The Spaniard has been toying with his opponents, despite a back problem, but will renew his long rivalry with the Serb in an attempt to achieve another grand slam milestone
Rafael Nadal has been toying with us at this French Open, as he sometimes does and, no doubt, will do in the future. It is hard to believe that the champion who destroyed Andy Murray on Friday to book his place in Sunday’s final against Novak Djokovic was the same Nadal who complained of a back problem after a minor dip in the second set of his third-round win over Leonardo Mayer.
The contrast is staggering. In the space of a week, Nadal has bounced out of his phone box, whipped off his glasses and is flying again. He is a phenomenon.
After he had noticeably powered down in that set against Mayer, he said: “Yes, I felt a little bit my back, so that’s why I slow down a little bit the serve. I felt a little bit from the beginning. In the second match I was not serving that fast, too.” Asked was it a concern, he added: “No. I had the problem in Australia. It’s real but hopefully not.”
After dismissing Mayer, Nadal upped the intensity of his game, crushing the young Serb Dusan Lajovic for the loss of only four games and embarrassing David Ferrer here for the second year in a row – to the point where his demoralised compatriot admitted with perhaps foolish candour: “Mentally I was not really ready … Then I threw in the towel. I thought, no, I’m not going to be able to come back into the match. Not against Rafa.”
That is the extent of his hold on opponents at Roland Garros. It is five years since Robin Soderling rudely interrupted his reign in France. Nobody in the other 65 matches he has played in this tournament has been so precocious.
Then, after Ferrer came Murray. And, an hour and 40 minutes later, there went Murray. The Scot did not subscribe to the Ferrer doctrine on surrender but he was palpably wrecked after winning only six games against the one member of the notional Big Four he has never been able properly to dominate.
Which brings us to Djokovic. Is he mentally strong enough to resist the paralysing grip the Spaniard has on everyone who plays him here? Years ago, he was not. Of their first 21 matches, Nadal won 14, and each of their four meetings in slams, three of which were in Paris. In the past 20 encounters, Djokovic leads 12-8, sharing six slam showdowns.
His rivalry with Nadal is like War and Peace: very long and tough to read. But in this, their 42nd meeting across a net since they first played each other in the quarter-finals here in 2006, there is hope – and added incentive – for the world No2. If Djokovic shakes the tennis universe and beats Nadal, he will also take his world No1 ranking, returning him to the perch he occupied until toppled last September towards the end of his rival’s quite remarkable comeback year.
Djokovic is on a roll against Nadal, as well. While it took him six attempts to beat him in a slam, to win Wimbledon in 2011, he has beaten him four times in a row, most recently and significantly on the clay of Rome.
However, Djokovic entered a note of worry into the equation after admitting a sudden loss of energy in his four-set win over Ernests Gulbis in the first semi-final on Friday.
“But I’m not going to talk about it,” he said. “That’s it. I just … I’m glad I won in four sets because if it went to a fifth, God knows in which direction the match could go.” It was not a rousing call to arms before the Roland Garros final against Nadal.
Nadal turned 28 during this tournament and is a year older than Djokovic. He is the one with marginally greater experience and pedigree.
If he prevails on Sunday, he will become the first man in history to win a slam title 10 years in a row. He is also trying for his fifth French title in a row. No one has done that, either – although it has happened nine times in the other three slam tournaments, which illustrates what a challenge it is to win here.
If stats were tennis balls, Nadal could just keep pelting Djokovic with them: he has won 52 consecutive semi-finals on clay and is in his ninth final at the same major, another record. But Nadal takes nothing for granted. It is partly his humility schtick but it is also insurance against complacency. He respects rather than fears Djokovic; on clay, at least, everyone respects and fears Nadal.
When asked which would be his country’s greatest sporting achievement of 2014 – Real Madrid winning the Champions League, Spain winning the World Cup in Brazil or his ninth French Open title – he also said: “I don’t think about ifs. I think about the things that already happened.”
What has already happened has been glorious. What is about to happen on Sunday might well be added to the list of memorable matches between these two extraordinary players.
For all that it has been difficult to establish the extent of Nadal’s back trouble, it is hard to see Djokovic stopping the Spaniard winning his 14th slam trophy to move alongside the total of Pete Sampras and only three behind Roger Federer. Per TALKINGSPORTS
Rafael Nadal has been toying with us at this French Open, as he sometimes does and, no doubt, will do in the future. It is hard to believe that the champion who destroyed Andy Murray on Friday to book his place in Sunday’s final against Novak Djokovic was the same Nadal who complained of a back problem after a minor dip in the second set of his third-round win over Leonardo Mayer.
The contrast is staggering. In the space of a week, Nadal has bounced out of his phone box, whipped off his glasses and is flying again. He is a phenomenon.
After he had noticeably powered down in that set against Mayer, he said: “Yes, I felt a little bit my back, so that’s why I slow down a little bit the serve. I felt a little bit from the beginning. In the second match I was not serving that fast, too.” Asked was it a concern, he added: “No. I had the problem in Australia. It’s real but hopefully not.”
After dismissing Mayer, Nadal upped the intensity of his game, crushing the young Serb Dusan Lajovic for the loss of only four games and embarrassing David Ferrer here for the second year in a row – to the point where his demoralised compatriot admitted with perhaps foolish candour: “Mentally I was not really ready … Then I threw in the towel. I thought, no, I’m not going to be able to come back into the match. Not against Rafa.”
That is the extent of his hold on opponents at Roland Garros. It is five years since Robin Soderling rudely interrupted his reign in France. Nobody in the other 65 matches he has played in this tournament has been so precocious.
Then, after Ferrer came Murray. And, an hour and 40 minutes later, there went Murray. The Scot did not subscribe to the Ferrer doctrine on surrender but he was palpably wrecked after winning only six games against the one member of the notional Big Four he has never been able properly to dominate.
Which brings us to Djokovic. Is he mentally strong enough to resist the paralysing grip the Spaniard has on everyone who plays him here? Years ago, he was not. Of their first 21 matches, Nadal won 14, and each of their four meetings in slams, three of which were in Paris. In the past 20 encounters, Djokovic leads 12-8, sharing six slam showdowns.
His rivalry with Nadal is like War and Peace: very long and tough to read. But in this, their 42nd meeting across a net since they first played each other in the quarter-finals here in 2006, there is hope – and added incentive – for the world No2. If Djokovic shakes the tennis universe and beats Nadal, he will also take his world No1 ranking, returning him to the perch he occupied until toppled last September towards the end of his rival’s quite remarkable comeback year.
Djokovic is on a roll against Nadal, as well. While it took him six attempts to beat him in a slam, to win Wimbledon in 2011, he has beaten him four times in a row, most recently and significantly on the clay of Rome.
However, Djokovic entered a note of worry into the equation after admitting a sudden loss of energy in his four-set win over Ernests Gulbis in the first semi-final on Friday.
“But I’m not going to talk about it,” he said. “That’s it. I just … I’m glad I won in four sets because if it went to a fifth, God knows in which direction the match could go.” It was not a rousing call to arms before the Roland Garros final against Nadal.
Nadal turned 28 during this tournament and is a year older than Djokovic. He is the one with marginally greater experience and pedigree.
If he prevails on Sunday, he will become the first man in history to win a slam title 10 years in a row. He is also trying for his fifth French title in a row. No one has done that, either – although it has happened nine times in the other three slam tournaments, which illustrates what a challenge it is to win here.
If stats were tennis balls, Nadal could just keep pelting Djokovic with them: he has won 52 consecutive semi-finals on clay and is in his ninth final at the same major, another record. But Nadal takes nothing for granted. It is partly his humility schtick but it is also insurance against complacency. He respects rather than fears Djokovic; on clay, at least, everyone respects and fears Nadal.
When asked which would be his country’s greatest sporting achievement of 2014 – Real Madrid winning the Champions League, Spain winning the World Cup in Brazil or his ninth French Open title – he also said: “I don’t think about ifs. I think about the things that already happened.”
What has already happened has been glorious. What is about to happen on Sunday might well be added to the list of memorable matches between these two extraordinary players.
For all that it has been difficult to establish the extent of Nadal’s back trouble, it is hard to see Djokovic stopping the Spaniard winning his 14th slam trophy to move alongside the total of Pete Sampras and only three behind Roger Federer. Per TALKINGSPORTS
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