“It’s a very nice feeling. We worked hard to get to this point, finally we made it,” Pennetta said. “In the beginning of the week everyone expected so many things…now we are 3-0 and we can enjoy it.”

Seeds: Andy Roddick, Juan Martin Del Potro, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Fernando Gonzalez, Robin Soderling, Marin Cilic, Tommy Robredo, Tomas Berdych, Mardy Fish, Tommy Haas, Ivo Karlovic, Viktor Troicki, Igor Andreev, Dmitry Tursunov, Dudi Sela, Sam Querrey

“I don’t know about you, but 75,000 is a lot of money to me,” said Williams on being fined for potentially skipping Madrid. “I’m redecorating a house and $75,000 is my furniture budget…I can’t just go writing cheques for $75,000 in this economy.”

Apparently not expected enough. Although the Russian squad had a better part of a week to train in the conditions, Kuznetsova also complained about the court. Blowing away Schiavone 6-1 in the first, Kuznetsova nonetheless blamed the court and alternating sunny/shady weather after letting the Italian back in the match before losing 1-6, 6-2, 6-3.