Exclusive: Day at the Masters Pt. 2

Troy is at it again on semifinal day at the Madrid Masters (or as he calls it, "Quadruple M"). Check out his latest post, complete with pictures:

Things are wrapping up quickly at the Quadruple M this weekend. Nalbandian's run continues as he takes yet another Top 3 victim in Novak Djokovic. Ironically enough, Nalbandian's run is looking more and more like Novak's at this summer's Masters Montreal. Djokovic's game seemed intact all around excluding his serve which disappointed on several key points. It seems he is also suffering something common among the elite Serbian tennis players: burnout. Novak admitted that he felt "really exhausted" during the match and smiled at the prospect of a week off.


Mirka, no stranger to R & R herself, continued her courtside reign this weekend. Last night she spent most of her time on her new pink cellphone and chatting with her friend. Today was no different, although, judging by other's reactions, she seems to have picked up a strange odor today. Too much arroz con habicheula's?


Meanwhile, Mirka's unidentified boyfriend continued to live up to his reputation and seemingly permanent number one seeding during a semifinal routing of Nicholas Kiefer. Kiefer, the only man to play Federer in all four Grand Slams (as recalled by Fed himself), took a respectable eight games off the Swiss. The 6-4, 6-4 victory kept
Federer's straight set record intact at this year's MMMM. People have started to run out of things to ask Roger, as the latter part of his press conference was dedicated to his F1 Racing predictions and the whereabouts of Juliette the cow (which he received as a gift for winning the Swiss Open at Gstaad in 2003). Federer admitted the cow was slaughtered.


The Bryan Brothers kept their slaughter of the doubles game alive with a win over the resurgent Argentine team of Nalbandian and Guillermo Canas. There was plenty of belly-bumping and Argentine ball abuse to be had during the entertaining match-up.


Tomorrow's finals should be interesting. Although the number one seeds in both singles and doubles are through (again) this time, it seems like they will all have their hands full. Anyone else smell an upset? Or is that just Mirka?


All photos by Troy Venechanos.

Madrid Exclusive: A Day at the Masters

Troy's live in Madrid giving us the play-by-play with his always-witty commentary:

Tennis balls in Madrid are big. So big that they need large Sony Ericsson WTA Tour labels and their own velvet ropes.


Madrid is wrapping up the first of its two big tennis 'balls,' and today its host left the party early. In fact, today was a day of grand exits and entrances. Let's review:

Novak Djokovic entered the semifinals with a convincing win over Mario Ancic. He rarely seemed threatened and despite an awkward landing on his foot that resulted in medical timeout, he closed out the match with ease. As he moves forward, we can wave goodbye to any clear idea of the world's second best player.


As we know, Rafa exited the Mutua Madrilena Masters Madrid earlier than anyone (here) expected. The MMMM's pride and joy didn't leave them without a few words on his regrets and overall disappointment with his performance. Surprisingly he was in good spirits during the press conference. He cracked jokes and seemed at home and at ease with the Spanish press. Although its so hard to tell - emotional subtly is definitely his strong suit.


Good-bye Rafa. Hello to the Nalbandian we once knew. It's hard to argue with David's performance today. You may think the match was closer than the score indicated, but it wasn't. The slimmed-down Argentine played flawless tennis when he had to and even when he didn't, too. I had never seen him smile until today during his post-match comments. He should enjoy it while it lasts; I'm sure he has Federer at the back of his mind. (Nalbandian next plays Djokovic in the semis, but could face Federer - whom he beat at the Masters Cup in '05 - in the final.)


Federer made his way to the semis with a straight-set win over Spain's last hope, Feliciano Lopez. In typical Federer style, he has cut himself an easy path through the draw. He steamrolled who everyone thought would be his biggest pre-final hurdle, Guillermo Canas. Although for some reason Willy seems less than intimidating
lately...


All photos by Troy Venechanos.

More From Madrid

Even though Andy Roddick withdrew due to a recurring injury, Madrid is still in full-flight with the top three seeds (Federer, Nadal and Djokovic) all competing in top form.

Fellow blogger and former co-intern Troy is there taking in the action live and will have exclusive photos and recaps for the AIPT over the weekend and early next week.

Stay tuned!

Taylor Dent Exclusive

I just spoke on the phone with Taylor Dent about an article I'm doing for SMASH about an up-and-coming junior named Michael McClune.

I have to say that Taylor couldn't have been nicer when it came to McClune and just in general. Dent has been out since February of last year with back injuries. He was as high as #21 in the rankings in the summer of 2005, and was part of the group that included Robby Ginepri, James Blake and Mardy Fish as Andy Roddick's supporting cast.

I had to ask him about his comeback and this is what he had to say:
"I have a PT scan on my back in a few weeks and hopefully that goes well. I'm looking forward to getting back on the tour."

Not much meat in the statement, but it sounds like Taylor is optimistic that he might be headed toward playing professionally again. My guess: Aussie '08.