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4/5/08 10:35 PM | Ricky Dimon
Rafael Nadal and Nikolay Davydenko have taken drastically different paths through the Masters Series Miami draw, but nonetheless two of the world’s top four tennis players will meet on Sunday afternoon for the title. It will be the third career head-to-head meeting between Nadal and Davydenko, and the Spaniard holds a 2-0 advantage. Nadal emerged victorious in an early showdown at the 2006 Masters Cup (hard court) after dropping the first set, and he prevailed again at last year’s Masters Series Rome (clay), also 6-4 in the third.
Even though Nadal will be heavily favored, it should be yet another difficult contest because Davydenko has been heating up with every match in Miami. The Russian was one point from elimination in his first match with Ernests Gulbis before he rallied from a one-set deficit to survive in a third-set tiebreaker. Davydenko also lost opening frame in each of his next to matches against Simone Bolelli and Mario Ancic. Finally things were more routine in the quarterfinals, where Davydenko breezed past Janko Tipsarevic 6-2, 6-1. In the semifinals he met No. 6 Andy Roddick, who was coming off a monumental three-set win over Roger Federer. Roddick clearly could not sustain the same level, but Davydenko put on his most impressive performance of the fortnight and deserves all credit for his 7-5(5), 6-2 victory.
Nadal, contrastingly, has lost just one set en route his first Miami final since 2005, when he lost a two-set lead to Federer. In his first three matches, Nadal cruised past Benjamin Becker, Nicolas Kiefer, and Paul-Henri Mathieu, respectively. At that point James Blake looked to gain revenge for his loss to Nadal just two weeks ago in Indian Wells, and after the first set it looked like Blake was on his way. But Nadal steamrolled the American in sets two and three to reach the semifinal. On-fire Tomas Berdych offered some resistance early in that match, but the Czech double-faulted at 6-7 in the first-set tiebreaker and completely went away thereafter. In fairness to Berdych, Nadal was just brutally relentless throughout the last eight games of the match.
Both Davydenko and Nadal engaged in contrast of styles in their respective semifinal matchups, but baseline grinder vs. baseline grinder is the story of Sunday’s title bout. Neither player has a dominant serve, so it’s all going to come down to which man can seize the upper hand in groundstroke battles. Davydenko is so solid from the back of the court, but he is not a big person (just 5’10’’) so Nadal’s heavy topspin forehand could give him trouble. The Russian needs to play close to the baseline and take balls early like he did against Roddick. If Davydenko continues to play aggressively, he should give his opponent a significant test, but all in all expect Nadal to wear him down along with the Miami midday heat.
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Good job Nicky! Poor Rafa, he made wayyy too many errors. Nicky just looked so strong out there. Good thing clay season is around the corner.
Did you know that... Juan Monaco’s favorite film is Gladiator, starring Russell Crowe.
kaitepai, Sep 8, 2008 10:37 AM
mara2, Sep 8, 2008 7:00 AM
RafaNadalGirl20, Sep 8, 2008 6:50 AM
BernieEliza, Sep 8, 2008 5:47 AM
BernieEliza, Sep 8, 2008 5:42 AM
ed251137, Sep 8, 2008 10:34 AM
DdV, Sep 7, 2008 5:43 PM
DdV, Sep 7, 2008 5:36 PM
Did you know that... Ivo Karlovic and Joachim Johansson shares the record of most aces (51) in a match.
kaitepai, Sep 8, 2008 10:37 AM
mara2, Sep 8, 2008 7:00 AM
RafaNadalGirl20, Sep 8, 2008 6:50 AM
BernieEliza, Sep 8, 2008 5:47 AM
BernieEliza, Sep 8, 2008 5:42 AM
ed251137, Sep 8, 2008 10:34 AM
DdV, Sep 7, 2008 5:43 PM
DdV, Sep 7, 2008 5:36 PM
