Rafael Nadal punched his ticket into the title match at the Mubadala World Tennis Championship by winning an all-Spanish affair with David Ferrer 6-3, 6-7(4), 6-3 on Friday afternoon. Nadal needed two hours and 23 minutes to advance.
Not unlike their recent three-setter at the World Tour Finals, this Abu Dhabi showdown featured mostly high-quality tennis and plenty of entertaining rallies. Nadal especially impressed throughout the first set and in seizing a break advantage in the second. In fact, the 14-time major champion twice led by a break in set two only to see Ferrer roar from behind.
Ferrer eventually took the second in a tiebreaker after 68 minutes of back-and-forth competition, but Nadal proved to be too strong in the decider. The second seed gave back a break on yet another occasional, but he finally–and decisively–consolidated one more scalp of Ferrer’s serve by holding at 5-3. A down-the-line forehand winner ended the proceedings in Nadal’s favor.
Milos Raonic joined Nadal in the championship match by beating Stan Wawrinka 7-5, 7-5 in one hour and 30 minutes.
Raonic and Wawrinka took turns failing to close out sets. Wawrinka led by a break in the opener before getting broken twice in succession. It was pretty much all the Canadian the entire way after he trailed 5-2 in the first. Only when he toed the proverbial finish line at 5-4 in the second did Raonic show signs of cracking. Although he dropped serve, the world No. 14 broke back for 6-5 and made no mistake with the match on his racket a second time.
Nadal will be looking for his third triumph at this lucrative event (previously won in 2009-10 and 2010-11) when he faces Raonic on Saturday.
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Rafa in straights
Rafa in 3.
Rafa warming up for the final https://twitter.com/hamiltonforde09/status/683207117118005253
Yes! They are showing Rafa and Raonic in the final!
Rafa had two break chances but now it’s deuce.
he should have broken
That’s been the story with Rafa all too often. He’s got to capitalize on those break opportunities, because you don’t get a lot of chances.
in another Raonic service game Nadal got to deuce from 40-0 down but then couldn’t break
Yes, I remember that game. Good observation.
Rafa has been hitting some great passing shots, but Raonic still able to hold serve.
Rafa can’t do anything right now on Raonic’s serve. It’s looking like we are heading for a tb, but Rafa has to continue to hold his serve.
set Nadal
Rafa just blew Raonic away in that tb. He’s hitting his forehand really well. Very sharp.
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I am wondering where vamosrafa and lucky are. I would expect them to be watching and commenting.
#offseason
They were here yesterday.
probably more likely to be in front of their computers on a weekday
Rafa with another two break points. Can he do it here?
he did
Epic fail from Raonic on a botched overhead smash at net. Rafa gets the break!
Rafa wins! He took control in that second set. Well done!
Congratulations to Rafa! A great way to start off the New Year.
winner: R. Nadal (ESP)
I checked on VB and the draw is out for Doha.
Rafa played great! Deserved this win! I love the improvements in his game. Going the way he is he will be a force in the AO…
Vamos Champ!
Btw, I am sitting in the restaurant and watching…i will sure watch it in detail when I get back home…
Good start of the season for our Rafa! Keep up the good work, Rafa!
bad that he is the 5 seed for AO. Should be 4.
Yes, that’s a bummer about being seeded 5 at the AO. Makes things tougher.
Good win by Rafa, played well today. A good start to the season. Hope he continues to play aggressive tennis throughout the season and beyond.
https://twitter.com/tenngrand/status/683338456144084992
I was really impressed with Rafa’s forehand in this match. I thought he used it quite effectively to take over the second set. He was hitting it with more accuracy, power and depth. Raonic couldn’t even get his racket on some of Rafa’s I/O and DTL forehands. Good to see!
I also thought Rafa served well. Raonic tried to be more aggressive in the second set, but Rafa wasn’t having any of it. He didn’t ceded the good court positioning in that second set. Another good thing!
I do hope that Rafa will keep hugging the baseline and not let his opponents push him back the way they did for so much of last year.
Congrats Rafa. Always good to start with a win . Every step counts towards the bigger goal.
Good signs of Rafa’s return to form.
So Rafa cedes court position because he isn’t as smart as the posters here and doesn’t know what is good for him???
Rafa ceding court positioning isn’t the cause but the effect of his level of play. When he plays well, he can maintain court position. When he doesn’t play well, he can’t.
I don’t know why I bother, but I truly do not understand how you can take a simple statement that I made and somehow make it seem as though I am criticizing Rafa. I just do not get it. It’s a simple observation.
It’s isn’t about cause or effect. It’s the simple fact that Rafa’s opponents have been able to push him back behind the baseline, particularly throughout 2015. If you read lucky’s comment, she also spoke about hoping to see Rafa play aggressive this year. He successfully held his ground in this match and that’s a positive thing to see as far as I am concerned.
#ChickenAndEgg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rpKqMC2YfwI
Pretty sure I spotted nadline taking pictures courtside after the match.
Rafa holding his position is a good sign because it means he is playing well and therefore can stand his ground. When he cedes position, it means Rafa is being pushed back,not that he is choosing to play from miles behind the baseline because he is an idiot who doesn’t know what you or luckystar know.
Who ever said that Rafa is choosing to play miles behind the baseline? LOL! You are saying something that was never said in the first place. Yes, how familiar!
Luckystar knows quite a bit, as does vamosrafa. I also like to think that I know a good deal about this sport, too! But you are merely repeating the same thing again, which is just non-responsive.
Saying that Rafa can only hold his position on the baseline when he is playing well, makes even less sense. Let’s give Rafa credit for being able to do things even when his overall game may not be at his best! So I do not agree with your statement at all.
The idea that Rafa’s opponents can push him back at will, as though he has nothing to say about it also doesn’t seem reasonable. But then there really is no point to this back and forth. There’s no issue to be discussed.
Why would a so-called Rafa fan even presume to use the word idiot in relation to him? Rafa’s fans know him to have a brilliant tennis brain. No one here said that word, but it’s interesting how someone else brings it up. That’s beyond insulting to Rafa.
The whole idea is to win the battle of the baseline. Rafa has spoken at length about this. Of course he wants to stay on the baseline and hold his ground as much as possible, but his opponent is going to have something to say about it There’s another person on the other side of the net! 🙂
Native you say one thing, claim vr and luckystar know what they are saying, contradict what you claim is luckystar’s point, join certain posters in insulting Rafa repeatedly but claim that it is beyond insulting to Rafa when somebody disputes the charge of mental problems and idiocy made by both hawkeye and Amy and agreed to by you!!! Whew!!! I will respond to you when you decide what it is you are trying to prove.
email is your friend. thanks.
Mary,
You merely want to argue for the sake of it, which is why I try to avoid replying to your posts.
Even Rafa used the term “mental problem” so I guess he’s accusing himself?
Wowee wowa that’s quite the accusation!
That must mean that Rafa is not a true Rafan.
I’ll warn Benny!