MADRID: Rafael Nadal overcame a resilient David Goffin 7-6(2), 6-2, to progress to the semifinals of the Madrid Masters.
The 119-minute encounter lit up the Caja Magica as the rain poured down on the venue. The deceivingly straightforward score was one that earned both players admiration from the crowd. A valiant effort from Goffin saw him hit 23 winners (two more than Nadal), but also seven more unforced errors.
“I think it was a very good match, nice level, nice to watch.” Said Nadal. “I think both Goffin and me, we played at a really high level. Generally it was a great match.”
“It was a very tough match that I had to play at the highest level to be able to make it to the semifinals.”
Last month Nadal raced through his encounter against Goffin, dropping just four games. This time round it was different at the Caja Magica. Earlier this week Goffin said he wanted to be known as a ‘tough player’ by his rivals on the tour. An objective he tried to fulfil on the Manolo Santana court.
The all or nothing approach by the Belgian, featuring a winner-error ratio of 13-20, placed Nadal in trouble throughout the opening set. Six times he had a chance to break, but he was denied by some aggressive groundstrokes by his opponent. Despite the promising performance from the underdog, Nadal was still able to come out in top in front of his home crowd.
An anticlimactic tiebreaker illustrated the difference between the two players. A calm and composed Nadal waited for his turn to strike. He was helped along the way be a faltering Goffin, who produced two consecutive forehand errors to move the Spaniard to 5-2. Things worsened for Goffin two points later after a double fault gifted the fourth seed the opening break.
Closing in on a ninth Madrid semifinal, Nadal still faced an uphill struggle. A break for 2-1, was followed by a hard-fought three-deuce service game in favor of the Spaniard. Both men continued to display glimmers of their brilliance. Nadal with his passing shots painting the line and Goffin with his clever shot-making.
Nevertheless, Nadal secured the double break by moving his rival around the court, elevating him a game away from the win. Victory was then secured after a forehand from the Belgian landed out.
Today’s win means Nadal has risen to first in the race to London, passing Roger Federer with 4095 points compared to 4045.
“I have been very competitive since the first event of the year, since the first match of the year. That’s a lot of months already competing for all the tournaments, competing well. I am very stable in terms of level this year, and that’s something very, very positive for me.” Nadal evaluated of his year so far.
Djokovic next
In Saturday’s semi-final he will play Novak Djokovic in what will be their 50th meeting on the tour. He currently tails their head-to-head 23-29. Earlier today, Djokovic was given a walkover after Kei Nishikori withdrew due to injury.
“It’s going to be a very tough match against one of the best players in tennis history. I know that to be able to have chances, I have to give 100%. Well, I think that I’ve been playing at a high level during many weeks. I know tomorrow is going to be a day that either I play really well or I’m not going to have many chances.” He said.
Nadal’s last win over Djokovic was in 2011 and has has lost to the Serbian in straight sets during their seven most recent clashes. It will be the third time that they have played against each other at the tournament.
