Wk.19- Congratulations Roger Federer

Hey Y'all. Galileo here.

First off I have to extend a big congrats to Federer on having another set of twins. He really is perfect. Who else would have twin girls then twin boys?



I am going to tell another story about the WTA. This tale takes place in 2009. It concerns poor star-crossed Dinara Safina. I woke up earlier than usual, specifically to watch Safina against Serena Williams. I felt certain it was going to be three epic sets. The world number one against the best player in the world and the holder of the last grand slam, the US Open. I sat there, at about 7am or so with my caffeine and watched the final. I was shocked. Serena was utterly dominant. I, for some reason, simply did not see it coming. She was like a hurricane and Safina just had no answers. The first set went to Williams, for the loss of precisely zero games. I was thinking, can a world number one possibly be double-bageled?

Safina came out in the next set and broke the Williams service. At that point I thought she has figured it out. I was wrong. Serena broke back and, despite Safina trying all and sundry, she swept to a 0 and 3 victory in little over an hour at most. On the final point, Safina erred on a drop shot. The look on her face was so sad and so forlorn. It was also one of weary resignation. She had tried everything and come up short. The look on her face clearly said, "when am I going to win one?" I felt pity for her then, but she was always the consummate professional. She always believed she would win one.

She and Kuznetsova exchanged big clay titles all through the European swing. They beat each other in the finals and it finally came down to the big one. Paris. Where dreams come true, hearts are broken and champions born. Kuznetsova makes Kvitova look like Bjorn Borg mentally. I felt sure Safina, who had beaten her easily in last year's French semifinals, would surely win this one. Kuznetsova thought about it as just another match and, as such, was much more comfortable throughout. Safina kept looking at her coach, missing easy balls, and even shanking it. She looked close to a complete nervous breakdown.

Eventually the inevitable happened and Kuznetsova reached match point. Then, and I will never forget this, Safina faulted. She went to serve again. She had been struggling with her serve all match. I was silently begging her just to spin it in. For lord's sake just spin it. Make Kuznetsova play. Just make her play. She hit the tape and the ball flew away to hand Kuznetsova the match on a double-fault. She somehow held it together for the handshake but the tears were right there. I thought I almost heard something snap from within her. I somehow knew she would not win a slam now. She looked almost broken.

Nishikori needs to improve physically. He seems to struggle to get through Masters and grand slam tournaments. Clay, especially, seems to wear on his body. Nadal only won Madrid because the Japanese man could not physically stay with him. Down a set and a break, Nadal came back to benefit from a withdrawal and take the Madrid title again. I am still not convinced of his form, but Rafa knows how to win when not playing well.

Djokovic returns in Rome. It will be interesting to see how that goes.

I will end with my fondest memory of Dinara. It was the Russian three-peat at the Olympic games. Speaking of which, this is a fun picture of her:



Yep, she is playing with who you think she is playing with. I promise.

Right. Enough of my talking, stuff happened this week.



*WEEK 19 CHAMPIONS*
MADRID, SPAIN
S: Rafael Nadal def. Kei Nishikori 2-6/6-4/3-0 ret.
D: Nestor/Zimonjic d. Bryan/Bryan


PLAYER OF THE WEEK: NISHIKORI, JPN
...Let's leave the final alone. Nadal won by retirement. He managed to come back and Nishikori was not physically able to say with him. The new world number nine, the highest ranked Japanese man ever, had an excellent tournament. He upset the Fed here last year. I thought it was a fluke, but perhaps he has found a tournament he always plays well in. He had a tough route to the final. He opened against Dodig, but won handily 6-4/6-4. He then followed that up with a strong 3 and 1 defeat of Garcia-Lopez. GGL has had a strong clay season, which makes that result even more impressive. Nishikori has a good head to head with Raonic and he improved upon it with a 7-6/7-6 victory. He won both breakers 7-5. In both their matches there has been a breaker. Nishikori was again impressive as he used his forehand and backhand to break down tricky Spaniard Lopez 6-4/6-4. He then showed us he has incredible mental fortitude. He took the first set against Ferrer 7-5 in the breaker, but lost the second set 7-5. He even had a match point during that set. He came back and survived a couple of lengthy service games at the beginning of the third before snapping Ferru's serve and never looking back. He needs to work on his fitness, but he had a good tournament nevertheless. I do not think he is going to win a slam with the condition he has. He has the ability to be a perennial quarterfinalist. This is especially relevant on the clay, but if he goes five at the French he will be in trouble for his next match. The fittest of players struggle after four hours on court and if Kei doesn't have the right conditioning he'll always be at a disadvantage.
=============================
RISER: NADAL, ESP
...Guess who got back to winning ways again. Yep, the Red Sox. They have really started to roll and, actually, never mind. Nadal has started to win again. Yes, that Nadal. He needed a bit of luck and some cunning to do it, but he is starting to sneak back into winning ways and, with that, some serious form. How serious that form is will be tested in Rome. He opened against Monaco and let his good friend Pico have just one game. He often destroys Pico on clay. He let the Argentine have a similar amount of games at the French in 2012, I believe. Next Rafa survived a tough test against the Finnish number one. Jarko mounted a fightback but it would be to no avail as Nadal came through 6-1/6-4. Seventeen straight losses against one opponent is an ATP record. Berdych now shares that with Mayotte. Mayotte struggled against Lendl, and Berdman is struggling against Nadal. When he loses to the Spaniard again, as he probably will, he will take that record. He equaled that dubious mark when Nadal beat him 6-4/6-2. He always bullies Anderson and Nadal always bully him. Anderson's wife tweeted that she wanted a restraining order for Berdych. Just as an aside. Nadal then beat RBA before benefiting from the injury that Nishikori sustained. I think Nadal is hitting his stride at the opportune moment, but really who can tell?
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SURPRISE: BAUTISTA-AGUT, ESP
...When the draw falls for you, it really falls. Agut beat compatriot Robredo 6-4/6-4. He next beat another Spaniard, Verdasco this time, to make the third. He beat the big lefty 2-6/7-6/6-1. Federer had twins, as we all know, and so that left his section of the draw wide open. Combine that with the fact Murray is like a cow on ice when he plays on clay and this whole section was there for taking. RBA dismissed Kubot next 6-4/6-2. He was on a roll and he kept on rolling, beating Giraldo 6-3/6-4 to make his maiden Masters semi. It was to be one Spaniard too many. Nadal was tested by the young Spaniard, but still came through 6-4/6-3. Nadal was too consistent and had too much work on his shots for the inexperienced though talented youngster. RBA is now the Spanish number seven. There are seven inside the top thirty and nine inside the top forty. Almost a quarter of the men in the top forty are from Spain. Yes, they are out of the Davis Cup. Isn't tennis funny? RBA rose 17 places to number 28. He will definitely be a seed for the French Open.
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FRESH FACE: NISHIKORI, JPN
...It is a first Masters 1000 final for the Japanese.
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VETERAN: LOPEZ, ESP
...Deliciano [quote Judy Murray] has been as high as fifteen in the world but is now at 27. Incredibly his record is 312-300. He reached the quarterfinals of Wimbledon in 2005, 2008 and 2011. That means he will make them again this year. He has made the fourth round of the other slam tournaments at least once. He has won three titles from 9 finals. He has won on hard and grass, but not clay, though he been to two finals on that surface. This week he had another good run at a Masters event. He beat Delbonis in three sets in the first round, 6-2 in the third set. He then edged the slumping Youzhny 6-4 in the third. He collected a walkover from Thiem which gave him a path straight to the quarters. He lost in straights but it was still a good match. Lopez is best on quicker courts, but has still made clay a surface he can win on. He has proven that he is a threat anywhere. Seeded 27, he will be someone nobody will want in their part of the draw.
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DOWN: FOGNINI, ITA
...Yep. He crashed out in the first round. He lost to Dolgopolov in three sets. There is no disgrace in that. There is disgrace in treating the umpire the way he did. I think that umpires should be respected and, whenever possible, given big hugs. The abuse they get from the men and women is bad. Sometimes they make poor calls, but their job is a horrible one. I think Fognini should have been more heavily sanctioned. So, Fognini down for a first round exit and for treating the umpire so badly.
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UPSET: GIRALDO, COL
...A qualfier beating the seventh seed and dual grand slam champion? A big upset on paper, but this is Murray on clay. Giraldo decimated him 6-3/6-2. I think it is time to forget about Murray until Queens. He cannot seem to ever do anything on clay. I think it must be mental by this point.
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1. MADRID SF - NISHIKORI d.FERRER
...7-6/5-7/6-3. The scoreline literally says it all. The Czech was two points from victory when the Argentine was serving at 0-6/4-5. When he led 5-0 and served for it, Berdman broke his serve to go 1-5 down. It was not the start of a comeback. Essentially what happened was Berlocq started to hit huge high looooopy balls and drop shots every second shot. Add to that Berdman's amazing ability to crumble when under any kind of pressure, and the inevitable happened.
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2. MADRID 2nd Rd. - THIEM d. WAWRINKA
...1-6/6-2/6-4. Seppi may not be in form, but he plays well on clay, almost always. Haas is still finding form. He did so here in Madrid and, despite laying an egg later, played well in his first couple of matches. In the end the German had a little too much variety.
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3. MADRID 3rd Rd. - GIRALDO d. MURRAY
...6-3/6-2. Fognini also collapsed. He was utterly dominant in the first set and then he crumbled like Mitt Romney's presidential challenge. Fognini wanted to remind us he can, and will, do whatever he wants. I hope I get to see Fognini/Nadal at some point because that is always fun.
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4. MADRID 1st Rd. - DOLGOPOLOV d. FOGNINI
...7-5/4-6/6-3. Klizan deepened the Russian's slump with this epic three set win. He won the last set breaker 7-2. Klizan has finally won another trophy. He did so with verve and panache.
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*WTA ROME*
=SF=
Sharapova [8] d. [5] Kvitova
Li Na [2] d. Kuznetsova
=FINAL=
Sharapova [8] d. [2] Li Na

...I don't know the extent of the Williams injury. I have also not seen such a stacked half of a WTA draw in some time. I think the draw has fallen for Kuznetsova [a former finalist] very nicely here. Kvitova is in form and so is Na. Big question is Serena, of course.

*ATP MADRID*
=QF=
Nadal [1] d. [7] Murray
Wawrinka [3] d. [12] Dimitrov
Federer [4] d. [8] Raonic
Djokovic [2] d. [5] Ferrer
=SF=
Nadal [1] d. Wawrinka [3]
Djokvic [2] d. [4] Federer
=FINAL=
Nadal [1] d.Djokvic [2]

...Let's say Fed does play. If he plays, this happens. Well, according to me anyhow.


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