Melzer upsets Rafa, moves to quarter finals
In a surprise loss on Thursday, World Number 1 Rafael “Rafa” Nadal was knocked out of the ATP Tour’s 2010 Shanghai Rolex Masters by Austrian tennis pro, Jurgen Melzer, in a three set upset. Jurgen Melzer is currently placed at Number 12 on the Association
of Tennis Professionals rankings. He managed to defeat first seed Rafael Nadal with a final score of 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 in the third round of the tournament; consequently, Rafa has been eliminated from the competition before reaching a quarter final for the first
time in the year 2010.
Rafael Nadal seems to have maxed himself out for the year. The top notch player won three Grand Slam titles this year, only failing to capture the year’s first trophy at the Australian Open. He also accomplished one of the milestones of his career, by scoring
a victory at the 2010 US Open Tournament at Flushing Meadows for the first time in his career.
This is his third back to back tournament after the Grand Slam at Queens, New York. A week ago, he suffered another surprise defeat at the hands of fellow Spanish player Guillermo Garcia Lopez at the 2010 PTT Thailand Open, marking his first such loss this
year – Garcia Lopez was, at the time in question, over 50 places below him on the ATP ranking list. However, Nadal seemed to have made a quick recovery, winning the 2010 Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships last week.
Meanwhile, Melzer has been having the best year of his career so far, with his top result being at the 2010 French Open in Roland Garros, where he defeated Dudi Sela, Nicolas Mahut, ninth seed David Ferrer, Teimuraz Gabashvili and current World Number 2,
the tournament’s third seed Novak Djokovic. He was eliminated at the event’s semi final with a score of 2-6, 3-6, 6-7 (6-8) by none other than Rafael Nadal himself. At the PTT Thailand Open, Melzer was knocked out in the quarter finals by Jarrko Nieminen after
defeating Sela in the second round. His performance at the Rakuten Japan Open was similar; he defeated Juan Monaco in the first round, and lost to Viktor Troicki in the second one.
In fact, Nadal has never dropped a set against his Austrian vanquisher, even though the pair has played against each other in three previous meetings. Still, he doesn’t seem surprised by his loss against Melzer. The tournament’s first seed says, “This isn't
a surprise for me. I didn't play well. I felt slow on court and I made more mistakes than usual. In general, I am a little bit more tired than usual, physically and mentally. You can't expect to win every week. All the good work is done for me for the year.”
Melzer himself played more aggressively from the beginning of the match, using intense forehand winners in addition to attacking Rafa’s second serve, bringing him down with breakpoints repeatedly. He won the first set in 40 minutes, breaking Nadal twice
in the first round.
Melzer commented on Nadal’s performance later, saying, ““I felt he was uncomfortable after a few games. When the ball was in play, he sometimes missed and his backhand was just dying in the net. I felt if I kept playing like that and not give him too much
rhythm, I’d have my chance.”
Had Nadal won this tournament, he would have added to his championship titles, for a grand year total of 8. Jurgen Melzer will now be up against Juan Monaco in the quarter finals; he has beaten Monaco once before this year, at the 2010 Japan Open last week.
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