'Morning. This is today's thread for posting your thoughts on matches being played, and any other tennis-related items.
Returning from my trip to the Madrid Masters event yesterday, I'm delighted that (due to the regrettable need to actually earn money in order to fund such indulgences) I decided not to stay an extra day to witness the match between David Nalbandian and Rafael Nadal, which by all accounts turned into a rout of a below-par Nadal by an on-song Nalbandian (who looked pretty impressive live against fellow Argentine Del Potro on Thursday). As some of you may know, as a dedicated Nadal fan I recently decided that, having attended the last four European tournaments that Rafa has played in - Roland Garros, Queen's, Wimbledon and Stuttgart - I would continue the sweep of his European tournament appearances over twelve months, and then go for something along the lines of a "Rafa Spectator Calendar Euro-Slam".
This little exercise requires me to be present at at least one of Rafa's matches per tournament appearance. Of course, the quest also allows me to see plenty of other top players in action. This week in Madrid, it's telling that I felt that I couldn't afford to miss Rafa's first match, in order to guarantee not to break my streak. But even I didn't anticipate that he would suffer his most one-sided loss since October 2004's 3-6, 0-6 defeat at the hands of Julien Bennetteau on his least favoured surface, indoor carpet, in Lyon. I'll post about my experiences in Madrid later (and yes, for those of you who asked, there are some photos to come along with the report).
Apart from his triumph in singles yesterday, David Nalbandian has also, paired with Guillermo Cañas, made it to a doubles semi-final against the Bryans. The schedule for Madrid today therefore starts with Nalbandian versus Novak Djokovic, to be followed by Roger Federer against Nicolas Kiefer, and then the doubles match mentioned above. The entire schedule can be found here.
By the way, how many people know that David Nalbandian's full name is Gervasio Esteban David Ezequiel Nalbandian?
I also hope to catch some of the action from the WTA event in Zürich, where Justine Henin takes on Nicole Vaidisova, and Tatiana Golovin faces Francesca Schiavone. The schedule and timings can be found on this link.
As always, enjoy today's tennis!
-- Rosangel