Nadal downs Djokovic, set for semis
Nov. 25: Rafael Nadal is on course for a place in the semi-finals of the ATP World Tour Finals after producing a masterful display to beat Novak Djokovic 7-5, 6-2 on Wednesday.
Nadal was pushed hard by Djokovic in the first set at London’s O2 Arena, but the world number one had all the answers and eventually crushed the Serbian third seed with a ruthless display of power hitting. A victory over Tomas Berdych on Friday will guarantee the Spaniard a spot in the last four and he could even qualify from Group A without winning depending on the result of Djokovic’s match against Andy Roddick.
Berdych’s win against Roddick earlier on Wednesday meant Djokovic could have sealed his semifinal place if he had beaten Nadal, but now he has to defeat the American to keep his challenge alive.
Djokovic had been hampered by an eye problem from late in the first set and he said: “I’m just really annoyed by the fact that something like this can affect the match. It did because my right eye got irritated and from the five-all I could not see a ball, especially the return. It was just terrible,” Djokovic said. “I don’t want to find any excuses for my loss, but the fact of the matter is that I just could not play. I needed some time to make it right, but I didn’t have time,” the Serbian said.
“I really feel sick talking about it to be honest because it’s just incredible that this happened to me. It never happened to me in my life,” he added. Nadal’s delight at the victory was tempered by a disagreement with the umpire over the length of time he was taking between points.
“The umpire told me I had to go faster between points but I think the medical timeout is three minutes, not seven, like when he (Djokovic) went for treatment,” Nadal said. After five weeks off to rest a shoulder injury, Nadal took a while to find his rhythm in a three-set win over Roddick on Monday. Here, he was magnificent from the start. Djokovic rescued two break points in the fifth game but Nadal, unleashing his top-spun forehands with trademark venom, kept on coming and broke for a 3-2 lead when a duel at the net ended with the Serb unable to respond to a penetrating volley.
Despite that setback, Djokovic had no intention of backing down from Nadal’s onslaught and a blistering backhand winner brought up two break points. He took the first to level the set when Nadal lashed a forehand well wide.
Nadal responded by earning two more break points, only for Djokovic to come up with a perfect winner to save the first before the Spaniard’s miscue wasted the second.
Djokovic called for a medical time-out at 4-4 to deal with a problem with a contact lens. He returned but was still troubled by the eye when his serve deserted him at 5-5 — a double fault giving Nadal a break point which he converted when Djokovic sent a forehand long.
Djokovic had two break points as Nadal faltered in the next game, but the Serb couldn’t take either and the world number one finally closed out a gripping 75-minute set. Djokovic needed more eye treatment in the change-over and the Spaniard showed no mercy as he broke to love in the opening game of the second set. That was the decisive moment. Djokovic looked completely out of sorts now and Nadal took full advantage to break again for a 3-0 lead. There was no way back from that and Nadal quickly closed out an impressive win.
Meanwhile, in the men’s doubles category Leander Paes and Lukas Dlouhy lost to top seeds Bob and Mike Bryan 3-6, 4-6 on Thursday.
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