The agonknee of defeat
Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images
In a highly anticipated match-up that felt more like a slam semi than a quarterfinal, Rafa took on #4 Andy Murray today in Melbourne. They came out swinging and playing high-quality no-holds barred tennis. (Was that enough clichés in one sentence?) The match was tight, but Murray was out-playing Rafa who was having trouble keeping his shots in the court. And then…the knee. Rafa hurt his right knee at the end of the second set and then aggravated it further in the third. He tried to keep going, but… Rafa’s Australian Open comes to an end with just as many, if not more, questions about the state of his game and his health.
Stats:
| Nadal | Murray | |
|---|---|---|
| Statistics on Serve | ||
| Aces | 1 | 13 |
| Double Faults | 1 | 1 |
| 1st Serve % | 67% | 59% |
| 1st Serve Points Won | 30/48 (63%) | 44/57 (77%) |
| 2nd Serve Points Won | 10/24 (42%) | 18/40 (45%) |
| Break Points Saved | 6/10 (60%) | 10/12 (83%) |
| Statistics on Return | ||
| Return Points Won | 35/98 (36%) | 32/73 (44%) |
| Break Points Won | 2/12 (17%) | 4/10 (40%) |
| Statistics on Points | ||
| Total Points Won | 75/179 (42%) | 94/179 (53%) |
| Other Stats | ||
| Winners | 23 | 38 |
| Unforced errors | 26 | 24 |
| Net Approaches | 20/23 (87%) | 22/28 (79%) |
As it happened blatherings:
AustralianOpen: Umpire warns Rafa and Andy that there will be fireworks at 9pm. Who’s hoping for some fireworks sooner than that?
Andy to serve to get us started. Rafa into the net on the first point. He drops, Murray gets to it, but Rafa deals with the volley. 0-15. Excellent serve: 15-15. Second serve. Rafa runs around a second serve return, but that puts him into a bit of a bad spot for the next shot as Murray puts it into the other side of the court: 30-15. Rafa runs around again and nets the return: 40-15. Andy holds.
Second serve. Rafa ruling a point well, but nets a ball: 0-15. Murray attempts a cross-court backhand winner, but it’s just wide: 15-15. Second serve. Murray nets another aggressive backhand: 30-15. Excellent point from Murray as he tees off on a short ball for a winner: 30-30. A deep ball from Rafa draws an error from Murray: 40-30. Rafa stops play mid-point to challenge a call – he’s wrong and loses the point: deuce. Second serve. Excellent point! Both players moving each other back and forth until Murray drops and Rafa hits a nice touch volley winner: game point, Rafa.
Beautiful defensive lob winner from Rafa. 0-15. Second serve. Murray nets a backhand: 0-30. Ace: 15-30. Fierce forehand winner from Rafa: 15-40. Excellent serve/volley from Murray saves one. Second serve. Rafa breaks on an amazing point! He’s up 2-1.
FortyDeuceTwits: Andy’s done nothing wrong. Rafa’s done nothing wrong. Rafa’s up a break. That’s about right.
Winner from Murray: 0-15. Second serve. Rafa tries to hit a cross-court backhand winner, but it’s just wide: 0-30. He sends another backhand long and has triple break point against. Murray sends a shot long: 15-40. Second serve. Murray hits a shot way wide: 30-40. Second serve. Murray breaks thanks to a perfectly placed lob. They are back on serve.
Second serve. A deep shot from Rafa draws an error: 0-15. Second serve. Forehand down the line, forehand cross court, forehand down the line – back and forth until Rafa wins the point: 0-30. Fierce forehand from Rafa and Murray sends a shot just long – or does he. He challenges, but it’s long: 0-40. Nice serve and volley from Murray: 15-40. Defensive looping return from Rafa: 30-40. Another good serve/volley: deuce. Second serve. Rafa sends a backhand return just wide – but challenges and the ball is out by a hair. Murray is pissed that Rafa took so long to challenge. Game point Murray. Second serve. Deep ball from Rafa draws an error: deuce. Excellent first serve: AD Murray. Second serve. Murray holds: 2-3.
Rafa tees off on a forehand and it’s just long: 15-15. Cat and mouse point ends with a flat forehand winner down the line from Murray: 15-30. Good wide serve: 30-30. Cross-court slug fest ends with another down the line winner from Murray: 30-40. Second serve. Murray tees off on a second serve return and breaks. He’s up 4-2.
Excellent first serve: 15-0. Murray anticipates a so-so volley from Rafa: 30-0. Rafa tries to step up and smash a winner, but it’s just wide: 40-0. Murray sends a ball long: 40-15. Second serve. Another error from Rafa and Murray takes the game. Rafa smacks a ball to let out some frustration.
Rafa serving to stay in the set. Deep shot from Murray draws an error: 0-15. Return goes just wide: 15-15. And another just long: 30-15. Second serve. Game point, Rafa. Second serve. Murray paints a line: 40-30. Rafa holds with a service winner: 3-5.
The net cord shows Rafa some love: 0-15. Service winner: 15-15.
Rafa’s headband is already on the rise and the match has already driven me to chocolate.
Second serve. Murray sends a ball long: 15-30. Second serve. Amazing point and more net cord love give Rafa two chances to break. Excellent serve out wide saves one. Fault – Murray challenges and loses: second serve. Beautiful backhand down the line winner from Murray and it’s deuce. Ace: set point for Murray. More net cord love for Rafa: deuce. Backhand down the line winner gives Rafa a break point. Second serve. The net cord switches sides: deuce. Rafa nets a slice backhand: set point for Murray. Second serve. Murray sends a ball just long to end a long rally: deuce. Second serve. Body serve handcuffs Rafa: set point #3. Good serve and Rafa pops the return long. First set to Andy Murray: 6-3.
Rafa’s first set stats: 62% 1st serves; 8 UFEs; 6 Winners
Rafa smashes a popped up return: 30-0. Second serve. Another point that sees the players all over the court ends with a winner from Rafa: 40-0. Rafa holds at love.
Murray hits a passing shot long after pulling Rafa into the net with a dropper: 0-15. Second serve. Rafa ends a shot just wide: 0-30. Excellent wide serve: 15-30. Murray into the net, but Rafa can’t pull off the running forehand pass – Murray knocks it off for a winner: 30-30. Service winner: 40-30. Second serve. Murray nets a ball: deuce. Another good wide serve: game point Murray. Second serve. Double fault: deuce. Second serve. Rafa miss-hits a bad second serve: game point. Murray’s smash is called wide, but it’s good – game Murray: 1-1.
Long rally ends with Murray netting a slice from Rafa: 15-0. Murray sends a shot long. Beautiful wide serve: 40-0. Aggressive forehand winner and Rafa holds at love: 2-1.
Rafa pulls Murray into the net with a dropper, but Murray flicks a shot behind Rafa and he can’t handle it: 15-0. Second serve. Deep serve and Rafa nets the return: 30-0. Ace: 40-0. Murray holds at love: 2-2.
Nice serve: 15-0. Deep forehand from Rafa draws an error from Murray: 30-0. Rafa sends a shot just wide: 30-15. Andy sends a shot just wide: 40-15. Rafa holds.
Fireworks going off – will they play through or wait? Looks like they are waiting. Rafa’s wrapped in towels and Murray’s having a snack. Seven minutes into it, both guys sprint off to the locker room.
Okay, back to tennis.
Rafa tees off on a return: 0-15. Ace – Rafa challenges and it’s out. Andy hits a shot just wide: 0-30. Second serve. Murray nets a ball: 0-40. Excellent serve: 15-40. Another error from Andy and Rafa breaks!
Rafa into the net and pops off a winner: 15-0. Second serve. Double fault: 15-15. Good return from Murray: 15-30. Rafa nets a ball and Andy has double break point. Second serve. Rafa sends a ball long and Murray breaks. They are back on serve.
Service winner: 15-0. Make that two: 30-0. Second serve. Rafa tees off on a backhand and it goes just long: 40-0. Boy is not happy. Ace: 4-4.
Second serve. Murray sends a shot just long: 15-0. Chair overrules an out call on a Murray ball – replay the point. Rafa knocks of a winner from the net: 30-0. Second serve. Deep ball from Rafa draws an error from Murray: 40-0. Mid rally, Rafa sends a ball long: 40-15. Murray tees off on a forehand down the line winner: 40-30. Rafa holds for 5-4. Murray to serve to stay in set two.
There’s been a lot of breaks in this match so far, can we have one more now please?
Murray nets a ball: 0-15. Service winner: 15-15. Murray pulls Rafa in and then pushes him back: 30-15. Second serve. Fierce forehands from Rafa: 30-30. Second serve. Deep backhand that skids off the line draws an error from Rafa: 40-30. Excellent serve: 5-5.
Rafa sends a ball long: 0-15. The net cord has definitely switched sides: 0-30. Serve called out, but Rafa challenges and the ball is barely out. Deep backhand draws an error from Murray: 15-30. Second serve. Rafa sends another backhand long: 15-40. Rafa smashes a defensive lob to save one break point: 30-40. Fierce forehand from Rafa: deuce. Rafa falls and Andy has another break point. He just completely lost his footing. Andy tracks down a drop shot, but Rafa hits a stabbing volley for a winner and then we get a lot of lawnmowers: deuce. Murray tees off on a short ball from Rafa and draws an error: break point. Ace! Beautiful serve and volley: game point. Serve called a let and Murray challenges it. It was in. First serve. Lovely wide serve and then a forehand to the other corner: Rafa holds.
Second serve. Down the line forehand winner from Rafa: 0-15. Good serve and deep forehand from Murray: 15-15. Ace: 30-15. Two FIERCE forehands from Rafa! 30-30. Ace: 40-30. Second serve. A long rally ends with Murray netting a ball: deuce. Ace: game point Murray. Murray holds thanks to some clutch serving: we are going to a tiebreak.
Rafa sends a forehand wide: mini-break to Murray. Murray challenges a serve call and it is out. Second serve. The net cord reaches up, grabs Rafa’s ball and tosses it out: 0-2. Rafa sends another shot wide: 0-3. Nice forehand from Rafa: 1-3. Second serve. Aggressive point from Murray and he’s up 4-1. Excellent serve from Murray: 5-1. Another lovely serve: 6-1. Nice wide serve from Rafa: 2-6. Rafa nets a ball and Murray takes the second set.
Screwdrivers are okay at 5am, right? Because of the orange juice? come on, Rafa. Don’t drive me to drink!
Andy serve and volleys for a winner. Rafa gets a reply back to Andy’s feet: 15-15. Stabbing defensive shot from Rafa is a winner! 15-30. Oh, I don’t like the look on Rafa’s face after that stabbing winner. He looks lost. Second serve. Rafa sails a shot long: 30-30. Andy holds.
Rafa nets a ball: 0-15. Forehand winner that Andy can’t get a racket on: 15-15. Rafa calls for a trainer mid-game. Trainer working on Rafa’s right knee. Oh geez. Rafa looks pissed and resigned.
AustralianOpen: It’s 15-15 in 2nd game. Nadal calls for trainer. Says his right knee is hurting and that he can’t push off. Not looking good
TennisReporters: Oh no. Rafa is getting treated for a right knee injury. Nadal says he hurt it in 2nd set and says it’s ‘really worse’ Medical timeout
Second serve. Murray runs Rafa and he nets a ball: 15-30. Murray hits behind Rafa for a winner: 15-40. Second serve. Murray breaks to go up 2-0.
Rafa pulls up when running down a ball: 15-0. Second serve. Fierce backhand winner from Rafa: 15-15. Ace: 30-15. More aggressive play from Rafa: 30-30. Is this going to be like Rotterdam? Rafa, with nothing to lose starts to hit out? (It was Rotterdam, right?) Murray nets a ball: 30-40. Ace: deuce. Murray breaks a string and the ball sails on him: break point, Rafa. He keeps stretching out the knee while Murray gets a new racket. Ace: deuce. Ace. Second serve. Murray holds for 3-0.
Rafa retires.
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Damn you, knees!
*shakes fist at Rafa’s knees*
Should have taken more time off to rest, my dearest. Told ya!
Hm. I don’t like the 2/12 break points won for Rafa. Bad stat. :(
Very bad stat – although, for quite a few of them, there wasn’t a dang thing Rafa could have done about it. Murray was serving amazingly well.
I haven’t watched the match yet, I’m sure you’re correcto! Muzzah seems to be on a roll.
Worse stat is his rate of holding serve after breaking. If he’d been secure on his own serve, the match would’ve been very, very different, because he broke Murray quite a few times. I think wonky knee – I mean, in the long-term – has something to do with the wonky serving.
I’m not sure if that was due to bad serving, Murray returning so well or a combo of both. But yes, it wasn’t comforting to see him get broken so frequently. I also wonder if the ab injury has had a long-term affect on the serve motion. Seems like both the leg and abs are extremely important for the service motion.
Obviously Murray played incredibly well. I don’t remember the details, haven’t slept and am in all states of depression about what the knees mean, so I could be wrong but, to me, it was about the ‘colm’. Rafa had easy service games as well. It was almost like the traditional head case definition — as though he saw he had real chances to win and started to over think things (again, this was also Murray, cause he was putting huge pressure on Rafa to consolidate with his great play).
Yes that’s the thing, you never know what it is exactly that makes Murray win. I certainly don’t. OK he served great yesterday but is he a big server in general? (he started the tournament serving very poorly). This is what Murray does to you, you never know exactly how he does it but he does. He is efficient. I guess it is some sort of talent.
Actually miri, I saw both the match on espn with MacInroe & co. commenting & then I saw the aussie version. In the aussie version you could quite clearly hear Rafa saying he hurt his knee in the second set. I think it may have been when he slipt. That would make sense. He was running on adrenalin so he may not have felt it straight away. Hope it is nothing serious. I don’t believe it is the tendonitus.
In the presser, he said he hurt it on a drop shot at the end of the second set.
did he say this? i didn’t manage to pick this up from the presser transcript though. but my commentator did say that he heard rafa say he first felt it at the end of the second set.
His very first answer in the presser:
drop = drop shot.
ok not i get it. another rafa-speak.
I hope it isn’t the tendonitus, that truly would be heartbreaking.
I’ve also done damage to my knee, but all it will take is minor stuff so hoping Rafa’s is minor as well.
Btw, love the heading. Sorry Rafa, but it made me laugh.
which drop shot was that?
OK, well, this is a positive sign (crap timing, but a good sign): he’s learning to deal with the tendonitis. It’s a chronic condition so he can’t get rid of it, he just has to manage it, and it looks like he’s learning unbelievably fast how to do that (changes to game, to practice sessions, knowing when to fight and when to retire, doing what he has to do even tho he doesn’t want to)…
Hell, if he can learn how to produce physically, technically and conceptually impossible wins like Wimby and the AO, and learn how to beat HC greats when it’s his weakest surface, and somehow always succeed in being gracious no matter how happy or miserable he is – if he can do all that, he can certainly learn to manage his own damn knees so he can win. And he is learning. And we know he ALWAYS gets there.
People, let’s not forget we have a champion on our hands.
Hear hear!! Love every word you said. Vamos campeon!!
Beautifully said! Thank you for that.
“It happenned to me at the end of the second set”, he said, “at a drop shot I felt a sharp pain there and from the first moment I noticed that sth. wasn’t well, but as we were playing the points, when we played a wide point and I had to bend down it hurt me more. I couldn’t stretch or bend well”.
“I’m not a man who retires, I don’t like it. In fact, I apologised to him, but I didnt want to make the errors that I made in the past, and go to the limit until the end, above all without any chance to play at the maximum,” added the Spaniard, „but I could’t go on.”
as quoted in marca. again, approximate translation. if anyone knows spanish better please correct.
Sigh my worst fear has come true. I don’t know what to say anymore. I refuse to comment and talk about the state of rafa. But one thing is for sure he will always be my idol. Get well soon rafa!
I’ve just watched the first set, and I must say that I loved what I saw from Rafa in terms of being aggressive and stepping up to take Andy’s second serve! What a shame the match had to end the way it did.
Just rewatched the match … so apart from Rafa losing … it was a good match. They were both playing fantastic shots, some superb stuff. Rafa wasn’t able to close games and matches as he has in the past …
lots of break points … but he wasn’ t with calm and I thought Andy actually was.
Rafa was playing a great agressive hard court game … so he should feel proud of that!! I wish I could give him my knees … they’re not too bad … a few years of modern dance … a bunch of reasonably bad tennis matches on them but they seem pretty strong.
I guess we all knew that the rankings could change … since Rafa lost so many points last year (after Wimbly) but I think once Rafa gets back to clay he will have a chance to return to his lofty status.
Vamos!!
Everything has already been said here…but I am just so so sad for Rafa. What a heavy heart he must have.
Dear Rafa, my prayers are with you!
Gosh it’s really unbearable and to top it all, Novak won which means with Rafa losing he is now no2!
Not that it really matters apart from Rafa’s health and as he says numbers is numbers – which makes this more heartbreaking coz Rafa’s health (knees – hate to say the word) is gonna always be troublesome. What can we do as fans to be positive acktitue. Having seen Rafa’s interview I am just so deflated.
Rafa is a fighter and hopefully he will get through it. Murray did play a great match and Rafa could still have won(disregarding the injury), so that says that his level is up there with the best. He just needs more time. We shall see at the French Open.
All of the possible things that could have came out of this match. All the different scenarios I could have came up with. Without a doubt, this is probably the worst thing that could have happened. I hope he gets well and by the time the clay season comes around, he’ll be ready to dominate again. Like Tignor said in that one article, he just needs to find that shot, that match, that tournament, that will but him back on the right track.
i’m a bit down but hope rafa won’t let us remember this for long..(still furious .. murray is quite unimaginative player((i won’t rule out that it seems to me))..and he took it thanks to those goddamned aces.
I think Murray is far from being an unimaginative player. I do think, Murray isn’t above looking like a boring, passive player if he thinks that will win him a match. But he’s extremely smart – he completely changed his game plan today from how he’s been playing the whole tournament because he knew he had to…and it was working.
As Isabelle noted, everything’s already been said so I won’t repeat much. Just to say I agree he played so great otherwise, the best of the tournament; I’m wondering whether the knee pain,and the fact that it was back, was distracting him during the second set and that’s why he wasn’t with calm. This isn’t a problem that will go away permanently and that must be very demoralizing for him. But he wouldn’t have gotten where is if he weren’t mentally strong and determined. Avancemos!
let’s trace his smartness in to the s/f and if manages even further ..like Rafa i wish him luck on the way to his G/S
Just to put things into perspective
Roddick lost, due to a bad arm that he played on
Gonzalez lost due to a bad knee that he played on
Del Potro lost due to a bad Knee and wrist that he played on
etc etc
If we put things into perspective we can see that the Big guns that are now out, are out because they were injured, whether they played or pulled out like Rafa did.
The difference with Rafa, he decided not to endure any more pain and pull out before he did further damage, as there was no point in pushing himself when he would have lost anyway because of his knee
And I am so grateful that he did quit, not just so we can see his return sooner (which we all want) but to take care of his body for the rest of his life!
I agree that Del Po was definitely having issues and that contributed to his loss against Cilic, but Cilic also played extremely smart, high-risk tennis, and if he hadn’t, Del Po probably would have come through it. But I have to disagree about both Roddick and Gonzalez. I saw Gonzalez plays doubles two days after his loss to Roddick, and although he had tape under his knees, he was moving well, playing well, apart from some issues with his serve, and full of smiles not grimaces. He took time out last year with the same condition as Rafa, but I don’t think the tendonitis was affecting his game with Roddick, any more than I think Roddick lost to Cilic because of problems with his arm. Cilic is playing great tennis at the moment, and taking lots of chances. Roddick outplayed Fena, and Cilic outplayed Roddick. That’s why they lost.
I think I’ll understand a lot more when I see the Spanish presser. I tried the above link but didn’t work. We all know he wouldn’t tell the journalists everything, but if he wanted to hide everything he could also have said it was another thing not the pain he had last year. So he could be honest there about this happening today but possibly downplaying his concern and disappointment.
I do think it’s the same problem. What is really unfair is that he’ll soon drop in rankings and he’ll then have to work his way through all the top seeds to win a tournament. I don’t care about rankings, but if he drops lower than No3 it will be a lot harder to win matches, gain confidence and get to the final while being in constant fear his knee might start to hurt. That’s where the problem is. He will learn to cope with it physically, but mentally? How can he give his very best if this is chronic? How can you expect to give it all in a difficult match when you know it might happen at any moment, for example if you run for a drop shot? That’s no way to play, not for Rafa.
I don’t want to see Rafa trying to make it past 4th rounds and stopping there when he plays the top seeds. It’s too early for that. But it has happened to other champions. We all thought he was on his way back, but if this happens all the time I don’t see how he can get past it. I was positive if this was a one off thing but if it isn’t I don’t see how he can find his top form again.
I won’t give up hope, I hope he doesn’t either.
His seeding in tournaments will be OK if he stays in the top 4.
I think Rafa’s been very honest about his expectations for the first part of this year. Yes, he’s worked hard to be in good shape for the hard courts, but his real opportunities are going to come on clay. Murray played pretty well today, but so did Rafa. If he’d played a few points a little differently, I think it could have just as easily been his match, but then there was the knee. I was really glad he showed the good sense to retire when he felt the knee give way.
Rafa’s made some great adjustments to his game. If he’s healthy, I think were going to see some good stuff on clay this spring.
Just saw the match (recorded) and was very impressed with Rafa’s aggressive game (which has often gone missing in the last several months). Andy played great too, but Rafa was at least his equal except for his (worse) serve and (better) forehand. Rafa was incredible in the second set and I firmly believe that, if he didn’t get that damn knee pain at the end of the set, he would have had a good chance of winning that tie-breaker and turning the match around. Now it makes sense how the 2 players fought tooth and nail till 6-6 and then suddenly Nadal fading away and losing the tie-breaker 7-2.
Having said that, I also believe Nadal still has issues with confidence; being broken every time right after he breaks Murray is much more a sign of Rafa’s lack of confidence than Murray’s return game. His confidence is gradually coming back (his aggressive game throughout the first 2 sets is a good sign of that), but he still has some work to do in this regard to be like his old supremenly-mentally-tough self.
Let’s all hope Nadal learned his lesson from last year and will immediately take as much time off as needed for his knee to heal, if his injury warrants it (which I hope it doesn’t). And don’t give up hope in our champ; he’s a fighter first and foremost and will pull himself out of this latest set back. You can be on it!
You know what let’s have faith people!
This run of bad luck and injury will stop! Something is telling me
In life things get worse before they get better and you know what, stuff the rankings, what more could be better than him regaining the French Open and winning Wimbledon!
I believe it strongly!
Contrary to most people here, I think Nadal can take several positives from his match against Murray (other than the injury of course). In my view, he played the best match of his AO.
-Nadal was sharper than he has been all tournament, played mostly aggressive, and moved well (until the injury). When he was on the defensive, it is usually because Murray put him there but Nadal wasn’t giving him a lot of short balls so it’s not like he was playing his usual passive tennis. He was hitting his forehand well enough and it had more action on it than it did for the entire tournament, He also hit a few great inside out forehands -(a shot he wasn’t going for too much lately) but he made some costly errors and the forehand failed him at some crucial junctures while closing the pts.
-The backhand, while more penetrative than the previous matches, is still shaky and had some uncharacteristic errors. However that’s nothing which cannot be fixed and Nadal did well to attack Murray’s forehand from that side,
- The volleys were pretty good with some very nice touch at the net. The Return of serve – while not as good as it was in the Karlovic match – was decent. However the backhand return on the second serve let him down several times.
- I have always maintained that Murray is not the best matchup for Nadal as the Scott usually plays more aggressively against Nadal than he does against other players. That said, Nadal raised his game for this match and was able to hang toe to toe with Murray for most part.
- The main problem with Nadal was the clutch-play. His break point conversion was 2/12 which is approx. 17%, and that is is abysmal. Of course Murray deserves credit for it ( The Scott served unbelievably – almost Federer like – at clutch pts), but a lot had to do with the fact that Rafa became tentative and passive during the big points.
-For someone who’s famous for taking the opportunities when presented to him, it was disappointing to see Nadal miss so many. The match was actually close and Rafa will be kicking himself for not winning the second set. Especially since he was a break up. And that’s another uncharacteristic thing with Nadal, in that the two times where he managed to break, he got broken immediately afterwards. Again, disappointing for such a good front runner.
In the end Nadal played some great tennis, raised his level as per the occasion, but he just didn’t have it in him to beat Murray at this stage, as he’s not nearly as confident as he used to be. At this level you cannot miss chances, and if you are, you must look closely at the reasons why. Murray was the better player and for two sets it was a high quality affair.
This is in sharp contrast to what happened in WTF 2009 (and the several beatdown Nadal got on hardcourts last year) where Nadal looked clueless and had neither his game nor the confidence. IMO He still has it in him and he can definitely regain his form. Perhaps not quickly to the level where he was in 2008 ( when he went on an absolute tear), but somewhere close which would (almost) make him unbeatable at clay.
Finally, the injury is disappointing, but why make a negative (career ending) predictions on that? I agree it’s back to the drawing board for Rafa, in that he cannot start practicing immediately. He needs to take time off again, rest up and then come back. Obviously that will be frustrating. But as long as his injury is not too serious – and I don’t believe it is- I don’t see any reason why Nadal cannot do very well in the clay and grass season, as he’s always done in the past.
Ultimately, the sky isn’t falling and hell hasn’t frozen over. There are plenty of positives to take away from his matches. Rafa IS putting himself in good positions and sooner or later he will start to take them. That’s when he will return to his assertive best, of last year. In full cry and brimming to overflow with confidence, he’s a different proposition…
I agree that Rafa was playing well. I got so excited by the first few games of the match. It was like, “Oh yeah! This is the tennis I remember and like!” However, Murray was playing just that notch better and steadier – he was committing fewer errors and did not go passive on the pressure points. Rafa was committing some odd errors on his backhand – I remember thinking he might still not be used to the new strings. Also, the conditions had gotten a lot cooler/heavier just before the match started and I wonder if he’d misjudged the tension he needed on them. He sent some out to get re-strung and I think they arrived pretty late.
They both were doing amazing stuff at the net – that was a pleasure to watch!
“”I remember thinking he might still not be used to the new strings. “”
That’s right on the money and something I’ve suspected too. I was surprised to see that here in AO, right from the first match, Rafa’s groundies did not have as much stick as they did in Doha/Abu Dhabi. Of course, the pros do adjust the tension according to the surface. So I suspected that because of the slower and heavier conditions, Rafa might have opted for higher tension, sacrificing power for more control. He’s probably also fiddling with it repeatedly as these are different strings and it might take him a while to get used to them. But it was strange to see some of his shots (particularly backhand passes) barely clearing the net. Even Courier commented on that.
The lack of confidence is understandable. The repeated injuries will hardly help – it takes a while to trust your own body. It’s been a long 9 months: RG loss, Wimb withdrawal, injury at the UsO, beatdown on hardcourts, abysmal performance at WTF and now this. It’s such a contrast of Nadal stumbling at the clutch since he used to make a living turning matches like these in his favor. I guess, for a while he’ll have to go back to the drawing board. But I’m sure he’ll rebound..
Thank you for the analysis jimmy. I think everyone agrees Rafa played very well, I was thrilled to see him react at last-this started in the match against Karlovic I think and it hadn’t been the case for some time now. But the problem with Murray is rhythm. He sort of imposes his own rhythm and it’s almost impossible to see how he does that cause he mixes his game so well that just when you’re about to break it somehow he immediately strikes back doing something different while not losing his focus at all. Plus he was very confident and his serve helped a lot.
Anyway, I don’t worry about Rafa’s game that much, I think since the new season started he showed the technique is there, as you very well put it in the past. It’s just nerves and I only wonder how-and given the new problems, if-he will be able to deal with those when he feels his body might let him down.
I veer from thinking it’s better that Rafa’s simply missing the ability to consolidate breaks/close sets etc out (rather than not being in the fight at all), to wondering if maybe that might be much harder for him to get back. It’s such an intangible, and it’s not like he can train for it/get specialist advice.
I hope it doesn’t become a self fulfilling prophesy — where he gets an inferiority complex against the very top, as he is able to come through pressure moments against non top 10ers. And, yeah, I agree that the many injuries don’t help. Retiring was the right decision – the grownup decision – but it was at such odds with Rafa’s fight-to-the-death attitude, that I hope his resolve to come through those epic, edge-of-your-seat matches that are necessary in slams doesn’t get damaged by worry about the knees.
I sort of think he’ll need a big scalp to help him into a victory to get the ball rolling in terms of confidence, like Davy did so spectacularly for Fed. And obviously, he’ll need help from his body.
Obviously I was barely looking at Murray while watching the match and completely focused on Rafa. I saw him looking at his strings several times after missing shots, and I was muttering under my breath “You can look at your strings as much as you like Rafa, but you decided to make the change”! I don’t think he’s completely adjusted to them yet either and that’s why he’s missing shots he wouldn’t normally miss. So I’m not worried about it, I think it’s just a question of fine-tuning.
Just after the incredibly odd Serena/Li Na match, Brad Gilbert and Chris Fowler were walking about Rafa and the knee. Brad said that Rafa heard/felt a “crunch” in the second set. That today, however, there wasn’t a lot of swelling – so that sounds good. From what he said, team Nadal is on its way to Barcelona so Rafa can visit with his doctor and have scans done on the knee.
you probably mean Venus and Li Na … the worst women’s tennis match Evah!
The scans sound like a good idea … I think they will take everything more seriously this year. In the end Rafa may have a more enjoyable tennis season.
Goodness, sorry. Serena’s on now and I mixed up the names. You’d think I could get that right since I like one of them and not the other. ;)
Let me guess, miri: big-time ReRe fan? ;)
AMEN Jimmy!!!!
I I log into this website many times everyday as I am an ardent s supporter of rafa. Many thanks for setting up this website. I live in HK and there is hardly any news about Rafa although I know he has a lot of fans in China, HK and the Far East.
I I agree entirely with you that the press have been very harsh on Rafa. I particularly dislike those commentators and writers in ESPN and Tennis.com. That Peter Bodo. He’s so biased.
Let’s pray for Rafa. He deserves our support!!!