Your opinion: Rafa’s best matches
Photo by Beth Wilson
As a somewhat newly converted (2011) Rafa fan, Nils sent me an email asking what Rafa’s best 10-15 matches are. I told her my thoughts (see below), but figured you guys would have plenty of good suggestions too. So, what you do you think of when you think, “Rafa’s best matches”? They can be from any tournament or any round…
Me? I like close matches. That doesn’t necessarily mean the ones where Rafa is playing his absolute best (try the lop-sided 2008 Roland Garros final for that). I prefer the drama of a close fight or an intense match atmosphere. With that in mind, the first ones that pop into my head are:
- No matter what, you MUST see the 2008 Wimbledon final. It’s not just one of Rafa’s best matches, it’s one of the best tennis matches ever.
- The 2009 Australian Open semi-final was also pretty darn amazing.
- Follow that by watching the 2009 AO final and be amazed that Rafa was able to move, much less play and win after that semi.
- The 2010 US Open final – maybe not the best match, but I have an emotional attachment to it because I was there when he made history.
- The 2009 round of 16 match against Nalbandian at Indian Wells. Holy match points saved, Batman!
- For older matches, go for the back-to-back Rome final thrillers: 2005 and 2006.
- His first Roland Garros title in 2005.
- His 2004 Davis Cup win against Andy Roddick for two reasons: the atmosphere; a very young and exuberant Rafa.
Update:
Nana/NatalieHOHO gave me an idea – post your picks in the comments and I’ll take the matches mentioned the most frequently and then we can vote on those in a poll. Let’s see which one gets the consensus vote! (Maybe I’m just missing election drama since the US election is done.)
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Great question, a lot of great ones mentioned already. Here are some two others worth tracking down.
Nadal/Federer 2007 FO F: Their best FO match imo. Both in their clay court primes and federer putting pressure on nadal almost the entire match. Nadal defends a crazy number of breakpoints.
Nadal/Murray 2010 AO SF: Best tennis that year, too bad it was only 2 sets.; Had chances to take at least one of the 2 sets and notes after that he is still not clutch in the biggest moments. Struggles again closing out ljubcic in the IW match. Goes on to nail the rest of the year, highlights being Nadal/Hanescu Rome (crazy number of winners, hanescu was playing very well), Nadal/Soderling FO F, Nadal/Soderling Wim Qf, Nadal Murray Wimb SF and Nadal Djokovic USO F.
Nadal/Federer Dubai 06: Nadal is always most passive when he comes back from injury. Gets destroyed in the first set, but grinds federer down from 30 feet behind the baseline in the next 2 sets, an important match in their rivalry imo.
Great idea, Miri. My list is virtually identical to yours. (I saw the Nalbandian match in person and it will remain one of the most thrilling matches I’ve ever seen.) The only two I would add are (1) 2010 French Open final, also for sentimental reasons. The emotional significance of that match – the relief of winning after coming back from that awful time in 2009 and beating Soderling in the process – and the emotion Rafa showed at the end moved me to tears; (2) the 2009 Indian Wells final against Murray is a kick just because it was so incredibly windy that it didn’t even look like real tennis, and Rafa handled it so well while Andy didn’t.
1. Australian Open Finals, loses to Djokovic in 5 sets…though he lost this match, i still find it to be the single-most inspirational performance that i’ve ever witnessed in any sport, by any of my favorite teams or athletes. When you consider how dominant Djokovic had been for six or seven matches, how badly he beat him in the 2nd and 3rd sets of this particular match, for Rafa to come back from 3-4 and love-40 down in the fourth set and very nearly win the match…putting all pride aside, i must admit i fought back tears watching it. I still watch it every now and then and it still gives me goose bumps. That match embodies every reason i became a Rafa fan in the first place.
2. 2010 US Open Final…the culmination of a lifelong dream for Rafa, and something that most pundits, and probably even the professional analysts thought was probably impossible for him to achieve when he first broke on the scene. Most memorable in that match, beyond how unbelievably well he served (yet again) was how he went like two full sets while committing only 1 or 2 errors. Flawless perfection. Career Grand Slam complete.
3. 2008 Wimbledon Final…Enough said.
4. 2005 French Open Semi-Final vs. Federer…this was the first time i ever saw him play. I was laid up from surgery, stuck in bed, and tuned in to the French Open, watched that match, and continually thought to myself, “Who in the HELL is this kid? And who could possibly want to have to play against THAT?” Inexhaustable, incredible enthusiasm, and as Jimmy Connors says, the notion that this guy “plays like he’s broke.” I was INSTANTLY a fan.
5. 2012 French Open Final…A very sloppy match due to rain, but the aftermath and watching him climb in to the stands, that was so cool. And again, for me personally, that is what it is for me personally with Rafa. Its about climbing mountains, getting to the top (his early French Open wins), defying the odds to climb the highest mountain (Federer at Wimbledon and Australia) getting knocked off indefinitely (injury), climbing all the way back to the top (3 GS wins in 2010) getting knocked down AGAIN in 2011…and then climbing back to the top against seemingly insurmountable odds.
Love everything you said here. And it all encapsulates exactly why I’m a Rafa fan forever. He is inspiring, overcoming seemingly insurmountable odds time and again, with so much heart. Gosh I’ve missed that fire these few months. So glad he is slowly beginning to make his comeback. Vamos Rafa!
Agree. Totes. No one like him, nor ever will be.
Rafa vs Murray should also be there… so i pick the 2010 ATP world Tour Finals Semi Final… and especially the Rafa Smile at the end… and the RAFA in purple was way too good, no?
1 Wimby final(fed) the TB still gives me goose bumps
2 AO final(fed) i was scared he couldnt play as well on hardcourts/tired
3 Miami > first rafa roger match, he wins and says i can win wimbledon too
4 IW (nalby) super 5 matchpoints saved wins the match and tournament
5 Madrid SF(joker) really tough clay match 3rd set TB(12-10) awsome
6 Rome final(fed) saving MPs and winning superb
7 FO final(fed) dnt remember the year but was i think 2006-7 losing first set 1-6 wining the next 6-1 vamos(preventing roger from a roger slam)
8 FO Final 2012(joker) losing 3 straight GS finals wining under tough conditions preventing joker from a joke slam and as miri so inquisitly put it getting to seventh heaven
9 olympics final(gonzales, i think) took the gold medal which fed and joker dont have and looks like never will thanks to age and murray beating him
10 FO 2008(fed) personally because he won 3rd set 6-0 and vijay said “nadal wiped the FC court with roger(as a mop hhehe)” and that was when i instantly became a rafa fan and after a month at the wimby final after nearly dying became a die hard fan :)
cheers! (sorry i dont remeber the years im bad with numbers)
1. 2008 Wimbledon final
2. 2009 AO final
3. 2009 AO semi final
4. 2011 US Open final
5. 2012 AO final
Even though he lost the last two, some of the most awe inspiring tennis I’ve ever seen was produced because he was on the court.
2011 US Open Final? did u mean 2010? cuz 2011 final was more of a last man standing… both ailing and Rafa clearly being mentally weak… dont think that one belongs to this list…. IMO!
“…because he was on the court.” Well said, BeBe. Absolutely. The Nadal Magic that is missing from the latter half of 2012.
Wimbledon 2008 ı was on the verge of calling ambulance in that match.Such a drama.
I also never forget how he won 09 AO back to back fantastic matches.Quality wise Nando match was one best.When ı thought he has no chance to win the final after that marathon match in semis,he continue to surprise me.
How about the Madrid semi-final versus Djokovic,2009, probably one of the most tense matches I have watched, he fell on his knees at the end and his crowd were chanting “Rafa Rafa” brilliant stuff, he started off playing terrible and ended up finding something quite remarkable towards the 3rd set! His rock hard will them days was unmatched.
Miri I agree with all the above.
His match at Wimbledon versus Robin Haase was sensational, both played fast paced brilliant tennis, Rafa had to dig deep and I nearly died watching it!!! 5 set thriller! it was 2010 when he got to the final and won his 2nd Wimbledon trophy against a first finalist Thomas Berdych.
Also loved the Olympic Gold versus Djokovic 2008, he was shattered coming in to Beiijing but just by being closed to all the atheletes in the village he became inspired, again showing that he compared to other tennis players is next to none..
O2 tour finals, semifinal versus Murray 2010, another pulse racing 3 set thriller, his resilience was incredible and he finished the match in style, loved it and watch this alot to get my Rafa fix along with the 2008 Wimbledonfinal and Us open final 2010 where he wore a fantastic ninja inspired outfit and looked incredible..
Also Davis cup matches, especially on clay, 2008 again versus Querry and Roddick semi finals, Rafas clay court expertise on display in abundance…
I started to follow tennis again in 2007 thanks to Rafa and became his fan. But I didn’t get to see/watch a lot of his matches. So, thank you miri for this post and everyone for all the comments. I’ll definitely try to find the ones I missed.
But as for those I did get to watch, like majority of us here the most memorable matches for me are:
1. 2008 Wimbly Final (Fed)
2. 2009 AO final (Fed)
3. 2009 AO SF (Verdasco)
4. 2010 USO final (Djoker)
5. 2010 RG final (Soderling)
6. 2010 WTF SF (Murray)
7. 2012 RG Final (Djoker)
8. 2010 Wimbly QF (Soderling)
9. 2012 Rome Final (Djoker)
10. 2012 AO Final (Djoker) – he lost but won millions of hearts.
Also, I think his matches against Berdych (2011 Miami QF and 2012 AO QF), Murray (2010 Wimbly SF, 2011 Wimbly SF), and Delpo (2011 Indian Wells SF and DC final last year) are very good as well.
Almost forgot, his performance against Roddick in 2011 USO QF was quite impressive, particularly his return of serve.
There is one match Rafa won, that I will never forget. It is mostly for sentimental reasons, but also because it made a huge impact on me:
Rafa versus Agassi at Wimbledon in 2006 in the third round, where Rafa won in straight sets.
Reasons: It turned out to be Agassi´s last Wimbledon performance, and after the match both players were interviewed on court. That had never been done before the final, but in honor of Agassi, this was an exception.
Rafa played sensationally, he told everybody, that he had played his best grass court match ever, (which he had, in my opinion at that moment).
Two baseline players fighting, hitting heavily, impressive groundstrokes at each other.(I am aware that Agassi wasn´t the player, he´d once been).
But it was the old legend against the young Spanish powerhouse. It was both a joy and a bit sad to follow, because Agassi had been my favourite player for many years. I had seen Rafa the year before at Roland Garros for the first time, and I remember when he played Agassi in 06, that I thought it was okay to loose to a player like Rafa, who was still learning to play on grass, and he was really impressive that day.
The on court interview showed a graceful Rafa as always, fully aware that despite he won the match, it was overshadowed by the farewell scenes of Agassi.
I will never forget that match because of the reasons described, because I never thought anyone could capture my heart, when Agassi eventually wasn´t around anymore, but boy, I was wrong!
On 16th of april , 2003 a little known 16 year old kid from mallorca beat the reigning french open champion Albert Costa in the second round at the Monte Carlo masters . The kid lost to the best clay court player to have not won the roland garros , Guillermo coria in the next round . And to this day , he hasn’t lost a single match in monaco since then .
Any description of Rafa ‘s most epic wins is incomplete without the mention of his win over Albert Costa . Rafa was ‘ baby rafa ‘ . It was boy against man . Nadal really looked cute in those times . Even though , Rafa wasn’t Rafa yet , you could see the burning determination in those eyes and the relentless refusal to yield even at such a tender age . With every winner , he’d yell ‘ Vamos’ and the signature fist pump that we all know of , was already there . This was a time when Roger Federer was looking for his first grandslam , Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic weren’t even distant rumours . Rafa didn’t have those biceps , the piratas , he was indeed ‘ baby Rafa ‘. I’m not certain if a 16 year old is supposed to get the best of a ‘ grandslam champion’ but if you truly are a Rafan , you sure don’t wanna miss out on this one . ;)
You’re right, Nikhil! Rafa was so young and played so well, the commentators kept saying he was 17. I guess they just couldn’t believe he was only 16. I wonder if with Rafa we’ve seen the last of the “baby” prodigies. Tennis has gotten so much more physical. Rafa’s book mentions the problems he had competing against grown men wheb he was so young. Of course, mentally and emotionally Rafa was even more mature than he was physically. Few players ever reach the level of control and discipline he had even then. Many have wise coaches but few really listen and learn. I doubt we’ll ever again see Rafa’s unique blend of passion and discipline.
Hands down: 2008 Wimbledon Final. Best day of my (tennis) life! I long for those thrillers again – I will never forget that day. Damn, I miss Rafa so damn much!!!! I really hope he’s coming back for a bit more time so that we can all enjoy the wonder that is Rafa. I’ll take what I can get. :)
Me too Yvette wholeheartedly agree but that Verdasco 09 semi was a humdinger.
I agree! I recently watched the 09 Verdasco semi again…brilliant tennis. What fun!!
Rafa &nole in Madrid was very gooooooood match