After Novak Djokovic withdrew from the BNP Paribas Open, the draw was severely skewed in the top half’s favor.
Key point: was.
Daniil Medvedev and Rafael Nadal, the two best players in the world right (at least among those who actively participate in tournaments), were on a collision course for the semifinals instead of the final. But that is a semifinal that won’t end up happening after Medvedev went down to Gael Monfils 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 during third-round action on Monday afternoon.
Thus the door to another title for Nadal–who has won all three of his tournaments so far this season–has become even more open.
It also means that Djokovic will get back to No. 1 in the world next week.
“Definitely not pressure,” Medvedev responded when asked if the pressure of having to win to stay in the top spot was a factor. “I thought it could give me more motivation. I had motivation. It’s just that, yeah, as I say, I didn’t find my best tennis.
“Well, now I know I’m going to lose [the No. 1 ranking], so I have Miami to try to get it back. Usually feeling a little bit better in Miami in terms of tennis, so we’ll try to play good there…. Of course I want to be [in the No 1 spot] for a long time winning many slams, and yeah, you know, be there as many weeks as possible.”
Nadal knows a thing or two about that. He also knows quite a lot about winning matches at the Masters 1000 level. The 35-year-old earned his 400th career Masters Series win when he defeated Dan Evans 7-5, 6-3 on Monday. Nadal recovered from a 4-2 deficit in the opening set to get the job done in one hour and 43 minutes.
It was by no means a perfect performance by the Spaniard, but it was an improvement from his near-disaster against Sebastian Korda on Saturday.
“(I am) improving a little bit…. Yeah, (it was) a positive win for me, no? (I’m) happy to save that tough moment in the first set; then the things went a little bit better later.
“If you compare my level of today to the semifinals or the final of Australia, (it) is worse without a doubt. But what can happen after tomorrow? I can’t tell you. Can be bad, but at the same time can be very good…. When you are playing very well, you have one bad day, you can come back to the high level very soon. You never know what can happen.
“It was very important that I can win these first two matches without playing fantastic, but today was a little bit better than the first day.”
Medvedev is a one trick pony; move him away from the baseline and he is lost. With the variety in Monfils’s game it was easy for him to disorientate Medvedev. The only way Medvedev dominates is to get caught up in his baseline rallies. As that is really the sum total of his game, he’s got it down to a ‘t’ so he never misses he just wait for his opponent to miss.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FdSmZwwa_c
Tricky for rafa ..Opelka maybe okay..but kyrgios and alcaraz will be a handful…
Well now I am reading that Rafa may pull out of IW because of the foot.
If the foot really is causing him real trouble, should definitely pull out. I am sure they are weighing this very closely and don’t to jeopardize his fitness ahead of the clay court season. He ain’t losing in Paris as long as he is fit!
Having a day off helps. I think he’ll get another day off if he wins his next match and then gets to play back to back days?
Battle against Opelka shouldn’t be tough physically.
VR,
So you think he might be able to continue? There is a bit of a debate on VB about it. One person says Rafa is insane to keep playing. He has been very vocal about wanting Rafa to pull out.
I don’t know what to think.
Reading where ? He just won today
If he has problems why is he playing?
I haven’t actually seen any of IW but obviously I think he should be prioritising RG.
Where did you read? yes he is playing cautious
This tweet was put out yesterday to quell the speculation. His foot has never been 100% OK all his career and I don’t think it’s any worse now than it’s ever been.
https://twitter.com/CroniSport/status/1503321643824914436?s=20&t=Fw81YioIY-qehMZBogo64w
Google Translation:
Rafa Nadal DID train yesterday, and will play his third round match against Daniel Evans tonight.
It’s not 100%, but that’s not new. It’s never 100%. He did not come out more lame than in other games.
10:46 AM · Mar 14, 2022·
My sister texted me an article from firstsportz.com
Whoa!!! I really don’t know what to say about this one! I know I did c Rafa favouring his left foot the other night. I am not going to doubt his decision to play or not to play, I believe that he knows what’s best. I just wish he is healthy for RG but I know he now will be entering the tournament with the speculation over his head, sigh!