Madrid Masters

Ok, so this week is the Madrid Masters. It's a pretty important event and one of the biggest in the "Masters Series." All the big names are participating and it will be harder than ever to pick a winner.

Who will throw the next punch in the "Nadal vs Federer" world's greatest player dispute? Will we see more strong performances from Djokovic and Murray? Or will we see a challenge from one of the many in-form up-and-coming players like, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France or Juan Martin Del Potro of Argentina or even semi-forgotten world prodigy Richard Gasquet?
Another in-form up-and-coming player is Thomas Berdych, who recently won at the Japan Open and was part of the trio of highly-tipped players that emerged a few years ago, the other two being the worlds number 3 and 4, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray respectively.

Nadal's part of the draw will prove challenging, A hard-fought three set win over Latvia's Ernests Gulbis has set up a third round tie with Richard Gasquet. Gasquet is capable of matching Nadal on his day and will be another test for his development. Nadal has never been completely convincing on hard-courts despite his obvious brilliance and I certainly feel it will be a close one.
A potential semi-final opponent for Nadal could be Novak Djokovic, who Nadal has had the definite edge over in their recent meetings.

Roger Federer, on the other hand, has a consistently hard draw. Radek Stepanek is his 2nd round opponent and he can certainly be a tricky customer and famously beat Federer earlier in the year on clay. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga could await in the following round and has recently shown form capable of being a top five player. After that, he could play Del Potro who can challenge the very best on this surface at this level. Andy Murray is the most likely semi-final opponent in a re-match of the U.S. Open final and will be looking for revenge. Murray's biggest obstacle could be in the form of Andy Roddick in the quarter-final.

My Quarter Final Predictions:

Nadal vs Kohlschreiber - Nadal to win

Kohlschreiber I would give a fair chance of progressing past 10th seed Wawrinka in Round 2 given his recent form. If he were to progress, he would have Spanish opposition in the form of either 5th seed David Ferrer or Feliciano Lopez. I just feel Nadal will be too strong for Kohlschreiber if he meets him and Nadal's experience should tell.

Djokovic vs Davydenko - Djokovic to win

Djokovic should be too strong for Hanescu in Round 2. He would potentially have a heavy-hitter in Round 3 in either Robin Soderling or Ivo Karlovic. Soderling being the favourite in my eyes for that particular match-up against Karlovic. Davydenko should prevail against Robby Ginepri and and Gilles Simon in Round 2 and 3 respectively. If these match-ups were to occur then Djokovic is the overwhelming favourite to win in my eyes, despite only three places difference in their rankings.

Andy Roddick vs Andy Murray - Murray to win

I'm predicting a "Battle of the Andy's" in the third quarter-final with Murray my tip to prevail. Roddick should expect opposition from Hot Prospect Gael Monfils in Round 3 if Roddick can beat Tommy Robredo of Spain and Monfils can beat Fernando Gonzalez of Chile. Monfils should prove a real test but Roddick is having a bit of a resurgence in his form recently and I'm expecting him to book a quarter-final place. Murray, had a brief appearance against his injured opponent from Italy, Simone Bolleli and will face Marin Cilic in Round 3. Cilic was mightily impressive in demolishing the talented World Number 15 from Spain, Fernando Verdasco and will certainly prove to be no pushover. Murray's game is well suited to Roddick's and has a definite edge over Roddick psychologically and in their previous meetings.

Juan Martin Del Potro vs Roger Federer - Federer to win

Again, I haven't really picked an underdog in this quarter-final line-up but this final quarter of the draw is extremely interesting. Nalbandian and Berdych will clash in Round 2 and that should be mouth-watering. Nalbandian is able to beat the best on his day and is in good nic. Berdych, meanwhile is on a hot run of form and demolished Wimbledon semi-final Rainer Scheuttler in Round 1. That could go either way, but due to Nalbandian's inconsistent nature, my money is pn Berdych. The winner of that could play Del Potro, who as I meantioned earlier is on a hot streak. Berdych, beat Del Potro last week to win the Japan Open, but Del Potro wasn't in his best fitness state. I fancy revenge for Del Potro if they were to play. Federer faces Stepanek and should win to play the extremely talented and exciting Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. That would be a real test for the Fed-Man but Federer is on a run of form, after his exploits at Flushing Meadows.

So your asking, this lad hasn't stuck his neck out and has just gone for the big 4? Well, in my defence the top 4 are a class apart at the moment and although there are many other realistic competitors I can still see the big 4 advancing.

Semi finals - Nadal to beat Djokovic. Due to his dominance in their last 2 meetings, I'm going to say Nadal.

Federer to beat Murray. We saw how potentially far behind Murray was in the U.S. Open final to Federer's standard. Although Murray has come on leaps and bounds, I fancy Federer to win after dogged Murray resistence.

Final - Federer to beat Nadal. I think Federer is gthe king of the hard courts and expect him to dish out revenge if they would be to meet in the final.