2010 Mubadala World Tennis Championship: Review – Rafael Nadal vs. Roger Federer
What could have been better for tennis fans, on New Year’s Day, than a clash between the top two tennis players in the World? Playing at the three-day exhibition event in Abu Dhabi, the 2010 Mubadala World Tennis Championship, Spanish marvel Rafael “Rafa” Nadal met Swiss maestro Roger Federer in the final match of the event.
Being top two in the ATP rankings, both players had received automatic byes into the semis. They played their respective semi-final matches on Saturday. Nadal faced and defeated Tomas Berdych, in straight sets, to continue his title defence at the event. On the other hand, Federer bounced back from one set down against Robin Soderling to meet Nadal in the finals.
Although their tournament head-to-head rests at 14-8 in Rafa’s favour, today’s match, which was for exhibition purpose, did not contribute to the official head-to-head score. The two players also met for two back-to-back charity matches last month. Rafa defeated Federer in the match played in Madrid while Federer emerged victorious the next day in his hometown. Their last official ATP meeting came at the final of the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals where the ‘Fed Express’ defeated ‘Rafa’ to win his fifth title at the event.
Living up to their reputations and doing justice to their rivalry, both players put up an excellent performance today making the match as exciting and exhilarating as possible.
Winning the toss, Federer decided to serve in the opener. With each player winning games on their own serve and not being able to break their opponent’s serve, the score remained tied until 6-6 taking the set into a tiebreaker. Opening service in the tiebreaker, the world number two rushed into a 3-0 lead. However, the world number one bounced back on the fourth point and won the next five consecutive points. Maintaining his form, Rafa only lost one point before clinching a 7-4 victory in the tiebreaker going up 1-0 in the set score.
Entering the second set, once again the two titans were going at it tooth and nail. Determined not to give up a game, both players continued to win on their service keeping the score tied at all times. Once more, the set score was tied at 6-6 giving the match its second tiebreaker. This time around, Rafa was prepared for the maestro. Standing his ground, with excellent backhands and aces, Rafa secured a 4-1. Extending his three-point lead with a loss of only two points, Nadal was able to win the second tiebreaker 7-3.
Indeed, it was a straight set, yet extremely close, victory for the Spaniard. Talking about the match, Nadal said, "For both of us, these are the first matches of the season. So it is special for us. This is the perfect place to start the season here in Abu Dhabi."
Appreciating the better player, Federer said, "I never lost my serve, but I still lost the tournament, it's kind of tough. Rafael and myself must have played so many times and so many times it has come down to a few shots here and there. He is an amazing shot-maker. Me as well, but today he got the better of me."
The two players officially kick off their 2011 season on Monday when they participate at the 2011 Qatar ExxonMobil Open in Doha.
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