Novak Djokovic in Champions League Mode

The Champions League final will see the two Madrid clubs face each other : a domination which has inspired Novak Djokovic, brilliant once again in the Spanish capital, and who leads our weekly ranking.

The Champions League final will see the two Madrid clubs face each other : a domination which has inspired Novak Djokovic, brilliant once again in the Spanish capital. The world number 1 is leading our weekly ranking, in front of a Sharapova who’s coming back in the spotlights, and an Ivanovic whose curves have been all over the gossip magazines.

1- Novak Djokovic (+3).

Monte Carlo was just a small warning, a cloud in the world number 1’s blue sky : in Madrid, Novak Djokovic has won the third Masters 1000 of his season, after having already triumphed in the BNP Paribas Open of Indian Wells and Miami.

By the way, he won his 64th ATP title, which enables him to equal two glorious legends, Borg and Sampras.

Before dominating Andy Murray in three sets during the final, the Serb had an easy run in the previous rounds, with a few well-timed « hot shots », notably against Coric…

…and Simon.

In Madrid, the Djoker got part of his inspiration from the incredible success of the two major football clubs of the city, Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid, who are bound to face each other in the Champions League final. He even made the most of his stay in Madrid to attend the semi-final at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium, and even saw football players, like the retired Brazilian legend, Ronaldo…

…and Real’s German midfielder Toni Kroos.

2- Maria Sharapova (+3).

Meanwhile, Maria Sharapova’s back…The Russian was on the cover of the gossip magazines after being seen alongside the F1 champion Lewis Hamilton, just like a few months ago…

These pictures were taken during the Met Gala, a glamorous event where the Russian played a winning hand in seduction with this red dress.

The Met Gala was held in New York, which Sharapova seems to enjoy…

Having been off the courts for a few months already, the champion remains banished because of a positive drug-test which occurred earlier this season, but she carries on training…

…to make her return as soon as she’ll get the WTA’s green flag.

3- Ana Ivanovic (+7).

Her tired pretty face, bags surrounding her eyes …

…and on this second picture this nice loose top, as if she was trying to hide a bumpy belly…Good grief ! What if Ana Ivanovic was pregnant ?

In any case, this was the rumor spread this week in many gossip magazines. Let’s not forget that the Serbian player is the current partner of German international football player Bastian Schweinsteiger. In any case, Ivanovic is set to take part in the Rome tournament. On Sunday, it’s from Italy that she payed hommage to her beloved mother, for Mother’s day.

Soon to be her day as well ?

4- Rafael Nadal (-3).

In Madrid these last few days, Rafael Nadal felt just like at home, happier than ever.

He even had the opportunity to see his favorite club, Real Madrid, qualify for the Champions League final.

The Real Madrid players enjoyed his support, and decided to cheer him back. Notably the most famous of them, Cristiano Ronaldo.

This support however wasn’t enough for Nadal to manage a « tennis hat-trick » : After two consecutive wins in Monte-Carlo and Barcelona, he was defeated this time in the semi-finals, by Andy Murray. But he appears to be back on form, and capable of hitting incredible shots on his favorite surface again.

5- Caroline Wozniacki (+3).

Having been kept off the courts since the Miami tournament, Caroline Wozniacki is progressively sliding dow a few ranks at the WTA ranking and doesn’t feature among the top 30 anymore. She’s currently ranked at the 31st spot, which doesn’t stop her from being one of the most sought after headliners of women’s tennis. Just like Sharapova, she attended the Met Gala where she made quite an impression.

But as she remains a sportswoman among everything else, she carries on training.

For the photo framing however, she still has quite a bit to learn…

6- Andy Murray (+9).

As usual, the Scotsman isn’t the flashiest of tennis players but remains an incredible competitor, with one of the best performances of last week, with his win over the man of the moment, Rafael Nadal, in the semi-finals.

In the final however, despite the set he managed to win against Djoko, he couldn’t stop the Serb from lifting the trophy.

In any case, the outcome of Murray’s week in Madrid remains positive, as he produced some beautiful tennis until the final, and he also amused the audience with his clumsy joker style.

Mister Bean.

7- Simona Halep (+4).

After having had a difficult time since the start of the season, Simona Halep looked unbeatable last week in Madrid, easily defeating Cibulkova in the final (6/2 6/4).

Do you prefer the Romanian in a picture or a drawing ?

She played a little game consisting of juggling the small yellow ball on the beam of her racquet. As a result, she came up with a very honorable results of 29 bounces.

But it’s still on the court that Halep displays her best skills, as these nice shots and remarkable runs show.

8- Dominika Cibulkova (NE).

The losing finalist is Dominika Cibulkova. The Slovakian had a good run, even if she benefited from a pretty favorable table after knocking out the seed number 1, Radwanska, in the first round.

Cibulkova who celebrated her birthday in Spain. On the 6th of May to be precise, she turned 27.

However, we’re not sure we’ll be able to get used to these striped leggings…

9- Juan Martin Del Potro (NE).

The tears of the week are Juan Martin Del Potro’s. Tears of joy, after his very convincing win over the rising star, Dominic Thiem (7/6 6/3).

If he then lost in the second round against Jack Sock, the Argentine can be happy with the progress he’s made since his return on the court after a long injury.

He’ll undoubtedly be one of the outsiders in the first rounds of Roland-Garros, where he could face Tsonga, with who he trained under the Madrid sun.

10- Nick Kyrgios (-8).

Nick Kyrgios being fair-play, who would’ve thought ? The Australian, huge football fan and who notably supports Tottenham in the Premier League, congratulated Leicester, the surprise winner of the English Premier League. The two clubs had been battling for the first spot for quite a long time…

Still on football, Kyrgios attended the Champions League semi-final at the Santiago Bernabeu…

…wearing a…Manchester City scarf around his neck. So, Nick, who do you actually support ?

Active as usual on the social networks, he didn’t forget to wish his girlfriend, Anja Tomlanovic, a happy birthday, as she turned 23 last Saturday.

Let’s not forget about tennis, with certainly the most incredible shot of the week in Madrid…

11- Bernard Tomic (NE).

However, Kyrgios’ fellow countryman hasn’t impressed in Madrid, as it was quite the opposite. Bernard Tomic intentionally dropped the end of his match against Fabio Fognini, even playing the match point with his racquet upside down…nuts.

An attitude criticized by Novak Djokovic, who talked about a lack of respect and professionalism. In Rome, the Australian was even quicker as he quit after just 3 games, during the first round where he facing Benoît Paire.

That’s something which isn’t going to help his reputation…

12- Serena Williams (-9).

Forfeit in Madrid, with her mind set less and less on tennis, Serena Williams still managed to reassure her fans by posting a picture of herself on a court…playing doubles with her sister.

The world number 1 had to face a few critics and end a mini-scandal last week when a press photo of her, which clearly looked like it had been airbrushed, was published

13- Federico Delbonis (NE).

The bad gesture of the week : annoyed by his own level of play during his match against Diego Schwartzman, Federico Delbonis released the pressure by hitting a ball towards a cat who was crossing the court in the middle of the match.

The controversy sparked all week, to the point where the Argentine had to apologize for this angry gesture on Twitter, and explain that he hadn’t done it on purpose.

Good shot anyhow.

14- Florin Mergea (NE).

The solution found by Florin Mergea to tell the chair umpire of the Madrid tournament that it was raining too much to carry on playing ? Pick up an umbrella and use it on the court. Which provoked a comical scene during the doubles quarter-final between the pairs Mergea/Bopanna and Peers/Kontinen.