Petra Kvitova eased to her second Madrid Open title when she beat Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-1, 6-2 on Saturday. Kvitova hit powerful groundstrokes and broke her Russian rival four times to add the championship to her 2011 victory. Kuznetsova, however, looked unwell and called for a physio twice, and was once visited on court by the doctor. Just before the final game, Kuznetsova was allowed by the chair umpire to go to the dressing room, but received a mandatory time warning. At the award presentation Kuznetsova apologised in Spanish to the spectators that she had not been able to play a good match.
On the men’s side, Rafael Nadal reached his seventh final at the Madrid Open by defeating Tomas Berdych 7-6 (3), 6-1. Yet to drop a set this week, Nadal will face either 2008 champion Andy Murray or last year’s finalist, Kei Nishikori, in the final on Sunday. Nadal has won the last two Madrid Opens, and will attempt to win his fifth overall. He found the lines against Berdych, who beat him in the Australian Open quarterfinals, down both lanes with unerring accuracy, and forced Berdych to cover a lot of ground.
Nadal thanked the cheering fans, saying, “You don’t know what this means to me.” He said when he arrived in Madrid he hadn’t been sure he would be able to advance past the first round, but that Saturday’s match was the best he’d played all year. He ended a nine-month title drought with victory in February in Buenos Aires, and came to Madrid having lost to Novak Djokovic in the Monte Carlos semifinals, and Fabio Fognini in the Barcelona third round. Three losses on clay this year were his most in a single season in 12 years.
Bopanna in doubles Final
India’s Rohan Bopanna and his Romanian partner Florin Mergea reached the final of the doubles event beating the Spanish pair of Marcel Granollers and Marc lopez 6-7, 6-3, 11-9. They face Marcin Matkowski and Nenad Zimonjic in the final on Sunday.