Last year, right at this very moment, Nadal was watching the US Open final in front of the TV witnessing Murray winning his first grand slam title. A year later, nobody would ever think that Nadal came back from a 7 months injury with storm by winning the US Open for a second time. When people started doubting Nadal’s ability to win a major on hard court, Nadal once again proved the critics wrong. The numbers does look impressive too. He is still undefeated on hard courts this year and a 60-3 (95.16%) winning record that saw him captured 10 titles.
I remember 2 months ago I wrote an article right after the Wimbledon, saying that we can learn a lot the future of tennis is heading in this US Open. I think we certainly learn a lot in this tournament. Of all answers we found, no doubt that Djokovic and Nadal is the latest tennis rivalry and they are the two best tennis players in the world right now.
Tennis matches are always not just about skills and physical ability on the court. The ability to stay focus and the strong determination is also a key element in today’s game. It was obvious right from the beginning of this match that Nadal was the one that has the stronger will and determination to win. Perhaps that was the biggest difference as in who stands out on top in today’s epic encounter.
Everybody who watches the match was treated with a roller coaster ride throughout the match. At the beginning of the match, it was Nadal that was dominating the play, breaking Djokovic’s serve twice to close out the first set 6-2. The second set was a pretty even one not until that 54 shot rally that saw Djokovic came out on top. From there on, Nadal saw his serve broken three times in a row and the momentum pendulum swift quickly towards the side of Djokovic.
Djokovic quicky seize the momentum and break Nadal’s serve at the very first game of the third set. Then, perhaps the biggest moment of the match came when Nadal lost his footing while trying to retrieve a shot from Novak that eventually gives Djokovic triple break points opportunities. Should Novak convert one of the three opportunities, he is 5-4 up in the third set and serving for the third set. He failed to convert any of the opportunities and let Nadal hold on to his serve.
From there on, Nadal slowly gained his momentum back. Nadal showed the true spirit of a champion recovering from three break points and managed to break that crucial Djokovic’s serve at 5-4 to win the third set. Soon, it was just Nadal all the way in the fourth set. Eventually, Nadal celebrated his 13th grand slam title win when Novak hit his forehand shot into the net. A tennis match might be a long one, but quite often it comes down to these critical moments to decide the winner and the person who capitalized these opportunities stand out on top of the podium.
To be honest, it wasn’t one of best Nadal-Djokovic rivalry matches. But both guys certainly live up to the expectations by some sensational shot making and amazing court coverage by both players. Not sure whether Djokovic was mentally and physically drained by that five setter against Wawrinka in the semis, the spirited Djokovic that we know in 2011 was nowhere to be seen.
Despite making 46 winners compare to Rafa’s 27, Djokovic’s 53 unforced errors (Nadal has 20 unforced errors) is perhaps the key area that let him down in today’s match. In terms of shot making and footwork, I don’t think there’s much difference between this two guys in today’s match. The mental strength and high unforced errors are the main reason of Djokovic’s defeat today.
Nadal’s changing game style is certainly a new element he inserted in his game. He is willing to move to the net more often, a strategy most opponents used against him. He is reducing the number of shots he needs to play in his service game to win a rally by coming up with some effective service. The ability to mix up the pace of his play by deploying more drop shots and backhand slices certainly raised his hard court game. Before the final match against Djokovic, his serve was broken only once throughout the whole tournament.
It was pretty disappointing tournament for most top players that are competing in this year’s tournament. Federer’s shocking defeat to Robredo in the fourth round is perhaps the other big spotlight of the tournament. In the article two months ago, the player that I predicted to win this US Open-Andy Murray performed miserably and his comments after his defeat was even more disappointing. While Del Potro, the player who I tipped to make a big impact in this tournament, fell short to a re-energized Lleyton Hewitt in the second round.
It is almost the end of the tennis season. The biggest of all the remaining tournaments is definitely the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals at London which Nadal has yet to win. It is interesting how Nadal will prepare for tournaments at the latter stage of the calendar. Nobody is sure how the knees are doing although he has been in great form this year. Don’t be surprised if Nadal ends up competing in one or two tournaments to close out one of his most successful seasons.
This was his second comeback because of a lengthy injury. Just as the first one, the second comeback is equally a successful one. The first comeback saw him captured three grand slam titles in 2010 making him the second player after Andre Agassi to win a career golden slam. This second comeback just further proved that he is going down the history books as one of the tennis players in the history of tennis. He’s definitely more than just the “King of Clay”. With 13 grand slam titles and closing in on Sampras’s 14 and Federer’s 17, let’s hope that he stays healthy and let the rivalry between him and Djokovic be an interesting chapter of the tennis world and not to forget that old rivalry with Federer.
*Did anybody notice this: Murray didn't participate the French Open, ends up winning Wimbledon. Nadal got knocked out at the first round at Wimbledon, ends up winning US Open. Extra time for preparation?
By,
Zhe Xu
9th September 2013
Comments
Post a Comment