Rafael Nadal is one win away from kicking off his 2014 campaign with another hard-court title, this one in Doha. A final roadblock on Saturday comes in the form of a red-hot Gael Monfils. Hasan Murad previews the action.
Heading into Saturday’s Qatar ExxonMobil Open final against Rafael Nadal, Gael Monfils is not likely lacking self-belief despite an inauspicious record of 2-8 in the head-to-head series. The simple reason is that both of Monfils’ wins over Nadal have come in this very tournament; one at the quarterfinal stage in 2009 and the other in the 2012 semis.
On top of this, the Frenchman is currently playing exquisitely well. His route to the final includes a resounding dismissal of defending Doha champion and countryman Richard Gasquet in the second round. Monfils showed even greater urgency in his comprehensive semifinal victory over Florian Mayer. Dominating his service games and winning exactly 50 percent of return points, the world No. 31 wrapped up the encounter 6-3, 6-2 in just 55 minutes.
In stark contrast, Nadal’s road to the final has been thorny. All of his matches have been competitive and the Spaniard has been struggling to consistently play at his best. Plagued by uncharacteristic errors in his groundstrokes, the top seed dropped his second set of the tournament in Friday’s semifinal against an inspired underdog, Peter Gojowczy. Still, Nadal ended the match on a positive note, finishing it 4-6, 6-2, 6-3. Following an even slower start to the week, Nadal has been building confidence with every victory and his ability to raise his level in key moments–arguably his biggest strength–has been with him all week.
Looking at the bigger picture, though, reveals totally different dynamics. Nadal has reached a 15th final in his last 18 tournaments and he is looking to capture a staggering 61st career ATP title. Conversely, Monfils will be attempting to hoist a fifth career winner’s trophy in his 16th final.
From a matchup perspective, Monfils undoubtedly has the nimbleness and firepower to trouble Nadal, especially if the favorite is still finding his form. As well as Monfils is playing, however, it will be tremendously difficult to counter Nadal’s ruthlessness and tactical acumen. Hence, despite the onerous challenge awaiting him, the 13-time Grand Slam champion should find a way to win his first title of the year.
Murad pick: Nadal in 2
Dimon pick: Nadal in 3
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NNY, chloro,
Borg had a 246-39 (86.3%) clay court record in his career…rafa now has a 293-21 (93.3%)… but we should remember that some of borg’s clay court matches were played on ‘green clay’ ,which was somewhat quicker than red clay . However, Rafa has far superior numbers now in every facet.
Rafa also had a ridiculous 83.7 % winning record in ALL matches he has played in his career… borg ended with 82.7%…roger is at 81.1% , djokovic is at 80.4%.
Chloro has given a really good point. Rafa’s winning % is not declining with age…he is just getting better and better lol. These stats should be given much more importance than they are actually given. I find the idea of measuring greatness merely by no.of grand slams very silly to be honest.
vamosrafa,
Thanks so much for the info on Borg. I did think that Rafa surpassed him, but wanted to be sure. That stats really are extraordinary, especially when you factor in that Borg walked away from the sport at the age of 25. Rafa is still playing.
I do agree that chloro made a great point about Rafa’s winning percentage not declining with age. That is quite extraordinary.
Good stuff! 🙂
yup…rafa’s numbers are incomparable esp when you factor in the ridiculous runs at MC,barcelona,rome… unearthly ! rafa also has 42 titles on clay at age 27..mind boggling ! borg has a staggering 30 titles…
to be fair to borg, he lost about 12-13 matches on clay in 1973 when he was just 17 i guess…rafa was a brilliant clay courter at age 17 in 2004 but injuries did not allow him to play a full year in 2004.. so borg’s 12 losses in that year affected his % but still, rafa’s 93.3% is beyond insane.
oh , and how can we forget rafa’s mastery of the biggest of them all -ROLAND GARROS !!
lastly, panatta was truly borg’s nemeis on clay as he beat borg 5 times on clay.. rafa even at 27 has not lost more than 2 matches to any single player (both nole and fed have two wins each)
^^^Nole has 3
I am sorry for the mistake… yes ,nole has 3 ! MC 2013, Rome 2011,Madrid 2011. Thanks for pointing out the mistake.