Instant Replay: Madrid Open's top highlights, hot shots, GIFs and more
Welcome to Instant Replay, a recap of the best highlights, GIFs and photos as we move into the business end of this week's tournaments.
The Madrid Open has had it's wacky days and it's curiously calm days, but with the men and women still in play as the business end of the tournament comes into focus, it's shaping up to be an exciting finish.
The women's semifinals are set as No. 1 Serena Williams will face No. 4 Petra Kvitova and No. 3 Maria Sharapova will face her countrywoman, No. 29 Svetlana Kuznetsova on Friday. If Sharapova advances to the final she'll overtake Simona Halep for the No. 2 ranking with one more big tournament to play before the French Open. As for Serena, she's now won 18 straight matches in Madrid and after saving three match points to beat Victoria Azarenka in the third round, remains undefeated this season.
With the staggered schedule, the men are one round behind the women. Here's how the quarterfinals break down: John Isner vs. Tomas Berdych, Rafael Nadal vs. GrigorDimitrov, David Ferrer vs. KeiNishikori and Andy Murray vs. MilosRaonic or Leonardo Mayer. With Roger Federer's opening round loss to Nick Kyrgios on Wednesday, Murray is now the top seed remaining.
Check out the best highlights from the week:
Are you kidding me? How about the wheels and touch from Rafael Nadal in his third round match against Simone Bolelli:
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azPkA6NhmAY]
Roger Federer wasn't happy with the line-calls during his second round loss to Nick Kyrgios and got a little quippy:
Victoria Azarenka may have had Serena Williams on the ropes in their third round clash, but when Serena's hitting shots like this you know how hard she is to beat:
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPyE2FxvqNw]
Agnieszka Radwanska may be slumping, but she can still hit some jaw-droppers:
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLu5fMo4pKI]
Grigor Dimitrov isn't known for pure power, but he absolutely clocks a forehand down the line en route to an important win over Stan Wawrinka:
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKqZl4yNZ2I]
Ernests Gulbis may be losing, but he has somehow remained relevant:
[tweet=https://twitter.com/SI_Tennis/status/595993556994523136]
This is great counter-punching and defense from Caroline Wozniacki, as she defends until she finally gets a ball she can do something with:
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKCA58K1xKw]
Incredible effort from Marcel Granollers to beat Gael Monfils in the second round. Side note: Let this be a reminder that the men do grunt.
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8ik3LyJFbg]
This is still the WTA shot of the week so far: Alize Cornet saves set point with a gutsy backhand down the line winner:
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PLeCq5DbRY]
Spotted: A drive-by handshake from Caroline Garcia after losing in three tough sets to Maria Sharapova:
Here's a shot you don't see every day: Pablo Andujar gets caught tracking down a ball hit behind him and decides to let the ball cross his body to give him an angle into the open court.
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=onsYh1EoCIw]
Alejandro Gonzalez hits the dirt for this diving stop:
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTJg3pNSEi4]
The context of this exchange between Andy Murray and umpire Damien Steiner isn't clear, but it is funny:
[tweet=https://twitter.com/tjc05/status/596102125232508928]
