Two-time champion Novak Djokovic won an attritional baseline battle against Feliciano Lopez under a closed roof at the Mutua Madrid Open on Thursday. The second seed worked hard to record a 6-4, 7-5 win against Lopez, who was playing with great confidence on serve, in one hour and 33 minutes. Djokovic will take an 11-2 FedEx ATP Head2Head series lead into Friday’s quarter-final against sixth seed Kei Nishikori, including victories in their past 10 matches. "The level was definitely very high today I thought from both of us," admitted Djokovic. "I think Feliciano played really well, especially in the second set. I wasn't winning too many points on his service games until the last one, when I managed to return...
Second seeds Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan advanced to the Mutua Madrid Open quarter-finals with a 5-7, 6-2, 10-7 win over Fabrice Martin and Daniel Nestor on Wednesday. The Americans capitalised on both of their break point chances to reach the last eight in Madrid, where they will face Nick Kyrgios and Jack Sock. Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares, the third seeds, defeated Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah 6-3, 7-6(4) in 82 minutes to set a quarter-final clash with sixth seeds Nicolas Mahut and Edouard Roger-Vasselin. The Frenchmen advanced with a 7-6(6), 7-6(3) win over Robin Haase and Albert Ramos-Vinolas. +⚽️=Ahead of the all-Madrid @ChampionsLeague showdown, @BrunoSoares82, @jamie_murray and @danielnestor ditched the rackets!#UCL #MMOPEN pic.twitter.com/6DfHLr7LaH— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) May...
Four-time champion Rafael Nadal extended his winning streak to 11 matches on Wednesday when he showed great heart in beating Fabio Fognini for a place in the Mutua Madrid Open third round. Nadal, with an ATP World Tour-best 30 match wins on the season, recorded his fifth victory in seven clay-court meetings against Fognini 7-6(3), 3-6, 6-4 in two hours and 57 minutes on Court Manolo Santana. “I think that even though I played really badly, my attitude has been very positive," said Nadal. "My attitude and the will to win today's match was there. My level of tennis was not so high today, but I managed to make it through. It was uncomfortable. I think before it wasn't so...
Two-time champion Novak Djokovic hung tough, drawing on his big-match experience to come through a stern second-round test against Spanish veteran Nicolas Almagro 6-1, 4-6, 7-5 at the Mutua Madrid Open on Wednesday. Second seed Djokovic, who missed out on an opportunity to break at 4-4 in the second set, soon trailed Almagro 0-3 in the decider, but worked his way back on Court Manolo Santana to record his 15th match win of the season over two hours and 15 minutes. “Obviously when you're not winning too many matches, you have to build the confidence level, so to win matches like this definitely helps confidence,” said Djokovic. “[Almagro] loves playing on clay. He was obviously motivated. He has a lot...
Sixth seed Kei Nishikori was forced to produce some of his best tennis on Wednesday to subdue the baseline power of Diego Schwartzman at the Mutua Madrid Open. In a high-quality encounter, belying the scoreline of the first two sets, Nishikori recorded his 15th match win at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament, with a 1-6, 6-0, 6-4 victory in two hours. Nishikori, the 2014 runner-up (l. to Nadal), drew on his reserves to come through a 22-point first service game and led 3-1 in the deciding set, before Schwartzman made a comeback. Nishikori, who had defeated Schwartzman over three sets at the Argentina Open in February, could not convert four match point opportunities at 5-3, but one game...