MUTUA MADRID MASTERS 1000 HIGHLIGHTS

Mutua Madrid 1000 Masters is one of the most prestigious and important event among the clay tournaments road to Roland Garros 2018.

Up till now, 3rd round matches completed. Today is the Quarter- Finals day. 

I have watched almost every match in court Manolo Santana in Caja Magica. I want to make a general overview about this tournament and most important moments so far. 

Rafa Nadal came here for the biggest favourite player as normally. He started this clay season brilliantly. First he won Rolex Monte Carlo Masters, then Barcelona Open for both 11 times. He is the absolute king of this surface. So far no player can get even one set from him. He dominates this surface and don't let any player to even break him. 

He passed 1st round without playing, second round he defeated Gael Monfils in 2 sets. Although Monfils is one of the most athletic, dynamic and flexible player, Nadal was so solid and stood like a wall, he didn't give him any chance.

Rafa Nadal is unbelievably strong, confident and noble in every action. Yesterday he played against Argentinian Diego Schwartzman for the 3rd round match. It was a real clash, Schwartzman played very well, he forced Nadal as no other player did before in this season. But Rafa Nadal was so determined, so masterful on this surface, he didn't let him get even a set from him. Rafa Nadal broke the record that John McEnroe had before : 50 consecutive set wins on any surface. Amazing.

As he is reigning strong on this surface, other players just try to engage the game or hope to break him. Just to quick review for the most anticipated players:

Novak Djokovic: First round, he beat Kei Nishikori but second round Britain's No.1 Kyle Edmund ended his journey here. Everyone is talking about if he will be back in his best shape. I believe he will. He is a great tennis player. Every player's injury and conditions are different. So it takes different times to get back in shape and get back that confidence. He needs more time but soon he will be there.

Stan Wawrinka: Withdrew because of injury.

Milos Raonic: As he is also recovering from injury, I was not expecting him to beat Grigor Dimitrov in the 2nd round. But Raonic served incredible. He started to work with service master Goran Ivanisevic. He was so steady and strong and to the point, Dimitrov couldn't pass this service wall and the minute he got sloppy , Raonic took his chance. 

Denis Shapovalov: He defeated Tennys Sandgren and Benoit Paire. Shapovalov is one of the players of Next generation of tennis. In the 3rd round, young Canadian def. Milos Raonic in 2 sets. Now Shapovalov is in QF and will play against Kyle Edmund.

Dominic Thiem: Thiem likes clay court and has good results on this surface so far. Yesterday he def. Borna Coric in 3 sets. It was very good match with long rallies. Both players have a bright future ahead of them. Thiem will play again Rafa Nadal in QF today. Although he is improving his game, I don't think he can pass Nadal.

Alex Zverev: He is also having a good clay season. He won BMW Open again last week. He is in very good shape and he is also mentally very determined and willing player. Yesterday he def. Leonardo Mayer from Argentina. His QF match is with John Isner. I think this will be 3 sets match. If Zverev stands strong in his own service game, he has a chance to beat Isner in rallies.

Juan Martin Del Potro: Delpo is one of my favourite player. He was not playing to gain his form back and finally made his comeback here. 2nd round he passed Damir Dzumhur but Dusan Lajovic surprisingly defated him and became the Quarter Finalist for the first time.

Kevin Anderson: First beat M. Kukushkin and later one of the good players on clay Philip Kohlschreiber. He will play with Dusan Lajovic today.

Quarter Final matches of today are:

Kevin Anderson- Dusan Lajovic

Rafael Nadal - Dominic Thiem

John Isner - Alexander Zverev

Kyle Edmund - Denis Shapovalov 

If I predict semi- finalists, I can say: Nadal, Lajovic, Zverev and Edmund. I don't know if I will be right but so far I am pretty sure Rafa Nadal will have his sixth title here on Sunday.

Photos: Rafa Nadal and Alex Zverev offical instagram.