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
[polldaddy poll=8846165]
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
[polldaddy poll=8846240]
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.