Serena Shows Who's Really #1 in Madrid Open

Although she hasn't been the #1 player in the world for sometime now, everytime Serena Williams mounts a comeback, she always ends up thumping the noses of the so-called #1 player at that moment. In today's final at the Madrid Open, she easily defeated current world #1, Victoria Azarenka, 61 63, which again begs the question - who really is the real #1 in women's tennis right now - if Serena can just to around with the sport's Top 5 players like that? Earlier in the quarters, she also shrugged off the challenge by Maria Sharapova - in an identical score line.  Interestingly, it was Lucie Hradecka who took her to a 76 tiebreak in the first set of their semifinal, before Hradecka wilted 60 in the second set.  Hmmmm.......

Oh well, she has always been a formidable player, and although she's already 30 - and reaching the tailend of her illustrious career, her fighting form today showed that she's still shoulders above the current very best players - and I'm sure - all of them wouldn't want to be drawn with her in the upcoming French Open!

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Daniel Gimeno-Traver: A Bit To Celebrate

Currently ranked outside the Top 100 right now, Daniel Gimeno-Traver already had reason to celebrate when he qualified for the main draw in the prestigious Madrid Open.  When he won the first set against Romanian veteran, Victor Hanescu, he had another reason to celebrate, since that should likely improve his ranking a bit.  Finally, when he took a set off current world #1 Novak Djokovic, and was almost toe to toe with him in the third set, it showed what he was really capable of doing!  Well, admittedly, Novak looked a bit sluggish, since he was just returning to the game, but still, Gimeno-Traver was sharp enough to backpedal the world #1.

I hope his experience here would give Daniel the confidence that he could make life difficult even for a #1 player and if he could just consistently do that, the rankings will just follow.

Discovering Andrea Hlavackova

One match that I enjoyed watching last night was the one between world #1 Victoria Azarenka and up-and-coming player, Andrea Hlavackova!  This was the first time I saw the Czech play, and although ranked only #117 in the world, she was obviously playing like a Top 30 player.  She even took a set off Azarenka!  I also love her groundstrokes and her drop shots and her aggressive play which took her to the net several times.  Apparently, she is a Top 10 player in the doubles, that's why she could play like that. It would be great to see her do well in Roland Garros!

Match I Saw Today: Novak Djokovic vs. Gimeno-Traver (Madrid Open)

 

On paper, this match should've been a two-set affair but surprisingly, the Spanish player, Daniel Gimeno-Traver impressed his home crowd when he won the second set from Djokovic at 62!  Novak looked rather sluggish though and you could see he was just playing at 50-60% of his best.  He relied a lot on his service though which was still sharp even though his ground strokes were found wanting.  That helped him win some of the games easily.  He won the third set 63.  

It was a wonderful performance for Gimeno-Traver though, because his ranking now belies what he can really do!  Now, if only he can play like how he played today, week after week, his ranking will surely shoot up!

Match I Saw Today: Richard Gasquet vs. Thomaz Bellucci (Madrid Open)

Thomaz Bellucci was a semifinalist in the Madrid Open this year, so he had a lot of points to defend here in this event.  His first round opponent was Richard Gasquet, admittedly a tricky player.  Bellucci won the first set at 64 but Gasquet took the second set, also at 64.  It seemed that Gasquet was already set to win the match at 52 but suddenly, Bellucci sprang to life and took it to a tiebreak.  Gasquet eventually won, but he was only able to do it on his sixth matchpoint!  His service though showed flashes of brilliance whenever he needed it.

Julia Goerges: Semifinalist in Madrid Open

Julia Goerges continues her remarkable run in this year's clay season, and reaches the semifinals of the Madrid Open, one of the top tournaments this season.  She, however, lost to Victoria Azarenka.  She won though over world #1 Caroline Wozniacki.  This was her path to the semi's -

SF - lost to Victoria Azarenka (BLR) 46 26
QF - Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS) 64 62
3R - Caroline Wozniacki (DEN) 64 16 63
2R - Dinara Safina (RUS) 64 46 64
1R - Kaia Kanepi (EST) 67(3) 61 64

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