Haas Wins, Safin Out; Tuesday Schedule at ATP Madrid

Poor Safin, the fall continues. 1st round with Tsonga will always be tough for him. He is just hanging in there right now. Wimbledon results will see him tumbling down the ranking. I wish him well.

Is this year his last?

May 11th, 2009 at 10:38 pm

I think Safin is not playing for ranking now, his is just saying his goodbye and hoping to play some good tennis before he go.

Yes this year is his last, and his character will be missed by many.

May 11th, 2009 at 11:12 pm

For Von, an article on Roddick:

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/172585-madrid-masters-how-long-will-andy-roddick-bait-the-madrid-clay

May 12th, 2009 at 1:15 am

And here’s another one, Von, in which the writer predicts Roddick the reach the semis at Madrid.

http://tennisworld.typepad.com/thewrap/2009/05/musing-on-madrid.html

May 12th, 2009 at 1:19 am

Jane, I don’t know what Steve Tignor is thinking but there is no way Roddick is making the semis in Madrid. Who’s going to beat Federer? Certainly not Roddick. Not on clay. Not a chance. I expect him to lose to Davydenko.

May 12th, 2009 at 1:51 am

Safin did not seem to be on the match at all. I think he just play along what to be his last year, he was not as determined as 3-4 years ago, especially in the match with Fed at Semi of the AO 2005. Really sorry to miss him.

May 12th, 2009 at 2:04 am

I guess anything can happen in a match. However, the top 4 players have been playing on clay and getting their clay court game together. Why would Andy who has done nothing to improve his game—has he even played a clay court match this year?, all of a sudden jump onto a clay court and start winning.

Safin said that this would be his last year. It is really tough to play your best when you are thinking of other things. The same thing happened to Kim, of course she was getting married but she tried to do the last year thing but she could not get through it. It wasn’t too much fun watching her play either. Fortunately she quit early.

May 12th, 2009 at 5:56 am

Just to be nitpicky… Tommy Haas is not a former Number 1. He is a former Number 2.

May 12th, 2009 at 7:43 am

Well, I assume Tignor has his reasons: for one, he might think that Roddick will fare well at the high altitude and the ball plays quicker there. For another, he may be thinking about Roddick’s improved fitness and that this may serve him well on a surface that rewards fitness. Finally, he may be thinking back to Roddick’s surprise run to the semis in Rome last year, or to his 5 set clay court match against Ferrer in Davis Cup. He might also be considering Andy’s H2H with Davydenko, which is 5-1 (and remember that Blake just beat Davy on clay), and Tignor may finally be thinking about Federer’s form, or lack thereof.

This is all speculation, but I don’t think it’s out-of-this-world for Tignor to make this call. Perhaps, yes, it is the less predictable pick, but we shouldn’t forget that Roddick is number 6 in the world for a reason.

Having said all this Roddick will have to play close to his best to get past first Haas then likely Davy. Fed caught a break, imo, as Andreev pulled out by the looks of it so he has a relatively easy path to the quarters.

May 12th, 2009 at 10:26 am

Former No.1 Tommy Haas? Really? I don’t think so. I know he reached number 2, but when did he reach number 1?

May 12th, 2009 at 10:35 am

Haas was always former #2. Tennis-X just erred, but it’s funny as they *usually* mention that he’s been #2 before. I was surprised that he had to qualify, it makes me realize how little I’ve noticed of him for the past 2 or so years…

Anyway sad about Safin – is he doing any doubles? It’s really hard to believe that AO ’05 is his *last* title, how amazing yet sad. It’s almost as if after that title, he “lost” incentive to keep it up and going… although with retirement, hopefully he’ll no longer have major leg/knee pain.

I’m glad Roddick and Fish are playing Madrid – are they doubling as well, since surely they know that neither has a chance to win. Then again I wouldn’t have thought of James Blake as finalist for Estoril, shame that he had to play twice on the same day. Just goes to show how valuable that extra rest can be for any player (Fed/Murray at US Open ’08, anyone??).

May 12th, 2009 at 12:23 pm

jane:

Thanks for those links. I liked the posts on Bleachereport — there were some positive Roddick fans; in comparison to here where I’m practically the only one fighting for survival. Ha, ha. I’m tempted to join them. It gets boring being the only one here trying to blend in.

I think Tignor has high hopes but realistically, Roddick has not played for close to two months. If you remember our discussion, I stated he’s match deprived. I could see him grooving back into form on hard court or grass, but not clay. He has a pretty tough path to the QFs while Fed has no one who could challenge him. Roddick has Haas, who’s always a spoiler and Davydenko, who’s so good on clay. Oh well, c’est la vie! The thing with these reporters, they know Roddick is news and, regardles of his ranking, be it No. 8, 20 or 30, on a blog they can get hits, so they’ll write, even if it’s far removed from reality.

May 12th, 2009 at 12:24 pm

Von, after the Tignor article there are defenders of Tignor’s pick (i.e., Roddick fans) as well. I can see it as a long shot, but as I said above, there are arguable reasons for his pick. That said, I agree with you that Andy has a much tougher path to the quarters than Federer.

Did you notice that Fish and Delpo are playing doubles? They beat caly courters Almagro and Ferrer today, easily.

May 12th, 2009 at 12:28 pm

Recovery time is very important, but there are some players who get that adrenalin rush and can’t settle down for a pause to refresh. They are the ones who thrive best with the least rest. It’s one of the reasons I don’t understand the concern by some fans when Nadal doesn’t have enough recovery time because he’s got excess energy, so much so he can’t sit still even between breaks, where we see his leg jumping while sitting down. On the other hand, there are those who can’t function unless they have some extra time ,and if they don’t, they fall apart. I suppose it’s what makes the sport so interesting.

I believe Blake expended too much time fighting off Davydenko and had nothing left after the second set to beat Montanes. I think these are instances where the tournament directors could use some commonsense and schedule the finals at a later time — an evening match perhaps.

May 12th, 2009 at 12:32 pm

Jane; “..after the Tignor article there are defenders of Tignor’s pick (i.e., Roddick fans) as well.”

It’s why I said it was nice to see some Roddick fans commenting, unlike here where I’m the lone poster, and all I see is derogogatory nit-picking from some of the posters here whenever anything is written with respect to Andy. I’d like to have some Roddick fans here to discuss him, but sadly there’s none around — it gets lonely, if you can identify with that.

I didn’t know Fish was playing doubles with DelPotro. They could win, because Fish is an excellent doubles player– lucky DelPotro. I wonder why Mardy didn’t team up with Sam — keep it in the family so to speak. LOL.

May 12th, 2009 at 12:40 pm

Margot: The pink panther, ha, ha. You know my views on men wearing these hot colors, I’m a black and white, or all white apparel person for some sports. I think the clothing companies are dressing the guys up like Christmas trees, but the guys have a choice, they could refuse. Sadly, some of the players don’t know to dress properly or match colors. Federer has a fashion consultant and it’s the reason his clothes are of the better quality. I hope the pink shirt does not come with matching wrist-bands and bandana. That would definitely be more that over the top, for my liking.

BTW, do the cricketers still wear all white? My dad played cricket, and I loved to see him and my other cousins in their whites, with their preppy looking cardigan vests. They looked so crisp and fresh — I miss those days. I hope cricket remains stodgy sticking with their all-white attire.

May 12th, 2009 at 12:48 pm

“if you can identify with that.” Sure i can – Tennis X was notoriously Federercentric back in 2006-2007 when I started posting here, and I was fairly lonely in sticking up for other players, be they Djokovic, Roddick, and even Rafa back then. I think zola was around and maybe a couple other Rafa fans, but this place was mainly populated by Fed fans. It started to change only at the beginning of 2008.

I was surprised by the Fish/Delpo combo too, hence I mentioned it.

May 12th, 2009 at 12:49 pm

I began posting in 2008, and at that time, as you can well remember, there were tons of Fed fans, many of whom have left when he began his losing streak, and then I saw more Nadal and Djokovic fans appearing as those players began winning more. Now we have a combination of Fed/Nadal/Djokovic and a handful of Murray fans, but sadly for Roddick, I’m the only one who posts regularly, and TD, who’s not around often. There’s definitely been a shift. The ratio was very lopsided in 2008, but what a difference a year makes.

May 12th, 2009 at 1:14 pm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pz0qwiy92cs

May 12th, 2009 at 2:13 pm

haha – funny sensational safin. “Mr. T” – lol.

May 12th, 2009 at 2:21 pm

Alex Says:

I think Safin is not playing for ranking now, his is just saying his goodbye and hoping to play some good tennis before he go.

Yes this year is his last, and his character will be missed by many.

Yeah, I agree. I don’t expect Safin will do much at the tournaments but I hope he enjoys his last year on tour.

May 12th, 2009 at 2:27 pm

sensationalsafin,

thanks for sharing that awesome find.

May 12th, 2009 at 4:29 pm

von: you’ll be relieved to know cricketers still wear whites. Cricket is a more traditional game, I guess and quinticentially English. I remember telling an American friend that matches could last 5 days. I can still recall her shock/horror!

May 12th, 2009 at 4:59 pm

Hopefully Federer will do to Nadal what Rocky did to Clubber Lang: 3 swift rounds.

May 12th, 2009 at 5:14 pm

margot: “You’ll be relieved to know cricketers still wear whites.”

Well thank God for small mercies! I can’t imagine seeing those guys in pink shirts. My dad, would surely have a fit.

“I remember telling an American friend that matches could last 5 days. I can still recall her shock/horror!”

You gave her a hit over the boundary for four (4). LOL. Cricket is played here in the US, especially in Boston, which has a huge British population, or more correctly, British ancestry, and also in other parts of the US. I lost interest leaving the Mother Country and it’s never been the same. As you can see, tennis has now filled my life with respect to sports.

May 12th, 2009 at 5:17 pm

“Hopefully Federer will do to Nadal what Rocky did to Clubber Lang: 3 swift rounds.”

Hope, is a good thing, but if wishes were hores, beggars would ride. Modern day, they would fly in the Concorde.

May 12th, 2009 at 5:25 pm

“hores” should be “horses”.

May 12th, 2009 at 5:30 pm

To Von:

fed is gonna win madrid and french open…..

May 12th, 2009 at 6:03 pm

Sam; I’ll be happy for him if he wins, especially the FO. He’s been trying for years and have come close, but no cigar. I’m not a Nadal fan, hence, it doesn’t bother me if Nadal loses to Fed. I mentioned before Madrid that Fed has a good chance of winning there due to the high altitude, plus he’s also very rested. Unfortunately, I’m just echoing the thoughts of many of the posters here, even sincere Fed fans who feel Nadal will be the winner, hence my comment concerning hope.

May 12th, 2009 at 7:09 pm

Von Says:
“hores” should be “horses”.

http://i37.tinypic.com/17bsp4.jpg

May 12th, 2009 at 7:32 pm

I know phoneticlly how that sounds, and it’s the reason why I corrected it — looks like a Freudian slip, right? Thanks for the laughs. LOL.

May 12th, 2009 at 7:43 pm

The funniest part is that if wishes were hores beggars would ‘ride’ LOL.

May 12th, 2009 at 7:49 pm

Oh boy! Murray match today was very tight. The tie break, I could only follow the live score. Next up Robredo, on paper seem easy, robredo has always been easy picking with the top guys, but with murray and clay – one can never tell. All in all a good straight set win.

Another good win will improve his confidence here – he needs that. By the way, Murray has always struggled on his early round matches. I heard him say that it was difficult to return serve, the ball is flying. Looks like advantage big servers here. Talking about big hitters, what happened to Tsonga? Somebody else is struggling on clay, c’mon Tsonga FO needs you. Congratulations Lubicic who has been looking very good recently.

And my buddy federer, good 1st match. He said his serve was feeling good, he got few aces – he is happy, let’s hope the good serving continues.

May 12th, 2009 at 7:52 pm

Funny comic NachoF – thanks for the humour!

May 12th, 2009 at 7:54 pm

“The funniest part is that if wishes were hores beggars would ‘ride’ LOL.”

Both ways they come out riding. LOL. You can’t believe how much I’m laughing.

May 12th, 2009 at 8:01 pm

No one will ever beat Rafa Nadal on the clay courts of Roland Garros.

May 12th, 2009 at 11:17 pm

I’m happy with Ljubicic win over Tsonga. Great. I was hoping him to be able to beat Tsonga at AO, then against Murray at IW.
Good to see he is back again with good win. Hope he can get to QF or Semi here in Madrid.

May 13th, 2009 at 5:26 am

What time is match Roddick vs. Haas??

May 13th, 2009 at 7:23 am