next »

[Ruthie]

Oh and glad to hear the hair is growing back. 
Anyone know what time the draw is?

[johnkiernan35]

also Rafa faces Raonic in the 2nd round   interesting!

[michelle]

If his recent matches against Nalbandian and Gasquet are any sort of barometer, I'd expect a QF loss to Ferrer in this tournament.

I certainly don't expect QF loss, he has only lost to Ferrrer once in the last few years and that was when he was injured in the end of year tournament in the o2.

[johnkiernan35]

Ferrer, to my memory, has comfortably had the beating of Murray on clay for a few years now.

oh please that was when Andy wasn't the best on clay at that time.  he has improved immensely on the red stuff these last few years.  Anyway Ferrer might lose early  just like in MC.  Ferrer potentially will face  Dolgopolov. You never know!  and if Ferrer does face Andy in the QF  I fully expect Andy to win!

[Ruthie]

Looks reasonably good to me and hopefully will at least help Andy find his feet again on clay before RG, without having to face the really big hitters.  But with his time out for injury I think he'll do well to emulate his success here last year.  But I'll keep everything crossed that he does.   

[Emma Jean]

I really think it's a great draw for Andy. He loves playing both Gasquet and Nalbandian and they will be great practice for Andy, which should lead him to his match against Ferrer in the later stage . And Ferrer is the best person he could have asked for in the qtr. Mind you, it's not about just sneaking in to semi somehow and not playing any worthy (by worthy I mean a pure clay courter) opponents in between, but it's about Andy growing well on clay and become a great player, so that he can become a top contender for RG in the coming years as well. That should be the goal and with Lendl on this side, this will eventually pay off. He can learn everything he can right now.

Also, he has given Nadal a very tough match just last year in MC and was only two points away from a final spot in Rome against Nole, so there's no reason for him to lose to Ferrer again given all that confidence he had gained from last year. Though I suggest he should take one step at a time but he should be really look forward to his match against Ferrer and perhaps later, Nadal. But even if he loses to Ferrer, it will really be a great warm up for RG. So I say it's a win-win situation.

Best of luck to our Andy!

[Katie]

I certainly don't expect QF loss, he has only lost to Ferrrer once and that was when he was injured in the end of year tournament in the o2.

Andy's actually lost to Ferrer 4 times, and only narrowly leads the head-to-head 5-4. This includes three clay losses. Whilst it's a better matchup on clay than Andy/Berdych, I'd still favour Ferrer slightly if they do meet in the QF. It would be a great win if Andy could pull it off though, as it would be his first top 8 win on clay plus he'd be defeating a quality claycourt player. Hope Andy can recapture the form he showed in Rome last year, that match against Novak was brilliant to watch.

Should be an interesting tournament. Will be nice to get the red clay back, this week in Madrid it's just not felt like a clay event at all, the blue is too much like hardcourt blue.

[Katie]

I knew the head to head what I should have said were their recent matches. Still think Andy can win if he can get a good start. Against Nalbandian he lost his first 2 matches but has won all their meetings since, but they have never played against each other on clay.

Ah ok, yeah Andy did get the better of Ferrer mostly last year, though they didn't meet on clay. On hardcourts I'd always put Andy as a heavy favourite. Not so much on clay because Andy seems unsure of his footing in contrast to Ferrer who moves and slides so well. But if Andy plays like he did in Rome last year then he's got a great chance of winning.