It was great to see Roger Federer finally win a tournament. Its been a very long wait for his fans. Federer’s victory in some ways reminds me of his Hamburg victory over Nadal years back when just like this time, he put an end to an amazing run by Nadal. However, Nadal would go on to successfully defend his title at Roland Garros. I am very cautious in the run-up to Roland Garros and will not read too much into the Federer victory. Nadal has probably played more games and more tournaments than anyone else over the claycourt season. He has had a punishing schedule with several titles to defend. While Federer has shown glimpses of the player who dominated the men’s game for some years, he still has to work on the unforced errors which are still very high, given the very high standard he set some years ago. When Federer is serving well, its usually a good sign. The Madrid claycourts are apparently the fastest of the claycourts and this suited Federer’s game well. The French Open will be a different proposition. If Federer can continue serving well, keep the unforced errors down and play aggressively, maybe things will be different. Federer needs to build on this victory going forward. After struggling so much against the top 4 players this season, maybe this victory will mark a change in fortunes for him.
After a 4 hour classical match against Novak Djokovic, I was doubtful whether Rafael Nadal would still have enough left in the tank to go all the way.Djokovic is one the players I believe will trouble Nadal most on clay together with Murray. I believed that Murray and Djokovic are two players who have figured out Nadal’s claycourt game and can match him shot for shot. Of the two I find Djokovic more aggressive while Murray usually starts off more passively. They have improved incredibly in terms of fitness. However, 5 sets at Roland Garros is going to be a differrent level. Murray and Djokovic have improved vastly on clay and are like Nadal, are very close to becoming to becoming complete players. Djokovic had his chances against Nadal and played his heart out. I actually expected him to win and his effort would have been enough to beat any other player on the day. Unfortunately he happened to be playing Nadal who is most dominant player I have ever seen on clay.
I was disappointed by Juan Martin Del Potro’s effort against Federer. After Del Potro had overcome Murray I expected a lot more from him. He still needs to figure out Federer and improve on movement around the court. Federer strikes the ball very early, on the rise, and this does not suit Del Potro who takes his time before striking the ball. Given that Del Potro is still on 20, there is going to be a lot coming from this guy in future. Given his height I think he can still do more to improve on the serve. He should be getting more cheap points on the serve.
Tags: Andy Murray, Madrid masters, Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer
