Roger Federer will begin his week as the No. 1 seed in Madrid against Nick Kyrgios on Wednesday. Marin Cilic and Fernando Verdasco are also aiming for a place in the last 16.
(1) Roger Federer vs. Nick Kyrgios
Federer and Kyrgios will be going head-to-head for the first time in their careers when they clash in the second round of the Mutua Madrid Open on Wednesday. An in-form Kyrgios secured his spot in this matchup by trouncing Daniel Gimeno-Traver 6-2, 6-3 in his opener. The 20-year-old Aussie has surged to No. 35 in the world thanks in part to a quarterfinal run at the Australian Open and a runner-up performance last week on the clay courts of Estoril.
Federer is also coming off a productive week but will be well-rested after earning a first-round bye in Madrid. Although the second-ranked Swiss struggled at times in Istanbul, he managed to capture the title after beating Pablo Cuevas in straight sets on Sunday. Federer took a break after losing the Indian Wells final to Novak Djokovic before returning in Monte-Carlo–where he dropped his second match to Gael Monfils. The 33-year-old is by no means playing dominant tennis right now, but Kyrgios has been mostly beating up on inferior competition. He has not defeated anyone ranked better than 23rd in the world since his 2014 Wimbledon upset of Rafael Nadal.
Pick: Federer in 2
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Fernando Verdasco vs. (9) Marin Cilic
This is just the fourth tournament of the season for Cilic, who contested his sixth match of the 2015 campaign on Tuesday in Madrid. The 2014 U.S. Open champion showed encouraging signs in a 7-5, 6-1 victory over recent Bucharest runner-up Jiri Vesely. Cilic, who has been hampered by a shoulder injury, picked up two wins in Monte-Carlo but those were sandwiched by opening loss in Indian Wells and Barcelona.
Up next for the 10th-ranked Croat is Verdasco, with the head-to-head series standing at 5-4 in Cilic’s favor. Their most recent meeting also came in the second round of a Masters 1000 tournament–Cilic got the job done 7-6(6), 7-6(5) last summer in Cincinnati in what was their seventh consecutive showdown on a hard court. They have never faced each other on clay. Verdasco advanced on Tuesday in Madrid with a 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 win over fellow Spaniard Guillermo Garcia-Lopez. Thus the world No. 38 put a much-needed end to a three-match losing streak. Home-court advantage may help Verdasco, but Cilic finally appears to be rounding into form and conditions in high altitude will suit his game.
Pick: Cilic in 3
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Gasket made Jerkios look silly. Expect more of the same.
Fed in 2.
Cilic in 3.
Was surprised at how poorly Kyrgios did against Gasquet. I reckon he can be more competetive here though. Feds obv a tough task but maybe just the big name to get young Nick up for this.
Fed in 2….and Vco in 3
Kyrgios said that Roger is his hero and the GOAT.
He’s lost this match already.
#BetweenTheEars
#Vacuum
“Roger Federer, you’re my hero.”
https://twitter.com/TennisTV/status/595994984387575809
“Roger Federer, you’re my hero.”
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CEVmR3oW8AAqdWe.jpg
@TennisTV First blood #Kyrgios! He wins the toss, lets #Federer choose and Roger will serve. #MMOPEN15
2:24 PM – 6 May 2015
Kyrgios breaks on Fed’s 1st service game.
Noice doo.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CEVoiixW8AESqtx.jpg
How you treat heroes.
He’ll choke eventually and Roger will step it up.
He looked hopeless against Gasquet in Estoril.
Kyrgios looks like an idiot, talks like an idiot……….oh look, walks like an idiot too!
Vamos Fed!
https://twitter.com/BenRothenberg/status/596007548303577088
#NID
https://twitter.com/SI_Tennis/status/596008115264360448
#Jerkios
LOL…
https://twitter.com/TennisTV/status/596012764973391872
LOL…
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CEV2c32WoAEkUuy.jpg
@TennisTV
Nick #Kyrgios checking himself out on the big screen. 2-3. http://tnn.is/live #MMOPEN15
3:34 PM – 6 May 2015
Fed is playing to a half empty stadium.
Must be the “traffic” lol.
Fed is making Kyrgios look better than he actually is…………….
Gotta hand it to Jerkios. That was a nice drop shot.
…followed up with a horrible volley into the net on the very next point.
Dummy beat Fognini in 3 sets
Game Jerkios. Shank-you very much.
Dummy beat Fognini
He is BabyFed (not to be confused with CryBaby).
#MirkasRight
another TB Federer vs Kyrgios
76 76 Federer over Jerkios.
#YoureWelcome
kyrgios 2/0 in Tb
kyrgios 4/0 in Tb
5-0 Kyrgios
Federer on the change over: “We need a clown for this circus.”
5-2
Down two mini-breaks, Federer will still win the TB.
#NID
6-2.
Nevermind. I take it back.
6-5. Fed will win the TB.
set to kyrgios
Set Jerkios.
The empty seats are making more noise than the stunned Fedfans.
Kyrgios deserve this set
Federer hasnt played well of late not on clay at least
It’s ok. He’ll win in three.
Federer has the advantage of serving first in the final set though
Thanks to Jerkios for letting Fed choose serve at the beginning of the match.
#Vacuum
UEs flying off Jerkios racquet now.
#NID
#BetweenTheEars
#Vacuum
Federer mumbling now.
He called Madrid a circus in the blue-clay era also.
What a horrible drop shot from Jerkios.
@BenRothenberg 3 minutes ago
For the record, I loved and still yearn for blue clay. Was gorgeous, and not one injury withdrawal the whole week.
@BenRothenberg 2 minutes ago
Instead of throwing out baby with the blue bathwater, more time and research should have been spent perfecting it. Made for much better TV.
#DoYou???
King Rafa doesn’t want blue clay. That’s all there is to it. What Dr Nadal wants, Dr Nadal gets in Madrid.
Djoker was just as vocal about it at the time.
And there were a lot of falls and if I remember correctly injuries as well.
2 all
Kyrgios 16 Aces Federer 13
Monfils just lost the 1st set to Granollers
Federer will break here.
Roger looking pouty now.
#Fashion
Fed ace on game point. Jerkios admires “That’s ridiculous.”
And this is why you fail.
#Mindset
Federer will break here.
#NID
4-4
4 all
Kyrgios can break here and serve out the match
No. He can’t.
0-30…
… but you can’t beat your heroes.
#NID
UE. back to 30-all.
#NID
Game Fed.
4-5
Kyrios smiles in amazement losing the point.
Roger will break to win the match.
No Hugo ball girls this year.
#Sigh
LOL…I see now where this interest in Madrid Tennis Accessories comes from… 🙂
Two points from the match.
#NID
5-5
5 all
Roger gets to play Izzy tomorrow.
Izzy is 1-0 h2h vs Roger on clay.
5-6
Roger will break to win the match.
Gotta say. Ol’ Roger really got a Rafa-type draw in Madrid.
#HomeFieldAdvantage
Will likely see Berdych after Izzy.
Shanky McShank.
Third TB.
Roger will win.
Wow. Nice anticipation and passing shot.
1st minibreak to Jerkios.
Kyrgios 2-0 in tb
Nice serve. 2-0 Jerkios.
Jerkios goes tentative and gives bak the MB to his hero. 1-2.
Roger chokes. 1-3
Jerkios really steps in on that 2nd serve but does nothing with it. 3-2.
Jerkios smashes his racquet and hands the MB back to his hero again.
3-3
Jerkios goes behind his hero for 4-3.
4-4.
Great hitting with depth from Fed 4-5.
Roger will win the next two points to win.
… or not. 5-5.
NOW he will.
MP Jyrkios on Layhani overrule.
Service winner to save MP.
Commie’s hero is also Roger lol.
6-6.
#NID
MP Fed which will be converted.
#NID
… or not.
#Hashtag
8-8
9-8. What a drop shot from Jyrkios. MP
Kyrgios misses mp on his serve
Weak 2nd serve followed by UE as Jerkios hands his hero back the match.
Chokios
Chokios can’t find a first serve.
mp kyrgios
MP Jerkios shank-you very much.
Mp Fed
Kyrgios wins
14-12 in the final set tiebreak
#NKR
I knew Kyrgios would win.
Wow.
#RealDeal
Fed played a terrible match. That will give Rafa a rest with the commies; they can now go on and on about Fed’s loss of form.
that will never happen
No. It won’t.
or not 🙂
maybe they’ll continue to fog, I mean to fognini
Federer came with nil points and leaving with nil points.
He will probably have to play Rome now which he was hoping to skip.
It was worth travelling to Madrid … at least for the excellent tapas.
Congrats to Ricky on predicting a 2 set win, and a win by Roger.
I didn’t say these predictions were accurate.
Thursday, May 07, 2015
MANOLO SANTANA Start 11:00 am
[5] Caroline Wozniacki (DEN)
v
[3] Maria Sharapova (RUS)
WTA
Not Before 12:15 pm
[1] Serena Williams (USA)
v
[10] Carla Suárez Navarro (ESP)
WTA
Not Before 3:15 pm
[3] Rafael Nadal (ESP)
v
Simone Bolelli (ITA)
H2H
[7] David Ferrer (ESP)
v
Fernando Verdasco (ESP)
Hehehe! I love me some karma…….
All those smug Fedfans who were dumping on Rafa……….what goes around does indeed come around! Wonder for how long Kygrios will be their love-interest du jour now???
Basically, Kyrgios is another Fognini, turns up for the big matches……….
RT @linzsports : “We’ve seen Federer fall to other flashy up-and-comers on clay over the years. This feels more important than the rest, though.”
Not to the Federazzi, they will continue with their “see no evil, hear no evil” approach and pretend this match never happened. Only Rafa’s losses are monumental to them.
Hahaha! Hahaha!
You have to hand it to the Federazzi, they do not disappoint! Apparently, according to them, Kyrgios beating Fed is a bigger win for Kyrgios than beating Rafa. *wink*: it is more prestigious to beat Fed than it is to beat Rafa. Who is Rafa anyway??? 😉
Well, nobody told the journos. I don’t see much copy about Fed’s form blah, blah, blah like I see about Rafa everytime he loses.
“I know things are going to work out,” said Nadal. “I haven’t lost my game. I just need to build my confidence and it’ll work out. I know that either sooner or later it will come back. That’s what I want to think. I’m convinced about it. It’s matter of time. Let’s see when it happens.”
http://www.atpworldtour.com/News/Tennis/2015/05/18/Madrid-Wednesday-Nadal-Johnson.aspx
I have faith in Rafa. I am “colm”!
I had to go out after Kyrgios tied it up by winning the second set tb. But I did record it. This one I wanted to see. I got to see it when I came home. Three tb’s! I thought Fed had some chances late in the tb, but couldn’t get it done.
It’s a measure of how much I despise Kyrgios that I actually was cheering for Fed! Now that’s something that doesn’t happen very often! I cannot stand this arrogant brat! I was happy when Llayani put him in his place with his outrageous behavior earlier in the match.
I don’t want Kyrgios to get any more full of himself than he already is. As far as Fed fans now not being able to go after Rafa for losing to him, I don’t care about that nonsense. Rafa lost to this kid at Wimbledon, in a slam where there is a lot more on the line. However, this doesn’t bode well for Fed prepping for RG. Knocked out early in two clay tournaments.
I did see Rafa beat Johnson. It was pretty routine and Rafa did what was expected. He should get by Bolelli and then in the quarterfinals that’s when it will get real.
Just deal with it people. Fedal is the past and Nick is the future of tennis.
For a troll you really need to do better.
Oh please!
My comment at 3:30 am was directed at filter. If I had a dollar for every time someone on a tennis site wrote off Fedal, I would be rich.
Perish the thought. If the obnoxious thug Kyrgios is the future of tennis that will be the moment when I retire from being a fan of tennis. I would rather play scrabble on line.
agree…
second that…
ed,
It’s good to see you posting here. I absolutely agree with you! This guy is way out of control. Llayani told him off when he kept mouthing off after a bad call that was corrected. On the tennis channel, the usually laid back Paul Annacone called him out for his boorish behavior.
This guy is so full of himself without having done anything yet in this sport. He’s obnoxious and arrogant and just unpleasant to watch.
You know, he is a thug! Well said!
As for me, if he is the future of tennis then I will be playing games like crosswords, scrabble and yahtzee online!
nny: It’s good to be back. This is the first time in several months I have been able to watch any tennis on a consistent basis and catch up with all the Grandstand gossip. I was driving home from southern Spain after my annual strip to my sister when I got a call she had suffered a stroke. I turned straight round and drove back 800km non stop to get to her. The doctors are hopeful in time she will make a full recovery but for the time being she needs somebody to be with her full time so I will be to and fro sharing the job with her various friends.
dear ed,
best wishes for a full recovery for your sister. Having family and friends help out a lot will make all the difference as you know while the brain rewires itself as needed.
Welcome back ed, Best wishes to you and your sister.
Well I think tennis needs villains and I’m not a fan of the personality itself, his tennis is something else.
If he matures emotionally, well, look out. He has all of the physical weapons.
Not a fan so will be fun to cheer against him.
He is definitely a tennis thug.
I didn’t see Nick burning cars or looting in Baltimore. Why call the guy a thug? We don’t know him. He’s young and immature but no need for that label.
Ed, I hope your sister makes a ful recovery but make sure that you try not to get too stressed about it. I will keep you and your family in my prayers.
However, looking forward to a more improved clay tennis season!!!