For a brief period, a very brief period, in the first set of the French Open quarter-final, it seemed that the Rafael Nadal of old had returned. The Nadal who lorded over clay, the Nadal with a 70-1 record at Roland Garros.
But it was a false dawn. The Djokovic-Nadal rivalry has seen some of the greatest matches in tennis. Few can forget that marathon six-hour battle at the 2012 Australian Open final which sapped the mind and souls of both these great players. Their battles have been the stuff of legend.
A dominant display from Djokovic
But Wednesday’s performance was not even a patch on that. Djokovic was so comprehensive and so clinical that at times it seemed he was the man with the 70-1 record. Nadal never had a chance. It was quick and swift. Three straight sets.7-5, 6-3, 6-1. And that was it.
To be honest, it wasn’t like it was completely unexpected. Nadal entered the 2015 French Open ranked seventh in the world, his worst position in a decade. Three of his recent losses had come on clay, something scarcely thinkable a few years back. Djokovic, on the other hand, was in supreme form, coming off a 26-match winning streak and a recent fifth Australian Open title. The result seemed inevitable.
But diehard Nadal fans clung to hope. They clung to Nadal’s almost spotless record at Roland Garros. They ignored his recent form and believed that the man would finally shake off his poor run of form and come good at the one venue of which he was undoubtedly the master.
Hope is a beautiful thing, but misguided hope is cruel. After the first set, Djokovic simply toyed with Nadal. He could have probably won the third set without dropping a game, such was his dominance. And now Nadal fans are faced with an unfamiliar, troubling question – does this crushing defeat signal the end of the Nadal epoch?
This isn’t 2009…
“Look at 2009”, scream the unbelievers. Yes, 2009. That was another year when Nadal’s spell seemed to be broken. He lost both his French Open and Wimbledon titles. It was another year when the world questioned whether we would ever see the same Nadal again.
But circumstances were different then. Nadal had suffered an almost career-ending tendinitis injury. Having recovered from injury then, he came storming back. He went on to win eight Grand Slam titles and before this, was undefeated at Roland Garros since 2009.
This time there is no injury. Nadal is in the worst form of his life. It is a testament to his former superiority that his current ranking of seventh is being called ‘bad’. But make no mistake, this isn’t just about the statistics. It’s also about the way Nadal has played in recent times.
Nadal’s sizzling forehand has always been his biggest strength. But lately, that fizz has seemed off with his shots lacking the fierce sting of old. Against Djokovic, he only managed to hit three forehand winners. Djokovic had 23. That tells you a lot. Nadal’s greatest weapon had deserted him. It seemed sacrilegious, unreal. And yet it was true.
Will Nadal retire?
At 28, Nadal should be at the peak of his form. Yet before the tournament, Patrick McEnroe offered a worrying assessment about Nadal to The Guardian, commenting that the diminutive Spaniard might even quit tennis if he had a bad tournament.
“I think it’s his body,” suggested McEnroe. “If his body and his mind start to break down – and they sort of go hand-in-hand – I think that would be his downfall. He could be done pretty quickly.”
Of course, let it be said that there is nothing shameful in Nadal’s loss of form. He has been a supreme ambassador of the game, delighting tennis fans and carving his own niche in an era dominated by some of the greatest to have ever played tennis. The fact that he competed with Federer and then Djokovic throughout his career and often came out better against them is not worth brushing over lightly.
Yet, if McEnroe’s assessment proves right and Nadal calls it quits, it would be a sad way to go. A man who put his blood and guts into every game he played, a man who won games with pure heart when all his other skills had deserted him, deserved a better send-off. But sport is a hard jury. Even to the very greatest of them all.
Robert Soderling, the only man to have defeated Nadal in a French Open before, finally has company.
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But it was a false dawn. The Djokovic-Nadal rivalry has seen some of the greatest matches in tennis. Few can forget that marathon six-hour battle at the 2012 Australian Open final which sapped the mind and souls of both these great players. Their battles have been the stuff of legend.
A dominant display from Djokovic
But Wednesday’s performance was not even a patch on that. Djokovic was so comprehensive and so clinical that at times it seemed he was the man with the 70-1 record. Nadal never had a chance. It was quick and swift. Three straight sets.7-5, 6-3, 6-1. And that was it.
To be honest, it wasn’t like it was completely unexpected. Nadal entered the 2015 French Open ranked seventh in the world, his worst position in a decade. Three of his recent losses had come on clay, something scarcely thinkable a few years back. Djokovic, on the other hand, was in supreme form, coming off a 26-match winning streak and a recent fifth Australian Open title. The result seemed inevitable.
But diehard Nadal fans clung to hope. They clung to Nadal’s almost spotless record at Roland Garros. They ignored his recent form and believed that the man would finally shake off his poor run of form and come good at the one venue of which he was undoubtedly the master.
Hope is a beautiful thing, but misguided hope is cruel. After the first set, Djokovic simply toyed with Nadal. He could have probably won the third set without dropping a game, such was his dominance. And now Nadal fans are faced with an unfamiliar, troubling question – does this crushing defeat signal the end of the Nadal epoch?
This isn’t 2009…
“Look at 2009”, scream the unbelievers. Yes, 2009. That was another year when Nadal’s spell seemed to be broken. He lost both his French Open and Wimbledon titles. It was another year when the world questioned whether we would ever see the same Nadal again.
But circumstances were different then. Nadal had suffered an almost career-ending tendinitis injury. Having recovered from injury then, he came storming back. He went on to win eight Grand Slam titles and before this, was undefeated at Roland Garros since 2009.
This time there is no injury. Nadal is in the worst form of his life. It is a testament to his former superiority that his current ranking of seventh is being called ‘bad’. But make no mistake, this isn’t just about the statistics. It’s also about the way Nadal has played in recent times.
Nadal’s sizzling forehand has always been his biggest strength. But lately, that fizz has seemed off with his shots lacking the fierce sting of old. Against Djokovic, he only managed to hit three forehand winners. Djokovic had 23. That tells you a lot. Nadal’s greatest weapon had deserted him. It seemed sacrilegious, unreal. And yet it was true.
Will Nadal retire?
At 28, Nadal should be at the peak of his form. Yet before the tournament, Patrick McEnroe offered a worrying assessment about Nadal to The Guardian, commenting that the diminutive Spaniard might even quit tennis if he had a bad tournament.
“I think it’s his body,” suggested McEnroe. “If his body and his mind start to break down – and they sort of go hand-in-hand – I think that would be his downfall. He could be done pretty quickly.”
Of course, let it be said that there is nothing shameful in Nadal’s loss of form. He has been a supreme ambassador of the game, delighting tennis fans and carving his own niche in an era dominated by some of the greatest to have ever played tennis. The fact that he competed with Federer and then Djokovic throughout his career and often came out better against them is not worth brushing over lightly.
Yet, if McEnroe’s assessment proves right and Nadal calls it quits, it would be a sad way to go. A man who put his blood and guts into every game he played, a man who won games with pure heart when all his other skills had deserted him, deserved a better send-off. But sport is a hard jury. Even to the very greatest of them all.
Robert Soderling, the only man to have defeated Nadal in a French Open before, finally has company.