Dojokvic Winner over Murray in Madrid

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Novak Djokovic beat defending champion Andy Murray 6-2 3-6 6-3 in the Madrid Open final. The defeat means the 28-year-old Briton will lose his world number two ranking to Roger Federer on Monday.

The Scot was blown away in the opening set, but fought back to level, only to fall to the Serb's power and accuracy in the decider.

Djokovic now moves ahead of Spain's Rafael Nadal with a record 29 ATP Masters 1000 titles.

The Serb underlined his current dominance as he claimed his fifth title in the past six Masters tournaments but he was pushed hard by Murray, exemplified by a 14-minute final game as Djokovic survived six deuces and seven break points to hold for the match.

"The first couple of break points I remember making two mistakes," said Murray.

"It was kind of back and forth from there and unfortunately I couldn't quite break, which was a shame because both of us on the break points until that last game were pretty clinical."

Djokovic broke Murray's serve in the opening game and the 2011 winner gave a masterclass combining powerful ground shots with brutal accuracy as he found the lines with uncanny regularity.

Murray found his second serve coming under huge pressure and Djokovic duly earned a double break before racing to the first set in just 31 minutes.

In the second, however, the Scot's serve began to click into gear and, having won just 17% of points on his second serve in the first set, he increased it to an impressive 60% in the second.

Djokovic made crucial forehand and backhand errors in the third game before serving a double-fault to be broken for only the second time in the tournament.

The Madrid crowd who were muted as Murray beat local favourite Rafael Nadal 7-5 6-4 in Saturday's semi-finals were now encouraging the Briton, who responded with some of his best tennis of the week as he won the set with a cheeky drop shot from the back of the court.

It was Djokovic's turn to regroup and after a comfortable hold needed just one of two break points to take the early initiative in the decider.

But this was a different Murray from the opening set and the Scot immediately broke back with Djokovic again serving a double fault at the crucial moment.

Again, however, the world number one raised the bar and this time it proved crucial with a decisive break in the sixth game.

"When you play against the best players, you are probably not going to win every single time," said Murray. "But you want to make the matches extremely difficult for them: physically and mentally, so it's not comfortable. So I think at least today I did that, but unfortunately didn't get the win.

"It's been a positive week for me this week overal l- a few years ago I wouldn't have thought I'd be winning against Rafa and then pushing Novak this close on a clay court."

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Murray Makes Mutua Madrid Quarters

Murray in Madrid

 Defending champion Andy Murray reached the quarter-finals of the Madrid Open with an impressive 6-4 6-2 win over 16th seed Gilles Simon of France.

Second seed Murray, 28, broke Simon for the first time to take the opening set as part of a five-game winning run.

He then broke three times in the second set to complete victory in one hour, 38 minutes.

Murray will play either Czech Tomas Berdych or Spaniard David Ferrer in the last eight.

Murray's serve was never broken and the power and variety of his ground strokes was too much for Simon, 31.

"It's always difficult to get the balance right against him because the better you hit the ball, the faster it comes back against him," Murray said.

"He uses the pace very well so I knew I needed to be patient and use variety, but also when the chance is there, go for it. Sometimes he makes players rush, but today I didn't have that problem. It was good from start to finish."

World number one Novak Djokovic, who won in Madrid in 2011, plays Spain's Roberto Bautista Agut later on Thursday.

Four-time winner Rafael Nadal, who lost to Murray is last year's final, plays Sam Querrey of the United States in the evening session.

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Williams Wins Mutua de Madrid

Serena Williams beat world number one Victoria Azarenka 6-1 6-3 to win the Madrid Open for the first time.

It was Williams' first appearance in Europe this season and the world number six and ninth seed dominated the Belarussian over two sets.

It took the American just over an hour to win the match and confirmed her as the player in form ahead of the French Open which starts on 27 May.

Williams hit a series of winners to take her 41st WTA singles title.

It is the eighth time the pair have met, with Williams winning on seven occasions.

Azarenka's only victory over Williams came in the final of the 2009 Miami tournament, but she came nowhere near the American on Sunday, with Williams superior in every department.

The Madrid Open is the second consecutive WTA clay tournament for Williams, coming a month after she won in Charleston.

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Blue Win for Federer in Madrid

Roger Federer came back from one set down to beat Tomas Berdych and win the Madrid Open 3-6 7-5 7-5.

The win means Federer replaces as Rafael Nadal as number two in the world.

Berdych had already beaten Federer twice this year, but the Swiss master got his own back on the controversial blue courts of Madrid.

It's the eleventh time Federer has beaten Berdych, the world number six.

Berdych broke his opponent in the second game and went on to win a close first set.

Federer replied with two breaks in the second set to level the match.

The Czech produced a couple of double faults as Federer took a 5-3 lead in the third.

The 16 times grand slam champion let Berdych back in but at 6-5 he converted his fourth match point to claim the title.

It was Federer's first game in 44 days and he had already been beaten twice by Berdych this year.

The win was his third Madrid title and the 20th Masters tournament of his career.

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Serena and Azarenka in Madrid Final

Serena Williams will play world number one Victoria Azarenka in Sunday's final of the Madrid Open after they both enjoyed straightforward last-four wins.

American Williams, 30, was taken to a tie-break in the first set of her game against Czech qualifier Lucie Hradecka.

But she breezed through the second set, breaking Hradecka three times to wrap up a 7-6 (7-5) 6-0 victory.

Azarenka, who is chasing a fifth title in 2012, hit 29 winners in her 6-2 6-4 thrashing of Agnieszka Radwanska.

The 22-year-old Belarussian, who was beaten in last year's final by Petra Kvitova, has now defeated Polish player Radwanska in all six of their meetings this year.

She broke her opponent's serve six times and clinched the win with a drop shot on her second match point after just 79 minutes of playing.

Azarenka has only beaten Williams once in seven meetings but the Australian Open champion said: "I was much younger and just coming on the tour [for many of our matches) but I have always been competitive against her.

"It's going to be a different story this time."

Williams is in fine form though, having beaten Maria Sharapova in the last eight and easily overcoming Hradecka who is ranked 105 in the world.

The first set went with serve but Williams edged the tie-break and then immediately broke in the opening game of the second set to take the initiative, while Hradecka, who made 22 unforced errors in the game, faded.

In the men's semi-finals, former world number one Roger Federer takes on Janko Tipsarevic while Tomas Berdych faces Juan Martin del Potro.

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Novak Finds Madrid Blue No Djoker

Top seed and defending champion Novak Djokovic again criticised the blue clay court as he was knocked out of the Madrid Open.

Djokovic lost 7-6 (7-2) 6-3 to fellow Serb Janko Tipsarevic and vowed not to play in the competition next year if the controversial surface is retained.

"In 2013, if they play on blue [clay], they can have their own tournament but I am not coming for sure," he said.

"It is simple - no blue clay for me. The test has failed."

Djokovic has been frustrated by the slippery blue courts all week and Rafael Nadal, who was beaten by compatriot Fernando Verdasco on Thursday, had similar complaints after his defeat.

"I want to forget this week as soon as possible and move on to the real clay courts," Djokovic said. "Here you can't predict the ball bounce or movement.

"I want to perform my best but, if I cannot move and am putting pressure all the time on muscles and my body, and I am worried about not getting injured because the court is unpredictable, then what is the sense in playing here?"

Djokovic was also critical of the ATP and says players must be consulted in future before new initiatives are introduced.

"They made a decision without the players agreeing on it so this is a rule that has to be changed immediately," he said.

"The fault is from the people who gave them permission to do these things. This is just a clear example of how our system does not work in favour of players."

Djokovic was particularly critical of former ATP chief executive Adam Helfant, who took the decision to allow Madrid to switch to blue clay in order to make it easier for television viewers to follow the yellow balls.

Earlier on Friday, Helfant said he gave Madrid the green light only after receiving assurances the blue courts would play the same as the traditional red surfaces.

He said he consulted the players and tournament officials and, realising they could not agree, made the decision himself.

Also on Friday, tournament chief Ion Tiriac apologised for the slippery courts but defended the colour switch, which he said had nothing to do with the problems with the court surface.

Tiriac explained that the courts, which have to be built from scratch six weeks before the tournament, had been pressed too much, which meant the clay was unable to penetrate the hard base.

"The players are right when they say it is too slippery and I apologise," he said.

There were no problems for Roger Federer, who was a 6-4 6-4 winner against Spain's David Ferrer, although the Swiss player said he understood the frustrations of Djokovic and Nadal.

"It is a pity we are talking about a surface rather than a great shot or a great match," he said. "After the tournament we will have to sit down and see what happens next year."

Women's world number one Victoria Azarenka made a shaky start before winning 3-6 6-3 6-3 against Li Na.

Azarenka will meet world number three Agnieszka Radwanska , the fourth seed, who beat American qualifier Varvara Lepchenko 6-4 6-4.

Serena Williams made light of the seven ranking places separating her and Maria Sharapova as she eased past the world number two 6-3 6-1.

The American is into the semi-finals for only the second time in five singles events this year and will play outsider Lucie Hradecka who beat US Open champion Sam Stosur 7-6 (10-8) 7-6 (8-6)

Fifth seed Tomas Berdych saw off Fernando Verdasco in the men's draw.

Berdych swatted aside Rafael Nadal's conqueror 6-1 6-2 in just 66 minutes and will play Juan Martin del Potro in the last four after the Argentine beat Alexandr Dolgopolov 6-3 6-4.

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Verdasco Gives Nadal Madrid Blues

Fernando Verdasco finally got the better of clay-court king Rafael Nadal at the 14th time of asking to advance to the quarter-finals of the Madrid Masters.

Madrid native Verdasco surprised an out of sorts World No.2 Nadal with a 6-3 3-6 7-5 triumph.

Verdasco broke his Davis Cup team-mate's serve seven times on the blue clay of the Manolo Santana show court and clubbed 31 winners to his opponent's 19 to set up a last-eight clash against Tomas Berdych.

Nadal came into the contest 13-0 in sets on clay against Verdasco, but the 28-year-old, who has enjoyed some strong results on the surface this season broke to take a 4-2 lead, capitalising on some uncharacteristic mistakes by Nadal before eventually serving out the set.

Nadal, who has dominated his countryman in head-to-head meetings, hit back at the start of the second set by breaking in the fourth game to take a 3-1 lead.

But although the number 15 seed broke back in the seventh game, he handed the initiative straight back following a crucial double fault allowing Nadal to coolly serve out the set.

The six-times French Open champion then let a 5-2 lead slip in the deciding set as he twice failed to serve out the match in an error-strewn contest.

And Verdasco powered back into the set producing some of his best tennis to level at 5-5 before sealing a famous win with yet another crashing forehand by breaking Nadal for the third time in the set in just over three hours of gruelling tennis.

The victory also ended Nadal's 22-game winning streak on clay since losing in the Rome final last year to Novak Djokovic.

Verdasco will now play Czech sixth seed Berdych, who ended the injury comeback effort of Frenchman Gael Monfils, the 12th seed, with a 6-1 6-1 victory.

Monfils was playing for the first time since a March abdominal muscle problem. The flamboyant French player lost serve five times while never earning a break point against Berdych.

Alexandr Dolgopolov produced a battling display to defeat his doubles partner Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

The duo, who played with each other in this event but lost in the first round, went head-to-head in the third round and the 20th-ranked Ukrainian came out on top in a gruelling three-set contest, 7-5 3-6 7-6 (7-2).

Dolgopolov, runner-up finish to Andy Murray in Brisbane earlier this year, showed plenty of resilience to come from a break down to surprise the Frenchman before eventually taking the set.

But the fourth seed levelled matters after a break in the eighth game of the second set proved decisive and despite neither player able to hold on to their serve for four straight games at the start of the deciding set, Dolgopolov eventually prevailed in a final set tie-break.

Also in the men's third round, Former US Open champion Juan Martin Del Potro made light work of languid Croatian Marin Cilic 6-2 6-4 to set up a meeting with Dolgopolov.

The 10th-seeded Argentine, who beat Cilic in five of the seven matches they played previously, came through the contest in two hours.

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Players Blast Madrid Blue

Novak Djokovic joined Rafael Nadal in blasting ATP executive suite for allowing a change to blue clay for the Madrid Masters without any consultation with players.

The one-year deal with tournament boss Ion Tiriac, a wise old fox for four decades in the tennis wars, was quietly pushed through under the table by ex-ATP CEO Adam Helfant last year without consultation.

The American left the job at the end of the year.

"The only disappointing thing from a player standpoint is that it was decided without players agreeing to it," Djokovic said.

"I'm not blaming the tournament, it is fighting for its own interests. But the ATP should have done a better job on player rights in protecting what the players want."

Djokovic also threw down a veiled warning for the week: "The hope of all players is that we won't have injuries and have a decent week of tennis."

Djokovic and especially home hero Nadal have come out firing, with the Spaniard doing most of the verbal heavy lifting on the issue.

"This is about history, the earth is red, not blue. Tennis is not only about show-business, there are more things to appreciate, history and tradition," Nadal said.

"Some symbolic things in the world should be preserved.

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Serena Wins Madrid Opener

Serena Williams marked her first European appearance of the season with a comfortable 6-3 6-1 victory over Elena Vesnina in the Madrid Open.