Rafael Nadal kicked off his 2015 campaign with a doubles victory on Monday in Doha. He is now set to take the singles court on Tuesday against first-round opponent Michael Berrer.
Rafael Nadal will be going head-to-head against Michael Berrer for the third time in his career when the second-ranked Spaniard contests his opening singles match of the 2015 season at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open on Tuesday.
The two previous encounters did not end well for Berrer. Nadal cruised 6-2, 6-1 at the 2009 Indian Wells Masters and 6-0, 6-1 one year later in Monte-Carlo.
If there is any good news for the underdog, it’s that Nadal may be somewhat rusty after missing much of 2014’s second half due to a wrist injury and appendicitis. The 14-time Grand Slam champion at least got some match practice under his belt last week in Abu Dhabi and that exhibition included a 7-6(1), 6-3 win over Stan Wawrinka, but Nadal had previously been blown out by Andy Murray 6-2, 6-0.
Doha’s No. 2 seed also played doubles on Monday, when he teamed up with Juan Monaco to dominate a first-round match against Simone Bolelli and Leonardo Mayer 6-3, 6-3.
“(I’m) just happy to be in Doha again,” Nadal said. “(It’s a) new season, so for me it’s a new challenge and new motivation…. I hope to be ready to compete here, and then if I am able to spend some time on court, every moment on court will help me [and] will be positive for my future.”
As for Berrer, he qualified for the main draw with victories over Daniel Munoz-De La Nava, Kimmer Coppejans, and Matthias Bachinger. The 34-year-old German registers at 127th in the world after compiling a modest 3-6 record at the ATP level last season.
Pick: Nadal in 2 losing 5-7 games
[polldaddy poll=8562162]
Nadal is 0-2 in his last 2 matches against lefties
great to have Rafa and Joker in doubs…hope that trend continues!
The crowd got quite a treat. Rafa and Novak were on adjacent courts with basically just a fence between them. People in the stands, which were close to the courts, could easily see both matches. Those were good value tickets. Here’s a good view of what the crowd was able to see.
https://twitter.com/EspinosJorge/status/552248349747707904
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B6qmBEuIYAE4oZO.png
http://images2.fanpop.com/image/photos/12800000/VAMOS-RAFA-rafael-nadal-12893044-174-104.gif
1-0 Rafa
4-0 Nadal
5-0 Nadal
3-1 Berrer
looks like rafa is gona lose this. Not even a single live stream link working for me
epic choke in progress
http://www.yopika.tv/20150105/v-haha_sport_4_name-977633-54aa1304b0ce98.09798507.html
After beating Wawa I did not expect Rafa to lose to Berrer tbh, especially after winning the first set 61. I did not get to watch the match, How did Rafa look?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwkxfkD_jtA
Rafa tomorrow, on Wednesday:
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B6sDrgOIMAMzhzp.png
Vamos Rafa!
*Groan*
This does not make me happy at all:
RT @christophclarey: “In his last 6 official events, #Nadal has lost to Dustin Brown, Nick Kyrgios, Martin Klizan, Feli Lopez, Borna Coric & now Michael Berrer”
Please, tennis Gods, I want the old Rafa back asap!!
American journalists should worry about their own players,
(Christopher Clarey – Global Sports columnist New York Times)
Rafa can have a great practice in Doha with Juan Monaco, his doubles partner. They both are out of singles.
Rafael Nadal: “This is the sport, this is the life. I wanted to get two or three matches and then anything can happen. I didn’t. Now I will play doubles here and then practise hard for Australia. It is not perfect.”
Michael Berrer: “Let’s be honest, it was Rafa’s first match for a long time. Losing the first set 1-6, it was the same as the other times I’ve played him. Going for it was the only chance I had.” (via BBC)
“There is risk,” said Nadal. “You can see all the comebacks from a lot of players when they were injured from long time. The comebacks are tough; I’m not an exception.
“At the end, that’s the sport. I’m going to work hard to try to make it less tough as possible, but my motivation and my hunger to keep doing the things well [are] still the same. I am sure that I’m going to come back to my best. I hope to be soon.”
Yes, but… didn’t Rafa make an all-conquering comeback in 2013 after fully seven months out? Losing his last six ATP matches to nobodies does not bode well this time out. Looks like he is in full-on crisis management mode as regards his ageing body.
Worse, Rafa was looking to retain a non-clay title for the first-ever time, and now he has crashed badly at a minor event. He now has just three chances to do so (AO, Indian Wells, Miami) before turning 30. Bummer!
nice username
Rafa turns 29 in June 2015!!!
Exactly, and as he holds no non-clay titles right now, he needs to win any one of the three tournies mentioned this year AND retain it in 2016 if he is to achieve the feat before turning 30.
I’ll level with you: as a 14-time slam winner, Rafa may not feel the need to retain a non-clay title, ever. But it does skew his CV somewhat.
Let’s not kid ourselves here. Berrer hardly delivered the performance of a lifetime today. Nor did the also-rans who saw him off since RG 2014 (bar Kyrgios, who edged a good match when Rafa was firing on all cylinders, having promised us a good run at SW19 – such is life). Best of 5 is a different ball-game, so we can only hope that Rafa is not in decline right now in his life.
has he still never defended a hard court title?
forsureheisthefavouritecommanoquestionmark says:
January 6, 2015 at 9:21 pm
—-didn’t Rafa make an all-conquering comeback in 2013 after fully seven months out? Losing his last six ATP matches to nobodies does not bode well this time out—
He played today his FIRST comeback-match (not 6th)!
Oh, Augusta08, I want so much to believe that; but Rafa was leading the race to WTF until his 2012 hiatus. He came back with a clay final and two titles in S America, followed by stunning results at Indian Wells and then clay (bar Monte Carlo, where Novak brushed him aside – but even then he made the final). Indeed, only his Wimbledon disasters interrupted a steady run of success between Rome ’12 and U.S. ’13.
Today? Not nearly the same.
Maybe it’s best to let it go and wait to see what January brings. But the signs are not good, and no amount of discounting Rafa’s defeat to a 34-year-old can cover up the cracks.
forsureflkjsdkflshgdfghdfkbnblneroigeriogjewrg must not have seen that loss to Zeballos during that comeback.
I think I will change my name to lafterosingtorafaforthebillionthtimefederercomplainsaboutnadalsgruntingandtimeviolationsandthedarknottomentionhisbadback
that’d be a bold move
forsureheisthefavouritecommanoquestionmark says:
January 7, 2015 at 12:25 am
—Today? Not nearly the same—
Rafa stunned an AO champion some days ago!
Rafa loses his match on comeback from a long lay-off and this merits an undisguised chortle comment from a hater, why are we surprised? Ah well, it’s good for diversity on Tenngrand, no? Some Rafans were complaining this was too Rafa-centric a site so this is progress I guess.
Welcome, @whateveryournameis!
……So sorry Rafa will disappoint you though, very soon, when he regains his swashbuckling ways!
There is still Rafa’s Summer Set coming up in Melbourne including a 5 setter against Verdasco.
what?
Ricky,
This:
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B6s6ZZ4CcAA5laK.png
why are they playing best of 5?
Ricky (at 11:00),
I don’t know how many sets and how seriously they are going to play.
http://www.mopt.com.au/events/rafas-summer-set/
nadline said “a 5-setter”
just don’t read too much into the first matches Rafa plays. Even had they gone better they would still have only been the first matches after come-back and not much an indication of anything. If he plays weakly for several months, that’s a different story but let’s wait and see. So far Rafa has managed to surpass all kinds of expectations pretty much every year. I am not expecting anything close to a perfect year from anyone let alone Rafa even if uninjured in 2015 but if uninjured I expect him to again go beyond expectations in parts of the year.
Nadal stunned in first match of season by Berrer – What does it mean? – https://tenngrand.com/2015/01/07/nadal-stunned-in-first-match-of-season-by-berrer-what-does-it-mean/
Chloro says: January 7, 2015 at 2:16 am
+1
the match is scheduled to be a 5-setter. Rafa said it was in memory of their 5-set epic in 2009