A small cloud of blue dust rose behind the service line as Victoria Azarenka’s second double fault of the game gave Andrea Hlavackova a set point at 5-6 in the second set. Azarenka’s scatter-shot serve gave Hlavackova hope; her commanding ground strokes erased it.
 
Swooping forward to save the set point with a slick forehand swing volley winner, the world No. 1 regained her rhythm and reeled off 10 of the final 12 points to subdue the stubborn, 117th-ranked qualifier, 6-3, 7-6 (2), in a quality clash in Madrid.
 
The top seed squeezed out a 7-6 (5), 6-4 win over former French Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova in the first round and won 12 of 14 points in building a 5-2 first-set lead today. But creating closure was complicated as Hlavackova opened her shoulders and took her chances driving the ball down the line. The 25-year-old Czech held at love for 3-5, then dug in to earn four break points in the ninth game. On the fourth chance, Hlavackova hit a tame drop shot that sat up near the service line, and Azarenka sprinted forward to belt a forehand cross-court. The ball was called out, but chair umpire Kerrilyn Cramer inspected the mark and overruled. Two points later, Azarenka closed the 36-minute set when Hlavackova’s backhand return missed the mark.
 
Azarenka’s two-handed backhand has become one of the most imposing shots in women’s tennis, but Hlavackova held her own in the backhand exchanges for much of the match, sometimes driving her slap-shot two-hander up the line to disrupt the direction of rallies. Azarenka did much of her damage in the first set on the forehand side; both women hit 11 winners in the opener.
 
Though Hlavackova has spent much of her time playing Challengers and qualifying rounds this season, she knows her way around clay, having won the 2011 Roland Garros doubles title with compatriot Lucie Hradecka. Knowing she had to play with ambition and aggression to test the top seed, Hlavackova, who catches her service toss almost as often as Patrick Rafter once did (without the Aussie’s customary ‘sorry mate’ apology), fought off five break points in the third game of the second set, holding with an ace for 2-1. Azarenka, who has been working with former No. 1 Amelie Mauresmo as a clay coaching consultant, cracked a forehand winner to break for 3-2 when Hlavackova took an injury time-out to have her left thigh taped.
 
The 2011 Madrid finalist was in charge with a 6-3, 5-3 lead when things again got complicated. Hlavackova held, then took advantage of three Azarenka double faults to break back for 5-5 and gained set the set point in the 12th game. Exhaling after a hard-fought hold, Azarenka hit a forehand return winner and forcing forehand to open a 5-2 lead in the breaker. She finished with 32 winners to overcome eight double faults, while Hlavackova hit 30 winners and fought off nine of 11 break points.
 
Next up for Azarenka is a third-round match with either 2008 French Open champion Ana Ivanovic, who has won two of their three meetings, or Nadia Petrova, whom Azarenka has beaten three times in five meetings.
 
—Richard Pagliaro

Maybe Roger Federer was right after all when he said, a few months back, that the Hawk-Eye electronic line-calling system has taken something from the game—that being a “human factor” embodied in those controversies and arguments between players and umpires.
 
Well, I don’t know about The Game, but the ability to argue with the man in the high chair certainly seemed to help Juan Martin del Potro’s game today.
 
Del Potro was up against Germany’s Florian Mayer, and after the giant Argentinian won a close first set, 6-4, he became embroiled in a heated (for Delpo, which is just a bit south of lukewarm) conversation with Carlos Bernardes in the second game of the second set, with Mayer serving. The disagreement revolved around del Potro’s desire to get an overrule out of Bernardes after a Mayer approach shot fell on or just beyond the sideline, near the forehand corner. The ball was called good. Bernardes declined to get involved because he thought del Potro’s complaint came too late—after the No. 10 seed hit a lob off Mayer’s shot to keep the rally going.
 
The only particulars that matter are that after being denied a replay and having lost that point, del Potro began to play like a hacienda on fire. It was almost as if that peaceable and introspective 6’6″ talent actually became. . . angry. Okay, let’s settle on “energized.” At any rate, somebody had to pay, and as usual, it was the poor schmo across the net.
 
Del Potro rallied with ferocity and clubbed big forehands left and right to earn to break point at 30-40. Despite a great save of that point by Mayer, del Potro quickly gained another. This time, a mishit forehand by Mayer off a sharp del Potro service return produced the break. Then del Potro ran away with it, blasting his way to a 4-0 lead before he suffered a slight letdown and surrendered a break of serve. He immediately got back on track, though, and cleaned up easily, 6-4, 6-2.
 
Mayer is an interesting player; I suppose the word that pops right to mind to describe him is “scrapper.” He has a really sweet two-handed backhand, even if he is a little too prone to hit the bunny-hop variation of the shot that is so fashionable these days. But that backhand is the only classic aspect of his game. In all other aspects, he looks as if he might have wandered in off a public court.
 
Mayer’s one-handed slice looks like he’s trying to sling the racquet like a frisbee, and he keeps his off, left hand on the handle almost until the moment of contact. He also takes an enormous, overhead backswing on his forehand—so big that when he whales on the ball, he appears to be in danger of pitching over onto his back. He has an odd hitch in his service motion. That he’s a solid No. 24 is a tribute to how many different ways you can skin a cat in this game—and how little style matters.
 
In fact, Mayer gave as good as he got in the entire first set, relying on his ability to chase down balls and keep del Potro guessing. But at crunch-time, serving at 4-5, he played a truly hideous game. Del Potro started it off with a forehand winner; another of those brought him to 15-30, upon which Mayer double-faulted for 15-40. Mayer surrendered the next point—and set—meekly after a brief rally, with a backhand error.
 
Del Potro held the first game of the next set, then got into his altercation with Bernardes. That triggered his determination, along with those flat, whizzing groundstrokes and heavy, punishing serves del Potro is known for, which were just too much for Mayer to handle.
 
Style may not matter, but sometimes size still does.
 
—Pete Bodo

HALLE, Germany (AP)—Roger Federer has had his name on the trophy. Now he has it on the street sign as well.

The town of Halle in western Germany hosts the Gerry Weber Open, a grass court tournament that serves as a Wimbledon warmup.

Federer has won at Halle five times and has a “lifetime contract” with the tournament – if the Swiss great plays a pre-Wimbledon event, then it is the one in Halle.

Since the start of May, a street leading to the stadium, known as Weststrasse, is now called the Roger-Federer-Allee.

Tournament officials released a letter from Federer in which he said he is “extremely humbled” by the gesture, calling it an “amazing honor.”

Federer, a former No. 1 now ranked third, has won 16 Grand Slam titles.

If it looks like a hard court and plays like a hard court, can we still call it a clay court? That’s what you might have wondered watching Milos Raonic’s impressively routine 6-4, 6-4 win over David Nalbandian today in Madrid. This was fast-paced, serve-based tennis from both ends. Raonic won 27 of 27 points in which he made his first serve, and faced no break points on the day. Nalbandian, depite never really getting into the match, wasn’t far behind on his own serve. He won 12 of his first 13 first-ball points.

Otherwise, though, Raonic was the stronger player in all areas. He broke in the opening game with a slice backhand approach on one point and a belted forehand winner on the next. That was all he would need, as Nalbandian had no luck trying to stand close to the baseline for his return of serve. This is what makes Raonic especially tough to break. If you stand in, it’s hard to handle his pace; but if you move back for extra time, you won’t be able to reach his slider out wide in the deuce court, and you’ll be pushed into the next county by his high kick into the ad court. Two weeks ago in Barcelona David Ferrer stood in and beat Raonic; Nalbandian, in these quick conditions, couldn’t make it happen. Serving for the set at 5-4, Raonic hit a service winner, two aces, and another service winner. At 0-1 in the second, he responded to a nice crosscourt pass from Nalbandian by smacking two aces. He dominated with the shot despite getting just 59 percent of his first serves in.

It wasn’t just the serve that Raonic showed off today. The Canadian has trained in Barcelona and logged plenty of hours on Spanish clay over the years, and he was patient today with his ground strokes when he needed to be. At 2-1, 30-30 in the first, Raonic stayed relaxed and guided a forehand up the line with plenty of margin for a winner. Early in the second, he came up with two deft sliding forehand pick-ups from the baseline. Serving for the match, Raonic gave us a little bit of everything: A service winner, a driving backhand that surprised Nalbandian, a forehand winner, and an ace to close.

These would seem to be ideal conditions for Raonic, who is coming off wins over Andy Murray and Nicolas Almagro in Barcelona, and who now faces Roger Federer. Granted, Nalbandian had a hand in his own defeat today, most prominently with his double fault at break point at 4-4 in the second set. But part of the reason for that double fault was that Raonic, who had mostly been content to sit back and get his returns in court, was threatening to run around and crack his big forehand on this point. Raonic is more dangerous than your average power player because he can hit at top speed, yet he also knows how to change gears and paces.

Raonic lost his only match with Federer 6-4 in the third at Indian Wells two months ago. From the thin air to the color of the court to the pace of the ball, conditions should be similar in Madrid, and it will be a tough opening-round test for the world No. 3.

 —Steve Tignor

MADRID (AP) Top-ranked Victoria Azarenka and No. 2 Maria Sharapova beat Czech opponents to reach the third round of the Madrid Open on Tuesday.

Roger Federer says that his personal relationship with Rafael Nadal has not deteriorated because they disagreed about ATP political issues, such as a two-year ranking system. In Australia, Nadal criticized Federer, who is the ATP Players Council president, for not taking enough public stands. “It’s very easy to say, ‘I say nothing’. Everything is positive, I am a gentleman and burn the rest, ” Nadal said at the time.

Federer told El Pais in Madrid that over the past six months the two have barely had a chance to talk, but that they do want to sit down and have a conversation.

“I am happy that all these political issues are a thing of the past,” said Federer. “[But] there has been no damage to our relationship. All we’re trying to do both is to get the best for our sport. That’s the key. For me, with respect to Rafa, nothing has changed. I still respect him the same way as before. It was the first time we disagreed. How do you face that? Talking. And we have not had the chance. For me everything is fine.. What he said in the press in Australia did not hurt one bit, honestly. I think it was unfortunate for him because he had to backtrack and apologize. Rafa did not need to do it, to apologize. What happened … happened. I know he is great for the sport and I’m sure that we will get it to work again.”

Spaniard Nicolas Almagro joins some of his fellow players in criticizing the blue clay at the Madrid Masters 1000, saying after his first-round win that he needed to focus hard in order to not fall down.

“I’ve always been very clear. The place of a [Masters] 1,000 is to prepare for Roland Garros … you cannot do what was done,” Almagro told reporters. “The courts are sliding a lot. It’s a different, unique surface that isn’t used in any other tournament. It’s so close to Roland Garros that we prefer to play on red clay. The court is not in the best condition. You slip a lot and hopefully there will be no injuries. To [stay upright] on the court you need to make a real effort. But Ion Tiriac and Manolo Santana wanted have a blue court blue and there we have it. They, in favor of the show, wanted this court and we have to comply.”

MADRID (AP)—Serena Williams beat Elena Vesnina 6-3, 6-1 to reach the Madrid
Open’s second round, while sister Venus lost 6-4, 6-1 to Angelique
Kerber on Monday.

The ninth-seeded Williams had 13 aces and 40
winners against Vesnina, who was struggling with her game on the
slippery blue clay court. The Russian lost her balance in the sixth game
and set up a break point for Williams, who pulled ahead to lead 4-2.

Williams’
ninth ace of the match provided a set point for the ninth-ranked
American to take the first set and wrap up the match against the
68th-ranked Russian in just over an hour.

“I’m feeling good but I
wasn’t thrilled,” said Williams, who will face Anastasia
Pavlyuchenkova of Russia. “This is my first tournament in Europe so
hopefully I will just keep my good form and just keep going,” she
added.

Venus Williams’ third tournament since being sidelined by
illness is over after being broken six times by the 12th-seeded German.
The seven-time major champion reached the quarterfinals at Miami and
Charleston, S.C., earlier this season.

Fifth-seeded Samantha
Stosur rallied to beat Christina McHale 2-6, 6-4, 6-0 to reach the third
round, as did French Open champion Li Na after winning 6-3, 6-1 against
Silvia Soler-Espinosa.

Petra Cetkovska also advanced, beating Lourdes Dominguez Lino 6-4, 7-5.

Defending champion Petra Kvitova beat Marina Erakovic 6-2, 6-3 in her first-round match.

Kvitova
needed over an hour to beat Erakovic, with the Czech player saving all
three break points against her while converting four.

Also on
Monday, Andrea Hlavackova, Ekaterina Makarova, Lucie Hradecka, Lucie
Safarova and Sara Errani won their first-round matches.

Local favorite Carla Suarez Navarro rallied to beat 15th-seeded Jelena Jankovic 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4 to reach the second round.

In the men’s tournament, Spain’s Nicolas Almagro rallied to beat Santiago Giraldo of Colombia 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-3.

Almagro
saved four set points before hitting long to lose the first set in a
tiebreaker. The thirteen-ranked Spanish player broke his opponent in the
opening game of the second after adjusting his game to the new court
surface to win the match in three sets.

“The court isn’t very
good, it’s very slippery,” Almagro said of the unorthodox blue clay
court that has been criticized by players after it was introduced for
the first time in this year’s tournament.

Other winners Monday
included Serbia’s Victor Troicki, Mikhail Youzhny of Russia and American
Ryan Harrison who beat Sergiy Stakhovsky of Ukraine, 7-6 (3), 7-6 (5).

Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain ousted 2006 Australian Open finalist Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus 6-4, 3-6, 6-4.

Top-ranked
Novak Djokovic begins his title defense Tuesday against Daniel
Gimeno-Traver, who beat Victor Hanescu 7-6 (3), 4-6, 6-3.

Monday’s Play (First round, *Second round)
 

(3) Kvitova d. Erakovic, 6-2, 6-3
 

*(5) Stosur d. McHale, 2-6, 6-4, 6-0
 

*(8) Li d. Soler-Espinosa, 6-3, 6-1
 

(9) S. Williams d. Vesnina, 6-3, 6-1
 
—Ed McGrogan’s Racquet Reaction

*(12) Kerber d. V. Williams, 6-4, 6-1
 

Suarez Navarro d. (15) Jankovic, 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4
 

*Cetkovska d. Dominguez Lino, 6-4, 7-5
 

Hlavackova d. Rodionova, 6-1, 6-4
 

Errani d. Scheepers, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3
 

Marakova d. Voskoboeva, 6-2, 7-6 (3)
 

Hradecka d. Peng, 6-4, 5-7, 6-4
 

Safarova d. Kanepi, 6-4, 6-4
 

Tuesday’s Order of Play (Second round, *First round)
 

(2) Sharapova v. Zakopalova [Manolo Santana]
 

(1) Azarenka v. Hlavackova [Manolo Santana]
 
 

(9) S. Williams v. Pavlyuchenkova [Manolo Santana]
 

—Pace will be plentiful when two of tennis’ heaviest hitters square off on clay for the second time. Pavlyuchenkova took a set from Serena at the 2010 French Open and reached the Roland Garros quarterfinals last year, but the talented Russian has yet to win back-to-back matches all season, and overcame nine double faults in a three-set win over American qualifier Jill Craybas in the first round.
 
Serena claims she’s not a morning person, but still slammed 40 winners (including 14 aces) to rout Elena Vesnina in Monday’s first match, 6-3, 6-1. Williams, whose 2012 clay-court record is now 8-0, is ripping her returns, moving with confidence, and typically feasts on the pace she’ll get from Pavlyuchenkova. Factor in the 13-time Grand Slam champion’s lethal serve and Pavlyuchenkova’s propensity for double faults, and Serena is the clear favorite.
 
The Pick: Williams
 

(13) Ivanovic v. Petrova [Stadium 3]
 

—In a battle of aggressive baseliners, the player who takes the first strike with her preferred weapon—Ivanovic favors the forehand and Petrova’s best shot is her backhand—should have the edge. Both can be vulnerable under pressure, but Ivanovic has beaten three Top 20-opponents in recent weeks. The 2008 French Open champion won the first Madrid match of her career yesterday and should make it two in a row on Tuesday.
 
The Pick: Ivanovic
 

(6) Wozniacki v. Barthel [Stadium 3]
 

—The former world No. 1 was under fire in facing 22 break points in the first round, but survived to scrape out a 7-6 (7), 3-6, 6-4 victory over 38th-ranked Ksenia Pervak in a strenuous, three hour and four-minute win. The Dane’s counter-punching skills will be put to the test against Barthel’s blistering strokes. The 35th-ranked German beat 2008 French Open champion Ana Ivanovic and 2011 French Open semifinalist Marion Bartoli in succession before pushing top-ranked Victoria Azarenka to three sets in Stuttgart last week, and is third on the WTA in wins this season (27-9).
 
Wozniacki will try to draw errors from the explosive, sometimes erratic Barthel, but ultimately this match is on Mona’s racquet. If she’s connecting on her shots, Barthel has the weapons to overpower Wozniacki, whose game is least effective on clay.
 
The Pick: Barthel
 

*Suarez Navarro v. Safarova [Court 4]
 

Medina Garrigues v. Cirstea [Court 4]
 
 

Lepchenko v. Peer [Court 7]
 

TV Schedule
 
7:00 am – 3:00 pm: Madrid (M), Early rounds (Tennis Channel, Live)
3:00 pm – 5:00 pm: Munich (M), Final (Tennis Channel, Repeat)
6:00 pm – 2:00 am: Madrid (M), Early rounds (Tennis Channel, Repeat)

Roger Federer says that his personal relationship with Rafael Nadal has not deteriorated because they disagreed about ATP political issues, such as a two-year ranking system. In Australia, Nadal criticized Federer, who is the ATP Players Council president, for not taking enough public stands. “It’s very easy to say, ‘I say nothing’. Everything is positive, I am a gentleman and burn the rest, ” Nadal said at the time.

Federer told El Pais in Madrid that over the past six months the two have barely had a chance to talk, but that they do want to sit down and have a conversation.

“I am happy that all these political issues are a thing of the past,” said Federer. “[But] there has been no damage to our relationship. All we’re trying to do both is to get the best for our sport. That’s the key. For me, with respect to Rafa, nothing has changed. I still respect him the same way as before. It was the first time we disagreed. How do you face that? Talking. And we have not had the chance. For me everything is fine.. What he said in the press in Australia did not hurt one bit, honestly. I think it was unfortunate for him because he had to backtrack and apologize. Rafa did not need to do it, to apologize. What happened … happened. I know he is great for the sport and I’m sure that we will get it to work again.”