Who Is the Real Favorite at the 2014 Mutua Madrid Open?

By
at Internationaled.org

Published: May 2, 2014

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Here comes the 2014 Mutua Madrid Open. If Spain's Masters 1000 tournament was a work of art, it would be a Picasso painting in all its bizarre angles and distortions. La Caja Magica is expensive but insecure, surrounded by fancy high-rise seating that lacks a soul.

It's a tournament with little identity, let alone tradition. In 24 years, it has changed its court surfaces from carpet (1990-97) to indoors hard courts (1998-2008), from red clay (2009-11) to blue clay (2012) and back to red clay (2013-14). It's easier to keep up with the Kardashians.

Madrid's lineage is equally bizarre as it traces its tournament roots to Stockholm, Sweden; Essen, Germany; Stuttgart, Germany; Madrid Arena and La Caja Magica. It's a mutt, but it's prosperous. Billionaire businessman and former player Ion Tiriac seems determined to make this work and so it goes.

Madrid is a wild card with its allegedly slow clay surface, but its thin air helps players hit through the court. It seems to favor nobody in particular. Only Boris Becker has ever defended his title, winning the first two years of the tournament's existence (1990-91).

Who can figure it out? It's a bingo card played with random hieroglyphs. And the final element in all of this unpredictability is the 2014 results on the ATP tour.

Who is the real favorite to win the title?



 

Dark Horses

Kei Nishikori may as well be the favorite, right? After all, he just took Barcelona. He runs like the Flash and has great hand-eye coordination, seeing the ball early and creating angles. His Steam racket will generate greater pace in the high altitude.

Last year, he defeated Roger Federer in the third round, so he will look forward to more big conquests. Who is going to stop him?

The answer could be Grigor Dimitrov. The Bulgarian blew through Bucharest and is itching to climb into the top 10. Last year, he elimin...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Tennis

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