Tomas Berdych will get another shot–whether he wants it or not–against Rafael Nadal on Friday in Madrid. A semifinal spot is at stake, with the winner to face an unseeded opponent in either Roberto Bautista Agut or Santiago Giraldo.
Rafael Nadal and Tomas Berdych will be squaring off for the 21st time in their careers when they collide in the quarterfinals of the Mutua Madrid Open on Friday.
It is one of the most well-documented head-to-head histories of the current era on the ATP Tour. Berdych’s 3-17 record against Nadal is not historically bad, but he has lost an incredible 16 in a row since leading 3-1 following the 2006 campaign. The Czech once won this matchup in Madrid, but that was back when the event was held on indoor hard courts. Nadal has taken 14 of the last 15 sets from Berdych dating back to the 2012 Australian Open. They were supposed to face each other earlier this season in the Miami semis, but the underdog withdrew due to illness.
Nadal has had no trouble so far this week as he hopes to bounce back from consecutive quarterfinal losses in Monte-Carlo and Barcelona. The top-ranked Spaniard destroyed Juan Monaco 6-1, 6-0 before taking care of Jarkko Nieminen 6-1, 6-4 on Thursday. He is now 27-5 for the year, which includes titles in Doha and Rio de Janeiro.
Speaking of lopsided head-to-heads, Berdych kicked off his 2014 Madrid campaign by once again hammering Kevin Anderson, against whom the world No. 6 is now 11-0. He followed up that 6-1, 6-4 victory with a much more impressive 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 scalp of Grigor Dimitrov in the third round. Berdych’s 26-6 record is highlighted by a triumph in Rotterdam and a semifinal performance at the Australian Open. He finished runner-up to Carlos Berlocq last week on the clay courts of Oeiras.
“He’s a very dangerous player on every single surface,” Nadal said of his opponent. “Here even more with the altitude. The ball flies very fast and his serve is very difficult to break. My goal is to try to be aggressive. I know that to play against him I can’t leave many spaces on the court. If he strikes the ball in comfortable positions, I’m nearly dead, because he has a really high ball speed.”
It is true that the altitude will help Berdych, but the surface will not allow him to replicated what transpired in Madrid eight years ago. Although the sixth seed’s flat firepower will present a much sterner test than anything Monaco or Nieminen brought to the table, the mental block of his past failures against Nadal will be too much to overcome.
Pick: Nadal in 2 losing more than 8 games
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If Rafa plays the way he did against Berdy or even better, then it’s no contest with RBA. It can go either way when a player gets to the semis of a Masters tournament for the first time – he can be overwhelmed by the occasion or just come out with nothing to lose and swing for the fences. But I don’t really think it’s going to matter. Rafa in two sets losing 5-7 games is my pick.
I would have picked Nishi over Ferrer, but after watching his match today with Lopez and seeing him getting treatment on his back a few times I have to go with Ferrer in three sets. It’s too bad that Nishi seems to always be troubled by injuries, especially now when he is playing so well. Ferrer is a beast and Nishi would have to be at his best physically to have a chance to beat him.
When Rafa lost Barcelona, I was thinking that maybe he is saving himself for wimbledon. He now knows that he cannot possibly win 4 clay titles and RG and Wimbledon anymore at his age now.
He went slow for the first 2 tourneys and will now go all out to win Madrid, Rome, RG and wimbledon.
I don’t know @atul1985, he looked like he truly was in a funk to me, struggling to find his range, that much was clear in MC. The loss to Almagro in Barcelona was baffling to me, especially since he appeared on top of his game in the first set. The way his level dropped in the 3rd set was truly disturbing. However, your point about aging is valid, age catches up with all of us, even great tennis players.
It will be interesting to see how Rafa structures his season going forward because he certainly cannot maintain this heavy schedule forever.
rafaisthebest@May 10, 2014 at 7:16 am
Rafa will be free to choose whether to play at the Masters or not after he turns 31 years old (by the beginning of a season). He is still too young!
Don’t agree he went slow, he was in bad form for sure.
BUT BUT I wont be surprised if he wins Madrid, Rome, French, Wimby..it is def doable. He is def not crapping out in 1st/2nd round at Wimby.
Having said that a win in all 4 tourneys wont surprise me at all neither will a loss in all 4. You cant say anything about Rafa these days :-), its all between the ears
If he achieves the French-Wimby double, it will be a heroic feat at 28..4 years after he last did it in 2010.
atul@4:24 am
It is clear players aiming for the Majors do conserve energy in the run-up tournaments. i.e. form in Toronto and Cincinnati has never been a reliable indicator of form for the USO. Tweaking aspects of their game prior to a Major may also impact on their results.
Personally I believe Rafa is incapable of holding back even if he is nearly crippled. He is constantly refining his game so even subtle changes until they are proven may well be making him uncertain: this, combined with the run of losses this year, would account for the plummeting loss in confidence.
RITB@7:16am
Since 2008 Federer has structured his schedule to peak at the Slams. So much so I sometimes feel he uses the Masters as no more than practice sessions for the next Major. The exception is when he is chasing ranking points in which case he rocks up to 500 and even 250 tourneys.
ed251137@May 10, 2014 at 10:03 am
Fed’s withdrawals and struggling due to injuries have always been called ‘good scheduling’ by his fans. Funny, no?
I tend to agree that Rafa was just in bad form and suffering from lack of confidence. I don’t think Rafa is capable of taking it slow and saving himself. I do think that he has done things to help give him more longevity in his career, i.e. playing more aggressive and shortening points instead of trying to slug it out from the baseline, not running down every single ball if it’s really out of play.
I don’t get the sense that Rafa thinks that far ahead. I feel that he tries to stay in the moment. I think players want to win if at all possible. I don’t think Rafa would consciously want to lose both MC and Barcelona, especially with all the points at stake and wanting to get some momentum and good feelings.
I thought about something Rafa said in an interview recently. He was asked if he felt fresher and rested because of the early losses in MC and Barcelona. He said that it’s better for him to keep playing and winning, better for his game. So Rafa doesn’t need rest.
I am not going to talk about any expectations at the moment. I just want to see Rafa get this win in Madrid. I think that could turn it all around for him, especially at the one clay tournament where he has not dominated. This would be a huge win for him at a time when he really needs it.