Getting all caught up, and Madrid Semis.

So let's get right to it then.  Unfortunately, because this blog is brand new, I haven't had a chance to comment on what an insane year of tennis this has been on the ATP.  A new number one, the decline(or maybe not) of possibly the greatest ever, and a lot of new young guns on the scene.  

This week in tennis was the Madrid Masters Series event...it was played on what looked like a pretty fast hard court.  As expected Fed and Rafa moved along, as a bratty looking Djokovic surprisingly bowed out early to the always tough Ivo Karlovic.  Murray continued his streak of brilliant tennis these past few months, and the "seemingly lacking in talent" Gilles Simon started an unbelievable run.  

So now that were up to date, I'll start with the Madrid semis that took place earlier today.  The first match of the day was a rematch of the Us Open final, Murray v.s. Fed.  A confident an aggressive Fed got off to a routine 6-3 first set victory, but as Murray's serve picked up, and he started imposing his game a little bit more than usual, Fed started to look more like the man we all had finished before the Open.  Murray then ran off to a sneaky 6-3, 7-5 victory in the next two sets, sealing the minor upset.  Fed played well this tournament, but still remains nothing even close to as dominant as he had been the past few years.

The other semi was a bit more exciting, as the marathon man Gilles Simon (coming into the match played 4 straight 3 setters, saving match points in two of those matches) took on world number one, Rafa.  Rafa is going to grind this guy down mentally and physically, as those long matches had to have taken a toll on the slim body of Simon, right?  That's sure what I thought, but was wrong.  Simon looked tired for the first hour of the match going down a set, but fought back to win the second 7-5, and made it a real dog fight.  You have to get the feeling someone was on Simon's side considering his run so far, and he kept the dream alive by digging out a 7-6 (8-6) in the 3rd victory over Rafa.  This was Simon's 5th 3 setter in a row, and his fourth match that went to 7-6 in the third set this tournament.  Unreal run, but I'm still not convinced, I am going to predict a clean 4, and 3 victory for Murray tomorrow in the final, sealing him as being a real threat to Djokovic's number 3 spot.