By Chris Oddo | Sunday, May 11, 2014
Rafael Nadal had to fight for his life in the early going, but his hard work paid off in the form of a 27th Masters title in Madrid.
Photo Source: Julian Finney/ Getty
The script was full of surprises, the air was full of electricity and the fans were full of intensity, but Kei Nishikori pulled the plug on a heated battle with Rafael Nadal after two and a half sets of tennis.
Video: Dinara Safina Bids Farewell in Madrid
“That's the way it is,” said Nadal after the match. “All of us have a moment [where we] have to face it, and today it was his day. He had to face it today.”
Nadal's 2-6, 6-4, 3-0 victory over Japan's No. 1 player marks the Spaniard's record 27th Masters 1000 title and his 44th career title on clay, as well as his 63rd title overall, which moves him into 6th on the ATP's all-time title list, one ahead of Guillermo Vilas.
“Always win at home is more special than wining anywhere,” said Nadal. “Have the chance to play in front of your crowd and enjoy the feeling, the full support, is unforgettable for me. This city give me a lot. Give me everything.”
Nishikori gave nothing in the early going, however. The 24-year-old with the whip-smart baseline game inspired comparisons to Novak Djokovic by pummeling the 13-time Grand Slam champion in the opening set and a half with a scintillating array of penetrating ground strokes and pinpoint serves.
Nadal didn't help his own cause in the first set, as he repeatedly missed his targets to the tune of 12 unforced errors and only two winners, and after failing to convert his first break point in the second game of the match he would fall behind by a double-break in no time, eventually dropping just his second set against Nishikori in their seven career battles.
Things went further south for the king of clay in the early moments of the second set, as he was broken in the first game and then failed to find a way to convert a triple-break point scenario in the next game. Nishikori did his part, hammering two perfect serves to get to 30-40, and Nadal did the rest by dumping a second-serve return in the net that made him so frustrated that he uncharacteristically punched his racquet in disgust.
“It was frustrating for moments during the match,” Nadal said. “I was trying to fight a lot mentally to change the direction of the match and to change my personal feelings. That was the thing that I was focused on, because I know he was playing great.”
For the better part of the second set it looked like Nishikori might actually be able to pull off the monumental upset. He kept his nose in front until 4-3, but after tweaking the back injury that had hampered him for most of the week in Madrid in the seventh game, things started to unravel rather quickly in the eighth.
Nadal, sensing frailty, delivered a knockout blow that left Nishikori writhing in pain and wobbling too, while the full-throated Spanish crowd rallied behind their adopted son of Madrid to help will him to the break and a 4-all tie.
Nadal would hold to love in the next game, at which time Nishikori was granted a medical timeout that attracted the catcalls and whistles of the crowd, who felt that their man was being cheated out of his hard-earned momentum.
But Nadal would have all the momentum he needed as Nishikori, now playing points faster and with less patience than he had all week, missed back-to-back backhands long to enable Nadal to break for the set.
In the decider Nishikori, looking despondent and fatigued, played an ill-advised dropper that Nadal charged and converted for a winner on the first point of the set, and from there it was all over but the handshake.
At 3-0, Nishikori pulled the plug on what up until that point had been his breakthrough tournament—regardless, he will become Japan's first player to hold a spot in the ATP's top ten on Monday, and he also reached his first Masters 1000 final with a breathtaking display in yesterday's semifinal against David Ferrer that pushed his tour-best winning streak to 14 matches.
“But there is some, you know, good side, too,” said a disappointed Nishikori after the match. “There is a lot of confidence I get from this tournament, and beating David [Ferrer] yesterday three sets and playing good today in the final, too.”
Nadal, meanwhile, will celebrate his latest triumph with caution. He fought valiantly to overcome a shaky start in this his 90th career final, but the fact that he was so utterly outplayed by Nishikori for the first set and a half will likely make him even more driven to keep improving his game as the tour rounds the corner and heads into its final stop in Rome before Roland Garros.
Though it wasn't the perfect, dominant clay-court tennis that we've become accustomed to seeing from Nadal, the Spaniard can still take comfort in the fact that he pushed through some barriers to claim his third title of the year.
“There was some moments where, I don't know, I couldn't find myself,” Nadal admitted. “It wasn't that I didn't want to play or I was missing intensity, I was just mentally blocked. I had to go over that block.”
Nadal's victory this week in Madrid ensures that he will remain No. 1 regardless of what happens in Rome, but surely what will be of greater importance to Nadal is that he can continue racking up wins and building his confidence for the challenges that are sure to come at Roland Garros.