Madrid Quarterfinals

So I told you in my Madrid/Rome preview that I expected the seeds to hold for the most part and I didn't expected many surprises.  It is hard to imagine me being more wrong, although Murray and Ferrer both came from a set down today or there wouldn't be a single men's top 4 seed left.  Djokovic lost his opening match and then the defending champ Federer went out today.  The top women, outside of Serena and Sharapova, have also struggled, with Azarenka, Radwanska, Kvitova, Stosur, and Li all crashing out early.  And so we have quite a group of quarterfinalists in Madrid, with only 5 seeds left in the women's draw.  Along the way, we have also had a number of thrilling matches and 3rd set tiebreaks.  Here are the remaining players:

Men
3) Andy Murray (GBR)
4) David Ferrer (ESP)
5) Rafael Nadal (ESP)
6) Tomas Berdych (CZE)
7) Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA)
14) Kei Nishikori (JPN)
15) Stanislas Wawrinka (SUI)
Pablo Andujar (ESP)

-Ferrer and Berdych are the only two remaining quarterfinalists from the 2012 tournament
-Other 2012 quarterfinalists were Del Potro, who didn't show up; Djokovic, Dolgopolov and Tipsarevic who lost early; and Federer and Verdasco, who lost today
-Andujar, who comes in ranked #113 in the world and got a wildcard, is through to his first Masters quarterfinal.
-Wawrinka is now sporting a 7-match win streak, which equals that of Nadal.
-There are 3 Spaniards still in the draw along with players from 5 other countries.

Women
1) Serena Williams (USA)
2) Maria Sharapova (RUS)
6) Angelique Kerber (GER)
7) Sara Errani (ITA)
16) Ana Ivanovic (SRB)
Ekaterina Makarova (RUS)
Kaia Kanepi (EST)
Anabel Medina Garrigues (ESP)

-Serena and Sharapova are the only two remaining quarterfinalists from the 2012 tournament
-Other 2012 quarterfinalists were Azarenka, Radwanska, Li, and Stosur who crashed and burned; Hradecka who never showed up; and Lepchenko who lost to Errani today.
-Makarova has been in career form most of this year, it is nice to see Kanepi back playing well after her injuries, and then there is the Spanish wildcard Medina Garrigues, who picked up a nice draw to advance to the quarters

I fully expect Rafael Nadal to win this title now for the men, and I am picking against Murray to reach the final.  I think either Tsonga and Berdych will come through the top half to play Nadal.  Djokovic was upset in his opening match by Dimitrov in over 3 hours, who came out 2 days later and lost in 3 to Wawrinka.  Dimitrov is rapidly on the rise, and Wawrinka is another climbing player.  One has to wonder if Federer is on the decline or if this is just a blip on the radar.

A Serena/Sharapova final seems likely on the cards on the women's side, but as we've seen already, the clay is a neutralizer and I wouldn't be shocked to see Kerber make a run the final or deeper.  One has to wonder about Azarenka's health, and Radwanska appears in decline, although clay is her worst surface.  The Li loss to Keys in the first round was a shocker, given her results this year, but maybe the young American just caught.  At any rate, the top of the game that appeared so strong just months ago, looks like it has some holes, at least on clay at altitude.

American Play
Just two men showed up in the main draw and went 1-2.  Isner beat Garcia-Lopez but then lost to Andujar.  He'd have had the opportunity move through that section of the draw vacated by Gasquet and Cilic, and now Federer, but it wasn't to be.  Querrey lost his opener to Janowicz.

The women showed more promise, going 6-5 in all, but only 3 women were in the main draw after Venus pulled out.  McHale and Mattek-Sands qualified and the former won a match, then Keys was a lucky loser and upset Li.  Lepchenko won one match then got a walkover to the third round.  Stephens again crashed out of round one, this time to Hantuchova (who also took out Kvitova by the way), and of course Serena's 3 wins leave her in the draw.

Third set tiebreaks
Men: Youzhny def. Fognini (R1) (7-5), Verdasco def. 12-Raonic (R2) (9-7), 3-Murray def. 16-Simon (R3) (8-6)
Women: 16-Ivanovic def. Robson (R1) (7-5)
There were also a number of matches that were won in two tiebreaks.

Tomorrow's quarterfinals
Tsonga vs Wawrinka
Murray vs Berdych
Ferrer vs Nadal
Nishikori vs Andujar

Serena vs Medina Garrigues
Errani vs Makarova
Kerber vs Ivanovic
Sharapova vs Kanepi

Even with several big names out, there's still some intriguing matchups there.