Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal meet for a 24th time Saturday in Madrid.

Nadal vs Federer in Madrid

Rafael Nadal defeated Michael Llodra 6-2, 6-2 in the quarterfinals of the Madrid Open and will next meet Roger Federer, who beat Robin Soderling 7-6 (2), 6-4.

Nadal broke Llodra in the opening game of the match, and dominated the match from that moment on. The world number 1 never faced a break point and was able to break Llodra 3 more times.

“I didn’t think I would win like that,” said Nadal. “He’s got a powerful serve and dangerous volley so it’s hard to pass him but in the first set he committed some errors. Winning that first set gave me a lot of confidence.”

Federer was pushed by Soderling, who saved three first set points before finally succumbing to the Swiss in a tiebreaker. The second set a bit easier for Roger but still was not at his best at the Caja Magica.

“Conditions were tough today, I didn’t know we could get such wind in a closed stadium. But I thought I played a great match from start to finish,” said Federer.

"I thought I was pretty much in control throughout the match except obviously in those couple break points downs in the second set, that was the close call," reflected Federer. "I thought Robin played a good at least one and a half sets in my opinion. Especially when it got important he played some of his best tennis, which maybe at times is frustrating. Overall I thought it was a good match against a good player and obviously pleased to be through to the next round."

“I’m excited, I’m playing Rafa here in the next round. I’ve beaten him here in the past, but it will obviously depend a lot on the day—but he’s the favorite on the clay.”

"I think this is a match that many fans and media want to see, especially here in his home country," said Federer. "It's obviously special and nice. On clay it's obviously his territory a bit more, but I’ve enjoyed my time with Rafa on the court, even though I have a lot more time left on the court with more victories."

Watch Nadal vs Federer Madrid Open Semifinal Online Video Streaming

Saturday, May 7th 2011

Day 6 :: ATP World Tour Masters 1000 - Mutua Madrid Open 2011 :: Madrid, Spain

Rafael Nadal vs Roger Federer

So it's another Nadal v Federer meet for the third consecutive year in Madrid and we're very excited to see which of these two greats will make it through to the final!


Not Before 16:00 Local time

10:00 ET to 15:00 ET
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This weekend, Husby and I are off to Galveston for the weekend for a little birthday celebration so I’ll leave yall with the Pirates series matchups: Friday, it’s the Wand Man vs lefty Paul Maholm – one of their 1st rounders who actually worked out for them – he came up in 05 and has put [...]Read the full original article...

On the same day Angel Pagan suffered a setback in his rehab from injury, his replacement showed he can be quite stable. Jason Pridie, called up two weeks ago when Pagan went down, hit a 3-run homer in the 6th inning to give the Mets the lead for good in a 6-3 win. The Dodgers [...]

WTA Results – Friday, May 6, 2011 Singles – Quarterfinals (4) Victoria Azarenka (BLR) d. Lucie Safarova (CZE) 63 36 62 (6) Li Na (CHN) d. Bethanie Mattek-Sands (USA) 64 36 64 (16) Petra Kvitova (CZE) d. Dominika Cibulkova (SVK) 36 63 75 Julia Goerges (GER) d. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS) 64 62 Doubles – Semifinals [...]

By Abigail Hinto in Madrid Friday was my last night in Madrid and here are my random thoughts on my experience at the Madrid Open. - I chose the Madrid Open as the tennis event I woul attend this year because I wanted to finally see Rafael Nadal play on clay in person.  I’ve seen [...]

Novak Djokovic continued one streak and stopped another streak. He extended his win streak  to thirty  on the year and stopped his clay court losing streak to David Ferrer by beating the Spaniard 6-4, 4-6, 6-3.   Point of the match “I was aware of the quality of my opponent today and the fact that [...]

It wasn't that long ago that:

• Serena Williams was the player to beat

• Maria Sharapova was a very bright star on the tour

• Kim Clijsters was headed toward a great 2011 season

• Jelena Jankovic was "a step away" from meeting her potential

• Sabine Lisicki appeared to be Germany's Next Big Thing

• Julia Goerges was a good-enough German player who showed some potential

• Ana Ivanovic looked like she was regaining her prestige

• Sam Stosur was heralded  on clay surfaces

Things have changed. Williams, a victim of especially nasty bad health luck, has been out for months and months. Clijsters has three injuries and may not play in the French Open. Sharapova is slowly getting her groove back, but fans are nervous. Stosur hasn't been the same since she lost the 2010 French Open to Francesca Schiavone.

Ivanovic, who can't even keep a coach in her employ, is lost somewhere in the tennis cosmos, and her countrywoman, Jankovic, has sadly misplaced her confidence. Lisicki, who was either sick or injured for months, is finally making a bit of a comeback, but she is still a shadow of the player who came out of nowhere and won Charleston in 2009. In the meantime, German player Andrea Petkovic has steadily increased both her skills and confidence, and has become a threat in many tournaments.

The most interesting German story, however, is that of Julia Goerges. Goerges has shown potential for a long time, with her strong hitting on both sides, but she broke through and won Stuttgart, beating world number 1 Caroline Wozniacki in the final. Then she beat her again in Madrid, and will play in the semifinals tomorrow. Sometimes people forget how important confidence is, and Goerges must be feeling a lot of it right now.

Consistency has been Wozniacki's strength, though she hasn't yet won a major, and her chance to do so may not come until the U.S. hard court season arrives.

Then there's Petra Kvitova--whom some of us have been watching for a long time. She sneaked into the 2011 season with two titles, then backed off a bit (there was an injury issue), but is making a surprising run on red clay in Madrid. Kvitova has semifinal points to defend at Wimbledon, and her chances of defending them are pretty good. More focused and careful than she used to be, Kvitova is mentally strong and probably has nowhere to go but up.

What about the other Russians? Elena Dementieva has retired, and the extraordinarily gifted Svetlana Kuznetsova has trouble winning. Dinara Safina was taken out of the tour by a serious back injury, and has not found her way since her return. Nadia Petrova has some health problems, but she has run hot and cold for a few years now. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova keeps getting better, but it's Vera Zvonareva has outshown them all. A two-time major finalist, Zvonareva has a lot to prove this year; she is now "the" Russian, and it's a bonus that she is intelligent and articulate (and can break a racquet with more panache than anyone in history). But despite Zvonareva and Pavlyuchenkova, the Russians no longer dominate.

Since we're talking about change, Ii's only natural that people would speculate about the Williams sisters' retirement. I think they will try to be around for the 2012 Olympic Games, but both of them now have health issues that make it hard for them to compete. Of course, it's the work of a fool to ever count out Serena Williams, so--like everyone else--I'm waiting to see what will happen.

Everything, by the way, could change again tomorrow--that's the nature of professional tennis. And if you doubut that, I have two words for you: Francesca Schiavone.

by Jackie Roe, TW Social Director Hi TWibe! More All About Me fun this week, so let’s jump right in. (If you’ve missed the past few weeks and have no idea what’s going on here, click here to catch up.)...

Madrid Open Tennis Results Friday May 6th 2011

QF (3) R Federer defeats (5) R Soderling 76(2) 64
QF (1) R Nadal defeats M Llodra 62 62
QF N Djokovic defeats D Ferrer 64 46 63
QF T Bellucci defeats (7) T Berdych 76(2) 63

Doubles
QF (6) M Llodra / N Zimonjic defeats (2) M Mirnyi / D Nestor 64 46 10-6
QF (1) B Bryan / M Bryan defeats (7) M Fyrstenberg / M Matkowski 63 64
QF J Isner / S Querrey defeats (4) R Bopanna / A Qureshi 67(6) 64 10-3
QF M Cilic / I Ljubicic defeats (8) W Moodie / D Norman 75 76(5)

ATP Rome Qualy Draw - Internazionali BNL d’Italia

(1) NISHIKORI, Kei JPN v GONZALEZ, Maximo ARG
DEL BONIS, Federico ARG v (12) GABASHVILI, Teymuraz RUS

(2) ANDUJAR, Pablo ESP v LORENZI, Paolo ITA
(WC) NASO, Gianluca ITA v (13) KAMKE, Tobias GER

(3) GRANOLLERS, Marcel ESP v RAMOS, Albert ESP
DI MAURO, Alessio ITA v (11) RIBA, Pere ESP

(4) CUEVAS, Pablo URU v (WC) BURZI, Enrico ITA
HAIDER-MAURER, Andreas AUT v (10) BERLOCQ, Carlos ARG

(5) NIEMINEN, Jarkko FIN v SCHOOREL, Thomas NED
ANDREEV, Igor RUS v (8) SWEETING, Ryan USA

(6) MANNARINO, Adrian FRA v (WC) VIOLA, Matteo ITA
REISTER, Julian GER v (9) HANESCU, Victor ROU

(7) GIL, Frederico POR v KUBOT, Lukasz POL
(WC) CRUGNOLA, Marco ITA v (14) KAVCIC, Blaz SLO

Madrid Open Semifinal Order of Play Saturday May 7th 2011

MUTUA MADRID OPEN
Madrid, Spain
Red Clay/Outdoors

Saturday, May 7, 2011

Manolo Santana (from 11.45hrs)
1. Julia Goerges vs. Victoria Azarenka
2. Li Na vs. Petra Kvitova (NB 13.45hrs)
3. ATP: Nadal vs. Federer (NB 16.00hrs)
4. ATP: Bellucci vs. Djokovic (NB 19.00hrs)
5. Doubles Final: Azarenka/Kirilenko vs. Peschke/Srebotnik

Arantxa Sánchez-Vicario (from 14.00hrs)
1. ATP: Bryan/Bryan vs. Isner/Querrey
2. ATP: Cilic/Ljubicic vs. Llodra/Zimonjic

Everyone firmly believes the New York Giants got a steal with Prince Amukamara in the first round of the NFL Draft, but what about James Brewer in round four?

Read more... Join the Conversation...on Giants 101Read the full original article...

If NFL free agency were to begin, could the New York Giants consider bringing back linebacker Kawika Mitchell?

Read more... Join the Conversation...on Giants 101Read the full original article...

There are various, familiar narratives we could impose on the Madrid semifinal featuring Roger Federer and his nemesis, Rafael Nadal. There's the "fee...

People who saw Julia Goerges play (I didn't) in the third round of the Madrid Open said she looked pretty tired. She wasn't too tired to defeat Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the quarterfinals, however. Goerges' 6-4, 6-2 victory places her in the semifinals against 4th seed Victoria Azarenka. In the last two months, Azarenka has either retired from events or won them. She had to retire in the quarterfinals of Indian Wells because of a hip injury (an ongoing problem), and she retired with a shoulder injury in the second round in Stuttgart. Azarenka won titles in Miami and Marbella.

To get to the semifinals, Azarenka defeated Lucie Safarova 6-3, 3-6, 6-2. The Belarusian is now 6-0 against Safarova, who took her first set off of Azarenka today.

Li Na--who has never been known for her performance on clay, and who had experienced quite a downfall since her big Australian Open run--is somewhat of a surprise semifinalist, despite being seeded 6th. Li defeated Bethanie Mattek-Sands 6-4, 3-6, 6-4. Mattek-Sands gave Li a lot of opposition, but then was easil broken at love in the final game.

Li's opponent will be Petra Kvitova, the 16th seed. Kvitova is a bit of a surprise, too, in that one might not expect her to perform at a high level on red clay. But she defeated a very good clay performer, Dominika Cibulkova, 3-6, 6-3, 7-5. Kvitova is just full of surprises, however, and I look forward to seeing what the next one will be.

Azarenka and her partner, Maria Kirilenko, seeded 5th in doubles, defeated the 3rd seeds, Vania King and Yaroslava Shvedova, in today's semifinals. Their opponents in the Madrid final will be 2nd seeds Kveta Peschke and Katarina Srebotnik. Peschke and Srebotnik defeated Casey Dellacqua and Rennae Stubbs 6-1, 4-6, 10-2.

With Mother’s Day just around the corner, TSF asked a few of the ladies on the WTA tour what their plans are for the special day. Monica Niculescu, Anabel Medina Garrigues, Johanna Larsson, and Casey Dellacqua chimed in — these gals are adorable! — so read their responses after the cut… Monica Niculescu (Romania): “I’m [...]

Victoria Azarenka has reached the semifinals of the Mutua Madrid Open and needs just one more win to become the first Belarusian in WTA history to be ranked higher than No.5, where she stands now. She advanced to the semifinals with a 6-3 3-6 6-2 victory over Lucie Safarova, to whom she hadn’t lost a [...]

I always love it how Maria Sharapova's Grand Slam dresses have a special story and inspiration behind them and for the 2011 French Open the Nike team came up with a collection revolving around Paris and its Eiffel Tower. My all-time favorites still remain the 2007 US Open dresses and their New York skyline. The [...]

MADRID (AP) -Tennis will be without a top-10 American men's or women's player for the first time in the 38-year history of the rankings after Serena Williams was projected to drop out next week.

Rafael Nadal will take on Roger Federer at the Madrid Open for the third straight year after both came through their quarterfinal matches in straight sets Friday.

So, um, things are getting a little awkward in here.

I know this is a little old and I just found it, however, UND Fighting Sioux hockey coach Dave Hakstol was on with Chris Botta on April 27th, 2011, Chris runs an independent Islanders blog that has a lot of good information on the New York Islanders. Read the full original article...

A well-rested Rafael Nadal won in straight sets to advance to the Madrid semifinals

You know it’s time to get a haircut when… Loving the mini-bangs, Andy. Madrid: Fourth seed Murray ran into the Thomaz Bellucci train at this week’s Mutua Madrid Open. The Brazilian is still in it, nabbing a semifinal spot after upsetting 7th seed Tomas Berdych 7-6 (2), 6-3. Bellucci will play the winner of Ferrer/Djokovic [...]

Good to see an American presence deeper into a clay tournament, but it had to end at some point: Li Na beat Bethanie Mattek-Sands 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 in the quarterfinals of this week’s Mutua Madrid Open. (Video: See how Li has been training on the dirt) Going forward: Li’s semifinal opponent will be either Kvitova [...]

One less for Tattoo Watch to keep tabs on now that pseudo-tramp-stamped Austrian Stefan Koubek has announced his retirement. The 34-year-old ATPer, ranked 261st, plans to finish his pro career off with an exhibition match on July 30. “I wanted to play Roland Garros and Wimbledon one more time but I won’t make it,” he [...]

As if any of these “shirtless” posts are off-topic! Wilhemina model Caleb Halstead shot by Matthew Scrivens for Armani Exchange‘s summer 2011 campaign. (photo by Matthew Scrivens via Chic Report)

Elena Baltacha reaches her first clay-court semi-final by beating Germany's Kristina Barrois at the Suez Open in France.

A well-rested Rafael Nadal and upstart Julia Goerges cruised into the Madrid Open semifinals on Friday.

By PAUL LOGOTHETIS

Djokovic into Madrid Open quarterfinal

Novak Djokovic defeated Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-1, 6-2 to advance to the quarterfinals at the Madrid Open.

Djokovic, who is 29-0 since the start of the 2011 tennis season, is tied for third with Ivan Lendl for the best season start since 1980.

“I know I’m playing great now but there is always something you can improve on—you can never be perfect,” Djokovic said. “I’m winning service games comfortably. That’s something I’m happy about today and an encouraging fact for upcoming matches, especially on clay.”

Djokovic will play David Ferrer, who scored a 6-3, 7-6 victory over Sergiy Stakhovsky for a place in the semis.

Federer vs Soderling at Madrid Open quarterfinal

Roger Federer enjoyed a6-4, 6-3 win over Xavier Malisse in the third round of the Mutua Madrid Open and will face Robin Soderling in the quarter-finals..

"I thought mentally it was fine, it was more physical, just a quick turnaround," said Federer. "[I] had a quick dinner and go to bed, treatment and stuff stretch again, eat again and go out on the courts, not much in between.

"[I was] just ready to play a different type of game, right handed during the day so mentally you have to shift a little bit so my expectations weren't extremely high I just wanted to put in a good performance and try to play a good match which I was able to do so I'm very happy with today's performance."

Robin Soderling set up a quarter-final meeting with Roger Federer, after beating Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 7-6(8), 7-5.

Both players won over 75 per cent of their first serve points, but Soderling managed to convert the only break of serve late in the second set, and served out the match to clinch the victory.


Source AP/Yahoo/Reuters/ATP

Nadal into semis in Madrid

Rafael Nadal had another easy win in Madrid today after beating Michael Llodra 62 62 in the quarterfinals of the Madrid Open.

Nadal will face the winner of the match between Roger Federer and Robin Soderling next.

The world number 1 broke in the first game of the match and rised then to a 4-0 lead. Llodra was able to get on board in the 5th game but it was already too late as Nadal claimed the set after just 35 minutes.

In the second set things were a little bit closer but Nadal was too strong for the Frenchman. The Spaniard broke in the 5th and 7th games and served out the match to advance.

Brandon Lyon was sent for an MRI to look at his shoulder and by GAW they found a tear in the rotator cuff that doesn’t need surgery. But he needs to go on the DL. The proper diagnosis is most likely suckagus mondo, but they prefer to use Big Words. On the other hand, now HOW [...]Read the full original article...

My recap of the Mets 5-2 win over the Giants at Citi Field.

A well-rested Rafael Nadal cruised into the Madrid Open semifinals after overwhelming Michael Llodra 6-2, 6-2 on Friday.

Roger Federer shows how to get more speed on your serve.

Heather Watson is out of the Suez Open after losing to Italy's Maria-Elena Camerin in the second round.

Top seed Rafael Nadal reaches the last four of the Madrid Open.

Julia Goerges beat Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-4, 6-2 Friday to reach the Madrid Open semifinals.

Video: Madrid Open Thursday Highlights

Watch tennis highlights of wins by Robin Soderling and Tomas Berdych in the third round of the Mutua Madrid Open...

Videos: Madrid Open Thursday Interviews: Soderling, Ferrer and Bellucci

Robin Soderling, Thomaz Bellucci and David Ferrer where among the winners at the Madrid Open on Thursday and they talk about their matches in the following video interviews....

Video: Del Potro Madrid Open Thursday Interview

Juan Martin Del Potro discusses his hip injury that forced him to withdrew before his third round match with Rafael Nadal at the 2011 Madrid Open...

Video: Djokovic Madrid Open Thursday Interview

Novak Djokovic talks about his straight set win over Guillermo Garce Lopez in the third round of the Mutua Madrid Open tennis masters...

Video: Federer Madrid Open Thursday Interview

Roger Federer gives aa insight of the mental preparation required to shift gears between his thriller match with Feliciano Lopez on Wednesday night at the Mutua Madrid Open to his Thursday afternoon encounter with Xavier Malisse.

Federer beat Malisse 64 63 to reach the quarterfinals...

Video: Rafael Nadal, Clay King - Madrid Open Feature

Rafael Nadal has made clay a surface all his own... No one is better than the king of clay these days....