Nadal defeats Federer in classic

(4)Rafael Nadal defeats (5)Roger Federer 5-7, 6-4, 6-3, Cincinnati Quarter-finals

With Federer’s career on the rocks and Nadal’s recent hard court rejuvenation, predictions were rife that Nadal versus Federer part 31 was going to be as painful as the Italian final had been for Roger Federer fans, and neutrals.

Federer was having none of it. Cincinnati has brought the best out of him no less than five times in his career and the fast courts, perhaps the fastest of the tour’s outdoor hard tournaments, are where his game shines. And shine it did. The serve, net game, and most strikingly, the forehand, and there have not been many shots better struck than that one, was at its best. In the battle of the forehands, it was Federer who performed the better in the first set. And the backhand was on form, too. A signature single-handed backhand down the line winner hit from a flying Federer mid-court punctuated the end of the set, an exclamatory reminder of what the Swiss could conjure up on fast hard courts.

Federer did not let up in the second. Playing the aggressive tennis necessary to beat a man who has proven time and time again he has the better of him from the back of the court, the Swiss did his bit, winning his service games and moving towards a second tiebreak where his more frequent and successful attempts at the net might prove to be the decider.

At 4-5 and serving though an all too familiar narrative was woven onto the court. Federer was volleying and moving forward, doing all he could to keep the Spaniard at bay, to lead 40-30 but a missed forehand from mid-court allowed Nadal back into the game. Nadal put the pressure he applies so well and liberally onto Federer, tearing into his ground strokes with pace and applying angle to force errors. Federer responded by continuing to go for his shots, the only chance he had to finish the match off in straights. But it was a case of hit and miss as Nadal’s liberally applied pressure earned him a set point. Federer saved the first one with a smash but a shanked forehand from the Swiss gave Nadal another chance. This time the Spaniard did what he does better than anyone against Federer. He attacked the backhand and once the short ball came his way he crushed it with a forehand to take the set 6-4.

The writing was on the wall, in bold and capitalized. By the time Nadal led 3-0 in the third his forehand winners had overtaken Federer’s 13-12 and the highest number on the winners-errors statistics sheet was 16 backhand errors for Federer. Nadal’s serving percentage had risen too, to 73%, while Federer’s had fallen to 63. Serving for the match at 5-3, Nadal did face some final resistance from the Federer forehand, some blistering ones struck down the line to save match points 2, 3, and 4 but a forehand error donated match point 5. The Spaniard hit the ball deep and early, robbing Federer off any timing on his forehand, and then, when the opportunity came his way, Nadal struck into a forehand winner down the line, and claimed his 21st victory over the Swiss.

Nadal will face Tomas Berdych in the final. The Czech beat Andy Murray 6-3, 6-4, his fifth career win over the reigning US Open and Wimbledon Champion in nine meetings. It was one of those clean hitting, aggressive performances that the Czech man delivers now and then. The kind in which he makes the basic principles of hard court tennis look so deliciously simple and enticing that were you watching for the first time you would ask for seconds and thirds and tennis fandom had gobbled you up. It was the kind of match you would very much like the Czech to follow up with another win and then another all the way to fulfilling his potential by raising the US Open trophy. Against Nadal, a man who he has beaten only 3 times in 17 meetings, he will have his work cut out but if he can get a high first percentage, move forward, strike the ball cleanly and keep away from Nadal’s forehand, he could get the win. Against a man in the current form of Nadal, nothing less than perfection will do.