Was Wednesday’s Group B action at the O2 arena dramatic or torturous? Was it World Tour Final-worthy or just WTF?
Robin Soderling beat Novak Djokovic 7-6 (5), 6-1 in a match that started out testy and ended up tanky. I doubt Nole gave up on purpose, but he certainly didn’t look too happy to be on the court as the slammin’ Swede pounded his way into the WTF semifinals. Novak – who’s played more matches than anyone on tour this year – was about as patient on the court as a cabbie driving through a herd of goats at the end of a 14 hour shift.
“I didn’t enjoy playing today’s match, that’s for sure,” Djokovic told reporters afterwards.
Nole will face Rafael Nadal in his final round robin match, which he must win in order to advance to the semifinals. He doesn’t sound too motivated: “I don’t know. I will see. I’m very tired. It’s just fatigue of the whole year.”
Nadal vs. Djokovic will be an interesting match, psychologically, for both players. In some way it’s fitting that Rafa – who fell out of semifinal contention with his straight-set loss to Davydenko on Wednesday- could be Nole’s spoiler in the final tournament of the year. Rafa already spoiled the bulk of the season for the Serb by winning their epic battle at the Madrid Open this spring. Djokovic said recently that he suffered a “a little mental breakdown” after that match and has just recently recovered in time to salvage his season. Will Rafa give him a pass, saving whatever energy he still has for the Davis Cup finals next weekend? Or will he try to use this match to build up his flagging confidence?
Davydenko must be feeling good, recovering better than Nole did after their tough three-set battle on Monday and taking out the World No. 2 convincingly. As much as I enjoy a crisp tactical display from the fleet-footed Kolya, this match made me sad. Rafa was just so. . .gutted. The Tennis Channel commentators were joking that Rafa’s career was over, which added a dour tone to the broadcast.
Rafa admits that he’s far from his best right now: “I feel a little bit more tired on court than before probably because I didn’t have this continuation in this second half of the year. When I play a few tough points, I feel more tired to play the next ones. That’s very important in this sport. I don’t know how far I am from my best.”
Tags: ATP, Barclays World Tour finals, Davydenko, Djokovic, Nadal, Soderling, tennis
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FF, I feel strangely the same about the Rafa match. I am a Roger fan but I like the guy. In fact, I like Kolay too – his shot making was incredible yesterday and with this ability, I wonder had he been more resilient in his head, he should have been in some major finals. As for Rafa, he looks so…. listless. So frustrated. So… yeah, gutted.
The whole stadium was rooting for Rafa – probably feeling the same – that we are sad to see such a fierce competitor not being able to compete, a champion who is clearly struggling but couldn’t get out of this hole, a tall figure crumbling right before our eyes. I know how it feels, we all know how it feels – it’s like watching Roger in Australian Open and Miami this year.
I hope Rafa takes a good rest and regroup – I don’t want the Fedal rivalry to end yet!
As for le Sod – totally deserved his win and I think the crowd appreciates his performance as well. Did you guys see the post-match interview? He was asked “You haven’t beaten Djoker in the past 5 times and you beat him this time. What was the difference?” “No one beats me 6 times in a row. ” ***laughs**** didn’t know he has a dry sense of humour. I am really starting to like this guy (as long as Roger beats him 13/14/15… times in a row)!
Yes, Rafa’s in a slump. But so was Roger earlier this year, as you pointed out. The dire warnings and oh-mys were just as rampant then. My guess is Roger knows better than anyone what Rafa’s now going through: endless “your career is dead” hand-wringing from fans and snarking, know-it-all columnists. Rafa’s now what…23 years old? He’s fighting back in every match, with better scores in every successive final set (not folding out like poor Murray did with Roger, like poor Novak did with Soderling)? He’s clearly determined to comeback in 2010 – the winning attitude. So his career is dead? Pshaw…
i agree,dana,i believe rafa will be back,once he has rested,better than ever,but he does need to work on his serve n to have a game plan
totally agree w/ dana, liz, mak and LLKR. i need not say more.
I thought the commentators were pretty brutal about both Rafa and Kolya. Their comments about Rafa were a little shocking — the poor guy is coming back from a significant break. And has anyone played really well in this tournament, except Soderling? Evil Roger has shown up in both matches, Nole looked horrible out there yesterday, Murray crumbled when Roger recovered his form.
Speaking of Soderling, how did he get so charming and witty and appealing? Remember after Wimbledon ‘07, when he and Rafa had that big match and the commentators made it sound like he was some kind of troglodyte that only came out of his cave for tennis matches?
I believe Rafa is going through a rough spell and will come out of it. Of course we remember how Roger was treated in ‘08 and beginning of ‘09 – doom and gloom. And look what he has accomplished. Rafa will return in his own time.
Nadal showed big and promising signs of improvement in the second set. But Davy is a fantastic ball striker and, in fact, if he didn’t tend to choke in the big occasions and wasn’t in the Nadal Fed era, he would have probably won some slams.
Soderling has always been a funny guy. I thought his mocking of Nadal was pretty funny at the time, yet people reacted as if Nadal wasn’t a tennis player but a sacred icon who can’t be made fun of.
well,am not too fond of guys like sod n the djoker who make fun of others.thay should take the example of rafa n rog who are fantastic shows of sportsmanship
I wouldn’t worry much about Rafa, he will come back strongly. Or don’t we remember all the doom that surrounded Federer not so while ago? People are too eager and fast to dismiss a champion like Fed or Rafa when they’re not winning everything, sad. Anyway we knew the season was over for Rafa, it’s for he best.
I’m more concerned about Novak. He seemed so unmotivated and tired in his press conference after giving away his match against Soderling… it’s like there is no more fight in him. After winning Bercy and Paris I knew that he would put on the brakes, I mean he’s played more matches than anybody and still managed to win the last tournaments. I hope he passes to semis but if he doesn’t it will be fine, he just needs to play next season like he’s been playing lately and the future I bright for him. I hope we can see a good match against Rafa though. I think he just had a bad day against Sod.
it was hard to watch rafa struggling out there. he had moments of brilliance but he just doesn’t have the same intensity, power on his shots and his body language is more negative at times, which is unusual. i do hope he gets healthier, stronger and recovers mentally from a tough year. i’d love to see him back at his best. he’s such a good guy and the sport is better off when he’s playing well and mixing it up with the best!