PETE ZIEBRON
Madrid, along with Indian Wells and Miami, enjoys an elite status on the tennis calendar. All three locales host an ATP Masters 1000 tournament and a concurrent WTA Premier Mandatory tournament. As a result, all of the top, healthy ATP and WTA players are entered into the main draw.
On the ATP side, the top eight seeds are given byes into the second round. However, this fact did not prevent a very intriguing grouping of four players in the draw that will provide spectators and fans alike with acrobatic tennis, potential for plenty of drama and perhaps even a couple of raquet smashes, warnings for verbal abuse and quite possibly a disqualification.
Near the bottom half of the men's draw we have the following matchups:
(13) Fabio Fognini vs. Alexandr Dolgopolov
Ernests Gulbis vs. Jerzy Janowicz
Fognini has already appeared in 3 tournament finals in 2014 (all on clay), winning in Vina del Mar against Leonardo Mayer of Argentina and losing in Buenos Aires to David Ferrer and today in Munich to Martin Klizan of the Slovak Republic. The current world #15, Fognini also routed Andy Murray on clay in the Davis Cup quarterfinals last month in Naples.
Meanwhile, Alexandr Dolgopolov's career has enjoyed a resurgence this year. The Ukranian was a finalist in Rio de Janeiro, losing to Rafael Nadal in the final, however he would get his revenge against Nadal, defeating hin in the 3rd round in Indian Wells. In addition, the world #22 Dolgopolov also defeated 2014 Australian Open Champion Stan Wawrinka in the 4th round in Miami.
Dologpolov and Fognini have met twice this year, with Dolgopolov winning both times: 6-1 6-1 in the Rio de Janeiro quarterfinals and 6-2 6-4 in the round of 16 in Indian Wells. Should Dolgopolov make it three straight over Fognini, he has also recorded wins over both of his potential 2nd round opponents: 6-2 6-2 over Jerzy Janowicz in the 2nd round in Sydney and 6-2 6-4 over Ernests Gulbis in the 1st round in Monte-Carlo.
Ernests Gulbis has also enjoyed solid results in the first third of 2014. He defeated Jo-Wilfried Tsonga to win the title in Marseille and has also appeared in the semifinals of two ATP 500 tournaments, in Rotterdam and in Barcelona. Currently, Gulbis is ranked 20th and reached a career high of world #18 this February.
Jerzy Janowicz, the Wimbledon semifinalist from one year ago has struggled repeatedly in 2014. The world #21 from Poland is on a current 7 match losing streak and has not won since beating Tommy Haas in Rotterdam in February. Two of his last three losses were to world #295 Borna Coric of Croatia in a Davis Cup match in Warsaw and to #147 Michael Llodra in the 1st round in Monte-Carlo.
Regardless of whomever survives this group, the winner will be relieved to know that the likely opponent in the 3rd round, world #2 Novak Djokovic, has withdrawn due to lingering issues with his wrist that he injured in Monte-Carlo.
Looking at the WTA bracket, yet another grouping of four players provides intrigue, more for the quality of play rather than the potential for drama that was discussed in the ATP analysis:
Svetlana Kuznetsova vs. Alize Cornet
Eugenie Bouchard vs. (3) Agnieszka Radwanska
Svetland Kuznetsova, two-time major Champion, including in 2009 at Roland Garros, appeared in the final today in Oeiras, where she lost to #1 seed Carla Suarez Navarro. The world #29 from Russia defeated #18 Genie Bouchard in the 3rd round. Last week in Stuttgart, Kuznetsova defeated world #5 Simona Halep before falling to eventual finalist Ana Ivanovic in 3 sets.
Alize Cornet of France is currently ranked 21st in the world and has recorded some big wins so far in 2014. In addition to winning the title last month in Katowice, she defeated world #3 Aga Radwanska along the way in the semifinals in Aga's home country of Poland. Meanwhile, Cornet also defeated world #1 Serena Williams in the Dubai semifinals before falling to Venus Williams in the final.
Genie Bouchard started 2014 in fine fashion, reaching the Australian Open semifinals. Bouchard defeated Ana Ivanovic in the quarterfinals before falling to eventual Champion Li Na in the semis. Bouchard has also recorded wins over #10 Sara Errani in Indian Wells and over #8 Jelena Jankovic and Venus Williams in Charleston.
Aga Radwanska also reached the Australian Open semifinals, defeating world #2 Victoria Azarenka in the quarterfinals. The world #3 from Poland has also reached the semis in Doha and Katowice and was also a finalist in Indian Wells.
Whomever survives this challenging group: #29 Kuznetsova, #21 Cornet, #18 Bouchard or #3 Radwanska is expected to play world #9 Maria Sharapova, winner last week in Stuttgart and Roland Garros Champion in 2012. Sharapova has also won 41 consecutive matches on clay against opponents other than Serena Williams.
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