Rafael Nadal vs Mardy Fish – Semi-final Preview: Tokyo Open 2011
Gunning for the first title on hard courts this season, top seeded Spaniard Rafael Nadal will lock horns against fourth seeded American Mardy Fish for a spot in the final of the Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships 2011, an
ATP World Tour 500 series event held on the outdoor hard courts in Koto, Tokyo Japan.
The defending champion, Nadal is highly positive to reach the final after earning three titles this season. Despite winning all of these titles on Clay, the Spaniard is confident on clinching this title since there is no Novak
Djokovic or Roger Federer to pose threat.
The left handed Spaniard gave his top notch performance this season as well. He won a Grand Slam at French Open and triumphed titles at Monte Carlo and Barcelona. In addition to this, Nadal made title round appearances at Madrid,
Rome, Wimbledon, US Open, Miami and Indian Wells and lost to Novak Djokovic, currently ranked at world number one, from all of these tournaments.
World number two, Nadal came to this spot after dumping the Colombian in straight sets in almost two hours. He formulated a higher first serve share of 69 percent and registered a brilliant 77 percent win on it. The high flying
Spaniard also saved three out of four breakpoints faced and capitalised on two out of four breakpoint opportunities to his advantage.
29-year-old American on the opposite side of the net reached this spot after rallying past Australian Bernard Tomic in three sets to reach this spot. Clinching the only title this season at Atlanta, Fish carried his momentum at
the Ariake Coliseum and triumphed over his qualifier compatriot Ryan Harrison and Latvian Ernests Gulbis in the first two rounds.
The Minnesotan is currently in an awesome run of form as he made semi-final berths at Memphis, Delray Beach, Miami, and Cincinnati and reached the title round at Los Angeles and Montreal. He made a fourth round showing at the US
Open before reaching Tokyo.
In his last match, the American required two hours and ten minutes to overpower the rising teenager. He saved 60 percent of breakpoints faced and converted six out of nine breakpoint opportunities to his advantage. Fish clobbered
a slightly lower first serve share of 60 percent but registered an impressive 80 percent win on it. Above all, the ten aces he hammered, led him fish out easy points to hold his serve.
A former world number one, Nadal leads 6-1 in the head-to-head series against the American number one. Regardless of winning for six straight times, the Spaniard lost to Fish at Cincinnati this season. The American fended off four
breakpoints and converted two out of four breakpoint opportunities to his advantage to seal the deal by a 6-3, 6-4 score line in hundred minutes. He further mustered the match by hammering twelve aces and spilled fewer errors.
Nadal will face a tough challenge but will overpower the lower seed with a 7-5, 6-4 score line. However, he needs to improve what he is good at i.e. his defensive skills.
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