A Grudging Admission

I don't like Novak Djokovic. We all know this. But putting this aside, he put in a damn fine performance in Madrid overnight.

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Sure, he lost. But he went toe to toe with the best claycourter in history and came damn close to beating him too. I still don't like him. He still needs a personality transplant. But that is some damn fine tennis right there. He should be proud of himself... but not too proud. That might make him worse than he already is.

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So, for the first time, we're going to have a Federer/Nadal final on clay this year. This will be their first meeting since the Australian Open final and it really could be interesting. Nadal has to be tired - he's won approximately 400 straight matches in the last five weeks and that has got to tell on you, even when you are potentially half-cyborg, like he is. He had a very, very tough semi against Djokovic where he had to save three match points (it had shades of the Rome final in 2006, where Nadal and Federer went head to head in that epic five-set thriller.) But can he do it? Absolutely.

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Federer is comparatively fresh, and we all know he has the game to beat anyone, ever. This match will be more in his head than anything else. A victory over Nadal here would be huge to take into Roland Garros - even though I think Federer was sort of looking forward to not playing Nadal before the big one. A loss - a bad loss - could be hugely detrimental. A close loss could go either way - it could be heartbreaking or else vaguely encouraging. He's had, as we all know, longstanding issues playing Nadal. But can he do it? Absolutely.

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So one way or the other, this is going to be a very, very interesting final.

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Today's Results

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Mutua Madrilena Madrid Open (Madrid)

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Men's Draw

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Rafael Nadal def. Novak Djokovic, 3-6 7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (11-9)

Roger Federer def. Juan Martin del Potro, 6-3 6-4

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Women's Draw

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Dinara Safina def. Patty Schnyder, 6-4 6-2

Caroline Wozniacki def. Amelie Mauresmo, 7-6 (7-1) 6-3