Rafael Nadal Has Found His Nemesis

dismayed Rafael Nadal sits and takes stock following his first defeat in SW19 since 2007

Monday July 4,2011

By Neil Squires

 Have your say(0)

IT ISN'T often Rafa Nadal removes his shirt only to be totally and utterly ignored.

The top-swap ritual between sets and aftermatches tends to turn female fans around Centre Court into craning meerkats.

On this occasion, Rafael Nadal's strip show was a lonely irrelevance. It had been trumped by the image of an elated Novak Djokovic hurling his sweatbands and four rackets into the crowd.

The Mallorcan superman had met his kryptonite; his 20-match winning run at Wimbledon was over. As the fateful final backhand sailed long and Djokovic collapsed to the ground, Nadal had quietly removed his headband, shaken his hair and trudged to the net to congratulate the Serb. It was a familiar walk, the fifth time this year he has had to take it.

One Spanish flag draped outside the grounds read, 'Vamos Nadal – No1'. Not any more. Nadal is officially world No2 this morning, thanks to the stranglehold Djokovic has exerted over him in the past few months.

When I arrived at 5-4 in the first set I played a bad game; when I arrived at 4-3 in the fourth set I played another bad game

Rafael Nadal

"You're a genius Rafa," shouted one fan in the first set, but last night he was a troubled one. Nadal has long been the king of the killer points, a cold-eyed assassin when the target was in his sights, but, in Djokovic, it seems he has met his match.

"The important thing to win matches like these is to play the important moments well. I didn't today and that's what happened in Indian Wells and Miami, too," said Nadal.

"I don't want to count Madrid and Rome because he just played much better than me there, but the mental part is a bit dangerous.

"When I arrived at 5-4 in the first set I played a bad game; when I arrived at 4-3 in the fourth set I played another bad game

"I need to be a little less nervous in these times, play more aggressively and be confident in myself. That's what I'm going to try next time. If it doesn't work I'm going to be here explaining a sixth defeat."

Nadal was not keen to over-analyse the technical causes of the blockage against Djokovic but it is clear he has trouble coping with someone who is his mirror image. While in appearance they are funhouse glass opposites, their strengths are markedly similar. They chase down balls no one has any right to retrieve with astonishing athleticism and possess the balance and poise to deliver exceptional shots when they reach them.

Djokovic's ability to turn what would be winners for Nadal against virtually any other player into winners for himself holed the Spaniard below the waterline.

Where Andy Murray faded away after a set in the semi-final, Djokovic kept applying the pressure. Nadal rallied in champion's style in taking the third set but Djokovic just kept on coming. He was a deserved winner but, in defeat as much as victory, Nadal's reputation grows.

It is hard to imagine Murray, for instance, showing as much grace and patience as Nadal did in the minutes after his defeat as the BBC's on-court microphones went on the blink. When he could finally make himself heard, he delivered a dignified speech in his second language, thanking the crowd for making him "feel at home" every year at Wimbledon.

"I tried my best but it was not good enough, there was one player better than me," he said. "I will try another time next year."

The scoreboards of the All England Club, in their archaic way, billed yesterday's match-up as the gentlemen's singles final. In Nadal's case it is an apt description. This humility, as well as his scintillating tennis, serves to explain why he is so popular – of course, the looks don't do any harm.

He had the majority support of both sexes yesterday, although when a fan of Djokovic yelled "Come on The Djok", there was a brief moment when it appeared Murray had made it to the final after all.

If a golden ticket would have been the chance to see a first British men's finalist since 1938, the opportunity to see the best two players in the world trade blows for a compelling four sets was the silver stub. And unlike the weekend's other high-profile sporting contest, this was a battle between two genuine heavyweights. No pumped-up cruiserweights allowed.

At Wimbledon it turned out to be the champion who was floored. It is in his nature to rise off the canvas and he will one day surely lift the trophy again, but, for the moment, Djokovic has presented him a puzzle he cannot solve.

It was telling last night that rather than come up with an immediate plan to overhaul the new world No1 all Nadal could do was hope, rather forlornly, Djokovic would come back to him.

"He is in the moment of his career. My experience tells me this level cannot last for ever," said Nadal. "I'm going to be here fighting all the time, waiting for my moment."

Courtesy: Daily Express