The Magic box is back! The big 4 are back too.
Djokovic is in Murray’s half and Nadal in Federer’s with a potential rematch from Monte Carlo again between The Bull and The Djoker. Nadal has a ‘tough’ quarter with Ferrer, Almagro and Haas, but he should have no problems. Federer could meet Gasquet in a nice match up before imminent doom at the hands of Nadal in the semi-finals.
Some good looking match-ups out of the gate include an all French affair between Benneteau and Simon, and a battle of the back-boards, Tipsarevic and Monaco.
‘The Magic Box’
Let’s break it down:
ATP Level: 1000
Surface: Outdoor Clay
Defending Champion: Roger Federer – A big ask to defend his title and short of confidence.
Floater: Tommy Robredo – Wild card by draw, wild card by nature.
Veteran Watch: Radek ‘The Worm’ Stepanek – Gets a tough opener against Tomic with Federer waiting in round 2.
Youngblood: Bernard ‘Atomic’ Tomic – An unkind draw but he should be entertaining.
Slumping: Marcos ‘The Bagman’ Baghdatis – Not sure where Baggy’s career is headed at this point but he hangs on.
On Fire: Tommy ‘The Hitman’ Haas – Putting the younger generation to shame with his relentless energy and win/loss ratio.
Notable Wildcards: Tommy Robredo, Pablo ‘Honey’ Andujar
My pick: Rafael Nadal – Gets revenge on Djokovic in front of a home crowd for a record Masters title number 23.
Did You Know?: The tournament has moved country to country over the past 30 years and finally settled in Madrid in 1990.
Thanks for reading and check back next week.