This year’s clay court competition began with great expectations from Roger eventually it was Rafael who is coming out with colours. Will he be able to maintain it or will Roger put a stop for his wining streak? Here goes what happened in the clay court this year for the past few months. Will this help the two top seeded to break each others nerves?
THE ATP SERIES: A GLIMPSE
ROGER VS RAFAEL:
ESTORIL OPEN - Top-ranked Roger Federer won the Estoril Open and his first title of the season. This was the wining start for Roger Federer in clay court. Every Roger fan (including myself) expected him to continue the wining streak. But everything turned upside down.
BARCELONA OPEN TITLES - Rafael Nadal held off a stirring fight back from David Ferrer to beat his fellow Spaniard 6-1, 4-6, 6-1 on Sunday and become the first man to win four consecutive Barcelona Open titles. This was the starting of the race between the two top seeded players.
PACIFIC LIFE OPEN TENNIS TOURNAMENT – Both top seeded players didn’t qualify for the finals. They both were out in Semi Finals. (Coincidence?)SONY ERICCSON OPEN - Rafael Progressed to finals and lost where as Roger lost to Roddick in quarters itself. Since August 2003 Roddick was waiting for this opportunity to break Roger and he succeeded in this tournament.
MONTE CARLO SERIES – Both the players cruised to the finals. It was an awesome nail biting finals where Rafael dominated the World No.1. He won the title by defeating in straight sets (7-5, 7-5). The second set was a crucial one. Roger was leading the Spaniard by 4-0. The Expectation by everyone was that the match would go for the deciding set. But Roger made consecutive mistakes which paved way for Rafael to level the score (4-4). It was two consecutive mistakes by Roger which made the Spaniard to clinch the title. There was a glimpse of chance for Federer but he wasn’t capable to do it. This proved that Roger had no opportunity to stop Rafael’s wining streak.
ROME MASTER SERIES – Both the players didn’t go for the finals. Rafael lost in the 2nd round. Roger didn’t progress ahead without Rafael. He lost in the very next round (Quarter Finals). Are the players determined to go together?
HAMBURG MASTERS - Rafael Nadal clinched his first Hamburg Masters title with a hard-fought 7-5 6-7 (3-7) 6-3 win over the defending champion and top seed Roger Federer. Another crucial match between the top seeded players. Both the First sets were in the hand of Roger but he was able to hold only the second set for himself. In the first Roger was leading the game by 5-1. But the Spaniard proved how talented he is. He won all the 6 consecutive games to hold the set for himself. In the second set it was again Roger leading the game by 5-2. Again Rafael progressed to level the score (5-5). Eventually the set was finished in a tie break which was won by the swiss wiz. Here comes the final set. Rafael became dominant. Every shot he played yelled that “I am the king of clay court.”. Roger was clueless about the happening. Finally Nadal won his first Hamburg masters.ROAD TO FRENCH OPEN:
With much expectation the French open starts from 25th may (today). Will the players proceed to prove their dominance or will they drop out earlier. This years French Open will be very different since many top seeded players pulled themselves out from the tournament. The list goes like this:
Andy Roddick
Lindsay Davenport
Leyton Hewitt (Doubtful)
Jo-Wilfred-Tsonga
Without the top seeded players will it be an eventful one? Another unexpected decision came from Justine Henin. Her retirement was a shock (especially for me) for all the fans. She has never won a French Open Title and was expected to win this year. But the retirement came for her.
Without Henin it is Maria Sharapova who will be fighting alone in the French Open for the title.
Will Sharapova clinch the title to take away the first position from Henin?
The Spaniard has now beaten Federer on eight of the pair's previous nine meetings on clay. Will Nadal continues his record?
LETS NOT MISS THIS YEARS NAIL BITING FRENCH OPEN
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