27/01/2012 06:14 CEST - Australian Open

Rafa's back!

nadal

Related contents

• Berdych
• Nadal
• Day 9: Ivan, Rafa e le cavallette
• Questi AO sono di livello assoluto
• Maggior sorpresa: Errani o Nishikori?

From our own correspondent:
Ubaldo Scanagatta

MELBOURNE –
I would not like to be in Roger Federer’s shoes right now. Though on first impression he might appear to enjoy a physical advantage over Rafael Nadal- who took four sets and over four hours to finally quell Thomas Berdych’s resistance-his defeat to the Spaniard back in the 2009 final will still be fresh in his memory, as will the fact that Nadal’s marathon semi against Fernando Verdasco hadn’t fazed him in the slightest.

The Swiss champion recognized as much in an interview with the Swiss press, which followed a comfortable victory over a jaded Juan martin Del Potro: “Rafa seems to be in better shape, and playing better than he did at this stage last year.”

Nadal took four sets to despatch his opponent in what was, without a doubt, the best game of the tournament so far. Had Andy Gray been a tennis commentator, he would have doubtless yelled his socks off throughout, as if someone were constantly replaying Steven Gerrard’s strike against Olympiakos over and over again.

The game was all the more impressive for the manner in which it ebbed and flowed- how Nadal saved Berdych’s second set point in the first after a breathtaking 29-shot rally, or how he stopped his opponent from going two-nil up with an inch-perfect ace.

Both players deserve our unreserved compliments, both for their efforts and for putting on a spectacular show. Though some might see his dropping a set as a sign of weakness, the Spaniard was up against an on-song Berdych, as the Czech seemed to crank things up in the second set, which makes Nadal’s recovery all the more impressive.

The Majorcan served up a dazzling repertoire of passing shots, many of which were hit from difficult positions, as his opponent constantly kept him on his feet in the first two sets. Some fans chose to criticise the Czech for not taking his chance- but that does not render justice to how well Nadal played to get himself out of a complicated jam. It’s a pity Rino Tommasi couldn’t make it here, as this match would have provoked another bout of frenzied note taking, done in an unmistakeably idiosyncratic manner.

We can only hope that the surviving competitors can go one better entertainment-wise, something hardly out the question, seeing as, for the first time since 1983 (it also occurred in 1970), all four top seed have made it to the quarters, in both draws.

The Fab Four are, moreover, in top shape at the moment: Roger has been irresistible, murdering both Tomic and Del Potro in quick succession, whilst Djokovic was only made to sweat in the third set of his fourth-round tie against Lleyton Hewitt. Andy Murray and Nadal have also impressed, though their relatively fortuitous draws might have something to do with that.

That said, the Scotsman has hardly found an easy opponent in Kei Nishikori, and will have to be at his best against an adversary who gets on the end of just about every attack and is lethal on serve. Watching Kei’s meteoric rise (he made the Shanghai semis last year) has been a pleasure, and he could very well replace a Del Potro in obvious decline. The Argentine seems to have lost both his hunger and his bite, and is unlikely to ever emulate his fantastic win back in 2009.

Regarding the upcoming FedNad (they’re a celebrity couple of sorts, aren’t they?) duel, the Swiss player might be tempted to ignore his 9-17 record and focus on his record on surfaces other than clay, where he leads 7-5. Then again, his only win since 2010 has come in the Master’s Cup in London, his favourite hunting ground.
Nadal has, moreover, won their last four duels at Slam level, the last being that incredible Roland Garros final in 2011.

Though the years have likely taken more of a toll on Federer than they have on his opponent, Rafa’s recent injury problems might not see him make the same recovery we saw back in 2009. Berdych certainly forced him to work his socks off last night. The Czech star was his usual self in the press conference, first affirming he might have fallen short of his usual self at net (probably referring to the forehand volley he fired into the net when he was on set point during the first). Typically, he then seemed to take issue with a Czech colleague who quizzed him on what his problems at net might be.

Nadal, for his part, was very happy with how he played the last set, which he defined as: “one of my best levels on this kind of surface, returning inside the court, making a lot of winners from with the first ball, the return, having serve, and winner”. He also had some explaining to do regarding the Bernardes incident, when he got unusually riled up with one of the circuit’s best umpires: “The umpire was right. I didn't discuss with the umpire his decision, because I know that if we had the rule book and we read how the rule is, he's right. But I am not happy. They are there to make something, not just to call 15 All or 15 30 all the match. That's the only thing I'm unhappy about.”

It was then my turn to make a comparison with the Verdasco semi back in 2009, to which the Majorcan answered that: “I want to believe that was harder in 2009, but I am three years older”. Asked about how he felt regarding his duel with Roger Federer, he denied believing he was the favourite: “ he's doing well and he's playing fantastic and he had a fantastic end of the season last year. So he's coming with confidence. It will be a very, very difficult match for me, and I will try.”

A truly fantastic day of tennis, but can anyone raise the bar further?

Ubaldo Scanagatta

 

Ubaldo Scanagatta