Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal Top Winners and Losers at 2015 Madrid Masters
Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal had career role reversals for the finals of the 2015 Madrid Masters. How do things shake up for both players as the French Open bursts onto tennis' center stage?
Meanwhile, the WTA tournament took an unexpected pair of turns in the semifinals. Why is last year's Wimbledon champion suddenly the toast of Spain?
There are other stars who did not have an impact this past week, including Simona Halep, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic. Find out how we appraise their chances for the Italian Open when they look to rejoin the list of contenders.
We offer up a few pithy comments for each of the Top 10 in our final slide, courtesy of this week's "winners and losers" edition.
Loser: Roger Federer
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Let's get this out of the way. Yes, No. 1 seed Roger Federer was ousted in his Mutua Madrid Open second-round match against young dynamo Nick Kyrgios. He was unable to close out two match points and ultimately dropped the decisive tiebreaker 14-12.
Naturally, more discussion will be launched to remind the world that the Swiss maestro is pushing 34 years old and he is no longer winning three majors a year and adding to his 302 career weeks with the No. 1 ranking.
Fine. It does little to change who he is now and that he is one of the favorites for the Wimbledon title.
Besides, there are plenty of tennis fans who enjoy watching him play at the twilight of his career, savoring his graceful mechanics, his opportunistic mentality and the poetic signature of his forehand as it finishes off yet another winner.
Federer's going to win and lose a lot more matches, but the least we can do is tip our caps and discuss another piece of his legendary career. It doesn't matter if it's not 2007 anymore. It's an honor to watch him play.
Winner: Novak Djokovic
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While everyone else slugs it out in Madrid, Novak Djokovic is taking a changeover in Rome. The World No. 1, who has swept every big title into May, bypassed Spain for an extra weekend in Rome. He can rest his legs, enjoy pasta, admire renaissance art and train on the slower red clay for his ultimate mission to conquer Roland Garros.
Djokovic should be as ready as he'll ever be and the favorite to win the French Open. The important thing for him is to be the hungry challenger and take nothing for granted. Any lethargic play could be costly. If he plays to his capabilities, he should be the one getting pictures at the Eiffel Tower and holding the Musketeers Cup.
But we do wonder if Djokovic would have defeated Nadal and Andy Murray on his way to the Madrid title and a perfect 2015 first-half resume to enhance his legacy. We'll never know.
Loser: Big Servers
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The biggest servers in tennis are still a force on the ATP's European swing on red clay, but they can only go so far.
Young Nick Kyrgios blasted 22 aces past Roger Federer, winning two of three tiebreakers. He was doubled up 20-10 in the ace category a round later by an even bigger server, John Isner.
Isner launched 29 bombs at Tomas Berdych and had a match point, but he failed to defeat his more well-rounded opponent.
Meanwhile, Milos Raonic, the most dangerous serve in the Top 10, was humbled 6-4, 7-5 by Andy Murray in the quarterfinals. He served up only eight aces against the Scot's vintage return game.
For all of the aces, red clay tennis demands extra skills. Baseline footwork, defensive prowess and grueling patience are needed to survive, thrive and win the French Open. The extra balls that are retrieved by Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Kei Nishikori and Andy Murray are the differences needed to succeed on the Mars-like surface.
But watch out for Wimbledon. The big servers will enjoy tossing up their weapons on grass.
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Winner: Andy Murray vs. Kei Nishikori
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It was a semifinal match that featured some beautiful clay-court rallies, drop shots and impressive imagination. It also may have decided who is the No. 3 contender on red clay, the man who could suddenly shock the world for the French Open title.
The first half of the first set looked like Nishikori could establish a more aggressive and winning strategy against Murray. His groundstrokes angles were sharper, and he was hitting his strokes from better and closer vantage points than Murray.
But Murray made a couple of cerebral adjustments that paid off. He took more chances up the line with his backhand, broke Nishikori twice and took control of the match. At the end of the first set, Murray had hit 23 percent of his backhands up the line, while Nishikori only risked six percent up the line.
Frustration crept in on the Japanese star, and Murray held tough to close him out 6-3, 6-4. Murray's championship experience was clearly a factor, and he was composed. Nishikori lacked the adjustments needed and gave up four breaks in eight opportunities.
Does this make Murray the No. 3 man on clay? Maybe so because nobody has locked up this spot in many years.
Nishikori lost his opportunity to avenge himself on Rafael Nadal in the Madrid final. A year ago, he had dominated the final, up a set and break before his back was injured. He was helpless to deter the Spanish great from pouncing all over the opportunity.
This time it was Murray stepping in to take the match.
Loser: Lighter Hitting Stars in the WTA
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The WTA's retrieving stars could not hit paydirt during the best time of the year to be an energizer bunny.
Leading the disappointments, World No. 2 and 2014 French Open finalist Simona Halep. She was a bust in her first match in Madrid, falling 7-6(6), 6-3 to Alize Cornet, who was certainly a tough opponent for an opening match, but Halep's retrieving and energy is going to need more punch to win the French Open.
Struggling Agnieszka Radwanska did nothing to show she is ready to turn things around and fell from No. 9 to No. 13 in the WTA Rankings.
Early exits for Eugenie Bouchard, Sara Errani and Caroline Wozniacki showed the defensive stars will be at a disadvantage if they cannot muster up more offensive fireworks.
Winner: Petra Kvitova
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It's not even July and Petra Kvitova is suddenly ready to win titles. Kvitova, known most for her 2011 and 2014 Wimbledon titles, just picked up a huge clay-court trophy in Madrid. She did it by hammering Serena Williams 6-2, 6-3 in the semifinals and crushing Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-1, 6-2 in the final.
Can Kvitova win the French Open?
The good news is she is rested after skipping Indian Wells and Miami. Her energy and focus was at a high level in Madrid.
Kvitova also found success in her go-for-broke mentality, something that can also be fatal when the unforced errors come spewing out. Her sudden control on clay alongside her serve and power has to be intimidating to the likes of the energizer bunnies listed on slide five of this article.
Right now, Kvitova is all smiles and has a well-deserved and surprising clay-court trophy. At No. 4 in the world, she will get a good seeding and opportunity to go after the French Open and Wimbledon double, something no one has achieved since Serena Williams in 2002. But that's getting a little ahead of things for the moment.
Losers: Serena and Maria
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Serena Williams is so great that it always feels like a shock when she loses. Maybe she felt deflated after learning that so-called rival Maria Sharapova had lost a short time earlier.
Maria Sharapova has taken so many beatings (2-17 head-to-head record and 16 straight losses) from Serena that maybe a loss in the semifinals figured to spare her the potential agony of losing to Serena in another final.
Still, the feeling is that Sharapova's very best chance to defeat Serena is on clay, where she can get a longer look at Serena's serve and keep the American from controlling the entire court with her superior variety.
So maybe we were denied a Serena vs. Maria superstar final, something that could have been a three-set thriller. Except, even on clay and specifically Madrid, Serena still owns Sharapova, defeating her there in 2012-13. In addition, Serena took the 2013 French Open title at the expense of Sharapova.
But it doesn't matter anyway. They both lost.
Winner: Andy Murray
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Less than a week ago, he had never won a clay-court title. Last Monday in Stuttgart, he slogged through a rain-infested weekend to break through another career curse, shaking his fist at the tennis gods and finally parting aside the gloomy clouds for a new ray of light in his career.
Meet Andy Murray, two-time clay-court titlist and conqueror of the 2015 Madrid Masters. He dumped Kei Nishikori in convincing fashion and handled Rafael Nadal as if he were just another player who could not hang with his steady baseline attack. He is a newly minted French Open contender.
Murray's final two matches showed his impressive blend of variety, excellent defensive control and the right offensive attack, controlling both sides of the court and causing his opponents to try and steer away from his backhand. He slid into his shots a little earlier and had little trouble retrieving shots or setting up most of his patient offensive plan.
In some ways, he and Nadal had reversed their history for one day.
Give credit to Murray.
Murray has to feel good about Rome and the French Open. Could he, not Novak Djokovic, be the one to capture that elusive title?
Imagine if Murray headed into Australia 2016 with a chance to capture the career Grand Slam before Djokovic?
OK, there's still a huge step to conquer over the next few weeks, and Murray will still be a longshot, but at least the range has shortened considerably.
Loser: Rafael Nadal
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Whatever is said about Rafael Nadal's latest loss on clay, be it racket changes, confidence or inconsistent play, the truth is the King of Clay is no longer a near-lock on his favorite surface.
Peter Bodo for ESPN put it more bluntly, opining that, "Murray may not have won the French Open by winning Madrid on Sunday, but Rafael Nadal almost surely lost it."
While Bodo's statement is premature, a few points are clear. Right now, Nadal is not the player he once was. Period. He does not have the depth, power or control that used to wear down opponents and set up his precision mastery on clay.
Second, Nadal is no longer a title holder on his four European clay-court tournaments that lead into the French Open. The other top players know they can come in and compete to defeat him. Nadal has unraveled too many times in falling behind opponents or in vain attempts to rally back. Other players like Murray are closing him out, fully aware the Spanish great is no longer playing at a level above everyone else. Nadal was sporadically good on Sunday but inconsistently awful.
Finally, Nadal still has next week to play a great tournament at Rome and feel good going into Roland Garros. It won't be easy with Novak Djokovic, Murray and Kei Nishikori all showing they can win tournaments on clay in the past month.
Best-of-five matches at Roland Garros will mean nothing to help Nadal unless he can prove to be the best at grinding out baseline rallies and showing strength over a few hours. The way he is playing, there will be no four-hour matches for him to salt away.
Nadal falls to No. 7 in the ATP Rankings, his lowest slot since May 2, 2005. It's incredible to think that Tomas Berdych is ranked No. 4 and Milos Raonic No. 6, passing Nadal during the clay-court season.
For the moment, Nadal's game is impatient and it's misfiring. There's a pulse left in his massive forearm, but unless he can find his old rhythm, someone else will at long last be lifting the French Open trophy.
Winner: Pithy Comments for Rome
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Maybe the most majestic stop outside of the majors, the Italian Open at Rome surrounds its tennis combatants with impressive, marble-like seating, a few simple trees and slow red clay, perfect for the Roland Garros home stretch.
Here is our frank appraisal directed at the ATP Top 10:
Novak Djokovic: You are the clear choice to win Rome and Roland Garros.
Roger Federer: Not often a No. 2 seed and former winner of the French Open can feel like such a non-factor at Rome, so why not win here now?
Andy Murray: Tough luck getting Djokovic in your half of the draw. Too bad you couldn't get Rafael Nadal or Federer, right?
Rafael Nadal: Enjoy your No. 4 seed because you may not see anything this high for a very long time.
Kei Nishikori: Be durable but be better next time in a money match.
Tomas Berdych: Pass.
David Ferrer: Stuck in the tougher top half of the draw, but things tend to open up for you.
Stanislas Wawrinka: Stock dropping into obscurity, so a great week might be more important to you than to anyone else.
Marin Cilic: Might not escape the first round.
Grigor Dimitrov: Now approaching your prime years? It could be now or never to establish your star.
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