It lasted the space of a game, the illusion that this regulation win by Rafael Nadal over Jack Sock could transform itself into a (not so) late night classic in Crandon Park. When Jack Sock took an early 2-0 advantage in the second set, and thundered forehand and backhand winners from the baseline to obtain two 3-0, two-break opportunities, some in the packed crowd of the evening session (unlike the lackluster sparsely populated stands that same afternoon) let their imagination run wild to a possible comeback from the no.1 American player. But on the second of those chances, Sock pushed an easy backhand volley past the baseline, providing Rafa Nadal with the only lifeline he needed to turn the set around and make an early night for himself and all those in attendance.
Undoubtedly the best Nadal seen this year, and probably the best Nadal for quite some time, to reinforce the impression that our tennis world has boarded a DeLorean and shifted ten years back, when Rafa and Rogers were the owners of the ATP circuit. Much more reliable with his erratic forehand, the Spaniard jumped to an early 3-0 lead in the first set taking advantage of a forehand error by Sock on the very first break point of the match. The American saw his opponent run away quickly in the first set, broke a racquet and played a point with it to avoid being fined but in 31 minutes the set was over and a well fought match was nowhere in sight.
Early in the second set though something clicked: after both of the player left the court to change their shirts, leaving the ladies wonder why they couldn’t do it “en plein air”, Sock’s forehand returned to the battle much sharper and cockier, getting an early break and quickly backing it up for the 2-0. In the following fateful third game, a blistering cross-court backhand winner by Sock (yes, you read it right) tried to make way for a brand new… night in the Crandon Park Stadium, but that reckless volley we described above erased all Sock’s glory dreams and restored Nadal’s tyranny over the match.
The Spaniard will face Fabio Fognini in Friday’s semifinal, against whom he has a 7-3 winning record in previous matches. However Fognini was able to defeat him three times in 2015 (a feat that had only been accomplished by Federer and Djokovic until then), including an epic five-set comeback on Arthur Ashe Stadium, when the Italian won 6-4 in the fifth set after trailing two sets and a break.
