Both Nadal and Djokovic Ousted From Madrid Open
The world’s top two men’s singles players, Serbia’s Novak Djokovic and Spain’s Rafael Nadal, have been eliminated from the field at the 2012 Madrid Open in Spain. Nadal fell to his fellow countryman Fernando Verdasco for the first time at the 2012 Madrid Open in Spain. This marked Nadal’s earliest exit from a clay-court tournament since he was defeated by Olivier Mutis in the second round in Italy in 2004. Nadal placed blame on the blue clay courts which many players have claimed is slippery.
”Being able to move is very important for me and if I can’t move well, I can’t hit the ball well either,” said Nadal, the second seed and two-time Madrid Open champion. ”If things don’t change, this will be one less tournament on the calendar for me."
Verdasco goes onto compete against Tomas Berdych who took down Frenchman Gael Monfils in straight sets, 6-1, 6-1.
”After losing so many times against honestly the best player on clay ever, to beat him on clay is the maximum,” said Verdasco. ”I don’t have words. I am happy for the win, although it is difficult to hold myself together now. I need to calm down, rest and get ready for the next match.”
Joining Nadal in complaining about the clay courts of the Madrid Open is world number one-ranked Djokovic, who also lost in the quarterfinals to his fellow Serbian Janko Tipsarevic, 7-6, 6-3.
”They are claiming that the court is exactly the same as red clay, which is not true because there is a big difference,” said Djokovic in his post-match interview. ”You are tripping, slipping all the time, sliding. The winner will be the one who doesn’t get hurt by the end of the week.’ It’s a new experience, and the way it looks this year, hopefully the last experience.”
Tipsarevic advances to the semifinals and awaits the winner of the match between Spain’s David Ferrer and world number three-ranked Roger Federer of Switzerland for a trip to the finals.
