Nalbandian beats Federer; wins Madrid Masters

Nalbandian does it.  He beat Federer 1-6 6-3 6-3 in Madrid finals. Nalbandian played very well this week. The match clearly showed that Federer always has problems with a well-playing Nalbandian.

So, Nalbandian beats #1, #2, #3 players in the same tournament. Djokovic was the last man to do so (in Montreal).

This is Federer’s first loss on carpet in almost two years. And interestingly, the last man to beat Federer on this surface was Nalbandian (in 2005 Masters cup)

Nalbandian back to his best?

I didn’t watch Nadal-Nalby match yesterday. But, watching Djokovic-Nalby match so far, I get a feeling that Nalbandian is almost back to his best form.

He is playing as well as he did in 2005 Masters cup. He also lost some weight. It’ll be interesting to see how Federer plays this new (well, old actually) Nalbandian. Remember?… Federer always had problems playing Nalby (not for the last one and half seasons though)

Safin to play no more this year

Safin decided not to play for the rest of the year. He pulled out of Davis cup final and also from the Paris masters.

It was evident after the first round loss this week to Dr. Ivo. He wanted to end this season early. He’s going to take a three week break and then start practice for for the next year. I really hope that Safin be back with his 2004-early 2005 form.

The note from Safin (taken from his website)…

Marat was not very happy with his standard of play at the Madrid Masters and has decided after discussion with his coach Hernan Gumy and his management that it would be better to finish his 2007 season now. His mountain adventure which he thoroughly enjoyed, took him out of his rythm and also left him with no energy. He thought he was ready coming back in Moscow but found that the stress of playing back to back tournaments was too much and his body just was not ready to cope with it. He thought he could play at a good level but it didn’t happen.

He will take some time off to get his energy levels back and then in 3 weeks time will meet with his coach and they will spend a long period of practice time in Valencia – cleaning up his game and working hard on his approach, his work ethic and his general attitude to the year ahead. The intention is to be ready for the Australian season. Marat knows his ranking will drop but feels it is better to get himself ready for the new season rather than push at this stage.

He will not play in the Davis Cup Final in the US. Basically the Davis Cup team left it up to him to make the decision and Marat decided that right now there are 4 better players than him who are in form and can make sure they play to the best of their ability for Russia. Recently Davydenko won Moscow again and Tursunov won in Bangkok – both on hardcourts which is the surface that the Final will be played on. Marat was proud to be involved in the run up to the Final and has every faith in his fellow players that they will perform to their very best ability for Russia and make it a hard contest against the US.

Marat would like to say thank you to all his fans for their love and support this year through the difficult times and hopes they will continue to support him as he strives to find the level he needs to play well again.

Madrid QF: Nalbandian crushes Nadal

Nalbandian defeated Nadal 6-1 6-2. This is probably Nadal’s worst loss this year (in terms of scores). Nadal didn’t look 100% and made quite a few uncharacteristic errors. But, full credit to Dave… he played brilliantly… aggressive from the baseline and he tired Nadal out with his flat strokes.

In the first QF, Djokovic defeated Ancic. He’ll face Nalbandian in the semis.

From BBC…

Spanish favourite Rafael Nadal crashed to a 6-1 6-2 defeat to David Nalbandian in the Madrid Masters quarter-finals.

The world number two lost five service games as his unseeded Argentine opponent took his chances to set up a semi-final against Novak Djokovic.

Nadal, who completed a gruelling victory over Andy Murray on Thursday, looked out of sorts throughout.

In Friday’s earlier quarter-final, Serbia’s Djokovic secured a 7-6 (7-2) 6-2 win over Mario Ancic of Croatia.

The remaining quarter-finals include defending champion Roger Federer taking on Spanish wildcard Feliciano Lopez.

Nadal struggled with his ground strokes and was made to work hard by Nalbandian, who kept the rallies going to tire his opponent.

The win put the Argentine, a runner up in Madrid in 2004, into his first semi-final of the year after a disappointing season.

In the first quarter-final, Djokovic became the first player to take a set off unseeded Croatian Ancic in the tournament when he claimed the hard-fought opener on a tie-break.

The world number three then twice broke his opponent’s serve in the second set for an ultimately comfortable victory.

Roddick qualifies for Shanghai

Andy qualifies for Masters cup in Shanghai. This will be his fifth straight appearance in season finale.

Already qualified: Federer, Djokovic, Nadal, Davydenko and Roddick. Three spots are remaining. Ferrer is almost a lock. Gonzalez ihas good chance. And, the last spot is up for the grab by Gaquet, Blaki and others.

Here’s full article (source)…

Shanghai, China – Top American Andy Roddick received his fifth straight invitation to the prestigious Tennis Masters Cup—to be held at Shanghai’s Qi Zhong Stadium from November 11-18—leaving three spots open in the elite eight-man field with less than three weeks remaining in the regular ATP season. Roddick’s qualification was confirmed after Tennis Masters Cup contenders, with the exception of Chilean Fernando Gonzalez, fell in early action at the Mutua Madrileña Masters Madrid this week.

Roddick, currently No. 5 in the ATP 2007 Race, is on course to finish in the Top 10 for the sixth consecutive season. The 25-year-old American won an ATP title for the seventh straight year as he hoisted the Queen’s Club trophy for the fourth time, and he followed during the summer’s US Open Series with his fourth Washington title. Roddick also compiled a perfect 5-0 record in Davis Cup play, clinching the semifinal tie against Sweden last month as he led the U.S. to its second Davis Cup final in four years.

Roddick finished as a semifinalist in his first two Tennis Masters Cup appearances, in 2003 and 2004 in Houston, and made his Shanghai debut last year with a 1-2 round robin record after withdrawing from the 2005 tournament with a back injury.

Qualification also means Roddick will join the seven other qualifiers by having a larger-than-life Terracotta Warrior sculpture created of himself by award-winning artist Laury Dizengremel, to celebrate the Tennis Masters Cup. Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Nikolay Davydenko are the other four players to have already secured their berths in the prestigious circuit finale.

The top seven players in the ATP 2007 Race and the top seven teams in the Stanford ATP Doubles Race following the BNP Paribas Masters qualify for the Tennis Masters Cup, with one spot reserved for Grand Slam champions finishing within the Top 20.

Madrid R3: Federer demolishes Canas

Roger was on a mission today… “demolish the retrieving machine”. And he accomplished it to perfection. That’s got to be a sweet revenge for Roger. He is in good form… the best form this year after the AO. Canas didn’t play bad… but, there’s no stopping the man from Swiss.

Roger Federer was at his best as he crushed Argentine Guillermo Canas 6-0 6-3 to take his place in the quarter-finals of the Madrid Masters on Thursday.

The world number one made a whirlwind start on the super-fast greenset surface at the Madrid Arena by rattling through the first set, leaving Canas totally bemused.

The Argentine managed to put up stiffer resistance in the second set but still could not cope with the technical brilliance of the 26-year-old Swiss, who will play either Stefan Koubek or Feliciano Lopez in the last eight.

Federer vs. Genepri (Madrid R2) Highlights

Looks like it was a good match. Quality of the video is not great… but, it’s pretty decent… you can see the ball atleast

(Credit to the original uploader)

Safin loses to Ivo “The Ace Machine” Karlovic

What’s going on, Marat? Losing to a guy who has as limited game as Karlovic’s is not a good sign. Couple of hours back Safin lost to Dr. Ivo in just 57 mins(what???).

Marat wants to just finish this season as soon as possible. In his own words…

My aim for this season is just to finish the year, that’s it. I don’t know where I will play next, as I need to ask for a wildcard. I just want to finish and start slowly preparing for 2008.

On the other hand, Ivo played well. He’s improved his game a lot this year. Previously he’s only about serve. This year he built up a decent baseline game. He won three titles this year… Houston on clay, Nottingham on grass and Stockholm on hard-court last week.

Murray Looking Strong; plays Chela in Second round

Andy Murray dispatched Stepanek with a score 6-4 6-1. I expected this to be a very very tight match. But, Murry plyed aggressive and he was too much to handle for Stepanek.

That’s bad news for Nadal Nadal is seeded to play Murray in third round (probably this match will be scheduled for Thursday). Nadal-Murray at AO this year was a great match. Murray had his chances… but, couldn’t play the key points well enough. And, Nadal has been out of action for almost a month and half. So, if he is playing with rust… well, we are in for a surprise in third round.

Federer, Nadal cast in Stone

Hmmm… the ATP guys are innovating new ways to market the top players;) ATP has commissioned a sculptor to create terracotta models of the players who appear at the eight-man, season-ending Tennis Masters Cup. So far Federer, Nadal and Djokovic sculptures are ready.

Here are some pictures (the statues were displayed in Madrid yesterday for the draw ceremony)…