Barclays ATP World Tour Finals; Rafael Nadal overpowers Novak Djokovic; closes on final four spot
The top seed Rafael Nadal closed on a semi final spot at the 2010 Barclays ATP World Tour Finals on Wednesday as he posted his second victory of the week with a two setter win over Novak Djokovic of Serbia, during a rematch at
the United States Open final. The score line was 7-5, 6-2. The match concluded in the time period of one hour and fifty two minutes.
Currently ranked number one in the South African Airways ATP list, Nadal who failed to win a round-robin clash back in 2009, improved to a 2-0 mark at the top of Group A, having defeated Andy Roddick in three sets earlier this
week.
The professional tennis ace from Spain is looking to capture the season finale title for the first time in his career, after semi final appearances back in 2006 and 2007.
Should the 24-year-old Rafael defeat Tomas Berdych in a repeat of the grass court Grand Slam final in his next clash on Friday, he will finish atop Group A with a mark of 3-0.
Djokovic, on the other hand, who won the elite eight man field tournament back in 2008, will take on Andy Roddick from the United States of America in his next match on Friday.
Both contenders missed opportunities to break serve in the early exchanges before Rafael outsmarted his foe in a net exchange to break through during the fifth game on Wednesday.
After preventing a break point during the seventh game as Rafael hooked a forehand long, the Serbian received medical treatment for a problem with the contact lens in his eye. Nadal later took benefit from the situation to break
and take a lead of 6-5, before fending off three break point opportunities for Novak to wrap up the first set.
Djokovic, 23, received more treatment from the doctor at the sit down; however was still struggling to keep his concentration at the start of the decisive set and a spate of unforced errors from the Serbian contributed to Rafael
racing to a lead of 4-0. From there onwards, the nine-time major winner did not look back and went on to seal win in London.
“I am really happy how I played because the serve worked much better, particularly in the first set. The forehand, I played with fewer mistakes than the other day, with better rhythm. I think was a big change from the first day,
the first match, between this one. That is very good news and I am very happy for that,” declared the highest ranked Spaniard after his victory on Wednesday.
Nadal, by virtue of this win, has improved to a win loss mark of 69-9 on what has been a truly phenomenal year for the left hander. The Mallorcan captured seven tour-level crowns in 2010, highlighted by three Grand Slam titles
at French Open, Wimbledon and the United States Open in New York.
While commenting on his performance throughout the season, the Spaniard reflected by saying, “The year was fantastic for me and to finish the season playing well here, like today, is very positive news for me. The image of last
year was not one of my best. And for sure I really wanted to change that. I am happy because even if I do not qualify for the semi-finals, the image is completely different this year than last year. For sure the season was the best season of my career.”
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