There were a fair bit of
similarities in 2017 & 2018 as far as Tennis is concerned, weren’t they?
But none bigger and as evident as top guns still ruling the world tennis as if
we are still in 2008. If 2017 was Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal’s year of
redemption, Novak Djokovic, coming out of his slump, certainly owned this year,
at least in the second half, winning Wimbledon & US Open. Once again, the
next gen players like Dominic Thiem and Alexander Zverev shone in bits &
pieces, pushing top dogs to their limits, but it’s one thing to give a tough
fight but quite another to actually win in crunch moments, like in Grand Slams.
It was a year of heart breaks yet again for the two warriors in Juan Martin Del
Potro & Marin Cilic, who have timelessly kept on going, despite coming
across what you call so near, yet so far moments year after year. Roger Federer
and Rafael Nadal finished with winning one major a piece as the former retained
Aussie Open while the later retained Roland-Garros stretching his French Open
titles to whooping 11. But if you are a Rafa fan, I guess it was a mixed year,
while it was so emotional and enthralling to witness Rafa conquering French
Open for a record 11th time and dominating the clay season as he did
last year, it was depressing to see Rafa retiring mid-match in both the hard
court majors, quarter-final down under and in the semis at the Flushing
Meadows. Apart from his fabulous clay season this year and his all impressive 45-4
win loss record this year, it was wonderful to experience Rafa playing some of
his best tennis on Centre Court, SW 19, Wimbledon. Here’s a look at 3 of the
thrilling matches for this year of which Rafa was part of.
#3: Nadal Vs Del Potro, Wimbledon Quarter-Final, July 11
Prior to his epic quarterfinal
clash against Argentina’s Delpo, Nadal had a perfect Wimbledon as he cruised
through the first four rounds without dropping a set. But in the quarterfinal,
stood in front of him Del Potro, the ‘tower of Tandil’ more than capable of
taking out Nadal on his least favourite surface grass. After 11 consecutive
holds (6 from Nadal & 5 from Delpo) in the first set, Delpo had to hold in the
12th game of the first set to force a tiebreak. However, on Nadal’s
second set point opportunity, Delpo committed an unforced error, thrashing the
back hand into the nets and after 54 minutes of play, Nadal took the first set
7-5. Second set was a contrast to first set as both the players exchanged
breaks in 9th & 10th games and tie-break looked
inevitable. With Delpo serving at 3-6 in the tiebreak, Rafa had three set
points, but squandered each one of those and eventually Delpo who looked all
but pumped up took the tie-break 9-7 and we were on even terms after first two
sets. In the third, his service game let Rafa down as Delpo broke in 10th
game to close out on the third set 6-4. Being in a deficit of 1-2, Nadal’s box
looked nervous and they knew their man had to dig deep or else he could be vanquished
thanks to Del Potro’s ominous forehand. In the 5th game of the 4th
set, Rafa had three break points and this time, there was no mistake whatsoever
as Delpo slipped and Nadal pounced upon the window of smallest opportunity to
break Delpo. Delpo was shattered and one break was enough for Rafa to take the
4th set 6-4 and force the match into deciding set. This was the
first instance when Nadal-Delpo match had gone into the 5th set and
Rafa was all but determined to make it to the semifinal, first time in
Wimbledon since 2011. And once again, just like in the 4th set,
Delpo faltered in his third service game as Nadal moved one step closer on what
promised to be a blockbuster showdown against Djokovic. There were as many as
six deuces in the 8th game as Delpo fought with everything he had
left as he tried desperately to square the set at 4-4, but Nadal managed to
prevail and gained a 5-3 lead, with just one game away from a famous win. At
5-4, 40-30, Nadal served out wide, Del Potro slipped as Nadal raised his arms
much in relief rather than jubilation and after 4 hours 48 minutes of absorbing
tennis, we finally had a winner in Rafael Nadal. What followed just after the
match was the moment of supreme sportsmanship as Rafa, just as he did against
Verdasco in Australian open 2009, crossed the net to embrace Del Potro, who was
a winner too, despite losing the match. The Commentator’s words “No wild
celebrations yet for Nadal, he has too much respect for Del Potro” speak for
themselves as crowd rose to applaud not only Nadal but also Del Potro as they
both put together an edge of thriller contest which will surely go down as one
of the classics in the rich history of Wimbledon.
#2: Nadal Vs Djokovic, Wimbledon Semi-Final, July 13-14
Just 2 days after his epic
quarter-final clash with Argentina’s Del Potro, Nadal again found himself in a
ruthless battle, this time against his nemesis, none other than Novak Djokovic.
Not only the match was decided in five sets but also it lasted over a course of
2 days as the match began 5 minutes past 8 in the evening on Friday and after
being suspended for the day, was completed on Saturday, thanks to ever-lasting
battle between Kevin Anderson & John Isner that saw the score line for the
deciding set as Anderson 26-24 which took place right before the mouth-watering
Rafa-Djoker second semi-final clash. After two disappointing years on SW 19 and
being plagued by injury and poor form for the majority of 2017, new look Djokovic
was raring to go in what was to be his ultimate test since his comeback earlier
this year. After Djokovic won the all-important first set 6-4, Nadal came
storming back winning the second set 6-3. With neither Djokovic nor Nadal
willing to give away an inch, the third set was forced to be decided via a
tiebreaker. Just like the other day against Delpo, Nadal was the first to reach
to a set point playing with strength and finesse, executing that drop shot
exceptionally at 5-5 in the tiebreak, but once again squandered that advantage
as Djokovic secured the 3rd set and was just a set away from a berth
in Wimbledon final. After the match resumed on Saturday with Djokovic leading
2-1 in the set tally, Rafa looked like a man on a mission as he made an explosive
start gaining 3-0 advantage in the 4th set. But we all know how
tough Djokovic is and responded strongly by squaring the set at 3-3. However,
Rafa was all but determined too, to push the match into the 5th set
and once again broke Djokovic in 8th game, eventually conquering the
set by a margin of 6 games to 3. This was the third instance when Rafa-Djoker
match headed into the fifth set. At 3-4, Nadal faced some anxious moments as he
faced a break point, but quickly brushed aside any chances of providing his
rival an early break by serving pin-point at the ‘T’ and then finishing the
point by a blistering inside-out forehand. At 7-7, with Djokovic serving, Nadal
had two break points, but Djokovic was quick to shut the door for his opponents
with a fine cross-court forehand. This match was already bringing back the
memories of last year’s Round 4 match between Rafa and Giles Muller, where each
one of them simply refused to be broken. At 8-9, 0-30, Nadal slipped and
thereby was up against an uphill task of saving three match points. And it was
not to be as Nadal finally succumbed to Djokovic’s inspired efforts and Djoker
had prevailed, winning the toughest match since his comeback, taking out Nadal
in 5 sets, in 5 hours 15 minutes to be precise, over a course of 2 days. This
match was worth its value in gold, fought fiercely between two rejuvenated men,
unlike two previous 5-setters, one at Australian open 2012 & one at Roland
Garros 2013 which were more like bull-fights fought with extreme strength,
aggression and undying will power between two men at the peaks of their
prowess.
#1: Nadal Vs Thiem, US Open Quarter-Final, September 4
Here he was yet again, the
defending US Open champion Rafael Nadal, on the backs of two impressive but
hard fought wins against Karen Khachanov & Nikoloz Basilashvili in the
third and fourth rounds respectively making his fourth Grand Slam Quarter-Final
appearance for the year and his opponent was what they call him the next ‘king
of clay’ Dominic Thiem. The first 24 minutes of the match left everyone in a
state of shock as Thiem stunned Nadal taking the opening set 6-0. The
expression on the face of Carlos Moya, Rafa’s coach said it all as Rafa’s box
witnessed their man sink in the first set in just 24 minutes. I still remember
the commentator John McEnroe’s words “He is struggling big time right now,
physically there is something off because he is not moving well” would
definitely run the shivers down your spine if you are a Rafa fan. But, Nadal
putting the disappointments of first set behind, upped his level of tennis,
capitalizing on Thiem’s mistakes broke him twice to win the second set 6-4,
drawing even with his opponent. In the third set, once again Rafa found himself
on the ropes trailing 3-5. But what followed was an inspired performance from
Rafa, as he won four consecutive games to seal the set at 7-5. It was clearly
Thiem’s set but Rafa stole the set very much in the same way as he stole the
second set away from Russia’s Karen Khachanov four days back. The fourth set
saw the pair exchange breaks as Thiem refused to give in just yet. With Thiem
serving at 6-4 in the tie-break, Nadal’s unforced error saw Thiem winning the
4h set and we were going the distance at Flushing Meadows in hot & humid
conditions. If the match was already a blockbuster showdown, played under
extreme conditions, with players trading body blows, the best was yet to come
as the players returned to their ends preparing themselves mentally for a
grueling 5th set that was to follow. There were no break of serves
in the 5th set, but there were edge of the seat rallies, brutal
ball-striking shots and some really tense and anxious moments not only for the
players but also to all the fans witnessing this amazing battle of brute force,
swift moments and never give up attitude that in many ways reminded us of
Rafa-Djoker clashes of the past. Eventually in the deciding tie-break of the
match, with Thiem serving at 5-6, Nadal had a match point. Thiem produced a
perfect out-wide serve and as he looked to close the rally, he missed a simple
overhead lob from Nadal as he hit the ball long and there was jubilation in
Nadal’s camp as he had survived the Thiem storm in 4 hour 49 minutes, longest
match of this year’s US Open. It was phenomenal for Nadal to win this match
after losing the opening set 0-6 as he showed tremendous composure when under
the pump. It was about those small mistakes in the end for Thiem as Nadal’s
years of experience helped him prevail yet again in those moments that matter
the most. Such cruel is the game of Tennis just like Cricket that even though
Rafa won the match, Thiem won 171 points & 28 games to Nadal’s 166 points
and 26 games. But that’s for statisticians to worry about, isn’t it? For us, this
epic battle would surely go down as one of the best matches not only for this
year but also in the history of US Open, which was by the way 50th
edition of the tournament since the beginning of Open Era in 1968.