2010 Mubadala World Tennis Championship: Preview – Rafael Nadal vs. Tomas Berdych
“Joy to the world, the Lord is come...or putting it aptly, the Lord of tennis!” Wonderful news tennis fans, world number one Rafael Nadal is ready to hit the courts again. Currently defending his title at the three-day exhibition
tournament, the Mubadala World Tennis Championship in Abu Dhabi, the top Spaniard will play his first unofficial match of 2011, ironically in 2010, on Friday.
Having enjoyed a superb season, Nadal finished the year with seven titles, two final appearances, a spot in the elite eight at London and an impressive 71-10 win loss mark.
With the exception of the Australian Open that took place in Melbourne Park, in January, Nadal ruled at all the other Grand Slams in 2010. Defeating two-time finalist Robin Soderling, Nadal claimed his fifth title at the Roland
Garros, on June 6, becoming the only other male besides Bjorn Borg to hold the title five times at least. In June, Nadal also defeated Tomas Berdych to clinch his second title at Wimbledon. His biggest achievement of the year came in September when he defeated
Novak Djokovic at the US Open to complete both his Career Grand Slam as well as his Career Golden Slam.
In addition to a debut title win at Tokyo, Nadal won three Masters titles; winning them at Monte Carlo, Madrid and Rome. Moving past Andy Roddick, Berdych and Djokovic in the round robin stage and local Andy Murray in the semis,
Nadal secured a spot for himself in the final of the season finale event. Nadal also made a final appearance at Doha, an event where he will play next week as well.
Defeating Soderling in Abu Dhabi in 2010, Nadal is the defending champion at this event. As a result of which he received an automatic bye into the semi finals. Talking to press ahead of his opening match, Nadal said, “It’s a pleasure
for me to be here in Abu Dhabi. It’s the perfect place to start the new season. All the players here are very good players and have to play really well to have the chance to meet them in the final match.”
In a rematch of the 2010 Wimbledon final, Nadal plays Berdych in the semi final tomorrow. This will be the pair’s fourth meeting for the season while it will be their career’s thirteenth. Will thirteen be unlucky for Nadal? Will
the Czech finally manage a win over the Spaniard?
Although statistics say otherwise, Berdych might prove to be trouble for the Spaniard. One of the rising stars of 2010, Berdych was the only player at the season finale event to complete the year with no titles to his name and
still hold a position in the top ten.
The Czech played his opening match of 2011 on Thursday when he met Marcos Baghdatis. After a close battle between the two, Berdych eventually emerged victorious. Filled with confidence, Berdych believes he can make it to the top
and even rattle the Federer-Nadal hegemony in 2011. Good luck to the Czech! Though, to beat the number one, a perfect combination of luck as well as talent is essential. Does the Czech have enough of both? Only time will tell.
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