Andy Murray Tops Rafael Nadal to Win in Madrid - Mondays with Bob Greene

Mondays with Bob Greene

STARS

Andy Murray beat Rafael Nadal 6-3 6-2 to win the Mutua Madrid Open in Madrid, Spain

Petra Kvitova beat Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-1 6-2 to win the Mutua Madrid Open women’s singles in Madrid, Spain

Hyeon Chung beat Lukas Lacko 6-3 6-1 to win the Busan Open in Busan, South Korea

Danka Kovinic beat Margarita Gasparyan 7-5 6-3 to win the Empire Slovak Open 2015 in Trnava, Slovakia

Carina Witthoeft beat Tatjana Maria 7-5 6-1 to win the Open GDF GUEZ de Cagnes-sur-Mer Alpes-Martimes in Cagnes-Sur-Mer, France

Andy Murray beat Philipp Kohlschreiber 7-6 (4) 5-7 7-6 (4) to win the rain-delayed BMW Open by FWU AG in Munich, Germany

SAYING

“For me it was obviously a very tough match, you know winning against Rafa on clay is extremely difficult, one of the hardest things in tennis. From my side it was a very good performance. I’m sure Rafa feels he could have played much better. But from my side, I couldn’t have done much more.” – Andy Murray, after beating Rafael Nadal to win the men’s singles in Madrid, Spain.

“This wasn’t the game I wanted to play, but I tried to the very end. Still, it was a very important and positive week for me. I recovered sensations that I hadn’t felt in a long time.” – Rafael Nadal.

“I think I’m probably the kind of person who likes to play these kinds of big matches, to play the finals, the big tournaments, the Grand Slams, playing on the big stadiums. Finals are why we’re all playing tennis. We want to win the big tournaments and see these beautiful trophies. So that’s probably why it’s more motivation for me when I’m playing finals.” – Petra Kvitova, after winning the women’s singles at Madrid, Spain.

“I guess that’s why you play the game, to play on these big courts against these big players. He’s the greatest of all‑time, no doubt.” – Nick Kyrgios, after upsetting Roger Federer 6-7 (2) 7-6 (5) 7-6 (12) at the Madrid Open.

“He likes the big stage. He’s got nothing to lose, no fear, and he’s got a great game. He can rely on his serve so much. It keeps him in the match regardless of he how he plays from the baseline.” – Roger Federer, following his loss to Nick Kyrgios.

“I’m just exhausted today. This has been a rough week for me. It’s good to be really exhausted now going into another tournament and then getting ready for Roland Garros. So this is all great preparation that I actually really, really needed, something to push me to the wall and to the limit.” – Serena Williams, after losing 6-2 6-3 to Petra Kvitova in the Madrid Open semifinals.

“She played very well at that moment and really on the last match point the difference between winning or losing was less than a centimeter. I wouldn’t say I let myself down, just sometimes it doesn’t go your way.” – Victoria Azarenka, after narrowly losing to Serena Williams in Madrid.

STOP AT THE TOP

Marriage has proven to be a boon for Andy Murray. Since marrying long-time girlfriend Kim Sears on April 11, Murray has been perfect, posting a 9-0 match record and winning two straight clay court titles, including the Madrid Masters where he upset home favorite Rafael Nadal 6-3 6-2 in the final. “To win against Rafa on clay in a final in Spain is an extremely difficult thing to do, and I’m proud that I’ve managed to do that,” Murray said. Nadal was seeking his third straight triumph in the Spanish capital. Until now, Murray had never beaten Nadal on clay in their first six meetings. But the Scot won the first three games to begin and match and grabbed a 4-0 lead in the second set. Murray closed out the win on his first match point when Nadal sent a weak forehand return into the net. His loss drops Nadal to seventh in the world rankings, the first time the left-handed Spaniard has been outside the Top 5 since May 2005. “Obviously to win a Masters 1000 on clay for me is a step in the right direction,” Murray said. “It’s something I had never done before.”

SPANISH TRIUMPH

Petra Kvitova has proved she is dangerous on other surfaces besides grass. The two-time Wimbledon champion captured her second Madrid Open title, defeating Svetlana Kuznetsova in the final of the clay court tournament. That came a day after Kvitova handed world number one Serena Williams her first loss of the year in the semifinal. “It was an amazing week for me and I am really happy to win for a second time on this beautiful court,” Kvitova told the fans after the match. The Czech left-hander ripped 33 winners in 66 minutes to dominate Kuznetsova, who was hampered by a thigh problem. After dropping her opening service game, Kvitova won nine straight games to grab a 6-1 4-0 lead. Kuznetsova held her last two service games, but it was more just an afterthought, not a threat. Kvitova finished with just 14 unforced errors. “I knew that I had to play aggressively because Svetlana’s a great player on clay, and the last time we played in Paris I lost to her when we played the normal rallies,” Kvitova said. “So I knew that I had to make a lot of winners, and I knew that I had to go for the volley if I got the opportunity. That’s what I was trying to do, and it worked well. I’m glad everything went how I wanted.” Kuznetsova took a medical timeout after losing the opening set and returned to the court with her left thigh strapped. “I am very sorry I couldn’t play a good level of tennis today for you to enjoy, but I hope to return next year and play even better,” Kuznetsova told the spectators in fluent Spanish. The two-time Grand Slam tournament champion took out two other high-ranked Russians en route to the final, Ekaterina Makarova in the first round and Maria Sharapova in the semifinals.

STOPPER

Australian Nick Kyrgios showed the tennis world his upset of Rafael Nadal at Wimbledon last year was just the beginning. The youngster, who turned 20 on April 27, overpowered Roger Federer to stun the Swiss master at the Mutua Madrid Open, 6-7 (2) 7-6 (5) 7-6 (12). “I couldn’t return his first serve,” Federer correctly observed. Kyrgios finished with 22 aces, seven more than Federer. “I’ve been playing well recently on the clay, so I knew I had a good chance to go out there and do well,” Kyrgios said. “I stuck to my game and served well and I got the win.” The top-seeded Federer saved five match points in the third-set tiebreaker while having two of his own annulled by the big-hitting Australian. Kyrgios reached the final at Estoril just a week ago after missing six weeks with an ankle injury. “I’ve been doing it for a long time already and I’m only 20,” Kyrgios said. “I don’t see why there is a reason to be nervous. … When you’re growing up and playing and watching these guys, you want to go out there. That’s one thing I think about every time I step out against one of these guys on a court like that.”

SERENA TRIPS

Serena Williams chalked it up to exhaustion. Petra Kvitova had a lot to do with that. “I’m just exhausted today,” the world’s top-ranked player said after her 27-match unbeaten streak was ended by Kvitova 6-2 6-3 in the Madrid Open semifinals. It was the first loss for Williams since October, and she appeared to be slow around the court against the tall left-handed Czech. Kvitova began the match by breaking the American’s first serve game and never appeared to be in trouble the rest of the way. It was the first time in six career meetings that Kvitova had come out on top. The winner broke serve three times in the first set and found little resistance in the second set. Williams had won Madrid in 2012 and 2013. “I think she just played well today,” Williams said of her conqueror. “I mean she went for broke on every serve and every return. I hit some second serves which she just hit for winners. I was very slow off the mark. On my serve I wasn’t moving as well as I should have. I wasn’t in it. This wasn’t Serena today.”

SHARAPOVA SLIPS

The Mutua Madrid Open final seemed to be set for another Serena Williams-Maria Sharapova battle. Petra Kvitova and Svetlana Kuznetsova had other ideas. Kvitova stunned Williams and Kuznetsova shocked Sharapova in the semifinals, 6-2 6-4. “I felt my shots were a little too flat and right in her striking zone,” Sharapova said after losing. “She was able to push me back, and when we got into a rally she was the one that found the right ball to be the more aggressive player.” Kuznetsova won the US Open in 2004 and Roland Garros in 2009, but she has struggled in recent years and is currently ranked in the top 30 in the world. “I feel very happy, it was a very tough match,” Kuznetsova said after besting her fellow Russian Fed Cup member. “I was playing good, serving good. Everything was working well.” It was only Kuznetsova’s second win in her last 12 encounters with players ranked in the Top 3, and her first victory over Sharapova in seven years.

SURGERY FOR RAONIC

Canada’s Milos Raonic is undergoing foot surgery, the reason he pulled out of this week’s Italian Open. “I will be undergoing surgery to repair a nerve in my right foot,” Raonic tweeted after losing to Andy Murray in the Madrid Open quarterfinals. “I withdrew from Rome to be ready to compete as soon as possible.” Raonic suffered the injury at the Monte Carlo Masters last month where he retired from his quarterfinal match against Tomas Berdych.

SQUEEKER FOR MURRAY

With his wedding band tied to his shoelaces, Andy Murray captured the rain-delayed Munich Open for his first title since getting married. He also became the first British man to win a clay court title since 1976 when he edged Germany’s Philipp Kohlschreiber 7-6 (4) 5-7 7-6 (4). It was Murray’s 32^nd career title. “This was my first final on clay and to come out and play a match like that, I am very pleased to have won,” Murray said. “I had very few chances when I was returning. I was lucky to get a couple of good shots when I was behind in the tiebreak and hang on in the end.”

STREAKIN’

Kei Nishikori isn’t the only winning player from Asia on the ATP World Tour. Korea’s Hyeon Chung continued his winning ways by capturing the Busan Open, a USD $100,000 South Korean ATP Challenger event. Chung stopped Slovakia’s Lukas Lacko in the final, 6-3 6-1, to capture his second straight tournament. The 18-year-old right-hander captured a clay-court Challenger event in Savannah, Georgia, USA, last month. The best player to emerge from Korea since Hyung-Taik Lee, Chung had already broken into the Top 100 before his latest triumph. Chung is a sturdy 6-footer with a punishing groundstroke game, firing flat, laser-like forehands and backhands from the baseline. He qualified for the main draw at the Miami Open in March and won a round before falling to highly-ranked Tomas Berdych 6-3 6-4. “I was definitely under stress, but I was trying to do my best,” Chung said of his first encounter with a Top 10 player. “I felt a little bit like I was playing inside the TV, like I was on the outside looking in.”

SEVERE MELTDOWN

Victoria Azarenka should have won – but she didn’t. The former world number one blew three match points against Serena Williams before losing 7-6 (5) 3-6 7-6 (1) in a third-round Madrid Open match. “It just happens,” Azarenka said after serving three consecutive double faults to lose serve when she was serving for the match. “It wasn’t just the serve.” Because of injuries, Azarenka has slipped to 31^st in the world in the WTA rankings. But she has rediscovered her form and gave the current number one player all that the American could handle. Yet Williams rallied from a 5-1 deficit to win the first-set tiebreak 7-5. After dropping the second set, the two fought into a decisive tiebreak. “I could have won, she could have won and I ended up winning,” Williams said. “I don’t know how. Yeah, I feel like it was intense. I don’t feel that there were a lot of long points.”

STANDING TOGETHER

The new teaming of Rohan Bopanna and Florin Mergea proved to be a winning proposition. The two withstood a spirited fightback from Marcin Matkowski and Nenad Zimonjic to win their first ATP World Tour team title in Madrid, saving one match point in their 6-2 6-7 (5) 11-9 (match tiebreak) triumph. “It’s a great title for us, winning on the clay,” Bopanna said. “Especially for me, because it’s my first title on the clay. Playing with a guy like Florin, he’s a good friend and I’ve known him for a long time, so it’s nice to get a title with him.” Mergea said: “We’ve been working really hard and we believe in ourselves. We know what to do on the court to win these matches. Obviously, at some point luck can come into the equation, but we’ve kept our heads down and believed in ourselves.”

SEES PRIME MINISTER

Doubles partners Fabio Fognini and Simone Bolelli had an “unforgettable experience” while preparing the Internazionali BNL d’Italia. They were invited to a private meeting with Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi at Palazzo Chigi, his official residence in Rome. The Italian pair won the Australian Open in January, reached the finals in Indian Wells, California, USA, and Monte Carlo. They are currently ranked number one in the world in the Emirates ATP Doubles Team Rankings. “The Prime Minister messaged us after we won the Australian Open in January and invited us for a meeting,” Fognini said. “We were glad we could meet today. We had a great chat and Palazzo Chigi is an amazing building.” Bolelli added: “It was an honor to meet the Prime Minister. He was very nice to us and it was really an unforgettable experience.”

SHARED PERFORMANCES

Busan: Sanchai Ratiwatana and Sonchat Ratiwatana beat Ji Sung Nam and Min-Kyu Song 7-6 (2) 3-6 10-7 (match tiebreak)

Cagnes-Sur-Mer: Johanna Konta and Laura Thorpe beat Jocelyn Rae and Anna Smith 1-6 6-4 10-5 (match tiebreak)

Madrid (men): Rohan Bopanna and Florin Mergea beat Marcin Matkowski and Nenad Zimonjic 6-2 6-7 (5) 11-9 (match tiebreak)

Madrid (women): Casey Dellacqua and Yaroslava Shvedova beat Garbiñe Muguruza and Carla Suárez Navarro 6-3 6-7 (4) 10-5 (match tiebreak)

Munich: Alexander Peya and Bruno Soares beat Mischa Zverev and Alexander Zverev 4-6 6-1 10-5 (match tiebreak)

Trnava: Yuliya Beygelzimer and Margarita Gasparyan beat Aleksandra Krunic and Petra Martic 6-3 6-2

SURFING

Rome: www.internazionalibnlditalia.com/

Bordeaux: www.atp-primrosebordeaux.com/

Nice: www.opennicecotedazur.com/

Geneva: www.atpworldtour.com/Tennis/Tournaments/Geneva.aspx