No Dream Federer-Nadal Final in Madrid

All tennis dignitaries and dedicated fans were salivating at the prospect of having a Federer-Nadal final at the conclusion of the Masters Series Tournament in Madrid on Sunday. 

It would be the perfect culmination to an outstanding tournament. 

They entered ranked one and two just as they have for the last three years and three months, except that Federer is now ranked second and Nadal is first.

A win for Federer would mean his first Masters Tournament win of the year and an unrealistic expectation that he might still finish the year as No. 1.

A win for Nadal would guarantee his year-ending ranking at No. 1. 

Federer and Nadal have not met since their epic Wimbledon final in July 2008, and the tennis world has waited and wished for another chapter in this intriguing rivalry. 

Alas, it was not to be…because in order to play in the final you have to make it into the final. Both players came up one match short, each losing in the semi-finals in three sets.

Participating in the ATP Masters Tournament in Madrid is no jog in the park. In fact, staying alive in any ATP Masters Tournament is a struggle of epic endurance and dogged determination. 

There is no playing your way into these tournaments. No days off for sight-seeing. No time for photo ops.

In fact there are no easy matches. For the 48 contestants who are generally ranked in the top 50 …quite the contrary. All players are plunged immediately into deep water and they either make it to shore or sink to the bottom, on their way home or on to the next tournament—whichever comes first. 

No rest and no respite…just gut wrenching tennis potentially for three grueling sets every day for five or six days in a row…you earn your money at the Master’s events. 

The real drama of the tournament came during the semi-finals on Saturday pitting Roger Federer against Andy Murray in the first match with Rafael Nadal and Giles Simon featured in the second.

The two best players of the day won; however, they were neither Federer nor Nadal.  They were Scotsman Andy Murray and Frenchman Giles Simon, both well-deserving of a place in the final. Both semi-final contests went the distance—three sets with outstanding tennis on display.

Federer won the first set 6-3 and Murray returned the favor in the second set winning by the same score. The rubber match ended in Murray’s favor 7-5. The number two seed is on his way to Basel. 

It is hard to imagine that Simon had the energy to hang with Nadal—but hang he did for three unending, tension-packed sets of tennis.

They were on court over three hours—this after Simon had endured a marathon match the night before, defeating Ivo Karlovic 7-6, 4-6, 7-6. The match ended after midnight.

The Spanish crowd roared in support of Nadal, who never gave an inch. In the end, Simon won against great odds. A new force in tennis had announced his arrival.

Final

Conditions favored Murray.

He had a much easier road than Simon, who spent a considerable amount of time on court before arriving at the final.

Even though they both faced tough opponents and each went three sets, Murray was off the court in less than two hours in his match with Federer, while Simon’s contest against Nadal extended beyond three.

In the end, Simon had nothing left in the tank. He lost to Murray 6-4, 7-6. There were several flashes of brilliance that demonstrated the Frenchman’s many talents; but Murray was not going to lose this match. Indeed, he won in straight sets. 

Fittingly, Murray apologized to the crowd for not being Federer and Nadal—thanking them for showing up and offering support anyway!

Summary

It was great to see tennis broadcast again. The Tennis Channel provided almost 24-hour coverage of the early rounds; first live, then with a rebroadcast in the evening.

The best part of the coverage remained the announcers, who knew that silence during points can be golden! 

Robbie Koenig, Jason Goodall, and their partners endeared themselves to tennis fans all over the viewing world!

Tennis is thriving. Exciting new players are emerging, clawing their way out of obscurity and to the top as Federer’s stranglehold on winning at major events slackens.

We are no longer talking just about Federer and Nadal. Players like Murray and Simon triumph, no longer intimidated by the legends standing in their way. 

It is good for tennis to have so much talent on display competing equally.

The sad thing is that the world moves on barely aware of this important tournament.  For most, tennis ends after the U.S. Open in September and doesn’t begin again until the Australian Open in January. 

But there is much left to be decided in 2008. It all began here in Madrid…

Early Round Summaries:

First Round: No big upsets occurred in the first round. 

Mikhail Youzhny hasn’t been on his game since his injury.  Normally, you would have expected him to defeat Jarkko Nieminen. Instead, he lost in the opening round 7-5, 3-6, 6-2.

Second Round: The second round saw all of the big seeds in action. 

The real drama began here. David Ferrer, who has been losing frequently of late fell to Feliciano Lopez in straight sets, 6-4, 7-6.

Surprisingly No. 5-ranked Davydenko succumbed to Robby Ginepri, who enjoyed a great tournament, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4. 

Giles Simon who took care of Igor Andreev, 4-6, 6-1, 7-6, in the first round, knocked out James Blake in round two, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4. 

Karlovic defeated Soldering 7-6, 7-6 (surprise, surprise! Karlovic is forever involved in tie-breaks). 

Monfils took care of Fernando Gonzales 6-3, 6-4.

Third Round: In round three, the tournament began to come into focus. 

Roddick was ousted by Monfils 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.  Del Potro eased Nalbandian, the 2007 champion, out 6-4, 6-2; while Federer unceremoniously slammed the door on Tsonga in straight sets 6-4, 6-1. 

Andy Murray put away a pesky Martin Cilic 7-5, 7-6.  Simon finally ended Ginepri’s run 6-7, 6-4, 7-6. 

The stunner was the human tree Karlovic upending Djokovic 7-6, 7-6. 

Feliciano Lopez continued his run by beating Stan Wawrinka in straight sets 6-4, 6-4,  while Nadal took care of Gasquet once again 6-4, 6-2.

Quarterfinals: Murray took out Monfils without much resistance 6-2, 6-2. Federer deposed Del Potro 6-4, 6-1. Simon endured another marathon match shaking free of Karlovic 7-6, 4-6, 7-6. Finally, Nadal sent handsome Lopez home 6-4, 6-4.