Cheryl Murray

• Rafael Nadal, the clay court god

  2008-06-10 17:22:00
  

  Remember the good old days, when the big question in tennis was what precisely Roger Federer had to do to beat Nadal on clay? Journalists came out in droves, willing to offer the would-be Greatest of all Time advice. "Be aggressive, Roger. Yes. You MUST come in to net. That way, Nadal will be under pressure. And surely he can't keep making those glorious passing shots. NOBODY is that good." Well...actually....yeah, somebody IS that good.
  
  In some ways, reliving Sunday is awful. A final isn't supposed to be an all-out drubbing. Not when the opponent is Roger Federer and this was supposed to be his year. Not when the crowd so desperately wanted Federer to win that they applauded the first errors from Nadal. Not when it's a Grand Slam final. In addition, there is something vaguely disconcerting about watching Roger Federer completely dismantled. It is a sight the tennis world has not seen since he became The Federer in 2003. I have to wonder if this signifies something more dire than just a lost opportunity, but that discussion is for a different day. Because as much as some people would like to make Sunday about Federer; about how disappointed he must be, about how he played – about how he gave up in the third set - it is not.
  
  Like every good story, there are two perspectives, and Nadal's was every bit as wonderful as Federer's was terrible. Leading up to the French, there had been some speculation on the part of tennis experts that perhaps we had not yet seen the best Nadal is capable of on clay (insert little shiver here). Nadal answered that question with authority on Sunday. He stood out there like a warrior and faced down the second best player in the world on clay, a French crowd who was clearly against him, and history in the form of Bjorn Borg. And with all of that pressure weighing on his shoulders, he played the most perfect match I have ever witnessed.
  
  Over the course of three sets, he gifted seven unforced errors to Federer. Seven. To put that in perspective, that is roughly two errors per set. He served at 75% for the match and struck a mind-numbing 46 winners. In short, there is nothing Federer or anyone else could have done against him on that day. He showed once and for all what his best tennis on clay looks like – and it is so far beyond what anyone else is capable of, as to make a farce out of a highly anticipated final. Federer tried to follow the advice of the well-intentioned and came into the net. Nadal passed him at will. He tried to be patient, as Bjorn Borg suggested, and was pummeled at the baseline by Nadal's groundstrokes. He tried serving big, but saw all but a handful come back at him with interest.
  
  I'd say the question about what Federer can do against Nadal has also been answered. Soundly. If Nadal is playing his best, there is NOTHING he can do. Nadal's competition is now one of legend vs. legend. Is he better than Bjorn Borg? This debate, I imagine, will continue to rage on every April and May for as long as Nadal is dominant. Only time will tell what the answer will be, but I have an inkling that I already know the outcome.

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