|
Rafael Nadal will attempt to keep adding his name to the tennis record books this weekend at the 2007 Hamburg Masters tennis championship in Germany. The clay-court wizard advanced to the quarterfinals of the ATP Masters Series event on Thursday with an easy 6-4, 6-1 victory over Russian Igor Andreev. The win extended Nadal's clay-court winning streak to 79 matches and gave him a little revenge on Andreev, who just happened to he the last tennis player to defeat Nadal on clay. If Rafael Nadal can claim the title in Hamburg he will become the first player ever to win all three clay-court Masters Series events in the same season, having already won titles in Monte Carlo and Rome earlier this year. To do that Nadal will have to get through Fernando Gonzalez in the semis. Nadal defeated Gonzalez in the Masters Series Rome final earlier this month 6-2, 6-2, but has also lost to the Chilean three times in his career. One of those losses could be important because it took place on clay, but it was awhile ago back in 2003. The other semifinal tennis match everyone will be keeping their eye on in the Hamburg Masters is between No. 1 seed Roger Federer and David Ferrer. Federer has been struggling with his tennis game lately, but he looked in control in his second-round match versus Juan Carlos Ferrero, which Federer won 6-2, 6-3. Federer has won this tournament three times in his career, including back-to-back titles in 2004 and 2005. A win on clay would help rebuild his confidence heading into the French Open after some uncharacteristically bad play from the Swiss Master recently. Bet on Tennis at Wagerweb.com
Roger Federer lost to Filippo Volandri in the third round in Rome last week and is looking for his first tournament win in his last five events. That is his longest title drought since taking over the No. 1 ranking more than three years ago. A match versus Ferrer may be just what Federer needs to get back on track. In six career matches versus Ferrer, Federer is 6-0 and he hasn't lost a single set in any of them. The other two quarterfinal matches include Novak Djokovic vs. Carlos Moya and Nicolas Almagro vs. Lleyton Hewitt. Nadal is expected to play the winner of Djokovic/Moya, while Federer would face the winner of Almagro/Hewitt. Of course that all hinges on them winning their own quarterfinal matches, but when it comes to those two tennis superstars that's almost a given. Betting Odds on the Hamburg Masters available at WagerWeb View Tennis Live Lines now! |
