After a devastating loss to Nadal at the Australian Open in Melbourne, Federer seemed broken in sprit. At a post match interview, the world’s former number one and winner of 13 Grand Slam Championships was near tears. Exhaustion almost got the better of the graceful Swiss star.

The Madrid finals marked the sixteenth time the two champions have squared away in a tournament finals. Nadal owns a commanding 11 – 5 championship match record. Only Ivan Lendl and John McEnroe have met in more finals and like Nadal and Federer, many of their 20 final matches were memorable. In head-to-head matchups, Nadal has won 13 of the 20 battles.

Always the consummate sportsmen, Federer has been gracious in defeat. With each recent loss, an edge has begun to surface between the two. Tennis fans have come to believe that the fire has left Federer’s game. While he remains a threat on faster surfaces, he is often overlooked on clay.

During a post match interview, Nadal made mention of the speed on Madrid’s new clay courts, saying the surface is unlike the notoriously deliberate red clay at Roland Garros in Paris. Nadal thought the faster surface was geared more to Federer’s game.

Serb Novak Djokovic brought his big game to Madrid and kept Rafael on the court for four grueling hours in the Saturday semi-finals. The match definitely took a toll on Nadal. Federer had an easier time disposing of Andy Roddick in the other semi-final. Nadal’s assessment of the court speed seems valid as Roddick is not known to reach the semis on true clay surfaces.

For Federer and for the organizers at Roland Garros, the upset could not have come at a more opportune time. The cocky Nadal has been on an impressive roll winning 33 consecutive clay court matches. Amazingly, the burly 22-year old lefthander has only lost 5 of 155 clay court matches since 2005. After wins at Monte Carlo and Rome, Rafa was seeking to become the first male to win all three clay Masters events. Playing in his homeland before 12,500 center court fans, the stage was set. But, the Swiss star spoiled the party with the straight set, 6-4, 6-4 win.

Despite the top seed’s marathon match on Saturday, the Spaniard came out firing and had two early break points against Switzerland’s star. Federer overcame break points in game two and game six of the first set and finally broke through against Nadal in game nine. He followed the break with a love service game to claim set one.

In the fifth game of the second set, the champion dazzled the crowd with a spellbinding drop shot that the hard-charging Spaniard could not play. At add out, Nadal lost serve when his backhand came up short. That was all the Swiss star needed. At 5-4 and down 15-40, Federer clawed his way back to deuce then to match point, which he won with an ace down the middle. The Madrid title was Roger’s first win over Rafa since the Hamburg Open in 2007.

At the end of the month, the pair may meet for a re-match in Paris. Once again, Nadal will be the top seed. And, Paris has been very, very good to Rafa. The wake-up call may be just what the doctor ordered for Nadal as he goes for his fifth consecutive French Open Championship and the second leg of the Grand Slam. On the other hand, Federer has struggled in Paris. The French Open is the missing link in his Grand Slam trophy case.

Federer’s success in Madrid will serve notice that his clay game is ready. “It’s a nice feeling and I’m excited to be going to Paris now whereas maybe a couple of weeks ago I was still a little bit unsure about my game and not sure whether I could win the French and now that’s changed.”

The Madrid champ not only snapped Nadal’s 33 clay match win streak but did the same with his 2007 Hamburg win. At that point, Nadal had won 81 straight clay matches. Federer’s newfound drop shot might be just the weapon he needs in Paris.

Nadal has been preparing mentally and physically for Roland Garros. Like all the elite players, he can afford to bear down on the majors. Since 2005, the Spaniard has not lost a match at Roland Garros and anyone who overcomes him now will know they have been to battle. While Federer has the Madrid hardware, Nadal leaves knowing that he was off his game and still finished a close second against the same competition that will move on to Paris. See you there!

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• “El Rey de Clay”: Nadal masters Monte Carlo for the fifth straight year
• Clay Heyday: Nadal defeats Djokovic for fourth Rome title
• The Awakening: Federer shrugs off recent woes, tops Nadal for Madrid title

After 86 minutes of unexpectedly clean tennis inside the Magic Box tennis center, the tennis world has indeed turned.

The Federer-Nadal story, the greatest two-man show in the sport over the past four years, suddenly owns a new aura of life and freshness. Federer, given no chance to win this event when it started, suddenly reclaimed a measure of stature and swagger with an efficient 6-4, 6-4 win over Nadal on Manolo Santana Centre Court. In one lightning-quick display before a disappointed Spanish crowd, the world No. 2 breathed excitement into the back end of the claycourt season while achieving a number of milestones in the process.

The drama surrounding the latest installment of tennis’s best rivalry concerned Nadal’s energy… but only to a point. After a draining, 4-hour and 2-minute victory over Novak Djokovic in Saturday’s semifinals, Nadal had to step on court the very next day. Given that Federer needed barely more than an hour to dispose of Juan Martin del Potro in Saturday’s other semi, the Swiss had a chance–in the eyes of some pundits–to take advantage of the situation. However, Federer knew as well as anyone–if not more so–that Nadal is a master at transcending bodily limitations.

Nearly four months earlier at the Australian Open, Nadal shrugged off a 5-hour, 14-minute semifinal match against Fernando Verdasco to wear down Federer in a 4-hour, 23-minute final that lasted five sets. If a part of Federer secretly felt that fatigue could expose Nadal under the most daunting circumstances, those inner thoughts were certainly dashed on a defining night in Melbourne. On this day in Madrid, Federer knew that he couldn’t try to wear down his celebrated adversary; he’d have to take the fight to Nadal and pounce when the opportunity presented itself. That’s exactly what the 27-year-old icon did in disposing of his 22-year-old opponent.

Yes, Federer will take some satisfaction from knowing that he claimed his 15th Masters 1000 title, tying Nadal (who passed Federer at Rome just two weeks ago) for second on the all-time list behind Andre Agassi’s record of 17 Masters shields. Sure, Federer will notice that he stopped Nadal’s 33-match winning streak on clay, two years after ending Rafa’s 81-match run on red dirt in Hamburg. Of course, Federer will breathe easier now that his head-to-head record with Nadal stands at 13-7 for the Spaniard instead of 14-6. Beating the one man whose ascendancy has blocked him from attaining epic achievements will make Federer sleep peacefully in the week to come. There’s no question that this moment in Madrid will rate as one of the more satisfying Sundays of a career full of fabulous feats. With all that said, however, the real and enduring significance of this win for Federer can be found in the manner through which it was attained.

When Fed travels to Paris for a French Open fortnight that just got a lot more interesting, he’ll take great encouragement not from statistics or historical records, but from the way he played in Madrid against his personal piece of kryptonite. Nadal has bedeviled the entire ATP Tour–and especially Federer–over the past year and a half with an array of shots that might not seem to devastating in isolation, but whose overwhelming effect becomes clear after 30 or 45 minutes of exertion between the painted lines. Nadal doesn’t blitz opponents the way Federer did in his halcyon days, but the mighty Mallorcan grinds down his foes with a superior work ethic, and spin-loaded strokes that prevent opponents from gaining leverage in extended rallies. In order for Federer to solve the puzzle posed by Nadal, he needed to bring a few weapons to the brand-new tennis facility in the Spanish capital: a consistent first serve, an attacking game, and a willingness to shorten points. Long story short (pun intended), Federer displayed those qualities throughout his soaring straight-set victory.

Federer hit 63 percent of his first serves, a number that will certainly keep him in the conversation whenever he plays Nadal (the number will need to be higher at the slams, but not by a huge extent). By mixing up speeds and placements, Federer got Nadal off balance and prevented the Spaniard from gaining the rhythm he relies on to see him through every match. Federer also hit 25 winners to accompany 25 unforced errors. The numbers might not seem spectacular, but on clay–a surface that usually involves negative winner-error ratios, especially against defensive stalwarts such as Nadal–that figure is impressive. Federer has historically faltered against Nadal in most claycourt meetings, especially at the French Open, by hitting dozens more errors than winners. An even-steven ratio is not only tolerable, it’s substantial–that statistic shows that Federer sensibly used an attack-first approach, going for shots when he had the chance but not overhitting to bail out of a long rally.

Many experts will understandably note that a tired Nadal’s shots lacked their customary zing, but it’s just as true that Federer had to serve effectively, play cleanly, and think clearly in order to pull off this shocker. In just under an hour and a half, that’s exactly what a proud Swiss champion did on a day that turned heads… and fortunes… on the ATP Tour. By showing the old, free-flowing form of his very best years, Federer–his serve clicking and his game rounding into shape–has re-established himself as a factor for the rest of the 2009 season. Djokovic–who softened up Rafa for this Federer final–will be heard from on tour, and Andy Murray will be fully in the mix once the clay season concludes, but after months without titles and weeks of vultures picking at his tennis corpse, Roger Federer has awakened from his slumber. Men’s tennis is the winner at the end of the first-ever Madrid Open claycourt championships.

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Madrid Open WTA Final: (1) Dinara Safina d. (9) Caroline Wozniacki, 6-2, 6-4

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In the very first year of its existence, the architectural marvel played host to one of the finest tennis matches ever contested, anywhere and anytime. In the decades to come, many more Madrid Opens will unfold at “La Caja Magica,” but the first edition of the brand-new claycourt tournament has set a very high standard that will be nearly impossible to top in the future.

In a glowing gladiatorial gunfight of legendary proportions, Rafael Nadal heightened his already-stratospheric claycourt credentials by nipping Novak Djokovic at the wire in a Saturday semifinal that won’t soon be forgotten. Nadal saved three match points and survived two terrifically tense tiebreaks to escape with a rousing 3-6, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (9) victory in 4 hours and 2 minutes of enthralling action. The match didn’t just provide first-class competition from two A-list warriors; the grand display of mortal combat represented the longest best-of-three-set match in the history of the ATP Tour’s Masters Series, which began in 1990.

The lasting significance of this mind-bending Masters 1000 masterpiece is that it reaffirmed Nadal’s ability to take an elite opponent’s best punch and still win. Djokovic–who has been enjoying a terrific claycourt season and had reached the finals of the previous three Masters 1000 events–said after the match that “I even played a few points beyond my limits but still couldn’t win.” Only Rafael Nadal can make another Grand Slam champion feel that way. The 22-year-old Spaniard, who somehow manages to grow in stature despite achieving outrageous feats in virtually every event he enters, has a proven knack for winning points, games, sets, matches, and championships even when the man on the other side of the net is doing little if anything wrong. Djokovic considered this match his best tennis, and yet Nadal–by sheer force of his inexhaustible and indomitable will–flatly insisted on advancing to Sunday’s championship match against Roger Federer, a man who knows what it’s like to play great tennis against Nadal, and still walk off the court without a trophy in his hands.

Just how remarkable was Nadal’s resolve in this latest classic match, the newest addition to Rafa’s collection of all-time tennis treats? As was the case in his Australian Open wins over Fernando Verdasco (in the semifinals) and then Federer (in the final), Nadal refused to fold in the face of death. Djokovic–who played an outstanding first set and dictated nearly all of the match through the first two stanzas–had a break point on Rafa’s serve at 4-all in the second, but Nadal swatted it away. Djokovic had another break point at 5-all, but Rafa ratcheted up his focus to hold for 6-5. Once in the tiebreak, Nadal–who sprayed his groundstrokes in a grubby first set, and lacked appreciable penetration on his shots for much of the afternoon–tightened up his game to squeak by, 7-5, and level the match at a set apiece.

Such gallantry, as impressive as it was, would pale in comparison to the thrills and chills of a remarkable third set.

On and on Nadal and Djokovic traded punches, fighting well into the evening and outlasting the sun that drenched Manolo Santana Centre Court at the beginning of this semifinal struggle. The two men, battling tightness in the knees (Nadal) and late-match cramps (Djokovic), exchanged breaks to work their way to a deciding tiebreak, when a mesmerizing sports moment found a way to attain an even higher plateau of quality. Djokovic would earn match points at 6-5 and 7-6 in the third-set tiebreak, only for Nadal to reach into his quiver and hit the bulls-eye on two signature down-the-line forehands. After Nadal won the fifteenth point of the tiebreak to earn his first match point at 8-7, the steely Serbian star pulled the trigger on a ballsy drop shot that was perfectly placed and executed. Though the Madrid crowd was deprived of a win for its national hero, Djokovic had elevated the level of the classic confrontation by becoming the second player to face–and save–a match point. When one player overcomes the ultimate pressure cooker to create an extended battle, a tennis match acquires a transformed feel and flavor; when both competitors can survive the cauldron of match point nerves, the sport reaches its absolute zenith. In the final and fabulous few points of this Madrid Open magnum opus, Nadal and Djokovic allowed their dizzying duel to climb even higher in the esteem of the global tennis community.

The final four points of the match possessed the unpredictability that defined the back-and-forth brawl, but they lacked the brilliance of the first 17 points of a third-set tiebreak sent to earth by the tennis gods. Djokovic earned a third match point at 9-8, but then sprayed a return. On Nadal’s second match point at 10-9, Djokovic smacked a groundstroke into the net instead of maintaining the form that had carried him to the brink of victory. The final Djokovic error sent Nadal–as is his custom in evidently epic matches–falling to the ground in a state of exhausted ecstasy. After little more than four hours of total effort in the truly magical Magic Box, the world’s best tennis player reminded everyone why he so completely owns and deserves the distinction. On an afternoon when his knees were less than fully fit, and his groundstrokes lacked their normal conviction and sting, Nadal was still able to turn back a top-4 opponent and Grand Slam champion who couldn’t have played any better. If you’re still not sure that Rafael Nadal is one of the greatest tennis players who have ever lived, go back and re-read that last sentence to understand the brilliance of the masterful Mallorcan. Many tennis titans have owned greater gifts and more elegant shotmaking artistry, but no soul–male or female–has ever competed with the unflappable focus unfailingly displayed by one Rafael Nadal. That’s why a man who’s a month short of his 23rd birthday is being considered–legitimately and rightfully–as the greatest claycourt player who has ever held a tennis racket.

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Other Madrid Open Scores from Saturday

Men’s Semifinal No. 2: (2) Roger Federer d. (5) Juan Martin del Potro, 6-3, 6-4; Federer will face Nadal in Sunday’s championship match

WTA Tour – Women’s Madrid Open

Women’s Semifinal No. 1: (9) Caroline Wozniacki d. Amelie Mauresmo, 7-6 (1), 6-3

Women’s Semifinal No. 2: (1) Dinara Safina d. Patty Schnyder, 6-4, 6-2; Safina will face Wozniacki in Sunday’s championship match, which will precede Federer-Nadal at Manolo Santana Centre Court

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In prior years, Roger Federer unmistakably stamped himself as the second-best claycourt player on the planet, but in 2009, it’s been Djokovic who has replaced the Swiss superstar as the man ordained to lose to Nadal in ATP finals in Monte Carlo and Rome. Once accustomed to playing in the final Sunday of just about every tournament he entered, Federer–not horrible, but certainly not at his very best–has become a regular semifinalist on tour. For a 13-time slam champion and a 14-time Masters Series titleist, that’s not a cause for celebration. The inconsistent nature of Federer’s game these days has created a harsh but real dynamic in which opponents–even in defeat–can gain consolation from playing tough matches against the man who has rewritten so many of tennis’s record books.

Such was the case on Friday afternoon, as Federer punched his ticket into yet another semifinal, but not without giving an opponent confidence for a future encounter on a surface other than clay.

Federer might have defeated Andy Roddick for the eighteenth time in 20 tries, but that doesn’t mean the second-seeded Swiss had an easy time on Friday afternoon at Manolo Santana Centre Court, the showcase arena of the Magic Box tennis complex. Playing in front of a packed house of 12,500, Federer overcame some untimely errors to dispatch a typically gallant but ultimately deficient Roddick in three sets, 7-5, 6-7 (5), 6-1. The victory, attained in 2 hours and 11 minutes of spirited exchanges, might have sent Federer to his sixth semifinal of the 2009 tennis season, but the match’s major revelation is that it revealed Roddick’s improved mindset more than anything else.

Yes, it’s true that moral victories don’t count for much in a sport where earnings are based solely on scoreboard triumphs. With that having been said, the sixth-seeded Roddick surpassed pre-match expectations by any reasonable standard. On clay, the graveyard surface for American tennis pros over the past decade (since Andre Agassi aged to the point where long rallies simply weren’t feasible on the red dirt), the 26-year-old from Austin, Texas, didn’t figure to put up too much of a fight against Federer, still a formidable foe on the terre battue. His ability to push Federer to a third set, on a day when the Swiss’ groundstrokes looked measurably stronger than they had in previous weeks, should give Roddick even more confidence heading into the French Open. A new partnership with coach Larry Stefanki–who recently instructed Fernando Gonzalez and once mentored John McEnroe–certainly seems to be bearing fruit. When the clay season ends and the short grass season begins, Roddick should feel as though he has every chance to impose his big game on opponents, while adding extra doses of defense and footwork that were seen on Friday against Federer.

On several occasions in this match, Roddick–given every chance in the world to pack up his bags and make an early exit from Madrid–instead chose to fight and dig his way out of trouble. The sequence that supremely showcased the American’s resolve came in the second-set tiebreak, with Federer owning a 3-0 lead and eyeing a straight-set triumph. Roddick held on for dear life on a few rallies, forcing Fed to hit an extra ball which the Swiss star missed. Suddenly back in contention at 3-all, Roddick then crushed a forehand with the aggressiveness so often absent from past meetings against his decorated nemesis. A 172-kilometer-per-hour forehand to the corner of the court produced a 4-3 mini-break lead, and a pronounced shift in momentum. Federer leveled for 5-all, but then a costly double fault–the only one of the set for the Swiss–gave Roddick a set point that was promptly converted with a big serve. In past years, a 0-3 tiebreak deficit against Roger Federer would have meant certain doom for America’s highest-ranked male tennis player. This year, there’s a lot more combative courage in the Texan’s tank.

It must be noted that Roddick didn’t sustain his effort in set three, as Federer used a couple of clean winners to break for a 2-0 lead and then sprint to the finish line. Roddick had one chance to break in the fifth game (down 1-3), but when an inside-out forehand from Federer forced an error from the No. 6 seed, the Swiss was able to find the killer instinct that had been missing in prior weeks, especially in semifinal losses to Novak Djokovic in both Miami and Rome. There’s no doubt that the final set was a disappointment, but in a larger context, Roddick should be pleased that he was able to compete with a world-class opponent in a meaningful claycourt event. Roddick’s improved defense and stronger work ethic will enable him to grind out wins in Paris… perhaps enough to get him to the second week of the Grand Slam event. More will be learned about Federer in his semifinal match against Juan Martin del Potro. For now, though, the tennis community has learned that even on clay, Andy Roddick can compete with distinction. That’s no small feat for a player–and a country–in search of success on the crushed red brick of Europe.

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Madrid Open ATP Scoreboard – Other Quarterfinal Results With Notes

(1) Rafael Nadal d. (7) Fernando Verdasco, 6-4, 7-5  — Nadal trailed 4-0 in the second set before Verdasco–in a familiar scenario–served seven double faults to let Rafa mount a comeback. The win marks Nadal’s 32nd straight victory on clay.

(3) Novak Djokovic d. Ivan Ljubicic, 6-4, 6-4 — Djokovic will play Nadal in Saturday’s semis, marking the third time the two men have met in a Masters 1000 clay event. Nadal defeated his Serbian foe in the finals of Monte Carlo (a three-set match) and Rome (a straight-setter) over the past month.

(5) Juan Martin del Potro d. (4) Andy Murray, 7-6 (4), 6-3 — Murray blew a 5-2 lead in the first set, making many of his 34 unforced errors at the worst possible moments. The loss also ensures that Roger Federer will be the No. 2 seed for the upcoming French Open. Del Potro’s win is the first against Murray in four meetings. The Argentine will play Federer in Saturday’s other semifinal.

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Madrid Open WTA Scoreboard – Quarterfinal Results and Semifinal Pairings

(1) Dinara Safina d. Alona Bondarenko, 6-4, 6-3

Patty Schnyder d. (4) Jelena Jankovic, 7-6 (6), 6-3

Semifinal No. 1 on Saturday: Safina vs. Schnyder

Amelie Mauresmo d. Agnes Szavay, 5-7, 6-1, 6-1

(9) Caroline Wozniacki d. Vera Dushevina, 6-0, 6-4

Semifinal No. 2 on Saturday: Mauresmo vs. Wozniacki

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Rafael Nadal and Andy Roddick moved into the quarterfinals of the men’s tournament on Thursday, as Philipp Kohlschreiber and 10th-seeded Nikolay Davydenko pulled out of competition with injuries. As for the WTA Tour, seventh-seeded Victoria Azarenka of Belarus–who rose to prominence during the North American spring hardcourt season–was shown the door by Hungary’s Agnes Szavay, 4-6, 6-2, 6-2. A relatively tame day of tennis didn’t generate big headlines, but the fairly uneventful afternoon did at least produce some compelling and consequential quarterfinal matchups in the Spanish capital.

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ATP Overview: Top-10 tilts headline Friday’s slate

Every quarterfinal in the men’s portion of the Madrid Open is a compelling one, but if a savvy ticket-buying fan had to choose only two of Friday’s four matches, it wouldn’t be too difficult to make an appropriate decision. The best quarterfinal matchup involves fifth-seeded Juan Martin del Potro and fourth-rated Andy Murray. These two young bucks locked horns at last year’s U.S. Open quarterfinals (Murray won in a long, dramatic four-set match), and then reunited just over a month ago at the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami (Murray prevailed in straight sets on his way to the title in Key Biscayne). Now, however, they’re going to collide on clay, a surface hostile to the fundamental approach of both players. It will be quite absorbing to witness the ways in which Delpo and Murray handle the moment, and adjust to the demands of claycourt tennis, a far cry from the hardcourts on which these two men enjoy such a markedly high comfort level. As always, a foremost point of emphasis for del Potro will be movement. Clay demands high-level footwork and requires the ability to slide in and out of shots. Against Murray, a superb manipulator of the ball, Delpo will be constantly challenged to align his body in such a way that he can get a clean look at the ball and find the sweet spot on his racket. Murray knows how to change angles and speeds on a full arrange of groundstrokes, so the Argentine will have to find an uncommon degree of focus as he roams the baseline. Knee bends, half-steps, and all the other aspects of world-class shot preparation must be in evidence if Delpo is to spring a modest but legitimate upset.

The other powerhouse matchup in the men’s quarters involves top-seeded Rafael Nadal and seventh-seeded Fernando Verdasco. While it’s true that this battle is a repeat of the recently-contested Rome Masters quarterfinals (Nadal won, 3 and 3), the fact that two Spaniards are dueling in Madrid will enable both players–especially Verdasco, as the underdog–to pursue a semifinal berth with ample passion and intensity. In other countries, such an encounter would be a battle for personal pride and respect. With this match on native soil, a party atmosphere could pop out of The Magic Box and lend a unique emotional quality to the competition. Such a dynamic doesn’t hurt Nadal, but it could very well allow Verdasco to relax and avoid the serving yips that have sabotaged him against Rafa in recent matches. All in all, the nature of the on-court atmosphere at “La Caja Magica” will make the latest staging of “Nadal-Verdasco” a particularly worthwhile view.

The other men’s quarterfinals aren’t exactly chopped liver. Novak Djokovic, enjoying a renaissance over the past two months, will face a familiar foe in Croatia’s Ivan Ljubicic. Both men know each other’s games well, so there won’t be any secrets on the court. Djokovic should certainly be favored, but in the same breath, it must be acknowledged that the third-seeded Serbian superstar has been logging a lot of match time over the past few weeks. If Ljubicic exhibits first-rate form, an upset is entirely possible.

The other quarterfinal at The Magic Box pits Roger Federer against Roddick, who was happy to avoid an extended slugfest with Davydenko on Thursday. On hardcourts or grass, this match would be eagerly anticipated. On the red dirt of Europe, it won’t possess the same amount of buzz, because Roddick’s serve–his one big weapon against Federer–will be reduced in potency by the slow nature of the surface. Fed-Roddick always makes for good conversations and tennis debates, but on clay, it’s a matchup that–while certainly attractive–isn’t as big a draw as Nadal-Vjerdasco or (especially) del Potro-Murray.

Thursday’s ATP Scores:

(2) Roger Federer d. (14) James Blake, 6-2, 6-4

(3) Novak Djokovic d. Andreas Seppi, 6-4, 6-4

(4) Andy Murray d. (16) Tommy Robredo, 7-5, 6-1

(5) Juan Martin del Potro d. (11) Stanislas Wawrinka, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4

(7) Fernando Verdasco d. Juan Monaco, 7-5, 6-2

Ivan Ljubicic d. (8) Gilles Simon, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3

(1) Rafael Nadal d. Philipp Kohlschreiber, walkover

(6) Andy Roddick d. (10) Nikolay Davydenko, walkover

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WTA Madrid Open Update – Thursday’s Scoreboard

(1) Dinara Safina d. Lucie Safarova, 6-0, 4-6, 6-3

(4) Jelena Jankovic d. Elena Vesnina, 6-2, 6-2

(9) Caroline Wozniacki d. Alysa Kleybanova, 6-2, 6-2

Agnes Szavay d. (7) Victoria Azarenka, 4-6, 6-2, 6-2

Alyona Bondarenko d. Anna Chakvetadze, 6-0, 2-6, 6-3

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Friday’s Quarterfinal Matchups

(1) Safina vs. A. Bondarenko (Alyona Bondarenko is the sister of Kateryna Bondarenko, hence the need to distinguish)

(4) Jankovic vs. Patty Schnyder

(9) Wozniacki vs. Vera Douchevina

Szavay vs. Amelie Mauresmo

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Three upsets took center stage on a wacky Wednesday at the Mutua Madrilena Madrid Open, giving the rest of the WTA Tour a great opportunity for a deep run at a significant claycourt title. The Magic Box tennis facility played host to three revolting developments, all of them involving top-10 seeds. In one match, sixth-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova fell to unranked Alyona Bondarenko by a surprisingly tame 6-3, 6-2 scoreline. Later in the day, third-seeded Elena Dementieva–a 2004 French Open finalist–lost to France’s Amelie Mauresmo, 1-6, 6-4, 6-2. Still later, eighth-seeded Nadia Petrova succumbed in three terrifically tight sets to Swiss lefty Patty Schnyder, 6-4, 6-7 (2), 7-6 (5). With both of the Williams sisters out of this event, it’s even more apparent that a dangerous floater–or a resilient high seed–has a great chance to capture a clay trophy before the curtain comes down on the red-dirt spring swing through the great cities of Europe.

If one had to rank the severity of these losses in the realm of women’s tennis, the biggest suprise would have to be Dementieva. The third-seeded Russian, who lost in this year’s Australian Open semifinals to eventual champion Serena Williams, is widely regarded to be the best women’s tennis player never to have won a major. With glorious groundstrokes and ample stamina, Dementieva has long possessed the physical tools needed to compete and win at the highest levels of competition. The problem for the 27-year-old has always been her mind. Sometimes paralyzed by pressure–as revealed by serving yips that crop up at the worst possible moments–and sometimes lacking in appetite, Dementieva simply hasn’t been able to cross the threshold that separates the solid, well-monied, highly-talented professional from the legendary, title-bearing, and generally unflappable tennis champion whose career legacy is happily secure. Dementieva has gotten wealthy from professional tennis, but she hasn’t stamped herself as one of the greats of the sport, a person worthy of being inducted into the Tennis Hall of Fame. It’s all because of a frail psyche that fights just well enough to lose.

It’s not as though Dementieva couldn’t produce quality tennis in this round-of-16 match. The Russian pounced on Mauresmo to claim the first set before anyone’s seat was warm in Madrid. Yet, someway and somehow–and against an opponent who is noted for succumbing to flop sweat in her own right–Dementieva just couldn’t find herself in time to avoid a damaging defeat. Once Mauresmo claimed a tense second set, Dementieva never put up much of a fight. While players’ reputations aren’t built on the backs of non-slam tournaments, it still stands to reason that subpar efforts such as this one will keep Dementieva from winning the French Open (or, for that matter, any other prestigious tournament).

If any of Wednesday’s three upsets possessed a manifest lack of shock value, the answer would have to be Petrova’s setback against Schnyder. Petrova might have entered The Magic Box with an “(8)” next to her name, but the Russian veteran of the tennis wars hasn’t claimed any big scalps in a long and lucrative but ultimately unfulfilling career. A Schnyder victory wasn’t exactly expected, but as the Swiss pulled out the third-set tiebreak by the smallest of allowable margins (two points), the final score couldn’t have been too alarming to anyone in Madrid. Petrova will not be considered a prime contender at the French Open, so this loss won’t send shockwaves through the women’s tennis community.

The final one of these three upsets is the one that, believe it or not, makes a certain amount of sense for the vanquished victim. While it’s true that no top-10 player should be getting dusted in fairly convincing straight sets  (3 and 2, to be precise) at the hands of an unranked opponent, Kuznetsova–the sixth seed–has a legitimate reason: She’s fried. Brain dead. Mentally exhausted.

Need convincing on this specific point? Consider that Kuznetsova won the WTA event in Stuttgart on Sunday, May 3, and then had to turn around in just two days before playing the Italian Open in Rome, where the Kooze reached the final and lost to Dinara Safina. (Safina had lost to Kuznetsova in the Stuttgart final; Rome, then, marked revenge for the world No. 1.) If any upper-tier women’s player had a good excuse for an early exit in Madrid–an excuse that came from her own worn-down body–it was Kuznetsova. This impotent display against one of the tennis-playing Bondarenko sisters actually enables the Kooze to rest up for the French, and recuperate while her colleagues continue to pound away in the Spanish capital. A loss, believe it or not, could be the best thing to happen to Kuznetsova at The Magic Box.

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ATP Scoreboard – Mutua Madrilena Madrid Open – Wednesday’s Notable Matches

(1) Rafael Nadal d. Jurgen Melzer, 6-3, 6-1

(6) Andy Roddick d. Tommy Haas, 1-6, 7-6 (9), 6-4 (Roddick saved 2 match points in set two)

Juan Monaco d. (12) David Ferrer, 6-4, 6-4

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ATP Overview: Thursday’s featured matches

(1) Nadal vs. Philipp Kohlschreiber

(14) James Blake vs. (2) Roger Federer

(4) Andy Murray vs. (16) Tommy Robredo

(6) Andy Roddick vs. (10) Nikolay Davydenko

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• Elena Dementieva – model of Consistency