Rafael Nadal was made to work hard in order to book his place in the Olympic semifinals after battling past home favourite Thomaz Bellucci 2-6, 6-4, 6-3.
The atmosphere inside the Olympic Tennis centre was electrifying with the crowd cheering on their home player and occasionally controversially booing Nadal when he made a winner. It was an expected scenario, but what wasn’t anticipated was the start by the Brazilian.
Breaking in the third game of the match, world No.54 Bellucci swiftly opened up a 2-1 lead as he started the stronger of the two on the court. Rankings didn’t matter in the opening set as Bellucci bullied Nadal around the court by not allowing him time to make his preferred shots. The pressure applied from him was too much for Nadal, as a forehand shank gifted the double break. It was only a matter of time before Bellucci took the opening set and he did so in style with a blistering ace out wide.
Bellucci’s offensive was halted during the early stages of the second set as Nadal battled back into the match. Missing out on three break point chances, the Spaniard had better luck on his fourth after an easy backhand passing shot secured the break for 3-1. It appeared that Nadal would clinch the second set with ease, however, his opponent had other plans. Producing some vicious shots, Bellucci recovered from a 2-5 deficit by breaking back with a forehand winner. Despite his opponents resurgence, it was Nadal’s experience that triumphed as he blasted a cross-court winner to force the match into a decider, silencing the animated crowd.
A set away from another Olympic semifinal, Nadal briefly paused proceedings during the early stages of the final set for a medical time out. This time it wasn’t for his troublesome wrist, but for his heavily strapped left foot. Resuming the match, the third seed attacked the faltering Bellucci serve by breaking to love for a crucial 3-1 lead. Bellucci tried to reproduce his earlier heroics of battling back, but he was unable to against a resilient Nadal, who closed the match out following an error from the Brazilian.
Nadal has now extended his winning record to 6-0 against Bellucci. In their latest clash, the Spaniard produced 20 winners compared to 25 unforced errors.
Murray struggles on
Nadal wasn’t the only player to encounter difficulties in their match. Defending champion Andy Murray was just two games away from defeat before clawing his way back to dismiss America’s Steve Johnson 6-0, 4-6, 7-6(2). The match echoed similarities to Murray’s roller coaster meeting with Fabio Fognini on Thursday. In both of those matches, the Wimbledon champion produced a blistering start before coming unstuck.
Murray, who produced a winner-error ratio of 31-36 against Johnson, admitted that his upcoming semifinal match will be like no other.
“I expected a tough match. The court is very lively, there’s a lot of wind, so it makes it hard to play,” said Murray.
“If I win tomorrow I am guaranteed a medal. If I lose, I have to come back and play for a bronze. As tennis players we are not used to that.”
Murray is bidding to become the first man in history to successfully defend an Olympic tennis title.
