ATP M1000 WTA 1000 Madrid 4/22 - 5/4 2025

[JTContinental]

Sabalenka won 17 points in a row in the first set against Gauff, and that was the only part of the match I saw.

Surprised she made it as tight as she did at the end. Sabalenka is simply the better player on all surfaces. When she loses to Gauff, it's her fault.

Completely disagree, or else Sabalenka is at fault a lot of the time. They have an even H2H on all surfaces and Gauff had a winning overall h2h before this match, and now it's 5-5. All matches except for 1 have been very competitive and not because Sabalenka didn't show up that day. No one on tour can neutralize Aryna's power on court as well as Coco, which is not Sabalenka's fault.

[ashkor87]

I didnt get to see the match other than youtube highlights but I imagine Coco's serve let her down at crucial moments - I saw matchpoint on Youtube where she doublefaulted.. Sabalenks still needs to learn not to drop-shot Coco.. people like Coco, Paolini and Andreeva are just too quick, it is not a percentage play..

[ashkor87]

Technically, I always thought Sabalenka's game is better on clay than on any other surface- she has the power to hit through it, and she is slightlyslower on her feet than some of her rivals, which clay is forgiving of.. should she be the favorite for RG? In my mind, she always was.. we shall see, Madrid isnt really a normal clay court event so best not to extrapolate from here...!

[mick1303]

It was the time in which some of the Europeans were hitting topspin for the sake of hitting topspin. Remember that Swede, Ken Carlson? His shots would be 12-15 feet over the net. It was ridiculous.

Very much remember Carlson. His shots often landed inside the service box, and he played exclusively on clay partly because of his game and partly because of his knees.

Never seen him play. But when I was first creating my weighted rankings, it caught my attention that there was a player who had unusually high winning percentage on clay for being largely unknown. Then later I read that he had persistently bad knees which shortened his career and basically limited him to only one surface.

[ponchi101]

If you have never seen him play, DON'T look up the video. Not that he was ungainly or anything, but his shot were all moonballs. He hit topspin but had no penetration on the stroke. It was really odd.

[jazzyg]

Sabalenka won 17 points in a row in the first set against Gauff, and that was the only part of the match I saw.

Surprised she made it as tight as she did at the end. Sabalenka is simply the better player on all surfaces. When she loses to Gauff, it's her fault.

Completely disagree, or else Sabalenka is at fault a lot of the time. They have an even H2H on all surfaces and Gauff had a winning overall h2h before this match, and now it's 5-5. All matches except for 1 have been very competitive and not because Sabalenka didn't show up that day. No one on tour can neutralize Aryna's power on court as well as Coco, which is not Sabalenka's fault.

Yeah, let's see what that head to head ends up to be. I thought Gauff's game particularly matched up well with Sabalenka's when she lost 17 points in a row. And clay is Gauff's best surface because it gives her more time to hit that sub-standard forehand.

[Suliso]

We can no longer say that Ruud has never won anything of note.

[ponchi101]

Good victory for him. I know that Madrid is not an indicator (as Mick has said above) and that both Sinner and Alcaraz were not here. But with two RG finals and now Madrid, he has to be in the conversation.
4 MS1000's, 4 different winners, 7 different finalists. The mix is on.
(I KNOW. Sinner has not played in a while, Alcaraz has been injured. But the reality is that).

[ti-amie]

[ti-amie]

[skatingfan]

Congrats to Casper on this win.

[ashkor87]

Some order will be restored starting this week ..Madrid is too strange, and Sinner will be back. The 'real clay' season restarts.

[JTContinental]

Sabalenka won 17 points in a row in the first set against Gauff, and that was the only part of the match I saw.

Surprised she made it as tight as she did at the end. Sabalenka is simply the better player on all surfaces. When she loses to Gauff, it's her fault.

Completely disagree, or else Sabalenka is at fault a lot of the time. They have an even H2H on all surfaces and Gauff had a winning overall h2h before this match, and now it's 5-5. All matches except for 1 have been very competitive and not because Sabalenka didn't show up that day. No one on tour can neutralize Aryna's power on court as well as Coco, which is not Sabalenka's fault.

Yeah, let's see what that head to head ends up to be. I thought Gauff's game particularly matched up well with Sabalenka's when she lost 17 points in a row. And clay is Gauff's best surface because it gives her more time to hit that sub-standard forehand.

You are using 17 points in one match, and I’m using 10 matches of data, all of which I’ve watched start to finish (they are my two favorites, obviously) but go off. I personally think this is right now the best rivalry in tennis, and every match is an even 50-50.

[jazzyg]

I admit the evidence supports you and not me.

Still think I will be proven right, but it will be interesting to see how it plays out.

[ashkor87]

Trouble is, which Coco? This one served double faults at the wrong time...double faults originate in the head..