Novak Djokovic exacts a measure of revenge for recent losses to Rafael Nadal by winning another Beijing title on Sunday. Both players now head to Shanghai for the second to last Masters event of the year.
Something had to give when Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal squared off for the 38th time in their careers on Sunday in the China Open final. After all, Djokovic had never lost at this event (18-0) and Nadal had not dropped a single match on hard courts in 2013 (26-0).
Finally, it was Nadal who gave out. Showing a few signs of wear and tear in the latter stages of an incredible year, the second-seeded Spaniard went down to Djokovic 6-3, 6-4 in one hour and 27 minutes. Djokovic turned in a dominant service display, losing a mere six points in 10 games without facing a single break point.
The Serb was similarly ruthless with his baseline game. Nadal found some success with his first serve, but any time his second delivery led to a rally from the back of the court it was bad news for the reigning U.S. Open champion. He won a mere 33 percent of the points when required to hit a second serve.
“I didn’t see the way to stop him this afternoon,” Nadal said of Djokovic. “He was too strong for me. I didn’t play my best match, but he played at a very high level with his serve.”
“I managed to stay tough and not drop my concentration,” explained Djokovic, “which I think [happened] in both Montreal and at the U.S. Open the important moments. I learned my lesson. It was a few very tough and close matches that I lost against Rafa on hard courts, especially the last one in the U.S. Open final.”
On the bright side for Nadal, who still owns a 65-4 record for the season, he will become No. 1 in the world again on Monday. He could also get another shot at Djokovic next week, when the tour remains in Asia for the Shanghai Rolex Masters.
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“It was a few very tough and close matches that I lost against Rafa on hard courts, especially the last one in the U.S. Open final.”
Now we know, Djoker’s as delusional as his fans. You were bread-sticked in the 4th set, US Open, Djoker, how is that even “close”?
And you’re not going to hear any Rafan say this Beijing loss was “close” for Rafa…….
Jeez, some people really have an interesting relationship with reality………..
He was in control today. Nobody would argue with that. But to say the USO was close takes a leap of the imagination on his part: shades of the classic FO 2006 ‘I was in control’ interview with Brad Gilbert which I put up recently.
Well, If his reaction to his MC win over Rafa is anything to go by, he will carry the same hubris going into AO 2014 a la the FO 2013, I’ll take it………………..
Tbh, I do not expect Rafa to beat Novak if they meet in Shanghai or WTF simply because, as Rafa says, the ball stays so low, too low for him to generate any meaningful spin. AO conditions are different and Rafa will be rested, so……………………
The US Open final was not close if you only watched only the 4th set, which is clearly the only set you’ve watched.
^^Welcome, Nole fan! Congratulations on Nole’s win today!
US Open? Was that the Slam Rafa just won, beating Novak? Okay then, let’s say Novak lost marginally, if that makes you feel better………..
#DoingTheMagnanimous
If you lose in 4 sets by no stretch of the imagination is it close, especially if you were served a bread stick as well.
2nd and 3rd sets were close. 1st and 4th were just 1 sided.
RT @TennisReporters: “Watching Djokovic’s 63 64 win over Nadal in Beijing. As he said, he needed win. Rafa not so much. Good to see ND not having post USO blues”
This is a tennis journalist, so objective, not:
RT @Ringham7: “Congrats to @DjokerNole for inflicting 1st hardcourt defeat of season on Nadal. Djoko should go into 02 as favourite for ATP finals title”
They all hate Rafa for putting the lie to their anointed GOAT………
@nadline 5:42pm, there is this Fedfan who runs a virulent anti-Rafa blog called ruansfedererblog. I find it truly hilarious and read it now and again. He has just posted a piece, where I think he nails Novak’s predicament:
“So it comes down to the Djokodal final in Beijing which we expected from the start. With Murray injured no one is currently close to these two. As I said at the beginning of the event, I think it’s important for Djokovic to win or else the rivalry will become too one-sided again. But at the same time I find myself wondering whether winning would give him a false sense of security. I feel like Nadal has figured him out and is in his head right now.
He has to make an adjustment just like Nadal made an adjustment when Djokovic was owning him. And that adjustment is of course his ability to finish the point at the net. He should have realized that he needs to make an adjustment already, but my fear is if he beats Nadal in Beijing where he has never lost before it may cause him to believe that he is back in the rivalry and that he doesn’t need to change anything. Then when they meet again in a really important match Nadal could make him pay again.”
http://thetennisanalyst.blogspot.com/2013/10/nadal-reclaims-no1-ranking-to-face.html
This sums up why I am not overly-concerned about today’s loss, and this explains why Rafa was pretty sanguine about it too post loss…………….
Congrats to Novak’s fans for the win.
And to all of us Rafa fans, let’s rejoice at the sight of the new world number 1 = Rafael Nadal Parera 😉 !!!!!
Summary of how Beijing was won/lost by Novak and Rafa respectively, part 1:
https://twitter.com/juanjo_sports/status/387079986303078400/photo/1
Part two:
https://twitter.com/juanjo_sports/status/387080093136191488/photo/1
thanks for sharing this RITB
@vamosrafa, you might also like Juan Jose’s complete analysis of the Beijing final:
http://goo.gl/Ux2PZN
Makes a pretty compelling case. Guess he saw what I saw: Novak won convincingly but nothing to reach for the panic button for, for Rafa. Rafa is the best at self-analysis out there, he will make the necessary adjustments. Maybe not here in Shanghai or the remainder of the season either but come AO 2014 Rafa will be ready!
Jeeezzz
Bodo’s latest offering is particularly waspish – even by his standards.
–Nadal’s future may not be quite as bright as his partisans hope, and Djokovic’s not nearly as bleak as it may seem. The coda written by Djokovic in his farewell to Beijing is “to be continued” –
Has anyone else clocked just how many column inches are devoted to Federer on the ATP site at the moment. No less than 3 out of 8 news items on Monday featured him in the headlines and images of him are plastered everywhere. Also he was invited to a Gala Dinner for the Greatest Of All Time held in Shanghai while Rafa and Nole were still in Beijing. What was that all about?
#SpinDoctorsWorkingOvertime
^^^I posted a tweet about the GOAT gala earlier and wondered as much. Pretty curious. I mean, it’s one thing for fans to engage in some GOAT banter but for a tournament to host a GOAT gala? Very, very curious. Even a lot a the Fedbot sites are embarrassed about it because none have latched onto it and made a meal of it!
That’s exactly how Nole was lulled into a false sense of security after he beat Rafa in MC, thinking RG was his for the taking.
They are making a BIG BIG thing about Roger winning a 1st rnd doubles match against doubles nobodies. Just shows that he’s got nothing to say on the singles front.
i’m still trying to figure out how they broke Tursunov and Anderson so many times.
Anderson’s serve is big, so is Tursunov’s, and Tursunov is actually a good doubles player. After all, he once won a doubles title with GULBIS. That’s all you need to know.
ed
October 8, 2013 at 3:04 am
So, according to Bodo’s logic, it might be better to actually not win anything and thus Nadal’s future might seem more optimistic…..
I don’t know about some random dude’s logic. It seems to me some people just need to find reasons to play victim in order to defend their man. Since there are no Rafa-haters here to argue with, many have had to seek out other websites to come here and complain about them.
we could use some Rafa-haters around this joint.
Totally agree, Ricky! Spice things up…….
it will happen. this site is still young, but off to a good start thanks to the enthusiasm of all of you!
Yes, Bodo is a Rafa hater.
so long as they are nice and polite about it 😉
Ricky,
Must you encourage them? Why not just say we could use some different points of view, maybe from fans of other players or those who aren’t huge fans of Rafa.
Speaking for myself, I am not about to get on that merry-go-round again with haters and trolls. I don’t need to read that garbage. I am talking about those on TT who preached hate about people who were regular posters on that site.
same thing
‘Rafa hater’ is just a generic term.
Yes, TG could do with some debate, it’s boring when everyone has to be nice to each other. It’s good to be able to say what you really think and defend it. I will always defend Rafa against anyone who disses him and that includes some of his own fans, and they should be prepared to defend their stance not get upset because someone thinks they are turncoats.
Turncoat my foot.
Oh please! I am now officially very afraid! NOT!
For the record, I have absolutely no problem defending my stance anywhere, anytime, any place!
I don’t need any other Rafa fan questioning my loyalty or support for him. I get to say what I think and if someone can’t handle anyone having a different point of view, then that’s their problem.
haha..strongly supporting rafa is one thing and completely ignoring reality is another …for me there is a clear difference
vamosrafa,
Thank you! It gets to a point where I feel that if I don’t say every time that Rafa will unquestionably, inevitably, absolutely predict that he will win, then I am supposedly a disloyal Rafa fan.
From what I have seen of Rafa, I don’t think he would appreciate anyone trying to trash or criticize any of his fans for not worshiping in someone else’s accepted fashion.
I will call it as I see it when Rafa plays. If he’s not playing well I am certainly not going to sugarcoat it or feel that making such an observation is somehow inappropriate. Rafa is honest about his game and his fans should follow suit.
I am now watching the Delpo/Kohls match. Kohls has come out on fire. He was up 3-0 at one point with an early break of serve against Delpo. Now it’s 4-2 Kohls. As I said previously, Kohls has given Delpo some tough matches. He has never won, but has put up a good fight.
I’m with NNY on this:
Argument/discussion/analysis about players’ technique/match strategy/schedule i.e all things tennis related plus friendly banter = YES 🙂
Unending spiteful, personal attacks on posters and players = NO 🙁
BTW Am liking this site v. much too. Long may it continue just the way it is.
Am v. sad though, Andy going down to 4 in the rankings. Boo. Usually did well at this time of year too. 🙁
It would also be nice, and I believe it is common courtesy, if posters could directly address those posters they have a beef with. Euphemistically talking about someone as if they are not there, or are not listening, is crass, rude and downright cheap.
We can be courteous to one another, even when we “violently” disasgree.
I am well aware of to whom the remark was addressed 😉