With Youzhny next, followed by Ferrer and the highest seeds still alive from across the net for the final encounter looking pathetic like Murray, Berdych and Tsonga, can you look at anyone else? ANYTIME you are banking on Federer to achieve that feat - on ANY surface - isn't that a sign of extreme freaking desperation or is it a clue that trophy needs to be mailed already - before someone gets hurt?
Problem? This isn't ANYTIME. Federer's last match was almost two months ago and the break was due to back issues. This is clay. Federer's last loss was to Nadal - in straights - on hard surface. Nadal appears roaring back to his old self - by the minute. He has reached six finals in six attempts winning four titles - on two surfaces. With Djokovic out already Nadal has to be in devastating mode. NOT a good time for Federer to be standing between Nadal and ANYTHING.
However, Federer HAS beaten Nadal here - on clay - in straight sets 6-4, 6-4 back in 2009 AND he is the defending champion having won last year on blue clay over Berdych 3-6, 7-5, 7-5. He has one other title here - on hard surface. So out of the three titles, two are on clay, one over Nadal. All that may cover some 1% of the turf needed today to deny Nadal his 40th clay, 55th career and 3rd Madrid title after factoring in Federer's own plight.
Either way, it looks like the ONLY match worth getting excited about - despite the heavy cloud stripping the landscape of ALL suspense and drama. If nothing else, it WILL be the de-facto final - in the semis. Oh, by the way, their H2H stands @ 19 - 10 Nadal. If Nadal wins, he will have won 20 of the 30 matches. In the end, what it will boil down to will be the stark admiration for Federer for having won 10 instead of the gloating mode it's stuck in today - for Nadal.
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