Heroes and Zeros: Rafa’s Revenge, Holes in the Clay, and Serbia’s Triumph

By Chris Oddo

Photo Credit: Misha Japaridze/Associated Press

(April 23, 2012)—Heroes and Zeros is Tennis Now's weekly look at the brightest stars of the game—and the biggest flops. This week we take a look back at Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters and Fed Cup.

Hero: Rafael Nadal

 

For Rafael Nadal, a player who would probably already have thirteen Slams to his name had it not been for the obstinate Djokovician force that pulled him from his perch atop the tennis world, his true greatness might not lie in his myriad achievements, but rather his losses—and how he has responded to them over time.

 

Yesterday at Monte-Carlo Rafa’s greatness was in full flight, and I’m not just speaking of the otherworldly clay-court stylings that took him to an easy 6-3, 6-1 victory in the final. I’m talking about the patience and the humility that Nadal has had to embrace in order to give himself a chance to strike a blow against Djokovic. At any time over the last fifteen months he could have cowed, beat a Borgian retreat back to Mallorca, but Nadal never for a second stopped honoring the challenge that Djokovic presented to him.

 

Yes, Nadal was down at times, even forlorn. But deep down a part of him lusted for this new battle. Such is the way of true champions.

 

In Australia, Nadal displayed that champion’s mettle, even in defeat. He threw everything he had at Djokovic, trying to will himself to victory, only to fall painfully short in that epic final. It was a loss would have taken the swagger from most other players—but not Nadal.

 

Yesterday, sensing a huge opportunity to chisel away some of Djokovic’s armor, the Spaniard pounced. He was relentless, not caring for a second that Djokovic’s head was somewhere else, not worrying that the Serb didn’t have what he needed emotionally to hang with Nadal on clay in Monte-Carlo. This was a territorial battle for Nadal, and he showed his teeth, not his sympathy. He was ready to rumble, not ready to hand over the last vestiges of his still living, still breathing greatness.

 

As much as this match was about Djokovic’s lack of an emotional presence, it was equally about Nadal’s fire and sticktuitiveness. Nadal has suffered a lot in the last year and a half. In Djokovic he found a master that he never had, and he knew it deep down. Yet all this time, instead of crumbling, instead of feeling sorry for himself, he’s been gearing up for an ambush.

 

Yesterday, we got a glimpse of a true “vision quest.” It wasn’t the most entertaining match, but if you knew the back story, you’d know that this was one of the biggest—if not the biggest—wins of Nadal’s career.

 

At the very least, it’s gotten that 500-lb monkey off Nadal’s back; at the very most it could be the springboard that leads Nadal to further cement his prominence in the tennis pantheon.

 

 

Zero: Francesca Schiavone

 

Poor Francesca. She’s in every match. She’s still got that fire, that zest for life, that joie de vivre. But she can’t seem to buy a win. It’s gotten so bad that the usually reliable Fed Cup stalwart went 1-3 in Fed Cup action this year. This weekend in Ostrava, she was close at times in matches against Lucie Safarova and Petra Kvitova. But always, there was a sinking feeling that she’d find a way to lose in the end.

 

She did. She’s now 7-11 on the year and badly in need of some red clay beneath her feet…

 

 

Hero: Team Serbia

 

What took Serbia so long? It’s a good question, seeing how they’ve had two of the best players (Ana Ivanovic and Jelena Jankovic are both former No. 1’s and Grand Slam finalists) on their squad for the better part of the last decade. But it’s not of concern anymore for Serbia. After a thrilling weekend in Moscow, Serbia has reached its first Fed Cup final. Perhaps the occasion will also serve to lift the individual games of Jankovic and Ivanovic? We can only hope.

 

 

Zero: Monte-Carlo grounds crew

 

The change in surface was supposed to be a good thing for player health. Finally, they could get off those damning hard courts and all the stress they cause on the joints, due to the lack of cushion and the stopping and starting that they require.

 

But this week in Monte-Carlo we saw the ugly side of clay courts. Tiny inconsistencies in the surface beneath the crushed red brick dressing led to three ankle injuries. One French qualifier went down in the qualifiers, then Juan Monaco and Julien Bennetau went down, turning their ankles gruesomely in the back court while mid-slide.

 

All of this prompted Andy Murray to say “There’s holes everywhere,” while looking on from his chair as Benneteau was tended to.

 

Rafael Nadal mentioned that he was “scared” too. He said he had both ankles taped but he was still crossing his fingers. He proceeded to mention that “The guys who make the court, they have to look around.”

 

 

Hero: Gilles Simon

 

Tremendous effort for the Frenchman to reach his first Masters semifinal on clay and to not stop there—even faced with the challenge of trying to solve Nadal in the semis. Simon played brilliantly despite losing to Nadal in straight sets in that semifinal, in what was one of the most entertaining matches of the week.

 

 

Hero: The Bryan Brothers (and Micaela)

 

The Bryan Brothers nabbed their 20th Masters title, topping off a huge week in Monte-Carlo with their third title at the event. In the process they avenged their loss in the Australian Open final to Leander Paes and Radek Stepanek with a punishing 6-2, 6-0 quarterfinal victory.

 

After the final, their 77th career title, Bob brought his daughter Micaela out on court and let her camp out in the bowl-shaped champion’s trophy for a spell. We have a feeling that that there will be more trophy time for Micaela, both in the near and distant future.