Nadal survives five-set Wimbledon test against Haase
Roger Federer has been forced to find some of his best tennis by much lower ranked opponents in his opening two matches at Wimbledon this year, and today it was Rafael Nadal’s turn.
The second seed was made to go the distance in his second round match as Robin Haase punched well above his weight to take both the first and third sets from Nadal, who eventually prevailed 5-7, 6-2, 3-6, 6-0, 6-3.
The world No. 1 dropped the first set of his second round match against Robin Haase, with the world No. 151 firing down 13 aces and maintaining a first serve percentage of 86% for the set to ensure Nadal was unable to even generate a break point opportunity. For his part, the Spaniard only offered Haase one chance to break his serve for the set but it was one that the Dutchman was able to capitalise on as he took a 1-0 lead in the match.
It was the first set Nadal had dropped at a Grand Slam since retiring from his quarter-final match against Andy Murray at the Australian Open with a knee injury after trailing 3-6, 6-7(2), 0-3, having reclaimed the French Open title without the loss of a set.
The 28-minute second set, however, was torn straight from the script by Nadal, as he broke his opponent twice, hitting 10 winners and only making two unforced errors as he levelled the high quality match at one set apiece.
Haase though wasn’t done yet and with a cracking cross-court forehand, the 23-year-old secured the only break of the second set. He backed that up by winning his next two service games to love to seal the set and a 2-1 advantage over the 2008 Wimbledon champion.
Facing the prospect of going the distance to win the match, Nadal decided to sprint towards the finish, breaking Haase in his opening service game of the set then setting up triple break point on the second, with a netted volley by his opponent ultimately handing the second seed a double break, which Nadal turned into a triple break and a 6-0 fourth set in Haase’s next service game. The entire process took just 22 minutes.
Haase finally stopped a run of seven straight games to Nadal with a love service game in the second game of the deciding set, but as the serve that had proved such a weapon for the Dutchman early in the match began to desert him, Nadal again broke serve to take a 3-1 lead in the match, with a topspin lob hit at almost full stretch in a rally that began off a second serve (as they all did in the fourth game of the fifth set) this time doing the business for the Majorcan.
It proved to be the decisive break of the final set, and Nadal, like Federer before him, proved that true champions know how to win when the chips are down, completing the comeback victory when Haase’s return of serve sailed over the baseline.
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