Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal to Relive Masters Finals in Madrid

Round three at the Madrid Open finds us with the top three players in the world up against three considerable opponents. 

Yesterday saw the progress of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, the former having a tough time of it against Milos Raonic, and the latter making a mockery of the challenge his contest with Davydenko was seemingly destined to be.

Crucially, they both joined the biggest winner of the day before, Novak Djokovic, in the third round.  Set up in this way are three fascinating encounters, all of which have had precedents as Masters Series finals. 

First up is Rafael Nadal against Fernando Verdasco, a repeat of the 2010 Monte Carlo final, which was incidentally the last time these two played on clay. Then, Nadal had won by the deceptively comfortable scoreline of 6-0 6-1; it wasn't, however, always easy.

Verdasco boasts a massive forehand, which coincidentally is left-handed—we are bound to find some interesting dynamics between the two as they seek each other's backhands. The low bounce and high altitude should favour Verdasco slightly, although it seems that anything less than full throttle aggression probably wouldn't get the job done.  

Next up is Roger Federer against Richard Gasquet, a replay of the Indian Wells final of 2006. That, was a tough victory for the former world No. 1 in three sets, and while this upcoming addition to their head-to-head will be on clay, it was on this surface that Gasquet registered his last win over Federer—a three-set victory at Rome last year.

The Swiss will hope for some measure of revenge, and also some rhythm, as he finds his way on the blue clay. That the court seems to play like an indoor clay court may provide for an unusually spectacular bout of tug of war between two men with perfect tennis hands. 

Last up on the Caca Magica is Novak Djokovic's rendez-vous with Stanislas Wawrinka—the two men will host a rematch of their Rome final of 2008. Then, it was a three-set victory for Djokovic, and on clay, too. Wawrinka always asks difficult questions of Djokovic, nevertheless, and has the power and poise to trouble him at moments in a match.

Djokovic is the paper favourite, and probably has the better baseline game. Yet, of late, Djokovic has complained about the blue clay and its strange, un-clay-like texture. He dropped a set in his first match, and will need to sharpen up steeply to avoid dropping two in his next. 

We have, in theory, a classic case of champions versus challengers; the former having complete games, and the latter armed with weapons here and there that could trouble them. Yet, in this replay of three former Masters Series finals, which all went against the challengers, there is always the hope of a reverse in fortunes.