lucie Safarova, Nadia Petrova, and Jelena Jankovic.  And here are those defending the big points:
-Rezai (Mad champ)
-Martinez Sanchez (Rom champ)
-Venus (Mad F/Rom QF)
-Jankovic (Rom F/Mad QF)
-Safarova (Mad SF/Rom QF)
-Petrova (Mad QF/Rom QF)
-Peer (Mad SF)
-Serena and Ivanovic (Rom SF)
-Stosur and Li (Mad QF)
-Kirilenko (Rom QF)

Rezai, Petrova, and Ivanovic are already out of Madrid, plus the Williams won't be there.  These should be wide open tournaments.  There are sure to be some deep runs from some lower ranked players but I expect the winners to come from the top 10 this year.

Last week's winners


Due to the beginning of Madrid, the women had Saturday finals in Estoril and Barcelona.

Estoril:  Anabel Medina Garrigues (ESP) def. Kristina Barrois (GER) 6-1, 6-2

Barrois was able to parlay her Stuttgart success into a nice run in Estoril but came up short against Medina in the final.  The Spaniard wins the 10th title of her career and is now tied with Venus Williams for the most clay titles among active players.  Her last title was Fes in 2009.  She has puts together some wins after falling down a great deal in the rankings over the past 2 or so years.

Barcelona:  6) Roberta Vinci (ITA) def. Lucie Hradecka (CZE) 4-6, 6-2, 6-2

Hradecka has had a very nice year to this point but was unable to come with her first career title.  Vinci wins her 4th career title and has now made the final in Barcelona 3 straight years, winning in '09 and then losing to Schiavone last year.  Her most recent title was Luxembourg last fall.  She has really been playing well of late and could be an upset candidate in the early rounds of the big clay events.

Now to the men, who did play all their finals on Sunday and came away with 3 very recognizable champions.

Belgrade:  1) Novak Djokovic (SRB) def. Feliciano Lopez (ESP) 7-6(4), 6-2

Djokovic wins title #5 of 2011 and #23 for his career and runs his winning streak to 29.  The world no. 2 continues his dominance by winning his hometown tournament.  Now to challenge Rafa on clay.  It was a good tournament for Lopez but the feeling was that everyone else was simply playing for the runner-up trophy.

Estoril:  8) Juan Martin Del Potro (ARG) def. 2) Fernando Verdasco (ESP) 6-2, 6-2

Del Potro avenges his loss to Verdasco from the San Jose semis and lands his second small title of his comeback year.  This gives him 9 for his career and will all but assure him of a seed for the French Open.  Now on to conquering some of the biggest names to show he is back to 2009 form when he won the Rogers Cup and US Open.  Verdasco had a good tournament and notched 3 straight wins but couldn't finish the job.  It will be interesting to see where he goes from here as he is at his lowest ranking since October 2008.

Munich:  7) Nikolay Davydenko (RUS) def. 5) Florian Mayer (GER) 6-3, 3-6, 6-1

It looks like the Russian is beginning to refind his form after missing a big portion of last year with an injury and then falling out of the top 40.  It is his 21st career title and first since winning Doha at the beginning of 2010.  He could develop into a dark horse to go deep at the French.  Also Florian Mayer is quietly putting together a nice year and is now the German #1 and should have himself a seed at the French.