Posted by jwdl.

I tried, really I did! (Photo by REUTERS/ Michael Kooren)

Andy Murray wins 10th career title after beating Rafael Nadal in Rotterdam

The most expressive eyebrows in tennis belong to Nadal, and his and others’ eyebrows were working hard during a match that felt as though it contained more breaks than a busy weekend on an orthopaedic ward. But there was an explanation for the weirdness in the title-match, as Nadal was in serious discomfort from a knee injury by the early stages of the second set.

Perhaps other less spirited players would simply have given their knee and their eyebrows a well-deserved rest by quitting, but Nadal is made of sterner stuff and he stayed on court and levelled by taking a second set that included seven breaks in a row.

Sometimes, I think Rafa’s eyebrows alone could win a few games – they are just that determined.

Murray v Nadal as it happened

In the words of Graham Taylor, what sort of thing is this? Nadal opens up with a blistering forehand winner on the run, plays a deft drop volley moments later and takes the set when Murray goes long with a backhand.

That second set was so odd. Rafa was hitting out and playing aggressive when his knee permitted and it totally threw Andy off his game.

Battling Knee Injury, Nadal Falls to Murray

“Rafael was hurt at the beginning of the second set,” Murray said. “On one leg he could still go on. That’s how good he is.”

I thought Andy was very classy in his post-match interviews…

Murray makes Nadal suffer

“Murray just played better today,” Nadal said. ”I tried but couldn’t give anything more in the third set. I don’t think that this injury will be a serious problem. For sure it is not the same as last year. It was an option not to finish the match, but that is not a good way to finish a final, not for me, not for Andy and not for the crowd.”

…and so was Rafa.

Andy Murray lands title No 10 after his third successive win over Rafael Nadal

One could argue whether Nadal needed this tournament — neither Roger Federer nor Djokovic has come out to play since the Australian Open — and there are times when the Spaniard allows a duty to the game to outweigh personal consideration. Richard Krajicek, the Wimbledon champion in 1996 and the tournament director in Rotterdam, had flown to Madrid last October to ratify the contract, sent a private jet to speed Nadal’s passage and noticeably made a beeline for the vanquished rather than victor at the end of the event.

Murray victory dampened by Nadal knee problem

‘I could see him shaking his head. But Rafa’s not the kind of guy who’s going to stop chasing the ball unless there’s a good reason,’ said Murray, 13-1 on the season. ‘He said that he sometimes has a knee problem when he plays a lot on hard court.’

(AP Photo/Ermindo Armino)

While I don’t believe that any problems evident in today’s final are serious, it’s pretty clear that Rafa and his team must always be mindful of finding a balance between maintaining match fitness and points and his health. Sadly, it’s also pretty clear that the schedule as it is currently structured make it hard for Rafa, or any player who consistently does well, to adequately manage both of those things.

The current ATP schedule requires all top 30 players to play in 8 Masters 1000 tournaments (and it still bugs me to tack on that pointless 1000) and four 500 level tournaments, one of which must be after the US Open in September. It doesn’t really sound all that unreasonable until you look at the calendar and see how packed together everything is. Rotterdam, for example, begins one week after the Australian Open ends, and after that there is one week before Dubai, the next scheduled 500 stop for Rafa. Dubai ends with only 10 days to the start of Indian Wells in California, a two week tournament that is back to back with Miami, another two week tournament on the other side of the country. Miami ends with only a week to go before Monte Carlo and the kickoff of the clay season, which begins with three back to back to back tournaments (MC, Barcelona, and Rome), then one week before Madrid. Madrid ends with one week to go before the second slam of the year, Roland Garros, which bumps right into the grass warm up tournaments (none of which, by the way, were given 500 status so there is one tournament that many players will feel obligated to play even though they don’t satisfy any ATP requirements), and then one week off until Wimbledon.

Whew. I’m tired just looking at that.

So, what’s a boy with a potentially wobbly knee to do?

It all depends on how serious the current issue is, of course, but my immediate suggestion would be to skip Dubai. Rafa usually plays there, and does well. However the fact is that from now until the start of Indian Wells is the only time Rafa will have to rest for more than one week until after Wimbledon. If there is even a slight problem with the knee, it seems to me he’d be best served by erring on the side of caution. If the problem should worsen in Dubai, or at least persist, there is precious little time to recover, and this is the most important stretch of the year for Rafa.

It’s tough to look at the calendar and see where his 500 commitments might be made up. Monte Carlo, though classified as a Masters 1000, does not count towards the Masters requirement. It can, however, count as a 500. Barcelona, too, though Rafa has hinted that he might not play there this year. It would be an understandable drop, given the three back to back tournaments that Barcelona falls into, and perhaps he was hoping for the Rotterdam/Dubai pair to give him some leeway in that stretch.

After Barcelona and Monte Carlo there is not another 500 level tournament until mid July, in Hamburg on clay. Even though this comes on the heels of the insane stretch of tournaments above, it might not be a bad choice, being on clay. However it falls in the middle of the only four week stretch Rafa may have to rest. Beijing might be a good choice, since he has to go to China in October anyway for the Shanghai Masters 1000.

So, here is my obviously expert opinion on Rafa’s schedule for the rest of 2009 (with Rotterdam added to count the 500s):

Rotterdam (500)
Skip Dubai to allow for three weeks of rest and recuperation.
3/12 Indian Wells (1000)
3/25 Miami (1000)
week off
4/12 Monte Carlo (1000, counts as 500)
week off
4/27 Rome (1000)
week off
5/10 Madrid (1000)
week off
5/25 Roland Garros
6/8 Queens
week off
6/22 Wimbledon
two weeks off
7/20 Hamburg (500)
two weeks off
8/10 Toronto (1000)
8/16 Cincinnati (1000)
week off
8/31 US Open
three weeks off
10/5 Beijing (500)
10/12 Shanghai (1000)
two weeks off
11/8 Paris (1000)
one week off
11/22 ATP WTF

None of this, of course, takes into account the Davis Cup ties. There are no good answers for the problems that the schedule presents to any player who consistently goes deep.

Just my opinion, here. I’m sure Rafa was waiting eagerly for me to weigh in. :)

(Photos by REUTERS/ Michael Kooren, AP Photo/Ermindo Armino, Hamish Blair/Getty Images, and RICK NEDERSTIGT/AFP/Getty Images)

“Do you have any freaking idea what we are supposed to do with these lame plates and flowers?”

(AP Photo by ERMINDO ARMINO)

(Photo from Reuters)

Rafa took on 4th ranked Andy Murray today and it wasn’t pretty. He lost 3-6 6-4 0-6 and I’m not sure how he managed to win that second set. Actually, Murray wasn’t playing that well either, so that helped negate the knee problem. By the third set, however, Rafa’s movement was seriously impaired.

I had a feeling we were in for a tough match when Rafa was grumpy with a ball-kid during the first set – you usually don’t see that from him. Then I remembered him taking a pill on his way to the post-first set bathroom break yesterday. Could something be bothering him physically? Turns out it was and we were in for a very low-energy and frustrating match.

Some stats for Rafa:
Aces: 2
Double Faults: 3
1st Serve %: 50%
Win % on 1st serve: 55% (18/33)
Win % on 2nd serve: 33% (11/33)
Break Point Conversions: 57% (4/7)
Break Points Saved: 42% (5/12)
Total Points Won: 42% (59/140)

“As it happened” updates after the break.

Murray started off with a decent hold by getting a slight gift of a forehand into the net by Rafa. Rafa holds despite getting only 2 of 6 serves in. In the next game, Rafa manages a break point, but sends a forehand wide to go back to deuce and Murray holds. More backhand errors don’t prevent Rafa from holding to even things up at 2-2. Murray holds easily for 2-3. In an error-filled game, Murray gets double break points on Rafa’s next serve. Rafa saves one point, but Murray capitalizes on the second one and goes up a break. Murray consolidates with an easy hold. Rafa holds to force Murray to serve out the set. Murray holds at love and takes the first set 3-6 in just 38 minutes.

Rafa starts off the second set with a hold. Murray holds easily for 1-1. In the next game, Murray saves a game point with a blistering forehand down the line, but Rafa goes on to hold. The trainer visits Rafa on the changeover and works on Rafa’s right knee – removing the existing tape and massaging his thigh and knee. It looked very similar to the injury time out Rafa took in Paris last year when his tendinitis caused to him retire. He took the court without any tape on that right knee – not sure if he ran out of time in the injury break or if it was a conscious decision. Murray works on pulling Rafa to the right in the next game and Rafa’s foot work does appear to be off, but Rafa manages to go up 40-love. Murray saves 2 break points, but Rafa eventually breaks to go up 3-1.

Murray goes up 15-40 on Rafa’s next service game and breaks back to take them back on serve. Rafa breaks back in the next game. He appears to be going for shots more and playing more aggressively. An error filled few points gives Murray triple-break point in the next game and he breaks at love. Rafa looked most miserable during the change-over and I wondered if he was going to retire. He came out roaring, however, and broke Murray to go up 5-3. Can he hold his serve to take the set? No, he can’t. Murray breaks and it’s 5-4. Rafa roars to a 40-love lead in the next game and takes the game and set. (Keep in mind that when I say “roar” it’s not the same as a usual Rafa roar. More like a mini-roar. No one seems to have any energy on this day.)

Rafa plays an error-filled first game of the third set and is broken at love. Quite a few times during the game I found myself thinking that neither player seemed to give a shit about how things were going. Both just seemed to be standing around and hoping their shots went in. Rafa can’t get a serve in to save his life. His knee problem seems to be preventing him from getting up to the serve properly. Murray goes up love-40 on Rafa’s next service game, but Rafa somehow manages to two break points before giving Murray the game with an errant forehand.

Rafa can’t seem to move at all now and Murray takes his next service game at love. I’m very torn at this point. On the one hand, I don’t see a point in going on – why not retire? On the other hand, I admire him for playing on, but at what cost? Is he doing further damage to his knee? Murray breaks and goes up 0-5. He easily takes the next and final game: game, set and match to Murray.

(Photo by Hamish Blair/Getty Images)

Most of today’s press seems to be about the final rather than the Monfils match. I guess I can understand that a bit – it was an odd match without a lot of rhythm or momentum either way.

Rotterdam – Nadal and Murray battle for title

Though Nadal beat Gael Monfils in straight sets in the semifinals, he did not play well. Of particular concern were the number of unforced errors the Spaniard donated throughout the match.

Like a said – a strange match without a lot of rhythm. Rafa was splaying some shots and there were some odd breaks on service on both sides.

Nadal sets up Rotterdam final with Murray

“I feel sorry for Gael,” Nadal told reporters. “He did not play his best because of stomach problems and I was thinking more about him than myself.

“I saw him vomit when I went to the toilet after the first set. That disturbed my concentration and afterwards I made more mistakes.”

Seeing someone vomit often disturbs my concentration too.

Rafael Nadal appreciates easier time as top two seeds reach Rotterdam final

“I knew Gael was not at his best,” said Nadal, bidding for a second straight hardcourt title after winning the Australian Open.

“It’s not so nice to win like this but I’m very happy to be in this final.

“It’s hard to concentrate, you never know if the opponent is going to retire or play on. In the final I’ll try my best, it’s great to be in a final on a fast surface.”

Nadal, Murray advance to Rotterdam final

Nadal broke Monfils in the fifth game of the second set. The top-ranked Spaniard withstood 10 aces by Monfils to earn his first two-set win this week. Nadal lost to Monfils in the quarterfinals at Doha last month for his only loss of the year.

Unless you count exhibitions – he lost an exhibition match (Abu Dhabi) to Murray in January.

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Bonus: shirtless scenes

Post match interview can be found here.

(Photos by Hamish Blair/Getty Images and REUTERS/ Michael Kooren)