Nadal Finds Out Just How His Opponents Have Felt

By the final points of his fifth Wimbledon final, Rafael Nadal had the same hollow-eyed expression he usually sees in his opponents. His last stroke Sunday, a backhand that sailed long, ended his 20-match winning streak at the All England Club and his mastery in the majors over Novak Djokovic, who cemented his No. 1 ranking with a 6-4, 6-1, 1-6, 6-3 victory.

Nadal, a two-time champion, was beaten by someone who took his playbook and executed it better. Djokovic, who was winless in five previous Grand Slam matches against Nadal, retrieved nearly every ball that came his way, forcing Nadal to hit one or two or three shots after striking what would have been a clean winner against anybody else.

In the first two sets, Nadal put 81 percent of his first serves in play — and was broken three times by Djokovic, the reigning Australian Open champion who has a match record of 48-1 this year.

Nadal, who had not lost here since the 2007 final (he missed the 2009 event with an injury), knows what it is like to catch a wave like the one Djokovic is riding, his game so dialed in that the tennis ball looks like a beach ball. For six months last year, Nadal was virtually unbeatable.

From April to September, he went 43-3 and won six titles, including three majors: the French Open, Wimbledon and the United States Open. The title at Flushing Meadows came at the expense of Djokovic, whom Nadal beat in four sets in the final.

The laws of physics and of sport dictate that all waves eventually crest and come crashing to shore.

“My experience says this level is not forever,” Nadal said. “Even for me, when I was last year winning three Grand Slams, my level of last year is not forever. Probably the level of Novak today is not forever. I am going to be here fighting all the time, waiting for my moment.”

On Friday, Andy Murray was the one doing the soul-searching in the wake of his crushing four-set semifinal defeat to Nadal. Two days later, it was Nadal’s turn to plumb the depths of his misery.

In the English-speaking portion of Nadal’s postmatch news conference, a journalist started, “You’ve lost to Novak five times this year. ...”

Before the question was finished, Nadal smiled quizzically and arched his eyebrows. His eyes, dark as coal, bored in on his inquisitor.

“I know that,” he said, adding: “We have to find how I can bother him another time. I did in the past. He’s in the best moment of his career. That’s true, too. I am in one of the best moments of my career. Still not enough for him. I have to play longer. I have to play more aggressive. I have to make less mistakes.”

Djokovic, 24, played better on the big points. Nadal, 25, was serving at 4-5 and 30-30 in the first set when he hit an errant forehand to end a long rally and then, on set point, sent another forehand wide to dig himself a hole.

In the fourth set, Nadal was broken again, at 3-4, when he missed a backhand on a 14-stroke rally. On those points, he said, his four previous defeats this year to Djokovic — in the finals at Indian Wells, Miami, Madrid and Rome — came into play.

“Probably the mental part is a little bit dangerous for me,” Nadal said, “because when I arrive to the 5-4, I played a bad game with 30-love. When I arrived to 4-3 of the fourth set, I played another bad game with my serve.”

How does he change that? “Probably be a little bit less nervous, play more aggressive and all the time be confident with myself,” he said. “That’s what I’m going to try next time.”

It was a remarkable admission by Nadal, one that violated the ethos of elite athletes, who would sooner endure a public flogging than own up to a loss of confidence, an intrusion of nerves or a failure of will.

“When one player is better than you, at this moment, the only thing you can do is work, try to find solutions and try to wait a little bit for your time,” he said. “I’m going to wait and I’m going to try a sixth time. And if the sixth doesn’t happen, a seventh. It’s going to be like this. That’s the spirit of sport.”


Veterinary Steroids
Property Manager Gold Coast