Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic have made a habit of contesting claycourt championships this season. While those two rivals will clash in one of Saturday’s semifinals at the Mutua Madrilena Madrid Open, the player they’ve suprassed will try to bounce back on the crushed red brick of Spain.

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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