Madrid Open - DTM review
ATP Madrid semi-final
Krejcikova in dominant doubles form
Krejcikova in dominant doubles form
Andrey Rublev was fired up from the beginning of this match. Although Taylor Fritz broke serve at the start of the match he never looked comfortable on court and surrendered his serve twice easily to lose the opening set 6-4. The second set was not dissimilar with Fritz again being broken midway through it to trail 4-2. In truth the Ameri
Andrey Rublev was fired up from the beginning of this match. Although Taylor Fritz broke serve at the start of the match he never looked comfortable on court and surrendered his serve twice easily to lose the opening set 6-4. The second set was not dissimilar with Fritz again being broken midway through it to trail 4-2. In truth the American is known for blowing hot and cold. Today he was very cold and Rublev far too good from the back of the court.
Final score 6-4,6-3
Hopefully the final will provide a meaningful contest because the last few rounds have been disappointing.
Krejcikova in dominant doubles form
Krejcikova in dominant doubles form
Krejcikova in dominant doubles form
This match was meaningful because it pitted the highest ranked pair in Mertens and Hseih against Barbara Krejcikova and Laura Seigemund. Krejcikova has been a top doubles player for a long time and it was evident from the start of the match that she wanted to prove a point today. Her clay court prowess incuding French Open champion 2021 w
This match was meaningful because it pitted the highest ranked pair in Mertens and Hseih against Barbara Krejcikova and Laura Seigemund. Krejcikova has been a top doubles player for a long time and it was evident from the start of the match that she wanted to prove a point today. Her clay court prowess incuding French Open champion 2021 was evident as she outclassed both her opponents from the back of the court. From 6-3,4-1 up Mertens in particular rallied but sadly on clay Hseih serve is simply too vulnerable. She lost her last 4 service games which ultimately made the difference in the outcome and preve any revival from the top seeds. Barbara is back in doubles at least and DTM believes this pair on clay will be unstoppable at the French Open.
Fan experience
Krejcikova in dominant doubles form
Fan experience
It was a great day to experience a joint WTA and ATP event in a wonderful European city. However the withdrawals in the men’s event as well as earlier defeats for Nadal and Alcaraz meant the semi finals were disappointing in terms of competitiveness. In less than 3 sets we had the finalists confirmed. Some of that is just sport but other
It was a great day to experience a joint WTA and ATP event in a wonderful European city. However the withdrawals in the men’s event as well as earlier defeats for Nadal and Alcaraz meant the semi finals were disappointing in terms of competitiveness. In less than 3 sets we had the finalists confirmed. Some of that is just sport but other aspects I do feel are down to the schedule which can be improved on. When you fly across continents and pay €175 for each ticket you’d expect more tennis for a start. The other challenge that had to be a commercial decision was to insist that no food or water was allowed into the venue. This led to my wife having to throw away her water bottle into the bin at the entrance.
I would encourage both tours to have a standardised policy at all events so water refill stations were mandatory and fans could utilise them for the sake of the planet and fan’s comfort, especially in hot conditions. Having checked this is fairly standard at Grand Slams and Queens later this summer. Whilst the cost of food is something you expect at a venue, it is unacceptable to force fans to pay for water! In summary DTM will be going to Rome next rather than Madrid because overall it was a venue which minimised the fan’s experience rather than maximising it.