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Mutua Madrid Open Draw and Preview

Ten years of the best tennis doesn’t happen every day, the Mutua Madrid’s slogan states as they ring in their 10th edition this year, proudly hosting both WTA and ATP action from April 29th- May 8th. Roddick landed the No. 12 seed and is set to face a qualifier in the first round.

Leading the draw is the world No. 1 and defending champion Rafael Nadal, followed by Novak Djokovic (2), and the 2009 champion Roger Federer is the No. 3 seed, with Murray and Soderling completing the Top 5 at this ATP World Tour 1000 event. Seeded 12th behind compatriot Mardy Fish (11), Roddick is set to face a qualifier in Round 1, followed by a potential clash with Davis Cup teammate Sam Querrey in the second round. Roddick is in Nadal’s quarter of the draw, with his first potential seeded opponent being Austria’s Jurgen Melzer(8), whom he could battle in Round 3. The quarterfinals is where our American Firepower would meet the King of Clay. In 2009, reached the quarters before falling to the eventual champion, Federer, 5-7, 7-5(5), 1-6.

Manzanares Park’s 10th Anniversary of hosting the Mutua Madrid Open, formerly the Mutua Madrilena Masters Madrid, is creating extra energy and excitement among the players and fans. La Caja Magica, the Magic Box, is unlike any other facility in the world, boasting three retractable roof stadiums, protecting it’s clay courts and ticket holders’ chances of entertainment. The Manolo Santana center court can hold 12,500 people, the Aranxta Sanchez Vicario stadium 2 holds 3,500, and Stadium 3 adds 2,500 more to it’s facility’s capacity, in addition to the outer courts. Last year, the Mutua Madrid Open brought in nearly 185,000 fans, hoping to top that stat this year. With 7.2 Euros and 1000 ATP points to be won, the world’s top men’s and women’s competitors embark on their clay court journey to Roland Garros here.

Stay tuned to AR.com for a match preview and TV Schedule of the action.

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May 1 2011 | Posted in Andy Roddick | Read More »

Kuznetsova out; Stosur, Zvonareva through in Madrid


MADRID (AP)—Dominika Cibulkova knocked Svetlana Kuznetsova out of the Madrid Open on Saturday, defeating the two-time Grand Slam champion 6-3, 6-2 in the first round of the clay-court Masters series event.

The 28th-ranked Slovakian beat Kuznetsova for the third straight time.

Second-seeded Vera Zvonareva overcame a second-set drop-off in her serve to overcome Patty Schnyder 6-2, 1-6, 6-2, while Victoria Azarenka of Belarus blanked Vera Dushevina of Russia 6-0, 6-0.

Fifth-seeded Sam Stosur of Australia rallied to beat Gisela Dulko of Argentina 3-6, 6-2, 6-2.

Other first-round winners included Agnieszka Radwanska, Andrea Petkovic, Petra Kvitova, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Jarmila Gajdosova.



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Garrigues beats Barrois to win Estoril Open


OEIRAS, Portugal (AP)—Anabel Medina Garrigues of Spain defeated Kristina Barrois of Germany 6-1, 6-2 in the rain-delayed women’s final at the Estoril Open on Saturday and Juan Martin del Potro continued his comeback from a wrist injury to gain the men’s title match.
Medina Garrigues captured her 10th WTA crown after rain halted the clay-court match when she was leading 3-2 in the second set.
The break didn’t rattle the 61st-ranked Spaniard, who dropped just seven points on her first serve and broke her opponent six times to capture her ninth clay-court event.
“Anabel plays with such heavy spin and is such a great clay-court player, it was tough for me on every single point,” Barrois said.
Del Potro beat Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay 6-2, 7-6 (6) to reach his second final of the season, against Fernando Verdasco. The Spaniard was a set up and advanced when Milos Raonic of Canada withdrew with a back injury just after the start of the second set.
Del Potro is going for his ninth career title in his first clay-court event of the season after winning in Delray Beach in February in his comeback from wrist surgery last year.
The 2009 U.S. Open champion dropped only six points on his first serve and hit four aces, while Cuevas was unable to claim a single break chance against the fifth-seeded Argentine.
Del Potro broke Cuevas’ serve twice in the first set, but failed on eight break chances in the second as his 65th-ranked opponent took it to a tiebreaker. Del Potro saved a set point before converting his first match point to dispatch Cuevas.
Verdasco’s lone break of the hard-serving Raonic was enough to secure the first set 6-4. The 12th-ranked Verdasco had previously lost to Raonic in the final at San Jose and in Memphis.
Both players were on court for the second time Saturday after rain then darkness had delayed their quarterfinals matches Friday. Verdasco rallied to beat Kevin Anderson of South Africa 6-7 (2), 6-2, 6-3 and Raonic battled another rain delay to secure a 7-6 (4), 4-6, 6-3 win over Gilles Simon of France.
Del Potro, currently No. 46, lost to Verdasco in San Jose when ranked No. 484.



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Clijsters begins training, looks good for French



Kim Clijsters has begun endurance work and appears to be on track to play Roland Garros, just a month after she tore ligaments in her ankle while dancing at her nephew’s wedding, the Belgian press reports. After winning her fourth Grand Slam at the Australian Open, Clijsters made it her goal to try and win the two major titles that have eluded her, Roland Garros and Wimbledon. “It’s about effort, but Kim is where I had expected”, her physical trainer Sam Verslegers said. “This week was mainly endurance training and the ankle has responded well. Next week we’ll begin movements that you need for tennis and if everything goes well by the end of the week she can start tennis training.”

Roland Garros begins on May 22. – Matthew Cronin
 



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Vinci wins Barcelona Open, defeating Hradecka


BARCELONA, Spain (AP)—Roberta Vinci won her second Barcelona Open title in three years by rallying to beat Czech player Lucie Hradecka 4-6, 6-2, 6-2 on Saturday.

The 42nd-ranked Vinci extended her record on the Barcelona clay to 14-1 and made it three straight Italian winners in the Catalan capital after Francesca Schiavone won here last year.

“I love Barcelona—I always play well here in this beautiful city,” Vinci said after earning her fourth career title.

Sixth-seeded Vinci broke six times as unseeded Hradecka was troubled on her serve which provided four aces but also six double faults.

Hradecka hadn’t dropped a set all week in reaching the final in contrast to Vinci, who needed to rally from a first-set deficit for the second straight match to win.



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Davydenko wins as Stepanek retires; will play Mayer


MUNICH (AP)—Former winner Nikolay Davydenko of Russia advanced to the final of the BMW Open when his semifinal opponent Radek Stepanek retired with a hamstring injury.
The seventh-seeded Davydenko, who won the Munich tournament in 2004, led 6-3, 4-0 when the Czech quit. Davydenko had treatment on his foot in the first set.
In the final, Davydenko will play fifth-seeded Florian Mayer, who beat fellow German Philipp Petzschner 6-3, 6-4.
Mayer will be seeking his first ATP Tour title and hoping to become the first German to win the BMW Open since Philipp Kohlschreiber in 2007. He is the highest-ranked German player at No. 35 and advanced to his first final of the year.
In his previous three appearances in Munich, Mayer never got past the first round.
“I think I played a nearly perfect match,” Mayer said after winning against Petzschner for the third time in three matches. Both come from the southern German town of Bayreuth.
Mayer and Davydenko are 2-2 in head-to-head matches.



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Djokovic to play Lopez in Serbia Open final


BELGRADE, Serbia (AP)—Novak Djokovic advanced to the Serbia Open final after receiving a walkover when Janko Tipsarevic withdrew from the all-Serb semifinal match on Saturday because of a thigh injury.

The Australian Open champion will play Feliciano Lopez of Spain on Sunday who beat Filippo Volandri of Italy 7-6 (3), 6-2 in the other semifinal.

“I am so sorry about tonight,” Tipsarevic said. “I am not thinking about upcoming tournaments, I am just sorry that I will not play against Djokovic.”

He added that he “had nothing to lose in that match.”

Lopez and Volandri broke each other twice in the first set—ending in a tiebreaker.

Lopez dominated the second set with another two breaks and won on his second match point when Volandri returned long to the Spaniard’s serve.

“I am happy to be here, I’ve played well the whole week,” Lopez said. “Novak has not lost a match this year, tomorrow will be interesting.”

Lopez won all four break points he had in the match, while Volandri took advantage of only 2 out of 11.

Djokovic beat Blaz Kavcic of Slovenia on Friday for his 26th consecutive victory without defeat in 2011. It is the best start to an ATP tour season since Ivan Lendl won 25 straight in 1986.

Djokovic has won four tournament titles in 2011 and has unseated Roger Federer, the last man to beat him, for the No. 2 ranking.



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