WEEKLY SNAPSHOT: BIG 3 TO MAKE BLUE COURT DEBUT IN MADRID

Written by: Staff on 7th May 2012

WEEKLY SNAPSHOT: BIG 3 TO MAKE BLUE COURT DEBUT IN MADRID |

by Matt Fitzgerald

(Origina Story:http://www.atpworldtour.com/News/Tennis/2012/05/19/Weekly-Snapshot-7-May-2012.aspx)

LOOKING AHEAD

Who’s Playing This Week?
There is one ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event in Madrid.

Mutua Madrid Open: World No. 1 and defending champion Novak Djokovic headlines the fourth ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament of the season that features a new blue clay surface. Djokovic is joined by second-ranked Rafael Nadal (2005, 2010 champion) and third-ranked Roger Federer (2006, 2009 champion).

Potential Milestones (Career match wins as of 7 May, 2012)
Madrid – Singles
Marin Cilic – 194 wins
Viktor Troicki – 145 wins

Rankings Movers
Juan Martin del Potro 11 (+1 spot)
Gilles Simon 12 (-1 spot)
Philipp Kohlschreiber 25 (+9 spots)
Andreas Seppi 32 (+14 spots)
Robin Soderling 46 (-14 spots)
Benoit Paire 67 (+29 spots)
Thomaz Bellucci 69 (-29 spots)
Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo 73 (+24 spots)
Sergiy Stakhovsky 82 (-14 spots)
Lukas Rosol 93 (-14 spots)
Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 94 (-19 spots)
Tommy Haas 109 (+25 spots)

Birthdays
7 May – Ryan Harrison (20)
8 May – Benoit Paire (23)
9 May – Gilles Muller (29)

Player To Watch: Novak Djokovic

The Serb is aiming to become the first player to win back-to-back titles in Madrid. Djokovic defeated Rafael Nadal in last year’s final to notch his first win against the Spaniard on clay. This season, the 24 year old outlasted Nadal in the longest Grand Slam final in history at the Australian Open to collect his fifth major title. He also retained his trophy at the Sony Open Tennis, before falling to Nadal in the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters title match. Djokovic will open his title defence against Daniel Gimeno-Traver or Victor Hanescu.

Tidbits
• Max Mirnyi and Daniel Nestor overtook Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan for the top spot in the individual ATP Doubles Rankings.
Mirnyi: “It Is A Great Achievement”

Topics: Mutua Madrid Open, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer