Rafael Nadal Continues His Clay Court Dominance - Mondays with Bob Greene

Mondays with Bob Greene

STARS

Rafael Nadal beat Dominic Thiem 7-6 (8) 6-4 to win the Mutua Madrid Open men’s singles in Madrid, Spain

Simona Halep beat Kristina Mladenovic 7-5 6-7 (5) 6-2 to win the Mutua Madrid Open women’s singles in Madrid, Spain

Frances Tiafoe beat Jeremy Chardy 6-3 4-6 7-6 (5) to win the Open du Pay d’Aix in Aix en Provence, France

Beatriz Haddad Maia beat Jil Teichmann 6-3 6-3 to win the Open de Cagnes-Sur-Mer Alpes-Maritime in Cagnes -Sur-Mer, France

Thomas Fabbiano beat Soon Woo Kwon 1-6 6-4 6-3 to win the Fila Seoul Open Challenger in Seoul, South Korea

SAYING

“Today is a day to be satisfied, to be happy and to have this trophy.” – Rafael Nadal, after defeating Dominic Thiem and winning the Mutua Madrid Open.

“Sometimes against the best players in the world, you even lose when you play well. That’s the thing in tennis: there’s only one winner.” – Dominic Thiem.

“I feel that actually I have the game to win big tournaments. I have just to be consistent mentally. I started pretty bad this year. Now I’m back with the confidence.” – Simona Halep, after successfully defending her Mutua Madrid Open title.

“I tried to fight over the pain, continue to enjoy and fight till the end, give everything I had. We had an amazing final, and I don’t want to say my lower back was the reason why I couldn’t win that match.” – Kristina Mladenovic, after losing to Simona Halep.

“I was actually quite inspired before the match because I had a lot of players coming up to me privately wishing me good luck, players I don’t normally speak to, getting a lot of texts from people in the tennis world that were just rooting for me. So I wanted to do it for myself, but also all these people.” – Eugenie Bouchard, on wanting to beat Maria Sharapova in their Madrid meeting, which she did. Bouchard has been an outspoken critic of Sharapova receiving wild card entries into tournaments.

“My tennis speaks for itself, and that’s what I focus on.” – Maria Sharapova.

“Rafa was obviously a better player today. He deserved to win. He was controlling the game from beginning to the end. His quality was very high and he managed to do whatever he wanted.” – Novak Djokovic, following his Madrid semifinal loss to Rafael Nadal.

“Obviously, he didn’t play very good today. That was very obvious. I have noticed it from the beginning.” – Borna Coric, after beating top-ranked Andy Murray.

“Most things weren’t working particularly well. I started the match OK, but when I started to get behind I didn’t find any way to improve my game or to make it more difficult for him. I just kind of let the same things keep happening, making mistakes very early in a lot of the rallies.” – Andy Murray.

“I’m a big competitor. What you work for for so many hours every single day is to be on the winning end of matches. Of course I’m disappointed. That’s what’s going to make me a better player. That’s what’s going to win me more tournaments and more Grand Slams.’” – Maria Sharapova, after losing to Eugenie Bouchard in Madrid.

“I have already answered that at least a million times. I understand why it is interesting and I get it. The curiosity is not lost on me so I don’t mind telling the story.” – Tennys Sandgren, on answering questions about being “Tennys from Tennessee playing tennis.”

SUPREME ON CLAY

Rafael Nadal strengthened his position as French Open favorite when he captured the Mutua Madrid Open, his third clay-court title in four weeks. “This is a very emotional period of the season,” Nadal said after stopping Dominic Thiem to win his fifth Madrid crown and a record-breaking 30^th ATP 1000 title. “I really enjoy these tournaments. I just try to go for all of them. I try to compete. I did well in Monte Carlo and Barcelona, and also here. I hope to do the same in Rome.” Playing in his first ATP 1000 final, Thiem gave Nadal a lot of problems, but the 30-year-old Spaniard solved them all. Thiem dictated play from the middle of the court, keeping Nadal on the run. But the Spaniard elevated his defense to level the first set at 3-3. Then, with his forehand smoking strokes deep to the baseline, Nadal eventual capitalized on Thiem’s errors and closed out the tiebreak 10-8. Nadal took the lead early in the second set and beat back every chance by his Austrian opponent to get back into the match. “I gave everything that I could,” Thiem said. “But it was a final of a Masters 1000, my first one, against the best player on this surface ever.”

SIMONA TRIUMPHANT

It took three sets before Simona Halep overcame an injured but determined Kristina Mladenovic and successfully defended her Mutua Madrid Open title. I feel great that I could defend this title,” the third-seeded Romanian said. “It means a lot because it’s very big and gives me confidence for the bigger tournaments.” The first woman to reach the Madrid final three times, Halep joins Serena Williams (2012-2013) as the only ones to win the crown in consecutive years. Visibly hampered by a lower back injury, Mladenovic grabbed a 5-3 opening set lead, only to have Halep win the next four games. Mladenovic took the second-set tiebreak 7-5 before Halep dominated the decisive set to win the crown. “I just tried to stay positive and just playing till the end of the match, till the last point,” Halep said. “I did it well.” It was Halep’s 22^nd clay court win in 25 matches. Despite visibly wincing after every few points, Mladenovic refused to take anything away from Halep’s performance. “I had some tensions, some pain here and there,” she said. “I was trying not to show anything, not to think about it. I tried to fight over it, continue to enjoy and fight till the end, give everything I had.”

SHOCKED

The appearance of Ilie Nastase during the women’s final ceremonies at the Mutua Madrid Open was “irresponsible and unacceptable,” according to the WTA. Nastase is serving a provisional suspension by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) after his foul-mouthed outburst during last month’s Fed Cup playoff between Romania and Great Britain. Nastase began with a derogatory remark about Serena Williams’ unborn child. Then he made rude remarks to two members of Great Britain’s Fed Cup team and the umpire. But he showed up on court at Madrid after his countrywoman Simona Halep successfully defended her title. “The only shadow cast on the day was Mr. Nastase’s invitation to participate in the award ceremony,” said WTA chief executive Steve Simon. “He had no place on court. He is currently under a provisional suspension by the ITF for his prior offensive actions and we revoked his credential privileges at WTA events while the investigation is being completed. It was both irresponsible and unacceptable of the Madrid Open to bestow him an official role.”

STREAKING TIAFOE

Jeremy Chardy was in a position to serve out a victory when American Frances Tiafoe ripped off the final five points of the match to come from behind and capture a clay-court Challenger tournament. The 19-year-old Tiafoe broke Chardy twice to earn the opening set, but the Frenchman won the second to send the match into a decisive third set. Tiafoe had two match points on Chardy’s serve, but the third-seeded Frenchman held and the two battled into a tiebreak. Chardy jumped out front 5-2 and had two serves coming. But Tiafoe won the next five points to earn his second Challenger title of the season, earlier winning in Sarasota, Florida, USA. The win will send Tiafoe’s ranking into the top 70 in the world for the first time.

SICK BAY

Citing pain in his right wrist, Kei Nishikori withdrew from his Mutua Madrid Open quarterfinal, giving Novak Djokovic a spot in the semifinals. “I think it’s not 100 percent,” Nishikori said of his wrist. “I don’t want to risk it too much today. I want to fight again in every match. It’s been taking a long time since Miami, so I don’t want to go too hard on my wrist.”

STRUGGLING STILL

Borna Coric may be called a “lucky loser,” but he was definitely a winner against top-ranked Andy Murray. Coric lost in the qualifying for the Mutua Madrid Open, but gained a berth in the main draw when Richard Gasquet withdrew with a back injury – consequently the label “lucky loser.” Against Murray, however, Coric was dominant, handing the tournament’s top seed a 6-3 6-3 third-round defeat. It was Murray’s fifth loss this year against only one tournament title. “It’s a huge win, for sure,” said Coric, who became the first lucky loser to reach the quarterfinals in Madrid. “It’s going to mean to me a lot.”

STOPPED

Eugenie Bouchard has been in the news recently not for winning tennis matches but for calling Maria Sharapova a cheat and calling for the Russian to be banned for life for doping. So, when they met in the Madrid Open, it was felt it was Sharapova’s chance for a payback. Wrong. The Canadian backed up her outspoken criticism by handing Sharapova a 7-5 2-6 6-4 second-round defeat. “As soon as I stepped on the court I really just wanted to make it about tennis,” Bouchard said. “We both did that. We just battled our hearts out.” Several players, including Bouchard, believe Sharapova, who served a 15-month suspension for taking a banned substance, should go through qualifying and work her way back from the bottom instead of receiving wild card entries into main draws. Madrid was Sharapova’s second tournament since her ban, getting wild card entries into both. “Each point was a battle from the first point,” Bouchard said of her win. “It was really a fight. I’m just proud that I came out stronger in the end and held it together in the third set.” Sharapova said she needs to regain the confidence for critical points in a match. “There’s no way to train but be a part of it,” the Russian said.

SUPPORT NEW FORMAT

Three of the top men – Andy Murray, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic – like the new World Cup-style tennis tournament suggested by Spanish soccer star Gerard Pique. Chris Kermode, ATP president, and others met with Pique, who hopes to create a 16-team knockout competition that would take place in one location over a 10-day period. The Davis Cup is an international team competition, but it currently is spread over four weekends in February, April, September and November. While all three have led their countries to Davis Cup titles, Murray, Nadal and Djokovic have pulled out of matches to target other objectives. “I don’t know what the future of Davis Cup will look like, but there is definitely something radically that has to change,” Djokovic said. But Nadal believes Pique’s plans aren’t necessarily bad news for Davis Cup. “It’s not in opposition to the Davis cup, which is an important competition which I’ve had the luck to compete in for many years,” Nadal said. Murray called Pique’s idea “really exciting.” The world’s top-ranked player said: “If it comes off, I think it would be a really good thing for tennis.”

SPOT ASSURED

Tennys Sandgren will be playing in a Grand Slam tournament main draw for the first time at this year’s French Open. The 25-year-old Sandgren topped the U.S. Tennis Association’s Roland Garros Wild Card Challenge by winning a USTA Pro Circuit Challenger in Savannah, Georgia, USA, two weeks after reaching the final of an ATP Challenger in Sarasota, Florida, USA. “I am still kind of trying to soak it in,” Sandgren said. “It’s been something that’s been on my mind. I knew I could do this and make this jump. I knew it was definitely possible and within my capabilities.” After winning Savannah, Sandgren reached a career-high ranking of 114^th in the world. A native of Tennessee, Sandgren has tried to qualify for the main draw of a Grand Slam tournament 12 times, compiling a 3-12 record.

SHARED PERFORMANCES

Aix en Provence: Wesley Koolhof and Matwe Middelkoop beat Andre Begemann and Jeremy Chardy 2-6 6-4 16-14 (match tiebreak)

Cagnes-Sur-Mer: Chang Kai-Chen and Hsieh Su-Wei beat Raluca Olaru and Renata Voracova 7-5 6-1

Madrid (men): Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo beat Nicolas Mahut and Edouard Roger-Vasselin 7-5 6-3

Madrid (women): Chan Yung-Jan and Martina Hingis beat Timea Babos and Andrea Hlavackova 6-4 6-3

Seoul: Hsieh Cheng-Peng and Peng Hsien-Yin beat Thomas Fabbiano and Dudi Sela 5-1, retired

SURFING

Rome: www.internazionalibnlditalia.com/

Busan: www.busanopen.org/new/main.html

Bordeaux: www.tournoi-primrosebordeaux.com/

Trnava: www.empireslovakopen.sk

Geneva: http://http//banqueericsturdzagenevaopen.com/