As expected, Rafael Nadal made mostly routine work of his relatively soft quarter at Roland Garros. That could change during championship weekend, when his path to the title begins with Juan Martin Del Potro and potentially ends with Dominic Thiem.
Nadal and Del Potro will be facing each other for the 15th time in their careers when they clash in the French Open semifinals on Friday. The head-to-head series stands at 9-5 in favor of the Spaniard, who has gone up against Del Potro only twice on clay and predictably won both of those meetings (7-5, 6-3, 6-2 at the 2007 French Open and 1-6, 6-4, 6-1, 7-6(0) with home-court advantage in the 2011 Davis Cup final). Del Potro had been on a two-match winning streak at Nadal’s expense before falling 4-6, 6-0, 6-3, 6-2 in the 2017 U.S. Open semis.
The Argentine’s second appearance in the Roland Garros semis looked far from a sure thing prior to the beginning of this fortnight, and not just because clay a less favorable surface for him than a hard court. Following a brilliant hard-court stretch with titles in Acapulco and Indian Wells plus a semifinal showing in Miami, Del Potro retired from a Rome third-round match against David Goffin due to a groin injury.
Simply showing up in Paris was in doubt for the 2009 U.S. Open champion, and things did not look good when he dropped his opening set 6-1 to Nicolas Mahut. But it all turned around for Del Potro thereafter, as he made his way through the second section of the bracket by beating Mahut, Julien Benneteau, Albert Ramos-Vinolas, John Isner, and Marin Cilic.
The world No. 6 has dropped two sets (the other to Cilic on Thursday), while Nadal donated his first to Diego Schwartzman early in their quarterfinal on Wednesday. An overnight rain delay allowed the 10-time champion to regroup, and he did just that–roaring back for a 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 victory. Nadal preceded that results with wins over Simone Bolelli, Guido Pella, Richard Gasquet, and Maximilian Marterer while improving to 24-1 on clay in 2018 and 84-2 lifetime at the French Open.
“He’s lefty and [as I said] before my match against Ramos, a lefty player has advantage with me because he can find easily my backhand and he knows what my backhand is at the moment,” Del Potro explained. “But anyways, I will try to do my best–to play my best tennis and see if I can do a good match. I have nothing to lose tomorrow. We’ll see what can I do against the King of Clay.”
The fifth seed needed to play three full sets against Cilic on Thursday, so his his tank may not be completely on full for this one. At least for a while, though, that may not terrible thing for Del Potro because he will be forced to implement the correct strategy against Nadal: serve big, hit aggressive second-serve returns, and go for huge, high-risk shots early in rallies.
That may pay off briefly for a red-hot underdog, but a best-of-five situation on clay against Nadal is likely too tough of a task–especially with zero days off.
Pick: Nadal in 4
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True indeed, Rafa showing some varieties in this match and improvements in his game on clay. Execution of his game plan was extraordinary. Even Delpo’s hard hitting couldn’t shake Rafa’s precision. I hope he does the same against Thiem…
Vamos Champ!
Rafa was so confident of his form today that nothing phased him. He actually stopped the umpire from checking the line on a first serve then went on to win the point with his 2nd serve in style. I was very nervous about the number of breakpoints Rafa had to save in the first set but was left astounded by the clutch tennis he played every time with fearless precision.
I hope he brings the same form in the final because Thiem will be supercharged – so much on the line for him that could change his life forever.
Delpo’s press conference
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3VATMk1ZFg
Somehow I feel bad for Delpo. He is such a nice and sensitive guy. And he fought back so hard from brink of retirement. And look where he is right now. No. 4 of the world! And yet – whenever he had a good slam run, one of the Big Four usually ended his journey. Why can he never go all the way? On clay or grass I’d say that Rafa or Roger are simply too good. But on hardcourt he should be able to make it once in a while, like in Indian Wells. Why does it never happen at the slams? The semis seem to be an insourmountable hurdle for Delpo. Could there be physical issues which are more pronounced at the slams since they go over two weeks and best-of-five? There always seems to be something the matter with Delpo…
It’s not only Delpo, the other guys were also stopped by members of the big four. Cilic beat Rafa in the QF of AO and then lost to Fed in the final. Delpo himself beat Fed in the QF of USO llast year and then lost to Rafa in the SF.
Raonic beat Fed in the SF of Wimbledon and then lost to Murray in the final; Thiem beat Djoko in the QF of FO last year but lost to Rafa in the SF, Dimi beat Murray in QF at Wimbledon one year and then lost to Djoko in the SF,….
It would arguably be the greatest upset of all-time if Thiem somehow managed to win the final. Nobody has ever even come close to beating Rafa in a RG final. Especially given how extraordinary of a beatdown Rafa gave Thiem last year. And how truly unplayable Rafa was was in the RG final last year.
I mean, there’s always a slight chance that Thiem could make me eat my words, but I really do wonder if it is even actually possible for Rafa to be beaten in a best-of-5 final on clay… I seriously think it might actually be impossible, and I’m the guy always reminding people that every player in a draw ALWAYS has at least a 0.01% chance against any player.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again- Rafa is unquestionably the greatest player on a single surface ever. I will likely (depending on next few years) always believe that if there is any difference in overall greatness between Rafa and Fed, it is so microscopic and immeasurable that one of them cannot be definitively declared as greater than the other. But when it comes to who is the greatest male player on a specific surface, it is an objective FACT that it is Rafa on clay, and it’s him by a considerable margin. And that is really saying something when we have another guy who will likely be favored to win a 9th Wimbledon title…
So basically…. Rafa over Thiem is straight sets. I invite Thiem, in fact I CHALLENGE Thiem to prove me wrong. Show us what you’re made of. Make history by beating a guy on a surface that NOBODY beats him on in the business end of the tournament. But until then, I just don’t know how to not expect Sunday to be the same outcome as last year and every other freakin year… Until Rafa loses a RG Final, I truly believe that it is just categorically false for someone to claim they “predict” that Rafa will lose a RG final.
If someone on here “predicts” that Thiem will win, they are being disingenuous. What they mean to say is that they really, really HOPE that Thiem will win. And THAT, my friends, is not predicting.
Way over the top, Kevin. Rafa is the objective favourite, but not by much.
And, as I’ve explained to you before, if you think both:
A) It is *not* a fact who is the GOAT and;
B) It *is* a fact who is the clay GOAT
then you are a deeply confused man.
Answers to the two questions may (and do) differ in degree, but not in kind.
If you think both questions are factual (as I do), then just as Nadal is clearly the clay GOAT, Federer is clearly the overall GOAT:
http://www.ultimatetennisstatistics.com/goatList
Joe, I’ve actually changed my stance on the GOAT debate. You are right that it’s not fact that they are equal. It’s just my opinion.
However, I cannot waiver from my belief that it is a fact that Nadal is the greatest on a single surface. The hard numbers prove that.
But I admit that I was wrong to say previously that it’s not possible to conclude that one is “greater” than the other. How I word it now is that I personally can’t declare one greater than the other because I see too much reasonable doubt for each of them being definitively greater than the other.
By the way, I started a YouTube channel where I will be giving takes on legacy, greatness, and all things tennis. I’m shooting my first video this weekend, and the topic is the GOAT conversation. Once the channel grows enough, I plan on choosing people out of the comment section to debate each other over video chat with me as the moderator. I would love to one day have you and a Rafa fanatic (maybe from this site!) to debate each other on the GOAT convo for my channel!
Thanks for that, Kevin. I agree that Rafa is greatest ever on a single surface -by a wide margin. And a GOAT debate on your channel sounds interesting!
A bit of a letdown of a match. Delpo had his chances in the 1st, even after getting hurt. But he couldn’t summon the strength and/or courage to seize the advantage, and he played all but one of his break points meekly, while Rafa played them courageously. Nadal was again fabulous on the drop shot, which he used perfectly. Still, as I saw it, Delpo should have won the first set. After that it was one-way traffic, but that was at least in part due to Delpo’s apparently injury.
Nadal played very well today, but not on the level some are saying, not like last year. He looked like he did in the last two sets against Diego: excellent, but not unbeatable. Thiem is a player who can beat him, obviously. No predictions here, except to say I think it will be very close.
Ah hah! So it’s okay to talk about Delpo being injured, but if we think Rafa may be injured then it’s, wait for it – excuses!
What utter hypocrisy! Delpo got some meds from the physio and that was it. No treatment!
No excuses!
Saying that Delpo should have won the first set is meaningless. Rafa saved break points and held his serve when he was behind on his serve. Then he took the initiative and went for it to get the break that gave him the set. He played well and held his serve and then took the opportunity to break.
It happens all the time. Just face the fact that Rafa played his best match and quit doing what you tell Rafa fans not to do – make excuses!
👍NNY, well put!
Exactly NNY. Delpo says he wasn’t injured and he should know. He says, in his presser posted above, that he lost because Rafa was too good.
nadline,
Thanks for posting the link to Delpo’s presser. Also you posted Rafa’s yesterday. It’s much appreciated. There is nothing like hearing it from the players!
Well, regarding the 1st set, I made no excuses. I said that del Potro played the big points meekly, which is on him. Nadal played them great, which is credit to him. In saying delpo “should” have won the first set, I meant that he seemed to be playing better overall, which is how it looked to me. Nadal himself said he was “lucky” to win the first set. Had delpo played with proper aggression on the break points, I believe he would have won the first set, let’s leave it at that.
What about sets 2 and 3? Well, clearly the scoreline was not close. Why was that? I think delpo was hurt, on the play where Nadal hit behind him in the 1st set. He says otherwise; fine. He’s a class guy and is not going to make an excuse. He also knows that even if he had been 100% and well-rested he might not have won.
What I objected to after the break in the Diego match was how no Rafa fans seemed open to the possibility that he could lose to Diego, fair and square, not being injured. I particularly objected to blaming his loss of the first set on the humidity. Rafa himself said that he didn’t lose that set because of the weather, and he didn’t win the match because of the weather (though he did say he was helped by the rain delay).
In case it’s not clear. First, Rafa was the much better player overall today and fully deserved to win. Second, I think *part* of the reason the second and third sets weren’t close was because delpo hurt himself in the 1st set.
Joe in saying all these you’re giving excuses for Delpo’s loss. If Delpo didn’t get injured…. isn’t that an excuse, when you’re accusing the Rafa fans for giving excuses for Rafa?? Delpo lost the first set not because he injured his hip, he’s hitting hard and serving big as usual, but Rafa just came up with good enough tennis to save BPs, he’s been doing that this whole tournament other than that one and a half sets of tennis vs Diego, and that’s why he’s able to beat all but one of his opponents without losing a set despite his poor serve.
Also, Rafa is not going to tell you he was affected by the humidity, that to most people including you, would sound like making an excuse. Rafa was nervous vs Diego, Moya said that, and so Rafa started tentatively giving Diego chances to up his aggression level. Rafa looked lethargic out there, it’s not like he’s running quick and timing the ball well and yet lost the set to Diego; it’s more to do with how poorly Rafa played that gave Diego a chance to play aggressive tennis. It’s not difficult to see that once Rafa upped his level, Diego had no answer.
Their clay court matches prior to this one were mostly competitive but Rafa still won in straight sets; so a nervy and lethargic Rafa would find it hard to turn things around when falling behind.
To me Delpo lost the second and third sets easily because Rafa broke his spirit by saving all those BPs in the first set, and taking his chances on the one or two BPs he had against Delpo and won the first set. From then Rafa upped his level sensing that Delpo was affected by the first set loss and Delpo knew that he had an insurmountable task on hand. In the first place, Delpo also didn’t have the belief that he could beat Rafa on clay at RG (his on court interview after his SF win revealed that).
Delpo might or might not be hurt, just like Rafa was or wasn’t affected by the humidity, only they themselves knew it, we are here making our guesses so your guess (about Delpo being hurt) is as good as mine (about Rafa being affected by the humidity when he did look lethargic). When he lost to Thiem at Madrid it was poor play by him when he mishit all those shots plus Thiem’s aggressive play, he’s not affected physically by the weather conditions and none of us said so.
If you say that we the Rafa fans are making excuses and not giving Diego credit, you’re also making excuses for Delpo’s loss of the first set and his not so close second and third sets.
Watching how Rafa played his second and third sets vs Delpo, and his third and fourth sets vs Diego, it’s not difficult to see that Rafa was on another level on clay vs those two guys, and only a nervy Rafa would give his opponents chances to get a set off him.
Just taking your last paragraph, I’d agree that Rafa in set 3 against Diego and sets 2 and 3 against delpo, was on another level. Set 4 against Diego was (I think) a lot closer than the scoreline indicated, but Rafa won the big points. In fact, he’s done a terrific job winning almost all of the big points in his last two matches, coming back from the rain delay against Schwartzman.
Apart from the drop shot, what continues to impress about Nadal is how intelligently he plays tennis. His sense of when to come forward is almost unerring, on a par with Federer if not better, because he is more judicious about it. There were several points in the first set where Nadal won the point mainly due to this kind of high tennis IQ.
Joe, I absolutely agree. Now, where Rafa is older, he wins a lot of matches with very intelligent play. It’s one of his somewhat underrated qualities, and when he was young, his muscles, his speed and fitness as well as his slightly extravagant attire obscured his superb tennis brain.
While Rafa so far hasn’t been at the same level as last year, I still believe, he’s the favorite for the final – exactly because of his experience and problem solving abilities. While Thiem is at a higher level than last year, beating Rafa in the final of the FO might still be too high a summit for him. But Thiem is getting there!
Rafa really knows how to make full use of the court and controls the court, that his opponents were made to feel suffocated by him and had no where else to go to.
In this match, Rafa really displayed a wide range of his varieties, not only the drop shots, but the way he moved into the court at the right time to seize the opportunity to hit a winner. He mixed in one two punch tennis at the right time and used his FHDTL more as a surprise element to catch Delpo off guard. There were many more things that were so difficult to put into words, like how he wrong footed Delpo by hitting right back at Delpo when Delpo was just moving away in the other direction; or he simply moved in to push Delpo further back and then hit to the open space at the other corner, etc and etc. It was a pleasure watching how Rafa played this match, how he neutralized Delpo’s big hitting and big serving. If not for his serving woes, he might not need to face so many BPs, but, in saving those BPs (Delpo didn’t break once) it showcased how intelligently he played to save all of them.
This match showcased Rafa’s brilliance in both his defence and offence, Rafa is by nature an aggressive minded player but like what Michael Chang said, Rafa is patient enough to wait for his chances before making an attack. He’s not a defensive player, it’s only when he’s lacking in confidence that he plays more defensively, esp when he was/is mistiming his shots and missing his shots.
Stats on the replay of Rafa’s match on the tennis channel.
First serve % – 66
First serve points won % – 70
2nd serve points won – 58
Winners – 15
UE’s – 8
I believe this was for the first set. After it ended they posted these stats.
Actually the most important stat was break points won.
Rafa – 1/2
Delpo – 0/6
That’s the story right there.
But those serving stats are the best I have seen since the tournament began!
“After incurring a hip problem in just the third game, it always looked as if mission highly improbable might become mission impossible for Del Potro, although the honest Argentine was adamant that the moment when he hurt his hip twisting and stretching to try to get near a flashing Nadal forehand that had completely wrong-footed him was not a significant factor in the match.
No, the decisive factor, he reckoned, was that he could not convert any of the seven break points he earned during that opening stanza when he had played the better tennis. Nadal, for his part, felt he had got “lucky” in battling through that opener against an “amazing” opponent.
Delpo tried everything in his armoury – changing the pace of rallies, trying to slow-ball Nadal on occasion and sometimes attempting to just blitz him off court with flat thunderbolts yet nothing could distract the Spaniard, who fought to save each of those break points – including three when the scores were locked at 4-4 – as if the idea of being broken was some diabolical affront to him.
Then, having not been able to dent Del Potro’s serve, Nadal struck like a cobra the next game, one thumping backhand winner when at full stretch and a flashing inside-out forehand setting up the set win and effectively the match.
Play Video
It was not that Del Potro then folded, more that Nadal simply hit the accelerator. “He is playing every point better from the beginning until the last point of the match, and his intensity is growing up very much during the match, and it’s tough to be there all the time,” sighed Del Potro, as one of the best serves in the game went on to be broken five times, twice to love, and 35 Nadal winners flashed past him.
Now, Thiem, who’s the only man to have beaten Nadal on clay this year, enters the lion’s den but Nadal wasn’t in the mood to mull over their next encounter too much.”
Full article here:
https://www.rolandgarros.com/en-us/article/roland-garros-2018-rafael-nadal-sails-into-11th-final-beats-del-potro
Del Potro was simply awful. The heat mustve got to him, it was very quite hot out there today.
Yeah Jim!…I agree!…I also think that PC is haunted!…There’s a very mean ghost spirit somewhere & Rafa was possessed by it…I really really hope Rafa will get possessed once again tomorrow of all day!!Yeehaa!!
There will be a big problem on Sunday: the weather will be awful – lots of rain. Monday won’t be better with thunderstorms. Is that Thiem’s chance? How will his game be affected by the weather. How can he handle rainbreaks mentally? It will be intriguing.
Rafa has to get over his rain phobia. He has won after all a lot of great matches despite the rain.
Please, why worry about the rain? There’ll be stop starts, both players will be affected. It’s a slam final so Rafa won’t be holding back, because if not now in the final then when to give it his all?
After all those rain and rain delays, Rafa should be able to handle the situations by now; esp after the Sasha match at Rome and the Diego QF; surely Rafa has learnt a thing or two about how not to make the same mistakes when conditions is heavy and rain is impending.
Well, I do think there’s reason for worrying a little bit. Rafa has had very spotty starts in all his recent matches when the conditions were wet and heavy. And it does neutralize his top spin to a certain extent. There’s a reason why Rafa prefers the quicker and sunny conditions, when he has played his best matches.
However, Rafa has handled the stops and starts a lot better than his opponents.
Nothing can be done about the weather. Both opponents have to deal with it.
Rafa has such a physical advantage on clay , particvularly RG, that I cant understand why he gets so nervous, and his fans worry about the weather he’s the clay GOAT after all.
Big Al, Rafa’s fans get nervous because he get’s nervous. And wet, heavy and slow conditions neutralize his best weapons to a certain extent. Z
his has nothing to d with him being the Clay GOAT. Even GOATS lose once in a while. Will it happen on Sunday? Unlikely but not impossible.
‘Even GOATS lose once in a while’ . Yeah, so far at RG its twice in 13 years. Noone’s likely ever to come close to that.Why does he feel under pressure? End of the world if he lost , not that its even likely ?
Rafa is not a confident guy to begin with and the more is at stake, the more nervous he becomes. It has nothing to do with what he has already accomplished so far, to him every match starts from zero and he can win or he can lose it, and that’s why his fans get worried about his matches because we just don’t know to what extent his nerve will affect him.
Also, talking about humidity affecting him, that’s not an excuse but it’s true that as he ages, his body can’t bear with the humidity (i mean high temperature with his humidity); when he was younger he didn’t have such a problem. Perhaps it’s because he perspires more than the other players and so when he gets older he may get tired more easily in humid conditions.
Anyone who deals with anxiety shouldn’t have to question why someone gets nervous for no apparent reason.
Hawkeye, I completely agree. This discussion is slighly absurd. We cannot question someone’s psychological make up. It is what it is.
Not many players can handle the heat at RG this time of the year, especially against Nadal, he makes it sting. Its Nadal’s natural environment and he uses it to his advantage. All of these advantages is why he has the record he does and Fed is very, very smart for staying right away.
Atm it’s not especially hot in Paris. When it was sunny, the conditions were perfectly pleasant. Here in the north of Germany we have a heat wave and a prolongued dry spell. I wish all the rain in Paris and the somewhat cooler temperatures could migrate to our area.
Wrong. Nadal suffers when it is high humidity. That’s one of the reasons he lost a set against Schwartsman
and came close to being beaten. And yes, everybody knows the rain break came at a particularly opportune moment. That’s tennis.
my comment is addressed to the know-all Mr. Courier who specialises in 20/20 hindsight.
Denzel JUNE 7, 2018 AT 7:12 PM
I’ll just drop this here ;))
Madrid 2018 3R: Nadal def. Schwartzman 6-3 6-4
Madrid 2018 QF: Thiem def. Nadal 7-5 6-3
AO 2018 4R: Nadal def. Schwartzman 6-3 (4)6-7 6-3 6-3
AO 2018 QF: Cilic def. Nadal 3-6 6-3 (5)6-7 6-2 2-0 (ret)
USO 2015 2R: Nadal def. Schwartzman 7-6(5) 6-3 7-5
USO 2015 3R: Fognini def. Nadal 3-6 4-6 6-4 6-3 6-4
***********************************************************************************
FO 2018 QF: Nadal def Schwartzman 46 63 62 62
FO 2018 SF: Nadal def Del Potro 64 61 62
Sorry, just had to do this. This theory can now be put to bed.