Nadal powers to Monte-Carlo quarters
Rafael Nadal has put on his second masterclass of the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters, with a 6-0, 6-1 defeat of Germany’s Michael Berrer in the third round.
What the Spaniard’s opening two matches of the tournament have shown is that if centre court looked small for Andy Murray, as he was bundled out in the second round with barely a whimper yesterday, then from Nadal’s perspective it must appear about the size of a football pitch.
In two matches so far, the defending champion has had all the time and space to make his shots that he could have wanted against opponents who quite simply haven’t been in the same league.
Yesterday’s victim was 21-year-old Thiemo de Bakker, who Nadal dispatched 6-1, 6-0 in a touch under an hour. Today, it was Berrer’s turn in a third-round mismatch where again the Spaniard conceded just one game, and that was in the penultimate game of a match that was completed in just 54 minutes.
Drill down further into the match statistics, and it becomes even more obvious that this was a non-contest. Nadal won 51 of the 69 points played, and converted five of his six break-point chances.
Try as he might, and Berrer was trying, the world No.51 had no answers for the world No.3’s near flawless clay-court game. Whether it was Nadal’s top-spin forehands that zipped away from his opponent on the bounce, or a slice that stayed low to the dirt after it hit the court, the German was left powerless against a man who has earned the moniker the ‘King of Clay’.
Depending on your school of thought though, there are positives and negatives to be taken out of Nadal’s almost too easy run to the quarter-finals.
On one hand, the 23-year-old has stamped his authority on the tournament in the most resounding manner possible and sent a strong message that Monaco is still his kingdom.
Twelve months ago as Nadal sought his fifth straight title here his supremacy was undoubted – at the tournament, on clay and on the ATP Tour. He was the defending French Open, Wimbledon and Australian Open champion as well as the world No. 1. He stepped on court at Monte-Carlo shrouded in an aura of invincibility, as well he might.
Right now, Nadal is jostling for position in the top five and is approaching the first anniversary of his last tournament title. There should be a few players in the draw here who believe the left-hander is beatable even at his last remaining stronghold.
Nadal’s consummate victories against de Bakker and Berrer should have gone some way to planting some seeds of doubt in a few minds in that regard.
The flipside is that the six-time Grand Slam champion will enter his quarter-final match without having been tested, and the light preparation for the match against compatriot Juan Carlos Ferrero – arguably the tour’s best clay-courter before Nadal’s arrival and a player who has rediscovered some of his old mojo on the surface this year – may count against him.
To take that stance though seems to be throwing an unnecessary dampener on proceedings in Monaco. Yes, Nadal will face sterner tests as he progresses through the tournament but on the evidence presented so far, the five-time titlist appears ready to take on all challengers.
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