Rafael Nadal looked fitter than ever during his first clay-court tournament of the season. He is even faster than he used to be and serves much better. Are Nadal and Federer the hardest working champions that we have ever seen?
MONTE-CARLO – Rafael Nadal conquered the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters for the 10th time in his career overpowering fellow Spaniard Albert Ramos Vinolas in straight sets. Ramos Vinolas lead 0-15 and 15-30 in Nadal’s first service game and that was the only moment during which the score was in his favor throughout the entire match. Unlike Verdasco – who played a horrible final in 2010 losing to Rafa 6-0, 6-1 – Ramos Vinolas actually played a decent match but there was very little that he could do against his illustrious countryman.
Nadal had a good start of the 2017 season losing two big finals to Roger Federer in Melbourne and Miami, and he looked even stronger and faster on the clay-courts of the Monte-Carlo Country Club this week. He probably didn’t play at 100% in a couple of rounds against Edmund and Schwartzman, but he looked very close to his best in all of the other matches, especially against Sasha Zverev and Ramos Vinolas. This week his serve was as good as in 2010 when Rafa was by far the No. 1 player in the world. On Sunday he was able to wrap up three of his service games with massive aces and his second delivery was consistently clocked at 160/170 kph. His forehand was also as big and deep as in his best days. It is fair to say that Nadal’s current ranking at No. 5 certainly doesn’t reflect his real value on clay – a surface that enhances Rafa’s game and makes him the best player in the world. Reigning French Open champion Novak Djokovic could probably be considered co-number one with Rafa on clay if he found his best tennis again. Losing to a world class player like Goffin in the most entertaining match of the tournament was certainly not a disgrace for the Serb, but we saw clear signs that Novak isn’t quite himself on the tennis court anymore.
The final was one way traffic with Rafa losing only nine points in his eight service games. Nadal showed an impressive physical condition that can only be achieved with tremendous hard work. His athleticism and speed around the court were key factors throughout the entire match with Rafa often constructing winning plays from seemingly defensive positions. The defensive shot that took Rafa to match point at 5-3 in the second set should be included in every book about how to play the game of tennis. In these first four months of the season, both Nadal and Federer have been showing how hard they must have been working in order to lift those big trophies and get back to the top of the game. Their excellent start to the 2017 season is a testament of how they both have been putting in more work than in the last few years.
A few extraordinary patterns of play that we admired during the final showed how incredible Nadal’s performance was. Ramos Vinolas is left-handed like Nadal, so Rafa’s lefty spins should have bothered him only to some extent. Instead there was nothing that he could do against Nadal’s acute angles. Had Ramos Vinolas been right-handed, he probably would have had a bigger struggle and the score would have been even more one-sided than 6-1, 6-3. Besides pulling out some unbelievable shots from the back of the court, the Mallorca native also charged the net at every opportunity and tactically never made a mistake. Whenever Ramos Vinolas attempted to hit a few drop shots, Nadal – who is famous for his power game – easily chased them down by delicately placing the ball on the other side of the net for some crafty winners.
Winning a big tournament such as the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters for ten times is an extraordinary achievement. In comparison, Pete Sampras and Roger Federer won Wimbledon seven times on their favorite surface. This year Nadal has the opportunity to win at Roland Garros also for the tenth time cementing his place in history as the best clay-court player of all-time and decisively leaving behind Bjorn Borg and Guillermo Vilas.
It is interesting to compare the different Eras these three incredible champions competed in and especially the quality of the opposition that they had to face. Vilas and Borg were the two best clay-court players of their generation with the Swede having the edge over the Argentinean, while Connors and McEnroe weren’t nearly as proficient on the dirt. Nadal’s main rivals have been Djokovic, Federer and, a level below, Murray.
Nadal is now headed to Barcelona where he will be the overwhelming favorite to win the title. The center court at the historical Real Club Conde de Godo has just been renamed to honor Rafa and it will be the first time that a player will officially compete in an ATP tournament playing on a court that bears his name. Rod Laver, Billie Jean King, Nicola Pietrangeli, Pat Rafter, Guga Kuerten, Guillermo Vilas, Margaret Court were never blessed with such an honor while they were still actively playing on the pro tour.
(Article translation provided by T&L Global – Translation & Language Solutions – www.t-lglobal.com)
