Madrid Masters (5/8): Three Thoughts

School is Out: Milos Raonic is a young gun we've been hearing about for a long time, we'll hear even more in the next 24 hours as tomorrow he's scheduled to be Roger Federer's second round opponent.  For the second year in a row Raonic had a strong run on the hardcourts in the first quarter, claiming his second and third ATP titles in Chennai and San Jose respectively.

Of course, as you recall, Raonic's breakout 2011 season was hampered by an injury at Wimbledon that left him off the tour for a good chunk of the year.  Prior to that however, Raonic's momentum slowed during the European red clay court season.  The Canadian who grew up playing on green clay "quite a bit," opened up about his outlook for the remainder of the clay court campaign and 2012.

Madrid Through My Camera Lens

Took this Sharapova pic with my cellphone as our camera was malfunctioning at the time.

While we're hanging around Madrid, running to press conferences, tweeting our cell phone battery into oblivion, catching matches, chatting up our fellow press, doing some interviews and enjoying the press cafeteria, we're also running around with our trusty point-and-shoot and capturing some images of fans, players and the environs around the Mutua Madrid Open.  Some we'll use in our posts; most of our favorite shots will appear in a daily recap on our Facebook page, but here, for the blog faithful, are some of the best looks at what we've seen here at this Madrid Open including a close up of the blue stuff. 

Even more...with better quality, after the jump

Serena Shuffles Through Madrid Open-er

With the fire in her belly burning at full strength, even though it was just a first round match, Serena Williams dismissed Russia's Elena Vesnina in a ruthless display, 6-3, 6-1 in an hour and nine minutes.  The former top 30 player Vesnina just couldn't consistently contend with Williams' weight of shot and laser like accuracy as the World No. 9 breezed her way into the second round.

While Williams has often been considered a player who works her way into tournaments, letting her considerable talent do most of the work in the early stages, that was not the case today.  The highest ranked American rained down 14 aces and won 89% of her first service points to dominate the proceedings in her first round match.  

While Williams seemed to be in good form, she was not 100% pleased with her game today.  She took more than a few shadow swings and took exception with a couple of the (few) errant balls off of her racquet.  "I'm feeling good, but I wasn't thrilled...I mean it's just the first round, I would be thrilled if I get into the finals or something."

Williams was however thrilled as the stadium DJ, who apparently has been spending time with Williams' Twitter feed, played her karaoke go-to "Everything I Do (I Do It For You)" as she was leaving the court. Serena sang along and told reporters afterward, "That's the first song I always choose when I go to sing in karaoke bars...I have a whole performance to that song..."  Today, Serena's performance on court earned an encore...no known audio exists of the vocal.

While Serena, at 30 is a veteran of the tour, she still enjoys her ability to command an audience.  She said in the post-match presser "I love playing tennis, I love being here, I love walking out on the court and having people come and see me and my opponent play and that is a thrill you can't get anywhere...I just think it's really cool that I have a talent that people come to watch, to me it's the ultimate compliment."

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Enter The Magic Box: 6 May 2012 Three Thoughts

Today marked our first day on site at the Madrid Masters in the Caja Magica and our first Masters event credentialed as official press.  I have to say, things do look different from the other side of the fence, but more about that later.  For now, as always, we're gonna focus on what you care about and that's the tennis.  Here are my three thoughts from Sunday in Madrid.

The Blue Clay Strikes Back

With statements flying in from both ATP and WTA players slating the Mutua Madrid Open's move from the traditional red to blue clay courts this season, the tournament has released the following video on the making of the controversial new terre battue.  The main takeaway is that the players should have nothing to worry about.  See the video to find out why after the jump:

BLT En Espana: Barcelona Final Preview

All the reasonable prognosticators had it playing out something like this, Rafael Nadal hurtling his way through the field to the Barcelona Open final.  The last six times the Spaniard has laced up the Nikes at the Real Club de Tenis, he's won the trophy.  Yesterday, he took out the most recent "other" champion, 2010 winner Fernando Verdasco 6-0, 6-4.  In doing so, Nadal set up a final versus World No. 6 David Ferrer, a 7-6 (2), 6-4 winner over Canadian prospect Milos Raonic in a matchup closer than the score indicates, but one that showed Raonic doesn't seem to be quite ready to join the tour elite just yet.  How will this final play out?  Here's the BLT take:

BLT En Espana: Barcelona QF Thoughts

If you haven't heard the news, well I guess you don't follow on Facebook or Twitter...and for that, shame on you.  In any event, Blacklabel Tennis is taking on the Spanish clay swing this spring this swing and we kicked off today in Barcelona.  We've posted a raft of our best shots on our Facebook page already, but we've saved some exclusives for you after the jump.  Plus here's the only place for our quick commentary on the day. 

Life and Crushed Brick: Monte Carlo Final Recap

Novak Djokovic versus Rafael Nadal, we've heard those words before 31 matches now.  With all due respect to Roger Federer, the clashes between Nadal and Djokovic are fast becoming the defining rivalry of this current era of men's tennis, Nadal holds a slim 17-14 lead.  Djokovic and Nadal are now the top two ranked players in the world, the winners of the last eight majors (four apiece) and their matches are pushing the very boundaries of the sport in terms of endurance and explosive shotmaking.  The history left us (and most of the tennis world) salivating at the prospect of another final between the man dubbed the King of Clay and the reigning King of Tennis.  This round would end with Nadal firmly atop his throne once more, drubbing a subpar Djokovic 6-3, 6-1 and winning his record-extending eighth Rolex Monte Carlo Masters and 20th ATP Masters 1000 title.