When talk of tennis turns to Rafael Nadal one of the things that immediately springs to mind is his dominance over the majority of his opponents and in particular Roger Federer. Watching him play it is hard to imagine that any player could dominate this Spanish superstar.
One player who has managed to gain an advantage over Nadal recently is the Argentinian David Nalbandian. In there previous two meetings he has beaten Nadal in straight sets, losing a combined total of just 7 games in those 2 matches – two more dominant displays against Nadal are hard to recall.
So when Nalbandian raced to a 6-3, 5-3 lead at the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells, the tennis world was beginning to wonder what voodoo magic was at work to give him an edge over this seemingly indestructible giant of the game.
Then came the fightback.
Despite being down five match points Nadal never lost his self belief. And knowing that he surely had their last two encounters in the back of his mind made this display all the more impressive.
He took the second set in a tiebreak, broke the will of his opponent and stormed home to take the final set without dropping a game.
It is this mental strength that sets Nadal apart from all his contemporaries – especially Federer. The Swiss maestro is perhaps one of the best frontrunners the game has ever see. Give him a sniff of victory and his confidence is displayed in his outrageous shot making ability.
But get him behind the eight-ball as we saw earlier this year in Melbourne and you can almost see the fear of defeat in his eyes as he pulls back on his shot making and steers the ball around the court praying for a mistake from a man who makes few.
And so this tournament is steering its natural course towards another clash between the world’s top ranked men. Other players such as Andy Murray and Juan Del Potro are staking their claims with some impressive tennis but the expectations are for a Nadal, Federer final.
With Federer having had a full month of rest, and Nadal doing it tough with a knee injury, perhaps this is a chance for Federer to regain some confidence ahead of the mid-season majors beginning with the French and followed soon after by Wimbledon.
The women’s side of the tournament has seen almost all the big names sent packing early with Ana Ivanovic and Vera Zvonereva the only two household names left in the tournament.
Most impressive have been the efforts of two players on the rise – 17 yr old Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkov and 19yr old Victoria Azarenka who defeated Dinara Safina, preventing her from joining her brother Marat in as a player who has sat atop the world rankings.
Both titles will be decided over the weekend and should make for some excellent viewing
Crooksy
