PETE ZIEBRON
New world #2 Roger Federer wins the Madrid Masters 1000 on blue clay.
While the top two players in the ATP complained bitterly about the blue clay in Madrid, Roger Federer simply went about his business all week long and won the Mutua Madrid Masters 1000, defeating Tomas Berdych today 3-6 7-5 7-5. The victory was Federer's 20th Masters 1000 crown and elevated him to world #2.
Weeks before the tournament, Rafael Nadal expressed his displeasure about the color of the surface. As a result, Nadal carried that attitude into the tournament and lost in the 3rd round to countryman Fernando Verdasco, blowing a 5-2 lead in the 3rd set in the process. Nadal was broken each of the last 3 times that he served in the match and it would be the first time in 15 matches that Verdasco would finally be able to break through against Nadal, despite coming close a few times the last few years. Following the loss, Nadal stated that he would not return to the Madrid Masters 1000 next year if the courts remained blue.
The decision to use a blue playing surface has been questioned by many players and media. A common concern is that the non-red court color in Madrid somehow disrupts the preparation of the players for Roland Garros. One common question has been: How can a tournament be played on blue clay only a few weeks prior to the major in Paris?
However, two years ago in Cincinnati, I asked Rafael Nadal why Francisco Roig accompanied him for Masters 1000 tournaments in Canada and Cincinnati, rather than Toni Nadal, since these tournaments are usually used by players to prepare for the US Open, held a few weeks later. Nadal answered that each tournament he plays is important to him and not necessarily preparation for an upcoming major:
- "That doesn't matter if my uncle came to these tournaments or not to prepare the US Open. But first thing, I don't play this tournament to prepare the US Open; I play these tournaments because these tournaments are very important for me."
The day after Nadal lost to Verdasco, defending Champion and world #1 Novak Djokovic was upset by countryman Janko Tipsarevic. The loss prompted Djokovic to issue a threat similar to Nadal, that he also would not plan to play in Madrid next year either if the tournament was contested on blue clay.
While the top players let the fact that the courts in Madrid were colored blue mentally impact their games, Roger Federer let his play do the talking. In 2009, I asked Federer if the then recent change from green hard courts to blue improved his vision on the court. Federer shared that he actually liked the purple-blue colored courts (Miami and Dubai) best of all:
- "I think it does improve, sort of that purple blue. I think it's -- I mean, for TV it's better. Doesn't have any impact on me. I think you still do you see the ball is bit better when it's blue. I think the Australian Open went from green to blue if you remember. That was a good change as well. I just think it's good for the TV. You see the ball better, because our ball is already pretty small. For that reason, I think it's good."
Ironically, Federer wore a blue shirt all week in Madrid, the same color as the courts. Nadal wore an orange shirt in his matches, the traditional color of clay courts.
The ATP tour moves on to Rome next week for the Internazionali BNL d'Italia Rome Masters 1000.
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