c'mon nole <3, come on do ur best in madrid and show how great tennis player u ar :D

No need yoya,
We already know what a great player Nole is, what with his incredible run this year!

yea i m totally with u just this great tennis player suit him the madrid crown ,i hope that but in the end let the best player win :D

Nole didn't play well enough in Belgrade to be a threat to Rafa in Madrid. After watching Cipolla and Roddick tonight, I had a feeling that both would have won over Nole. So, no matter how much I'd love to see him win this, I think that Ferrer will be the obstacle he won't be able to pass. (Hope I am wrong).

danica i agree with, nole ( especially the final in belgrade) didn't play well ;a lot of unforcerrors ,a double fault and his serve didn't work for him and he was soo nerveous however i still hav hop cuz The madrid 's courts are appreciably quicker than those at other clay events meaning hard-court specialists feel more at home, so ajde nole :D

Danica, you can not compare one tournament with the other. Novak played just enough to win in Belgrade. Maybe not very impressive, but let's not jump to conclusions until we see him play in Madrid.

You are right Pro59. Lets see how he handles Madrid. The weather in Belgrade was unusually terrible and Novak seemed to be having a cold. It's just my feeling that he didn't have enough practice for the guys that feel and play great on clay.

Danica, I see how ones can be concerned about Novak's clay season, based on his performance in Belgrade, however, this year he has been able to step up and elevate his game as needed. Hopefully he will be able to adjust his game and dust off rust in the first couple of games in Madrid and get properly warmed up to go deep in the tournament. I have no doubt that he will make the finals. Ajde Nole!

By the way, thank you for the nice coverage of Serbia open.

I very much doubt if Nole is going to get thru Ferrer

...and I seriously doubt that Ferrer will go to sec. round...
He just lost the sec. set with zero!!! ...and he is playing with Mandarinanana... never heard :)

tough draw for nole but lets hope he can raise his level gradually ... ajde nole!

Ha ha, see what Ferrer can do? Never underestimate Ferrer. He knows how to play the clay court game and solves his own problems on the court. Never heard of the guy Mannarina? I saw his match earlier on thud year during the hard court season, can't remember whether it's Dubai or one of the masters. He played well for his ranking even though he lost. I felt then that this guy was not bad on the hard court, but didn't know he can play on clay! Still he has to swallow a bagel after dishing out one. I know that guy like him was probably punching above his own weight when he played like that for the first two sets and once the experienced player raised his level, he couldnt cope as he was not used to play like that over a whole match. The experienced player would be able to weather the storm. Credit to Ferrer for staying calm and think of a way out of trouble.

In any case it's a wake up call for Ferrer, it's always strange that a match alternates 6-0 sets.

Shireling, don't forget Ferrer has his knee problem back in Barcelona (though minor and with one week's rest), and he needs to get use to Madrid's playing condition. He was over hitting a bit at the beginning of the match. Mannarino had already played some matches at Madrid before meeting Ferrer, and he had nothing to lose so he played freely. He has the game to trouble Ferrer but does not have the ability to sustain it throughout the whole match.

Some correction about Mannarino - I saw his match against Hewitt at Memphis this year, where he pushed Hewitt to two tie-breaks, winning the first, but end up losing the match in three sets. It was that match that impressed me about how Mannarino played the game, clean ball striking and playing freely without fear. That's how he played against Ferrer yesterday, though he still ended up losing.

haven't seen this Mannarino at all but to give a 6-0 to Ferrer on clay, even if it's Madrid's, it's very impressive. I'll try to see some of his matches.
Thx lucky

I didn't see the match but losing a set with 0 from an unknown player makes alarming news for Ferrer...it is something Ferrer should have not allowed to happen...I don't know if it was an injury or just lost focus but Ferrer clearly was having trouble out there...it only means unless Ferrer wakes up soon Nole will bury him alive...

Have you watched how Nole played at Belgrade this year, natashao? If Nole carries on playing that way, with so many double faults, I think he may be buried by Anderson. We have not seen how Nole play at Madrid yet, so can't jump into conclusion about him vs Ferrer. Anyway, when Ferrer was 0-3 or 0-4 down in the second set, he might be thinking of
concentrating on the third set instead of fighting hard for an unlikely reversal of the second set result( a bit like how Rafa was feeling during his match against Murray at MC, where Rafa was feeling his energy constraint during the second set and chose to conserve his energy for the third set and went all out in the third set to win the match). We saw Ferrer playing more aggressively in the third set and won it in the end.

lucky, I did see some of his matches in Belgrade but to be honest they were boring to me as I knew Nole won't be challenged at all...In fact, it is hard to judge his game based on his performance in Belgrade simply because he did just enough to win those matches and didn't need to raise his level...Madrid is more suitable surface to Nole, Andy and Fed...just saying that Ferrer must play his best game in order to even be able to make the match with Nole competitive...

Yes of course, and Nole too has to play his best to have a chance to beat Ferrer. Watching Nole vs Anderson now, Nole is the better player but Anderson is fighting hard. Anderson not serving very well here and Nole breaks for a 5-3 lead.

6-3 6-4 to Nole - the streak goes on!

nice work Nole! didnt watch the match, but again seems like he did just enough to win. great!

Lucky... he was wonderful in Belgrade!!! ... considering that almost every night he was enjoying night life... He simply can't go out without someone see him and recognize...
It was all family business and good time... so it's good that he took the trophy...
Lucky... Ferrer just got pretzel and that's it. ...and that talks enough about his lvl of game...
Nole is continuing... and I have a very strong feeling that he plays wisely... just enough... not more, not less... and he will raise his lvl as he goes deeper...
Rafa is just killing poor Bagdy ...
Let's hope for one more beautiful finale...

Watching Murray vs Simon match now. Maybe, just maybe Murray may upset the apple cart. A Nole/Murray semi is interesting too, for me.

YEEEEES... that will be pure delight to watch... Muzza looks goooood!