Rafael Nadal doesn’t want to look that far ahead just yet, but, with so many from the supporting cast already out of the tournament, there is a real possibility an old rivalry with Roger Federer may be joined in the final of the Sony Ericsson Open next Sunday.
Nadal has not played the world No. 1 since Federer surprised by beating him on clay in the Madrid final last May, but both men are starting to look as if the final may be within their reach.
Nadal came through a tough examination of his game on a cloudy afternoon when he beat David Nalbandian, 6-7, 6-2, 6-2. The score does not reflect how well the Argentine played in the early stages of the match, especially in a dramatic tiebreak that he took 10-8 on his third set point after Nadal had missed one at 6-5.
In his improving but still erratic English, Rafa was in full flow at his news conference.
“When you go on court against one player with this talent, you are always a little bit scared,” he said. “I started the match really good, but he has the break back and in the tiebreak I have 5-4 and I did amazing double fault by two meters.”
The grin is broad, and you have to love Nadal’s descriptions. His mistakes are always amazing, but he never tries to play them down.
“After that, you know, the match was close,” he continued. “But I think having a long first set was better for me than for him, no?”
Absolutely, because Nalbandian was out of the game for nine months last year after hip surgery and has dropped from the top 100 in the ATP rankings for the first time since July 2001 as a result. He was a top 10 player from 2003 to 2007, and — as Federer, who has lost to him eight times in 18 matches, will confirm — the 28-year-old is one of the most accomplished all-around players in the game.
“He is very complete player,” Nadal said. “He (has) talent, no? He can play very easy. He can make difficult things very easy. Anyway, I’m very happy to see him back after important surgery. He is a close friend of mine.”
Having been out of the game so long played against Nalbandian here and, as forehand after forehand found the net in the closing games of the match, it was clear he had run out of steam.
“I felt he was a little more tired than me,” Nadal said. “He started to have more mistakes, and it was a little bit easier for me to play.”
Later, Nadal addressed the fact that everyone has become accustomed to the top four reaching the later rounds of a tournament, which, with early defeats for Federer, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray at Indian Wells and the latter two again here, has gone against the norm.
“We are in a moment of tennis, the last few years, that the top players are unusual,” he said. “They never lose in first rounds, no? That’s very difficult to do all the time. Seems like when one time it happens, everyone is surprised. But you don’t know how tough it is to be mentally ready all the time and playing well enough all the time. Because every match is decided for a few moments, and if you are not 100 percent and you have a little bit bad luck in the draw, you can go out very soon.”
But, for the moment, both Nadal, who meets fellow Spaniard David Ferrer — twice a semifinalist here — in the fourth round, and Federer, who will play his second match against Frenchman Florent Serra tomorrow, are still going strong. Their fans, not to mention the number crunchers at CBS, will be hoping the dream final materializes.
There is the possibility of a fascinating semifinal in the women’s draw. Both Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin, the Belgians on the comeback trail, won Sunday, and are both on the same side of the draw.
Clijsters, who overwhelmed Israel’s Shahar Peer, 6-0, 6-1, said she had been practicing hard since losing early at Indian Wells and has been able to start playing freely again, “with a loose arm.”
Kim added: “It’s a nice feeling to have — that feeling when your brain and your arm are kind of connecting, you know.”
Henin has always seemed fairly connected with her compact, classic strokes allowing that lovely free flow on her beautiful backhand, and she was always in control against Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia, winning 6-4, 6-4.
Not so Caroline Wozniacki, the U.S. Open finalist who has moved up to No. 2 in the world. The 19-year-old Dane wasn’t feeling too well at the start of her match against the improving Russian Maria Kirilenko and lost the first set, 6-1. She rallied to take the second by the same score, but the third was tight. Wozniacki was broken when serving for the match at 5-3 and showed her frustration by throwing her racket into the net. But an athletic smash and a great forehand cross-court winner took her through to the last 16 by 1-6, 6-1, 6-4.
