Did you expect the Nadal/Federer match to be more entertaining?

Question

Yeah, the 2nd set was a real scare. Rafa`s serve was awful i really thought it was going to a deciding set! But in true Nadal fashion he kept fighting every point and somehow Roger just lost his concentration a little, obviously making unforced errors lol didnt help !

Answer 1

I was hoping for more entertaining tennis, but Rafa as always put an end to his opponent's momentum in a heartbeat. How can you not enjoy watching this guy come from behind to win, time after time again. Hopefully, he keeps up the great play and hopefully Federer can keep his head up, despite the loss.

Answer 2

Yes a little bit. Federer nearly got that second set and it would have been more interesting but you had the feeling Nadal was going to win the whole way through.

Answer 3

That was one heavy-duty, entertaining match--even if there were periods of inexplicably poor play--between two heavyweights of the sport! 7-5, 7-5 is more than a respectable score against Nadal on clay, even if the match ended on a flat note.

Federer actually had the lead in both sets, breaking Nadal to lead 4-3 in the first set and then zipping to a 4-0 lead in the second set with sublime tennis. Had Federer held serve in both sets, he might have beaten Nadal in straight sets or at least taken it to a third set (some people have claimed that Nadal should have won Wimbledon 2007, but the Spaniard never had leads like this over Federer). By playing Nadal the right way, Federer broke Nadal four times! For brief periods during the match it was Federer who looked like the superior claycourt player with the fundamental heavy-duty game and variety to beat Nadal on clay if he is not 100%. When Federer got into his zone and unloaded his arsenal and variety, he was able to push around and boss the ‘king of clay’ on his claycourt kingdom. Nadal look overwhelmed and worried (the blank look you see on his face when he gets beat on a hardcourt). Nadal pounded Federer’s backhand with high, heavy topspin probably over 80% of the time but this tactic was a bit less effective than it has been in the past.

Federer basically let Nadal back into the match. What let Federer down today was probably his 44 unforced errors, fitness, concentration, forehand consistency, first serve in certain games (and clutch serving), ‘simple volleys’, and a few tactical choices. He also became passive and tentative when ahead. As well, Nadal is an exceptional and natural claycourt player with a never-say-die attitude always looking for opportunities to turn a match around.

Federer’s loss after getting a 4-0 in the second set is probably partly due to three factors, besides Nadal tightening up his own game and concentration:

- First, today was Federer’s tenth (10th) match in a row on clay in the last 12 days, four of which went the distance. Surely Federer--who is regaining his physical fitness after a bout of energy-sapping mononucleosis viral infection--was exhausted at some level coming into today’s match against the fittest player on tour on his favorite surface. As well, by having to battle Nalbandian and Djokovic, Federer had the tougher draw into the final than Nadal (the Swiss has a better winning record on clay over Nadal's opponents like Ferrer, Ferrero and Davydenko than even Nadal has).  Federer was not moving as well or as energetically in the second half of the second set (unless he got an injury in the second set). Hmmm...perhaps Federer picked up a sore throat, dizziness or breathing problems shaking Djokovic’s hand.

- Second, Nadal has had more practice and is more prepared on the clay and with the balls used in Monte Carlo than Federer is (the balls, clay surface and conditions in Estoril were different). Nadal arrived early in Monte Carlo and is also playing doubles (and has reached the final), which gave him at least twice as much time practicing on Monte Carlo clay than Federer has gotten.

- Third, Federer lost some concentration once he got ahead (nothing new for him) and let Nadal off the hook. That helped Nadal tighten up his game.

Not many other claycourt-competent players have been able to pressure and dominate Nadal within a set on clay over the last three years, much less win a set. But in their eight meetings on clay, Federer has won eight sets off Nadal on clay--including four with scores of 6-0, 6-1 and 6-2--has won a clay final in Hamburg 2007 and had two match points in Rome final 2006 against Nadal. The rest of the field has combined to win only 7 sets off Nadal on clay since Monte Carlo 2006, the same number as Federer in that period.

Federer’s objectives for Monte Carlo have been met and exceeded in a mononucleosis-compromised season. Federer now has three to four weeks to iron out the kinks and finetune his game before the French Open final, improve his clay strategy, and develop his fitness further with the help of Jose Higueras, who has clay court expertise. You can expect by the French Open that Federer’s backhand will get even stronger and more consistent and apply more high slices. His clutch serving and first serve percentage will also improve, as will the consistency of his forehand and the effectiveness of his tactical choices. He could shorten points, disrupt Nadal’s rhythm with his variety and pace and angles, use more slices and volleys, be more aggressive, use more drop shots, etc -- but he was already doing this today at times and was winning when he used these tactics. It is more an issue of Federer putting it all together and playing the right way against Nadal more often. Federer has three weeks to make this happen.

At the pace Federer has been improving since Dubai in early March, we can look forward to even more exciting battles between Nadal and Federer in Rome, Hamburg and at the big prize: French Open. In the past two weeks, Federer has proven his critics wrong, resurrected his game from the shackles of mononucleosis, and I feel that he will win two to three clay court titles, including the French Open.