Around the World: May 14

* !Tmfby Pete Bodo*

Roger Federer: All he does is win. The guy is already the most successful Grand Slam champion in history. Last week, while his main rivals were kvetching and whining about having to play on blue clay, Federer—no great fan of the change himself—did what champions do, and what those two other studs were in no particular mood to do: Dealt with it.

Federer's reward for tackling the assignment was a date in the final with Tomas Berdych, one of the great beneficiaries of the harder, more slippery (than red clay) surface. Berdych blasted Federer off the court in the first set, but the Mighty Fed rebounded and swept the last two, 7-5, 7-5, to take the title. It seemed almost like an act of poetic justice that the win also enabled Federer to leapfrog over Nadal for the No. 2 ranking. Like I said, all he does is win.

!ThumbsupSerena Williams: She won Charleston just a few weeks ago on Har-Tru, but before that she hadn't won a title on clay since 2008. Not coincidentally, she bagged that win in Charleston as well. There's a pattern here (I'll have more to say about that tomorrow, in my next The Racquet Scientist post), but that isn't the main point.

The most impressive aspect of Serena's win in Madrid was that it required her to play the two women who have utterly dominated the WTA this year, Victoria Azarenka and Maria Sharapova (their combined record going into Madrid: 51-6). Serena beat both of them like government mules, winning by the fittingly symmetrical—and cringe-worthy—score of 6-1, 6-3. Too bad Federer is already married; can you imagine the tennis potential of the offspring from Roger and Serena?

Ricardo Sanchez: He's a good coach, and I'm a fan of anyone who is willing to say what he or she really thinks when so many others are either too timid or too obsessed with their own fortunes to speak freely. And Sanchez certainly has had a rough ride this year, dumped as unceremoniously as he was by Caroline Wozniacki after a very short period as her coach.

Come to think of it, perhaps that's why he's been so outspoken lately, albeit not in a good way. His claim that Venus and Serena have "lost interest" in tennis is partially true—after all, Venus is rapidly closing on age 32, and Serena herself is 30. But while both women have other interests, because of the upcoming Olympic Games they have made a great effort to be competitive this year. Venus has been fighting a serious physical debility (Sjogren's Syndrome) and Serena—well, you just read about what she did last week.

In voicing his criticisms a few days ago, Sanchez also took a shot at Sharapova, saying she "hasn't improved anything in five years." You'd think he was unaware of the shoulder problems and surgery that knocked Maria on her backside in that period. And it's not like things are that awful for Sanchezvhe's still gainfully employed (by Nadia Petrova). So the undercurrent of bitterness is unseemly. He needs to be a little more discreet and thoughtful.

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga: A third-round casualty in Madrid, Tsonga has nothing to do cartwheels about, given that the faster blue clay ought to have helped him in roughly the same way it aided runner-up Berdych. But he rendered a magnanimous gesture of sportsmanship in his second-round match with young American Ryan Harrison. It occurred during a tense second-set tiebreaker, when Tsonga sprinted for a drop shot, made the get, and was awarded the point for a 4-1 lead. Problem was, he did so illegally.

In the best "I cannot tell a lie" fashion, Tsonga informed the umpire that he hit the ball on the second bounce, and thus forfeited the point. He lost the next point, too, which knotted the 'breaker at 3-all. But Tsonga responded with a pair of big forehand winners and ultimately took the tiebreaker—and match—7-4.

!ThumbsupCarlos Moya: He's always had a special relationship with Nadal, one that transcends the historical oddity that both are from the Spanish island of Mallorca. Over the years, Moya—a former No. 1 and Roland Garros champion—has been something like a big brother to Rafa, or at least filled what room has existed for such a role, given the dominant role Toni Nadal has played in his nephew's life and career.

But Moya, now the assistant tournament director for the Madrid Open and the man in charge of its player relations, has resolutely stood by Ion Tiriac and the rest of the administration when it comes to the blue clay that Nadal so vociferously criticized. I don't think it was a craven desire to please his employers on Moya's part, either. The man is a massively popular celebrity and should have no trouble earning truckloads of dough. Regarding the blue clay, Moya told Puntodebreak:

"The objective has been achieved. We've managed to increase visibility for the viewer on television. The look of the court is nice, almost everyone likes it, but there are differences in movement because it seems more slippery. We must find out if it's the court's fault, or the fault of the blue clay. . . When one or two (players) may complain then nothing happens, but when most do we need to listen. The team is working day and night to improve the court. We as a tournament want to learn from our mistakes. We cannot cover our eyes and think that it was perfect because it has not been the case. We promise to work as hard as possible."

European fans and television programmers: They once again demonstrated that when it comes to women's tennis, they just aren't that into it. And that's a pity, given that the Madrid combined event is on par with the tournaments in, say, Indian Wells and Miami. Did you notice that when we actually did get a glimpse of WTA action, how few of the Spanish fans showed up at the Caja Magica to watch?

Many of you complained about our lack of coverage of the WTA event here at TENNIS.com, but our relative neglect was partly due to how poorly the women were showcased in Madrid. It's a sad day when the only way to track the women's event is via streaming video—especially when the men are right there, almost as large as life, in HD on the large flat-screen TVs that most of us now own. And on many days last week, even online coverage wasn't available.

I'm not sure why Tennis Channel was unable to provide more WTA tennis to our domestic audience, which is considerably more women-friendly. I assume it was because the network was forced to broadcast the international feed—which was pre-occupied with the men. That nonwithstanding, the lack of fan enthusiasm for the WTA game falls into the "you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink" category of frustrations.

!ThumbsupVarvara Lepchenko: The 5'11" Uzbek southpaw who now lives in Allentown, Pa., trains with the USTA Player Development program, and hopes to represent the U.S. in the upcoming Olympic games qualified for Madrid and made it all the way to the quarterfinals. She had solid wins over Francesca Schiavone and Anabel Medina Garrigues before falling to fourth-seeded Agneiszka Radwanska. As a result, Lepchenko's ranking shot up to No. 59—a great advance for a woman who began the year ranked No. 127.

The other day, Patrick McEnroe (general manager of the USTA program) told me that his coaches are very, very high on Lepchenko and they love her work ethic and enthusiasm. The problem, for the somewhat-stressed U.S. establishment? Lepchenko has leaped ahead of Venus Williams (presently No. 63) in the race for the coveted fourth singles spot on the team the U.S. will take to the Olympics. And Williams is the defending gold medalist in doubles (partnered with her sister, Serena). Thus, there's a real chance that Venus will not be going to London, but that particular situation is so complicated I'm saving some thoughts on it for later this week.