Good draw for Rafa!
The King of Clay didn’t get any dangerous floater in the first matches to possibly play Murray in the semifinal.
This edition will miss a couple of important players such as Federer and Ferrer, and Novak Djokovic may be not at his best as he is recovering from an ankle injury.
Talking about the newcomers. Guilbis will have an exciting first round against Isner (Big Johny may struggle here as he has just reached the final in Houston….). Tomic will face Dolgolopov in his opener (this must be entertaining). Janowicz will play boom boom Anderson that has just reached the final in Casablanca. Dimitrov will play Malisse.
Here the analysis per quarter
1st Quarter – Djokovic
Round | Opponent | Head to Head |
1st | Bye | |
2nd | Youzhny | 4-3 Djokovic, first time playing on clay |
3rd | Monaco | 6-0 Djokovic |
Quarters | Del Potro | 8-3 Djokovic, 2-0 on clay |
Semis | Gasquet | 8-1 Djokovic, 2-0 on clay |
2nd Quarter – Berdych
Round | Opponent | Head to Head |
1st | Bye | |
2nd | Granollers | 2-0 Berdych and both on clay |
3rd | Seppi | 5-2 Berdych. 1-1 on clay |
Quarters | Gasquet | 5-4 Gasquet. 1-1 on clay |
Semis | Djokovic | 13-1 Djokovic. 1-0 on clay for Novak |
3rd Quarter – Nadal
Round | Opponent | Head to Head |
1st | Bye | |
2nd | Verdasco | 14-1 for Nadal that has lost the last one on Madrid blue clay |
3rd | Kohlschreiber | 8-1 for Rafa that lost the last one in Halle on grass. |
Quarters | Tipsarevic | 3-0 for Rafa that has nevere conceded more than 3 games per set to Janko |
Semis | Murray | 13-5 Rafa. 4-0 on clay. |
4th Quarter – Murray
Round | Opponent | Head to Head |
1st | Bye | |
2nd | Haase | 2-1 Murray |
3rd | Wawrinka | 8-4 Murray. 2-0 Wawrinka on clay |
Quarters | Tsonga | 8-2Murray |
Semis | Nadal | 13-5 Rafa. 4-0 on clay. |
This is the complete draw
Last year’s final when Nadal won 6-3 6-1