Roger Federer beat Rafael Nadal for the first time in their last six meetings and in doing so defended his Swiss Indoors Basel title. Federer prevailed 6-3, 5-7, 6-3 after two hours and two minutes for his seventh Basel triumph.
With a 10-23 lifetime record against his nemesis and playing at home in Switzerland for the first time in the rivalry’s illustrious history, Federer needed a win in the worst way. He came out playing like it, breaking in the fifth game and at love in the ninth game to seize set one in style. The 34-year-old consolidated his initial break with some especially impressive stuff on a break point at 3-2.
Federer saves break point with an amazing forehand pass:
[tweet https://twitter.com/TennisTV/status/660822054137176064]
Nadal finally earned a break of his own at 5-5 in the second. It proved to be enough for the third-seeded Spaniard to force a decider, as he promptly delivered a love hold one game later.
Much to the delight of the pro-Federer crowd, the 17-time Grand Slam champion regained control in set three. Despite missing a break chance at 2-1, he struck decisively at 4-3. Nadal set a backhand well long on break point before Federer survived a deuce game at 5-3 to clinch victory.
The top seed used his SABR tactic three times, succeeding only once.
Federer’s first SABR attempt ends badly:
Highlights:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QcvwGL-XUwA]
“My fourth time here, finally I get to the finals–so I’m very happy for that,” Nadal said during the trophy ceremony. “Very emotional week; all the matches…a lot of fight. I believe that it’s been a very important week for me, for this year and for the future.”
Both players will now head to the Paris Masters for the last tournament of the proverbial regular season (before the eight-man World Tour Finals). Federer awaits either Andreas Seppi or Pablo Cuevas, while Nadal could open against Lukas Rosol.
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Without intention to drag this discussion into further debates I would like to clarify what I meant by “aging”…Rafa’s game has deteriorated over the years…it certainly did not happen overnight as some of you are saying…he lost continuity due to his constant injuries and to his style of play which had always been very demanding on his body and soul and therefore left some scars…Rafa peaked earlier than Novak and had to battle Fed who was at his best…and then with Nole of 2011…all those grueling matches took a toll on his body…that is what is meant by “aging”…
And in regard to comparing Rafa to Rafa: I agree Rafa of 2008 and Rafa of 2013 have a lot of different features that make our boy the supreme and outstanding tennis player and also physical and tennis wise advantages and disadvantages… But Rafa of 2008 IMO was brilliant in every aspect…he was fast, he was powerful and yes he played stunning tennis! It was a true rhapsody of tennis! One shouldn’t observe this narrowly only focusing on Rafa’s 2008 RG conquest (his natural environment!) where he allowed the likes of Verdasco and Almagro, the typical clay court players, only 3 games per match…and where he humiliated Fed in the final without even breaking a sweat allowing him 4 games…You should go further than that…Rafa of 2008 won Wimbledon beating 100% Fed, at his favorite surface where he had already been established as the legend! That is the feature of 2008 Rafa! And he certainly wouldn’t have been able to do it without strong serve, good court positioning, great BH and FH…Rafa was so much younger back then and less experienced and therefore you cannot claim he was mentally stronger than in 2013…but his tennis was magnificent!
Rafa of today may certainly be a more complete player as he has developed certain aspects of his game…Rafa has constantly improved his tennis…but Rafa of 2015 not only has to fight the opponents but he has to deal with injuries and the fear of injuries on the body that has had a lot of it throughout his career…those are his main enemies…it exhausts him physically and mentally…both Novak and Fed are so lucky not to be injury prone…this is mainly why Rafa will have to alter his game to some extent, and that is what he is trying and will do!
Well I have to just agree to disagree that it wasn’t sudden.
He played at or near his peak from beginning of 2013 until the AO final of 2014 with the back injury. He was not close to the same player since. Yes because of injury but that doesn’t explain it all as he has had plenty of time to recover physically but other than on Sunday against Fed, he’s just been marginally better than he was in his first tournament back after the AO 14 final.
Look at Ferrer, He played his career best tennis after 30 and that guy just grinds.
Rafa’s problem, as only he can know and has said repeatedly, is a mental problem and directly related to confidence and anxiety.
I believe him 100%.
I agree about the 2008 Rafa. It’s not just the speed and power, but the energy, the relentlessness, the confidence and mental fortitude, the unwavering mental focus(his level hardly dipped during matches) and his clutch handling of BPs/SPs/MPs. His FH may have improved now, his net game and volleying may have improved now but I feel his BH has gone backwards, his serve (with the exception at USO2010/2013) and returns too have deteriorated. The most frustrating thing is he’s not coming forward more often when he has the skills and abilities to do so, but prefers to grind from behind the baseline more often than not.
I don’t know if nats and I are in agreement or not when it comes to Rafa aging. I believe that Rafa is going through this stage of gradual diminishing of skills. Just because he had a mental crisis of confidence this year, does not mean that he isn’t being affected by getting older. He will be thirty in just over half a year. Little by little, things happen. This is separate from the confidence issue this year. But it is happening and will continue because it’s inevitable. Rafa is human. He is not immune to aging in this sport. I am sure he will find ways to compensate for some of this and still be able to be competitive.
So many talked about Fed being in decline. Are we really trying to say that it won’t happen to Rafa? That is simply not the case.
Moved to Rafa’s page…
https://tenngrand.com/social/player-pages/rafael-nadal/rafael-nadal-2015/comment-page-23/#comment-225026