Roger Federer has lost four straight times to players who, on average, would only barely get a seeding at a Major. Andy Murray, who spent a couple weeks last year at #2 in the world, has only won one match since March -- he hasn't made it past the quarters since Melbourne. And Robin Soderling, the surprise finalist at Roland Garros last year, hasn't put up quite the fight I expected in the last couple months.
All these guys, and a few more, came to Madrid this week to try and recapture the momentum that so suddenly shifted back to the King of Clay, Rafael Nadal. Some have so far been successful, others not so much.

So far he's done well -- a straight set victory over Benjamin Becker got him to the third round for the seventh time. Next he'll face countryman Stanislas Wawrinka, a man who actually did beat him last year in Monte Carlo, but if Federer does get the win he could give himself some momentum going into Paris.

In his opening round Wednesday, we finally began to see signs of the talent that had made so many think Murray would be the next big winner -- he got through veteran clay court champion Juan Ignacio Chela in straight sets and about seventy-five minutes. From here, he should have a pretty easy ride to at least the quarters where a potential match-up between David Ferrer, who beat him in Rome, or Marin Cilic, who ousted him from the U.S. Open last year, will challenge just how much he really is a threat at the French.

Next week in Nice Robin will be seeded second behind previously red-hot Nikolay Davydenko, a man who had won four trophies in less than four months before a wrist injury took him out of action for the last several tournaments. He, along with Juan Martin Del Potro, out with his own wrist injury, and Andy Roddick, who withdrew from Rome for personal reasons and from Madrid due to nausea, should be back in action soon after longer-than-ideal absences. I, for one, certainly look forward to their return -- but they'll all need to rebound, and rebound fast, if they're going to have a shot at advancing at Roland Garros.
After all, with Nadal, Roger and Murray back in the swing, there's sure to be a lot of fireworks in Paris.
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