Although Rafael Nadal is perfect in 2022, he has flirted with defeat more than a few times. Most notably, of course, he had to recover from two sets down to triumph over Daniil Medvedev in the Australian Open final.
Nadal was up to similar tricks in his first match at the BNP Paribas Open on Saturday afternoon. The stage was nowhere near as big, but the deficit was even bigger. Instead of being one set away from his first loss of the season, the 35-year-old Spaniard was one game away — three times, too.
Sebastian Korda had a chance to close out what would have been the most important victory of his career at 5-2, 5-3, and 5-4 in the third set–twice serving for it–only to see Nadal rise from the proverbial dead. The 21-time Grand Slam champion staged another improbable comeback to prevail 6-2, 1-6, 7-6(3) after two hours and 29 minutes.
“I thought I was lost today,” Nadal admitted. “And in Australia–very similar feeling. Even if I think I’m going to lose the match, my mindset before returning that 5-2 game is, ‘Okay, I am playing bad…. But even if I’m going to lose, I’m going to try to finish the match having some better feelings. So I need to fight to find these better feelings in that last game.
“I played a little bit better; he had some mistakes. Then with 5-3, if you are able to save that game, 5-4, you never know what can happen…. With 5-4, one break, as I say, if you are able to hit a couple of good balls, the opponent gets a little bit nervous, something (like) that happens every single week on the tour.”
It’s not every week, however, that Korda gets to play against his idol. In fact, this was just their second head-to-head matchup–and even in defeat it went a lot better for the 21-year-old American than his 6-1, 6-1, 6-2 loss at the 2020 French Open.
Korda was actually all smiles in his press conference despite missing such a huge opportunity.
“It’s progress,” the world No. 38 assured. “He’s one of the greatest players of all time right now; he’s super hot; hasn’t lost a match this year. To kind of push him to the edge was awesome. (It) shows a lot of my game, how dangerous it can be against tough opponents. Yeah, just overall happy.
“I don’t think there’s any negatives. He’s the best player in the world right now; hasn’t lost a match this year–three tournaments, three titles. To be that close, it’s a lot of positives. It shows me that my game is going to hurt a lot of people. People are going to get nervous. People are going to get worried.”
Nadal, though, isn’t most people. At least right now, he isn’t getting hurt, nervous, or worried–no matter how big a deficit might be.
wowzer
Korda needs to sort out that choking. Nadal was impressive as always, but Korda has failed to serve out a match when he was up a break 3 tournaments in a row. He cannot keep squandering opportunities that way.
Rafa put up such a great fight, so well played! But totally agree with you about Korda. I watched the match and thought what a fabulous player he is, that ROS, that net play! So I wondered why he wasn’t making more waves, then I saw exactly why he isn’t. Perhaps Rafa could give him some coaching on how to win matches!
Frankly, Korda’s mind set after losing this match underlines his mental problem. He should not be content. He should be very angry with himself – at least for a while. It’s not enough that he can hurt top players with his game. He needs to win these matches!
I was a fencer until my early twenties, and I was always told that I had the talent to become really successful. At the time Germany was one of the top fencing nations. I was very agile and had good reactions, and I could defend myself endlessly. But unfortunately I had no killer instinct whatsoever. I clearly remember losing many matches against considerably higher ranked opponents after having comfortable leads and the equvivalent of several match balls in a row. I just needed to land one more hit in order to win one of these matches. But then I started think, and I could not believe that I could actually beat these top opponents. I lost – and afterwards I was not angry but pleased with myself, because I had been such a tough challenger. I realized eventually that I wasn’t cut out for a one-on-one combat sport. I still love the elegant and swift movements. As a kid I had fallen in love with fencing after I had watched Errol Flynn and Basil Rathbone swashbuckling their way through “Robin Hood”. But I didn’t have the iron will to win.
Korda is already near the top. He is obviously very talented and cut out for his sport. But in order to make further progress he needs to aim higher.
Did Nadal move well in 3rd set? His limping is scaring me.
No Moya no title..it’s clear isn’t it..riog is of no use..neither is Lopez
Moya needs to be there for all key tourneys. He came to Acapulco a 500 but not IW…? Hope he will be there at all clay tourneys
With the perf today , beating Evans , shapo ,jannik , meddy , zverev…too tall a task
Sanju, I don’t agree with you that Roig is no good. He has seen Rafa through many titles for decades sharing the schedule with Uncle Toni. I don’t think it’s the fault of the coach what the player does in a match. It’s up to the player to win. It’s not as if Rafa is a beginner; Rafa can read the match for himself and make decisions on court without the coach holding his hand.
I think the coach gets too much of the credit and too much of the blame. First and foremost it’s the player’s job to win or lose a match.
Nadline/ VR those were younger days…this rafa is different ..I don’t know why but I feel if Moya is around..rafa is always calmer n sharper..
Lot of ppl raving abt fightback today .I saw highlights..the shots down 5 2 were still very short..it was newer close to what we saw at ao n Acapulco.. he was hitting by so well there. The Cc fh too lacked punch..fh dtl almost missing…not sure what changed so much from Acapulco to IW .hope it was just an off day
Sanju, I’ve just watched the match again. Rafa played well in the 1st set but his level dropped in the 2nd set and 3rd sets, serving lots of DFs and making loads of errors and he was basically just playing defence giving Seb easy balls to be offensive.
When it came to the crunch at 2:5 down in the 3rd set, Rafa began to play attacking tennis and Korda couldn’t cope with that hence the final result.
Sanju, this doesn’t make any sense. If Rafa were this dependent to win single matches on an individual, I am sure he would be half the player he is today.
This is pure coincidental. If I remember correctly, Roig led him in that 2013 summer hardcourt streak. He’s a very trusted coach for Rafa.
Having a bad day at the office isn’t linked to your coach. It wasn’t that Rafa was clueless in terms of tactics against a player or anything.
VR, I agree with you. I cannot imagine that Moya’s physical absense makes such a big difference. We all praise Rafa’s high tennis IQ. He can figure out problems all by himself – and he eventually did just that against Korda. And these days communicating with people who are not physically present, is easier than ever.
We should also give Korda a bit more credit for playing great after losing the first set.
As to the potentially troublesome foot – it’s totally speculative right now. We have to wait and see. But since Rafa managed to stay in the match and turn it around, the foot cannot have been that bad. I also think that Rafa would withdraw if the situation would be really bad. There’s no reason whatsoever for him to endanger the upcoming claycourt season by aggravating a lingering injury. At this point of his career he really doesn’t need to stay in IW at all costs.
Sanju,
I don’t think it’s about the coach. Moya has been very good for Rafa. But I think Rafa trusts his entire team.
With the draw he has, it could be a rough go. Unless his draw opens up a bit. We just have to take one match at a time. The biggest concern is that foot.
Rafa never spoke abt the foot or physical discomfort…from where is thus coming again?
Sanju,
The tennis channel commentators said it. I watched my record if of the match to see it from 2-5 in the third set. I was too nervous to watch.
It was at 6-5 after Rafa are his comeback when Jim Courier noticed that Rafa kind of rolled his foot. He said that he hoped it was his shoe and not the foot. From that point on Courier kept mentioning when he thought Rafa was favoring the foot.
Sometimes autocorrect butchers what I am trying to say.
I watched the replay again yesterday. It was right when Rafa won the point to go up 6-5 that Jim Courier called out about his foot. The camera did not show his feet, but it seemed like he had a little stumble. Courier said he rolled his foot. After that Courier wound point out when he saw something unusual. Rafa missed a shot and didn’t move. Then he said Rafa was bent over looking at his feet. The camera did catch that.
He was able to finish the match. He had a day off. He is not going to talk about the foot. It is something he has to manage and deal with.
Well we can only wait and see how he looks today. I hope like in 2009, he does not overplay n sabotage it all..rg is most important
Rafa’s post-match press conference
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xT9L9TtHo4
Rafa amazes me with his level of recall!! He remembers every single point of the game, well especially the critical ones!! And he’s very honest in his assessments.
One of Rafa post match assessments making the rounds: “In these situations you’ll lose 90% of the time. But if you don’t try, you’ll lose 100% of the time” ☺️
Loved that comment! Rafa is so sane!
That’s because Rafa has a great tennis brain. Moya said he has a high tennis i.q. That’s why I love listening to his post match pressers. I learn so much.
Sanju,
Jim Courier said he spoke to Rafa’s team. They said yesterday was tough. But today is better. They are managing it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5TDsWs2FU8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ym-w9_jGSbc
Nadline, I love Gil Gross’s channel! Thanks for posting!
Btw, Sebastian Korda is the spitting image of his father Petr 😉
Yes, I enjoy Gil”s channel as well.
Korda has got such a good attitude
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ViLiUejJMNs
I Love his hair! Not that I’m in any way shallow, of course…;)
I hope he can vanquish the mental demons and learn to cross the finish line. It’s okay to be content with making progress and not winning but if these lapses are a pattern, then you are going to be stuck in a zone forever.
My concern is the foot. That would explain why his level of play seemed to go down. I hope he will be okay.
Rafa said in his presser that he “lost the feeling on the balls” in the 2nd set. He said they’re like stones and, while he’s won with them before, they’re difficult for him. He said nothing about his foot but in his first presser he talked a bit about it in response to a question and stated that he wasn’t going to answer any more questions about it. So it is what it is and we’re all going to have to continue to deal with it. For us, I think that means trusting Rafa to do the best he can given his situation. He knows he’ll have to stop for some treatment at some point – he said that in his first presser.
Rafa has a tough draw but I’m sure he’ll relish the challenge. Hopefully, he stays fit.
Vamos!
Nadine, Rafa’s draw is indeed tough, but I think that he is mentally relaxed these days. He has had already such a great start into the new season. He doesn’t need to win at all costs. If he continues to win – fine! But if he loses, he can rest and prepair himself for the upcoming claycourt season. And as I said above: I really don’t think that Rafa would continue to play in IW if the foot would be a great problem right now. That would be utterly foolish.
Let’s wait and see what will happen next…
Yes!
🤞
Rafa needs to stop putting so much weight on his foot with all those heavy bags he keeps carrying, lol!!
Murray just lost to Bublik for the first time. What’s up with Murray?!