2012 ATP Madrid Open Preview

The 2012 ATP Madrid Open begins on Sunday May 6th at Caja Magica and once again the tournament will be an important event en route to the French Open at the back end of the month.

It is the second Masters competition of the clay court season and is highly popular with the players who can obtain up to 1000 ranking points depending on performance.

Rafael Nadal is widely regarded as the king of clay however the Spaniard has struggled to establish dominance in Madrid on a par with his exploits at the Monte-Carlo equivalent.

Nadal has triumphed twice in the Spanish capital, his latest success arriving in 2010 at the expense of arch rival Roger Federer in the final.

But the Mallorcan’s title defence was brought to an abrupt end in the showpiece twelve months ago, as Novak Djokovic stole a march to lift the trophy via a straight sets victory.

Federer has also scored twice in Madrid, whilst Brit ace Andy Murray managed to get his hands on the winner’s cheque in 2008.

Murray, Federer and Djokovic will all be standing in Nadal’s way once again in 2012, but it is the Serbian World No.1 who harbours the most realistic claims of toppling Rafa this time around.

Nadal ultimately got back on top of his rivals last year to win the French Open for a sixth time, but up until that point it was Djokovic who began making in-roads into his stranglehold on the surface.

Djokovic will have to recover from a Monte-Carlo Masters final defeat to Nadal but he is well capable of doing so given adequate time to recover and sharpen his game.

The five times major winner had to battle with fitness issues and personal matters in the French principality and it was no surprise to see him come up short to Nadal who can naturally find stride on the clay from the very start of the campaign.

Nadal quite rightly holds favouritism for the 2012 renewal of the Madrid Open and home advantage will be an obvious plus. But Djokovic could be there to gain the upper hand and rubberstamp his genuine credentials for Roland Garros.

Federer and Murray are expected to make the last four and can be confidently backed up until the semi-finals.

Although the outright betting is fairly limited for punters in terms of the small number of players who have a realistic chance of winning, the match betting can prove lucrative if form from Monaco and Barcelona stacks up.

Robin Haase and Tomas Berdych performed with a great deal of credit in Monte-Carlo and can be taken to reach the last eight in Madrid.

Stanislas Wawrinka, the long-time Swiss number two to the Fed Express, can also enjoy a decent tournament and rack up a couple of wins on a surface which now appears to suit.

Of the rest, Canadian starlet Milos Raonic disappointed in his first outing on the clay this year but can expect a better run in Spain, as can Nicolas Almagro who is a solid yardstick amongst the clay court specialists.

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23/04/2012     © Frixo 2024