Federer ousts Berdych for third Madrid crown

The 2012 Mutua Madrid Open came to a conclusion today with Roger Federer getting the better of Tomas Berdych 3-6 7-5 7-5 in the finals. Berdych claimed the upper hand very early in the first set, breaking Federer’s first service game and holding his own serve expertly. Federer however showed no signs of frustration and calmly fought his way back into the contest, eventually securing his third title at the venue.

The tournament was without Andy Murray, who had to withdraw due to a back injury. This week featured several unexpected results with none of Rafael Nadal, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, or John Isner being able to reach the quarterfinals of the tournament. Novak Djokovic was denied a spot in the semi-finals courtesy of a dominating performance by fellow countryman Janko Tipsarevic, who was able to dispose of the world number 1 in straight sets. Juan Martin del Potro continued his stellar form by reaching the semi-finals.

With this win, Federer has once again matched Nadal’s record for the most Masters tournament wins, each player having 20 titles under their belt. More important still, the win has allowed Federer to leapfrog past Nadal into the world number 2 position in men’s tennis.

A strong women’s draw featured all of the top 10 players from the WTA in the tournament. Serena Williams came out on top, demolishing Victoria Azarenka 6-1 6-3 in the finals. As is the case with women’s tennis, the tournament featured several shock results which led to relative unknowns Varvara Lepchenko and Lucie Hradecka reaching the quarterfinals and semifinals respectively.

The result has led to Serena jump into the world number 6 position, with Caroline Wozniacki (down from 6^th to 8^th) and Na Li (down from 8^th to 9^th) dropping in the rankings as a result.