Wk.18- Djokovic Dominates, Nadal Nowhere

Hey, all. Galileo here.

Let’s talk about coverage today. It was disappointing to see no coverage of the ladies doubles final, though it was centre court and there was coverage of the men’s quarterfinal which was on a ‘B’ court. Sure it was the best pairing in the world versus the 5th seeded Bryans, but then why wasn’t the women’s final given billing? A dominant top seeding playing a pair that has proven to be their Achilles' heel is on centre court and it isn’t shown? Pretty shocking. This BACKSPINNER is a huge fan of doubles and makes sure to see some live every year. He also forces his friends to go with him because they need to share in the joy. It’s so tactics based and it is such a sport for the thinking man or woman. Unless your surname is Williams, of course. So at a Masters especially, but at any tournament really, they should show the ladies doubles final. It’s just good form.

As for the men’s singles, did you even bother? The top two players in the world play very dull matches. At least they don’t go five sets as much as they used to. If they're wearing similar clothing and you’re not paying attention particularly closely, you might think that it was someone playing themselves. Sure there are minor differences, but, really, it’s the same game. Djokovic has the better forehand by default and Murray’s second serve is woeful. The mini-highlights reel the ATP put out seemed to last half an hour. Never mind watching the full highlights or even the whole match. It’s just gotten so dull and it is a foregone conclusion now. Djokovic will win.

In other news, the French pairing of Mahut/Herbert had their streak snapped by Rojer/Tecau 6-2, 7-6[3]. They had won three successive Masters. Mahut still rose a place to world number two. It is his highest ever ranking. Herbert fell two places from his highest ranking of four to six. Herbert’s ranking points are 7,280. Want to know how the rest of the top six stacks up?

Melo is top with 7,770
Mahut is second with 7,670
Tecau is third with 7,630
J.Murray is fourth with 7,535
Rojer is fifth with 7,530

So I guess you could say it’s tight. In the doubles race, the Frenchies have taken first, while Rojer/Tecau have risen 13 places to take fifth. Surprisingly the Bryans are in fourth spot. Bopanna/Mergea made a run to the final, taking the pairing up ten places up into tenth. Murray lost to former partner Peers in his first match.

But what else happened in the Spanish capital?

=RANKINGS WATCH=
Top 32 - Dimitrov falls seven places to 35. Johnson falls two places to 34. Sousa takes a set off Nadal and rises five places to 30. Chardy is up a place to 32. Can he stay there?
Top 10 – No change. Gasquet stays at 12 with Cilic and Raonic ahead of him. Ferrer could drop several places in Rome.
Top 8 – No change. Ferrer at 9, below Tsonga and Berdych. Nishikori locked in at six.
Top 4 – Nadal is just 700 behind Wawrinka. Federer and Murray both have 7,525 points, but Federer takes the world number two position for now.

*WEEK 18 CHAMPIONS*
MADRID, SPAIN
S: Novak Djokovic def. Andy Murray 6-2/3-6/6-3
D: Rojer/Tecau d. Bopanna/Mergea


PLAYER OF THE WEEK: NOVAK DJOKOVIC
...Well, that’s Masters title number 29 and 16,000 ranking points amassed. Djokovic is having an incredibly impressive period of dominance, threatened only by two Swiss men. One of whom is very old and the other who is totally erratic. Djokovic currently holds three slams. He can make it four in a row at the French. This is 2004-2009 Federer all over again, except it has been split into two shorter periods of dominance. In 2011 and from 2014-16 he has run riot. Sure, he plays an ugly game style and, alright, he isn’t exciting to watch but he, and Serena, have ruled with an iron fist. This year one or two cracks have appeared. But overall, this is a mind-blowing run from the Djoker. This week he really put down a marker by beating Coric 6-2, 6-4 and then Agut 6-2, 6-1. Coric improved and really fought hard in that second set. Raonic with that big serve and forehand failed to put a dent in Djokovic’s defences, going down 6-3, 6-4. Nishikori predictably disappointed us, losing 6-3, 7-6[4]. And in the final he beat Murray in three boring sets. He is the out and out favourite for the French Open, but he won’t win it. It is his bogey tournament and this BACKSPINNER has a feeling he may never win it.
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RISER: ANDY MURRAY
...Another impressive week from Murray. He is finally putting together some passable numbers on the clay. Madrid this week for the Scot yielded positive results. But then the Spanish capital is one of those places he always does well. Here is Murray earning the hot-shot for another boring rally. It’s all the same until someone decided to just come to net.



But compare that with Kyrgios. Look how in five strokes more action happened then in 15 in Murray’s rally.



This Murray/Djokovic rivalry is like oatmeal without extras. Federer/Nadal may have been lopsided, but it was a fruit salad, a bacon and egg bagel of deliciousness and variety. Having already talked about Djokovic, it is too hard to now talk about Murray, too. Neither of them is interesting at all, though Djokovic at least does interesting interviews.
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FRESH FACE: NICK KYRGIOS
...His second ever Masters quarter-final comes on clay. He had won just two matches in total on clay at this level previously. Nick stays solidly in the top 20 and a decent result at the French could see him seeded to make the fourth round at Wimbledon. The Australian has made a quarterfinal at slam level two years in a row and he should be able to make it three. He still has two slams he performs well at coming up. Two tight straight set wins over Pella and Wawrinka in Madrid set the tone. His forehand was firing and the serve was proving to be quite effective. An epic encounter with Cuevas in the third round saw Kyrgios through 7-6[5], 4-6, 6-3. The match was in the balance throughout until Kyrgios again found a way. He broke in the eighth game of the third set and held on to get through to face Kei. Sure he lost in three sets, but it was still quite the week. And, best of all, there was no misbehaviour.
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VETERAN: RAFAEL NADAL
...How many clay court semi-finals? Think on that. It must be about 70 by now. He has won over 90 per cent of clay matches he has played on the tour, too. He has won the sixth most matches on clay and is equal top with Vilas with regards to titles. He has 49 of those. Rafa has made this surface his own. He has worked at it for thirteen years now. Wins over Kuznetsov and Querrey were routine, just like the matches he used to win all the time. Rafa is turning 30 next month but he still has it on this surface. He still has that fuel, that desire. He bageled Sousa and weathered the fightback. Rafa is the bull-fighter, the matador. Even losing to Murray wasn’t totally embarrassing but it does make a change. Cracks are starting to appear. Can he reaffirm his brilliance in Paris?
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SURPRISE: MILOS RAONIC
...Raonic turned up at a clay-court tournament. That by itself is pretty surprising. Straight sets wins over Bellucci and Dolgopolov and an upset win over Tsonga were all impressive. Even the loss to Djokovic wasn’t too bad. If he can maintain this run, he will be a dark horse for a run at Roland Garros. There’s nothing to say he couldn’t take ten wins from the next two slams.
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DOWN: BERNARD TOMIC
...The young Aussie has got to find his game and soon. Forget the clay season; with his withdrawal in Rome that is gone now. He has to find some magic to take into the grass court season. If he can just find a few wins in Roland Garros and then Halle, or wherever he goes, he could make another run at Wimbledon.
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UPSET: PABLO CARRENO BUSTA
...Busta defeated Dimitrov in two straight sets. The former top twenty player is now perilously close to falling out of the top 40. That is incredible. What has happened to Grigor Dimitrov? What has happened to Baby Fed? Where has the Bulgarian gone? He will be unseeded at the French and at Wimbledon, too, most likely. Like Janowicz, another Wimbledon semi-finalist, he is slowly dropping out of sight and out of mind.
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Notes from the week...
1 - Serena returns in Rome. She’s been gone a long time. Was it that loss to Kuznetsova in Miami?
2 – Can Federer hold off Murray going into the French Open? The second slam is looming.
3 – Federer needs three wins in Rome to move onto second all-time on the wins list. Nadal can move into seventh with nine wins. That will come at the French.
4 – And the seeds crumble again in the WTA event. Will we have a favourite for the French by next week? Radwanska is nowhere, especially on clay. Kerber is unpredictable and Halep has only just caught fire. Kvitova is a mystery and past winners are even harder to make calls on.
5 – This is the 73rd edition of the Italian Open, first won by Bill Tilden in 1930. Lili de Alvarez won the ladies title that year. Nadal, Borg, Laver, Nastase, Lendl, Sampras, Agassi and Muster are some of the former champions along with Kuerten and Djokovic. The ladies winners have included Hart, Connolly, Evert, King, Goolagong, Graf, Hingis, Williams, Williams, Seles, Pierce and Sharapova. So enjoy one of our most prestigious tournaments.
6- - Nice and Geneva are the tournaments right before the French Open. Wawrinka is slated to, but will not appear, in Geneva. Don’t expect Thiem to show up in Nice, either.


1. Madrid SF - Nishikori d. Kyrgios 6-7[6], 7-6[1], 6-3
...It took the best part of three hours for Kei to improve to 3-0 in his head-to-head with the Australian. He is now 26-7 on the season. Kyrgios has his chances to win this in straight sets, but he couldn’t take them and Nishikori once more ground out the match. It would be interesting to see these two play on grass. This is his third straight final here in Madrid.
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2. Madrid QF - Nadal d. Sousa 6-0, 4-6, 6-3
...Nadal didn’t lose any game for the first forty minutes, but when the rain came so did Sousa. Playing in front of compatriot Ronaldo, Sousa was able to fight back and push Nadal so much further than anyone thought possible. The Portuguese man did not go away and Rafa had to win the match to set up a clash with Andy.
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3. Madrid Final - Djokovic d. Murray 6-2, 3-6, 6-3
...It is 23-9 to Djokovic in the head-to-head. Forget the match; it’s boring. Since the beginning of 2012 they have met 20 times. Murray is 5-15. Djokovic has lost one of the last thirteen. This isn’t a rivalry, it’s a boring pile of crap. At least Serena is entertaining when she’s murdering Sharapova.
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4. Madrid R1 - Del Potro d. Thiem 7-6[5], 6-3
...I think we’ve all lost track of which career this is now, but Delpo had his best victory yet in defeating Thiem in straight sets. He was composed and the forehand literally sung. Delpo is up 45 places to 229.
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*ROME*
=SF=
Nadal [5] d. [3] Federer
Murray [2] d. [4] Wawrinka
=FINAL=
Nadal [5] d. Murray [2]

...Look for Nadal to defeat the new world number two after he defeats the world number one. Why not have faith in Rafa? Rome is one of his best tournaments and he has never done as well in Madrid as he should. Wawrinka’s love affair with the Italian capital continues, but Murray has a nice, easy draw and good form so he is the favourite. But Rome always throws up a banana peel or two.

The Frenchies are dominating on both sides of the doubles this year. It is most impressive. In Madrid, Mladenovic she lost in the first round to Lucic-Baroni but won the doubles tournament. She and Garcia swept to the final in straight sets, knocking out the third and eighth seeds on their way. They didn’t lose a set all tournament, beating the world number ones Hingis/Mirza 6-4, 6-4 to seal the deal.

In Rome, Mladenovic has Ostapenko first and then Puig the qualifier. So we can see how she matches up against other young guns. Third seed Muguruza is the big gun in her section. In the dubs she and Garcia open with Krajiicek/Strycova while the Czech fourth seeds are the biggest seeds near them. Kiki is the defending champion in doubles so expect her ranking of six to stay or fall. Mladenovic will also lose ground to Garcia here, as she is the defending champion. She won with Babos last year. She is up three from nine while Garcia rises four to world number nine. In the singles she is cling to her ranking of 28 and should be seeded at the next slam.


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