Morning. Here's your daily space for discussing the tennis going on in Madrid, and also at the WTA tournament in Zurich. I've been in Madrid watching tennis first-hand, which is why today's post is titled as it is.
Yesterday I tore myself away from taking pictures to concentrate on following the matches in full. Today I'll return to the regularly-scheduled picture-taking, but there have been relatively few times of late when I've watched a whole match without photographing the players extensively - the Wimbledon men's final was the last time. While I don't usually find that I've missed all the action while I'm taking pictures, I sometimes do miss critical moments if I'm focused on the wrong side of the net when they occur.
In general I've found that concentrating on one player in particular often provides a strong summary of that player's tactics during the match, and the response to an opponent's actions.That said, I've usually found as a photographer that my picture-taking is much enhanced when I'm able to engage with the subject sympathetically. I can't help it - Feliciano Lopez is a more rewarding photographic subject than is Ivo Karlovic, and it's not just because he looks like an El Greco painting; it's also that he often wears his heart on his face, and that makes for pictures with human interest.
Player of the Day:
It could have been Radek Stepanek, or Victor Hanescu, both of whom put up strong performances against Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic respectively, but the key point is that they both lost in the end - Hanescu through an unfortunate retirement. Even the talented Tomas Berdych, whose game never seems to change much, had his moments over three sets against a resurgent David Nalbandian, though he fell in the end. He has yet to win a match in Madrid since his run-in with the local audience two years ago, after defeating Nadal. Overall, I'm going with Robby Ginepri, whose three-set defeat of sixth-ranked Nikolay Davydenko took place tucked away on a side court. A special mention also to Feliciano Lopez, who was playing well past midnight during the Tuesday evening session, but who came back the next afternoon to defeat his Davis Cup team-mate David Ferrer, world number 5, in straight sets.
Match of the Day:
Nadal-Gasquet? Yet Gasquet has yet to defeat Nadal in five attempts; he faded after winning a spectacular first set in Toronto earlier this summer, in an epic tiebreak.
There's also Federer versus Tsonga - it will be the first time the two have ever met. Andy Murray's second meeting with Marin Cilic has been banished to the dim, somewhat unattractive-looking Pista Alcala, even though their first encounter, at Wimbledon last year in Davis Cup, went the full five sets, and some excitement could be expected. I was there, and it couldn't have been much closer than it was.
In all, I'm going with the Del Potro-Nalbandian face-off. I watched their sole previous encounter live, at this same tournament in 2007; it was a straight-sets victory for Nalbandian. The latter seems to have found some form, so this is a tough test for Del Potro. Rankings wise, Del Potro and Nalbandian are 9 and 7 respectively, and the outcome of the match could well affect either player's chances of being in Shanghai in November for the tennis Masters Cup.
It looks as though I'll have a busy afternoon with my camera.
Enjoy today's tennis.
