Tennis News

Just a few short days after claiming his first clay court title on the ATP World Tour, Andy Murray will come up against the same player he defeated to reach that accomplishment. The Briton will come up against Germany’s Philipp Kohlschreiber, whom he has met on four previous occasions, including twice this season already. Murray leads the head-to-head series 3-1.

The top seed at the BMW Open by FWU AG overcame a Saturday where he was forced to contest two consecutive matches and a Sunday that was washed away by a rain delay to win a grueling three set battle against Kohlschreiber to win the title. He fired 17 aces to win the match 7-6(4), 5-7, 7-6(4).

“He served unbelievably well. I had very few chances when I was returning. We may even play one another in Madrid, in a few days’ time [this week]. Philipp is a superb competitor and fought right to the end. It is nice to have won my first clay title and I hope to win another one soon.

The German was unable to earn the victory against the Scot one home soil but he will look to avenge it when they meet in Madrid.

“It was a great atmosphere and a great crowd,” Kohlschreiber told ATPWorldTour.com. “We both gave everything. It was so close, but at the end there has to be one winner. Unfortunately, for me, it was Andy. It was a fantastic game.”

This is just the fifth time these two competitors will cross paths on the tour, and will not be an easy contest for the British No. 1. He has been dealt no favours against his German adversary, who holds a win over Murray back in 2010 on this same surface. The two played an intense three set match just a few days ago and while Murray won the encounter to claim his first clay court title, it could have easily gone the other way.

The Mutua Madrid Open continues to produce some remarkable matches early on this week in the draw, both for the men and the ladies, and the latest is no exception. 17-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer will begin his clay court campaign in Spain against Aussie youngster and rising star Nick Kyrgios. It will mark the first time that the two competitors will cross paths on the ATP World Tour and could make for an exciting affair on Wednesday evening.

Just last week, the world No. 2 won his third title of the season following a straight sets victory against Pablo Cuevas at the inaugural TEB BNP Paribas Istanbul Open. Federer stormed through the firsts set in 33 minutes but was slowed in the second set, where he fended off set point and required five match points to down the Uruguayan. In the end, he handed Cuevas his first defeat in an ATP World Tour final. It was also Federer’s 85th title overall in his career.

Federer will come up against Kyrgios, who defeated Daniel Gimeno-Traver on Tuesday afternoon in straight sets. The Australian native struck 10 aces, won 87% of his first service points and saved both the break points he faced during the match to earn the 6-2, 6-3 win in 61 minutes.

Given that Kyrgios has defeated Rafael Nadal at Wimbledon last season, there is a possibility that he can overcome Federer when he takes on the role of the underdog with nothing to lose again. The Australian Davis Cup coach, Wally Masur, seems to agree with that sentiment.

“I think Nick would really fire up and enjoy that. Probably that type of a match is where you’re really going to see the best of Nick, because he’s the underdog,” he told The Sydney Morning Herald. “I think he really enjoys that challenge of testing himself against those better players.”

A blockbuster match-up worthy of a semi-final or final spot at any Premier event is set to grace the third round of the Mutua Madrid Open on Wednesday, as world No. 1 Serena Williams and Victoria Azarenka get set to cross paths once again on the WTA Tour. Williams leads the head-to-head series 14-3, including a recent win at the start of the season in Brisbane.

Up against another former rival in Sloane Stephens, it appeared as though the second round match would be a tough competitive affair for Williams. However, after a close opening set, the world No. 1 breezed through the second frame to hand Stephens a 6-4, 6-0 thrashing on Tuesday. Williams only managed 5 winners to 12 unforced errors in the opening set but that was clearly due to the windy conditions. Once she adjusted in the second set, she ran away with the contest.

“She’s such a tough player – I’ve never won a 6-0 set against her before, and I don’t think I can ever do that again!” Williams said. “But today I thought to myself, ‘Wow, this is one of the reasons I love this surface.’ It just gives you so many chances to get in the point and play yourself into the match.

Williams will next encounter Azarenka, who needed to win just two more games than Williams to earn her spot in the third round. She defeated Ajla Tomljanovic in straight sets 6-3, 6-3 in a match where she struck five aces, won 74% of her first service points and saved two break points to earn the victory in 90 minutes.

Williams leads Azarenka in their head-to-head series, 14-3, including the most recent victory at the start of the season in Brisbane. However, the pair split four meetings last year, Azarenka winning at Doha and Cincinnati and Williams at Rome and the US Open, making this a fantastic, compelling rivalry and a thrilling third round encounter. Azarenka is gradually returning to her 2012-13 form but she will have her work cut out for her to halt the incredible 25-match win streak that her upcoming opponent embarked on starting at the end of last season.

One of the top seeds at the 2015 Madrid Masters event is its defending champion Rafael Nadal, who will look to overcome a turbulent first quarter of the season to complete a successful title defence campaign in his home country of Spain. He will begin his week in the second round, where he will contest a intriguing match-up against Steve Johnson for the first time on the ATP World Tour.

The clay-court king has suffered some unexpected losses on the red clay this season. While Nadal holds 329 clay court wins to just 27 losses in his career, he has already compiled three losses so far this season on clay, two of which came against Fabio Fognini. He has only won 1 of four clay court tournaments this season on his beloved surface and is faced with the issue of confidence in himself and his abilities following another injury layoff.

Most recently, Nadal lost his third round match in Barcelona to Fabio Fognini in straight sets. It was surprising, given that took on his longtime rival Novak Djokovic in an entertaining semi-final battle the previous week in Monte Carlo, and while he succumbed to the in-form Djokovic 6-3, 6-3, it was a far more competitive battle than the scoreline suggests. Overall, while he was pushed to three sets against the likes of John Isner, Nadal finds solace in the fact that he was able to pull through various obstacles en route to the final four of the tournament.

Nadal’s first opponent this year in Madrid is Steve Johnson, who reached the second round of the tournament with a three-set effort against Colombian Alejandro Gonzalez. The American rallied from a set down, struck 11 aces, won 77% of his first service points and saved five break points to close out the match 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(4) in two hours and 19 minutes.

This will mark the first meeting on the tour between Rafael Nadal and Steve Johnson. Nadal will be highly motivated to work his way out of the recent slump and an impressive showing against the American is exactly what he will be looking to achieve.

Australian Open champion Stan Wawrinka will attempt to alter his misfortunes on clay this season, as he is scheduled to face Joao Sousa in his opening match at the Madrid Masters. It will mark just the second time the two Europeans will meet on the World Tour following their first encounter last year at Wimbledon. Wawrinka leads the head-to-head series 1-0.

Following a turbulent first quarter of the season that included a first round loss at Indian Wells, a second round loss in Miami, a failed title defence bid in Australia and only one title to his name (Rotterdam), Wawrinka began his clay court season hoping for a positive upswing. Instead, he was handed a 6-1, 6-2 thrashing by Grigor Dimitrov that had him unceremoniously eliminated from the second round of the Monte Carlo Masters event.

The Swiss No. 2, who won Monte Carlo last season for his first ever Masters 1000 event, recently came public with personal issues that seemingly impacted his performances, so it will be interesting to see if he has adjusted over the past few weeks.
In a surprisingly swift effort, Joao Sousa downed Polish no. 1 Jerzy Janowicz in straight sets to advance to the second round of the Madrid Masters. The Brazilian withstood 10 aces from Janowicz, won 88% of his first service point and saved all three of the break points he faced to earn the 6-4, 7-5 victory in one hour and 27 minutes.

This is the second time that Sousa and Wawrinka will meet on the ATP World Tour and it could make for a very interesting contest. While Wawrinka won their only meeting on the tour last season at Wimbledon, the Brazilian is a far different competitor on clay. Given that Wawrinka has not been his best recently, this is certainly a match to keep an eye on Tuesday.

Following an impressive couple of days in Madrid, Agnieszka Radwanska and Caroline Wozniacki are through to the third round of the Madrid Open, where they will meet to determine who will advance to the following stage. This marks the 12th time that the two competitors will cross paths on the WTA Tour, with Wozniacki leading the Head to Head series 7-4.

Seeded ninth at this year’s event due to her drop in ranking, Radwanska scored her second straight sets victory in a row this week with a 6-2, 6-1 victory over Casey Dellacqua. The Pole was not broken once in the match and showed positive signs in her service games and movement. She is clearly motivated to perform this week in Madrid and the stats in her second round match make this abundantly evident; Aga won 71% of her first service points, saved all six of the break points she faced and needed only 69 minutes to earn the victory.

Later on in the day, Wozniacki was faced with a tougher match-up against Christina McHale, who forced her to contest a marathon opening set that lasted nearly as long as several other matches that day. She rallied from a break down at 2-4 to snatch the set 7-5. From there she stormed to victory with a bagel set to finish 7-5, 6-0. Unlike the grueling opening set, the second lasted a total of 24 minutes. Overall, she struck five aces, won 74 percent of her first service points and converted six break points to earn the victory.

This is the 12th time that Radwanska and Wozniacki will meet on the professional circuit with the Dane leading the head-to-head series 6-4. After Aga had won three consecutive encounters between 2012-13, Wozniacki won their most recent two meetings, one at the Cincinnati Masters event, while the other was during the Round Robin stage of the WTA Championship. Given that Radwanska is yet to find consistency, it is difficult to pick against Wozniacki.

It has been a turbulent few months for Agnieszka Radwanska. The Polish No. 1 has been on a disappointing trend of surprise losses and upsets that were anything but normal from one of the craftiest players on the tour. This week in Madrid, she was able to regain some of her long-lost fervor and secured her spot in the second round of the tournament. There, she will come up against Aussie Casey Dellacqua, whom she has only faced once previously on the professional tour. Radwanksa leads the head-to-head series 1-0.

Seeded ninth due to her drop in ranking, Radwanska produced a performance that fans had not seen in months, as she stormed to a 6-4, 3-0 lead against Spain’s Lara Arruabarrena before closing out the match six games later.

“Clay is not really my favorite surface, and every win for me is a good win,” Radwanska said. “I know Spaniards are very dangerous on clay, so I knew I’d have to run a lot today. We had a lot of good rallies. I think we had a really good match, so I’m happy I could win in straight sets today.”

Her opponent, Casey Dellacqua also needed just a pair of sets to advance to the second round of the tournament, as she beat Italian wildcard Francesca Shiavone 6-4, 7-6(5) to set up the rematch.
This is just the second time that these two competitors will cross paths on the professional series, with Radwanska leading the head-to-head series 1-0. The Pole’s victory took place during a Wimbledon encounter last season, which does not add much to their upcoming clay-court encounter. While the Pole should find solace in her solid showing on Sunday, she will have to show consistency if she is to advance on a surface that she doesn’t find overly comfortable.