Kei Nishikori was two games away from capturing the biggest title of his career before back and hip problems that plagued him throughout the tournament flared up and eventually forced him to retire from the Mutua Madrid Open final against Rafael Nadal on Sunday evening. Nadal had battled back for a 2-6, 6-4, 3-0 lead when Nishikori called it quits after one hour and 42 minutes.
The in-form Japanese man previously got past Feliciano Lopez in the quarters and David Ferrer in the semis despite not being 100 percent physically. He needed two hours and 55 minutes to outlast Ferrer 7-6(5), 5-7, 6-3 on Saturday in what was unquestionably one of the most entertaining matches of the year. That slugfest could not have helped matters for Nishikori heading into the title showdown.
Still, the underdog broke at 1-1 and 3-1 to seize complete control of the opening set. He also broke for 1-0 in the second and consolidated his advantage soon after by recovering from a 0-40 deficit. With Nadal serving at 2-4, however, Nishikori’s injury problems became too great and he struggled to serve and even to move from that point forward.
Nishikori breaks for 2-1 in the first set with an incredible point:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9hwJngyzcs]
“It was very sad, especially (because) I was winning, playing almost best tennis in my life,” Nishikori lamented. “If I’m not hurt, I may have chance to win today.
“I had it from Feli’s match two matches before. Yesterday was fine, but after the match I was feeling (it) a lot. If you play three sets with a guy like David, you run a lot. It was very hard to wake up today. That 4‑2 game made (it) really bad. After that, I couldn’t really move.”
How well is Nishikori playing. Dictating every point against Rafa! Wow
— Andre Sa (@Andre_Sa77) May 11, 2014
I mean why are the spectators booing Kei's medical treatment?! He is obviously in a lot of pain and doing everything to keep playing!
— Dusan Lajovic (@Dutzee) May 11, 2014
So moved by Nishikori-Ferrer last night and like always, Nadal's toughness. So grateful to have these people close to me. So inspirational.
— ダニエル太郎/Taro Daniel (@tarodaniel93) May 11, 2014
Highlights:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgRt5u8HDqw]
—Kei Nishikori was two games away from capturing the biggest title of his career before back and hip problems that plagued him throughout the tournament flared up—
Obviously he tried too hard – like Djoko in Monte Carlo.
—Dusan Lajovic: I mean why are the spectators booing Kei’s medical treatment?!—
Did Mr.Dusan Lajovic say something when S. Wawrinka yelled at the AO because of Rafa’s medical treatment???
^^Don’t worry about Mr. Lajovic, he is vicariously “defending” Djokovic’s honour. Slyly reminding everyone that the Madrid crowd did the same to Djokovic last year that they are doing to Nishi this year. As if he cares about Nishi…………tell me another.
I know Djokovic has done a lot for Serbian tennis but it’s kinda sad how every other Serbian player is quick to bask in Djokovic’s reflected glory. I never saw a tweet from a single Spanish player complaining about the Australian crowd when they booed Rafa. They don’t need to, thank goodness.
#MyBrother’sKeeper
The difference between Djoko and Nishi is that the latter showed good manners. Nishi wasn’t rude – he didn’t shout vulgarities at the crowd (like Djoko did last year).
And difference between Rafa and (some) other players is that Rafa tried to silence the crowd!
https://twitter.com/darren_cahill/statuses/465566997976481792
A comment posted on the ATP site dubs the Spanish crowd as worse than the RG spectators. I have to disagree. They were vociferous in their disapproval at times but they constantly applauded Nishi’s winning shots even when he was routing Rafa. And raised the roof with their applause for him at the end of the match and during the trophy presentation.
The booing during the MTO was understandable since even Koenig and Goodall were mystified why it was allowed. Presumably it was deemed a new injury (groin) rather than a continuation of the lower back problem. However the crowd cheered him on when he returned to the court.
https://twitter.com/RafaelNadalFC/statuses/465574337232117760
I just saw the following article by Tiggy. At first I had no words, and then they came……
http://www.tennis.com/pro-game/2014/05/madrid-nadal-d-nishikori/51417/#.U3CadE1ZrIU
I must start be saying Tiggy is entitled to his opinion of course, I just do not agree with some of them in the above mentioned article. I did not watch the match yesterday so I am indulging myself in this long post. Thank goodness Ricky does not moderate post lengths!
1. “The worst matches of all? Those that leave you with almost nothing to say about the result.”
I guess that would be the reaction of those who were hoping for a Rafa loss, they would have been tongue-tied after the result, no?
2. “But it was Nishikori who was the better player for most of this one.”
This quote reminded me of Ernie Gulbis’ following quote after he lost to Rafa 1-6, 7-5, 6-4 in Rome last year, ““I was the better player,” Gulbis said. “I was still the better player in the second set. I think I was still the better player in the third set. I was the better player in the match.”
Note he bagelled Rafa, something Nishi could not do yesterday. This is what Rafa said in response to Ernie at the time, disagreeing with Ernie’s assessment that he (Ernie) was the better player in the match, ““Tennis is not like fútbol where you score a goal and you stay back and if you are lucky you can win the match,” Nadal said. “In tennis, we play [a lot of points]. So normally, I don’t say always, the best player wins.
“If you understand that the best player [is the one who] hits every ball as hard as you can — doesn’t matter if the ball goes in or goes out — maybe he was the best player today. If the best player was the one who tried to find solutions against a difficult opponent and this player had a good fight in every moment, the right attitude in every moment, if that’s something, probably the best player today won.”
http://tennis.si.com/2013/05/16/rafael-nadal-ernests-gulbis-italian-open/
et tu, Signor Tignor?
3. “Dominating in all aspects of the game, the newest member of the Top 10 led 6-2, 4-2 before his injured back failed him for good. On the changeover at 4-3, Nishikori had the trainer massage it, but there was nothing to be done. When he walked back out, his service motion was abbreviated; three points later he started to hobble. Nishikori wouldn’t win another game, and retired down 0-3 in the third”
I find the above quote interesting for the following reasons:
a. Tiggy makes no reference whatsoever to what any objective person who watched the game would agree was the turning point of the match: at 2/6 3/4(30/15) Rafa unleashed a flurry of brutal forehands that had Nishi scurrying from one corner to the other, ending with one FH behind Nishi requiring a quick change of direction from Nishi which proved too much for his by now well-marinated back, and he seized up. According to Tignor, Nishi just decided his back was no good anymore, Rafa had absolutely no say in this decision. As if that punishing rally I just mentioned never happened.
b. The scoreline reflected Nishi was winning at that point, just as he was when he took MTOs in the matches against Feli and Ferru. Yet, in those matches, in spite of his obvious discomfort, Nishi decided to soldier on, and win. Why did he not adopt the same attitude in the final? I will tell you why: because he knew the game was up. Rafa, unlike Feli or Ferru or any other player out there, is THE specialist at sensing a weakness in the opponent and striking. Let me spell it out to you Mr. Tignor: Nishi lying prostrate on the changeover at 4-3 was the equivalent of Nishi texting Rafa to say, “you can finish me off now, I’m well basted!” Rafa duly obliged, leading Nishi to seize up. So, to imply Nishi’s body simply gave up with no assist from Rafa’s brutal FH is disingenuous to say the least. Nishikori came into the final with that back hurting just as he had against Ferru but against Ferru he knew he could stay with HIM to the end. Against Rafa, he knew he could not and decided the better part of valour was to retire.
Tiggy, give credit to Rafa for sticking around, probing and capitalizing on Nishi’s weak point.
Make no mistake, this is Kei 2.0 we are watching now, and what a pleasure for us fans. His improvement over the last year has been phenominal and Coach Chang has to take a lot of the credit for this. I for one think Nishi is more dangerous than Wawa for example. However, let us contain our excitement and desist from making outlandish conclusions based on what we are seeing. It is bad logic to expect Rafa to improve symmetrically with Kei’s improvements. Nishi’s improvement is starting from a relatively low base hence the jump in improvement. Rafa’s level has been at such a high level for such a long period of time that his improvements are not going to be of the quantum of Kei’s. In other words, if Rafa’s already at the summit, he can’t climb any further can he? However, the ones at the bottom have room to maneuver in their attempts to catch up with him.
Nishi has made strides, but he is not at the summit yet. His coach understands this
RT @RomiCvitkovic : “[Kei] … is on the verge of a breakthrough. But some of the mentality & belief needs to be there.” -Chang to @TennisViewMag last month”
Kei believed during his matches against Feli and Ferru. That belief dissipated against Rafa’s resolve.
If yesterday’s match had been GSM Federer or Djokovic, Tignor, and his journo fraternity, would have written different stories: how they withstood the Nishi onslaught, a tribute to their mental strength.
Vamos Rafa! No matter what!
I’m going to get slaughtered for this but I think it’s reasonably safe to assume that Rafa is NOT going to win RG this year…
he may not win RG but why do you think it is ‘reasonably safe to assume that Rafa is NOT ….’? Interested in listening to your reasons …
Rafa is neither showing the form nor consistency required to win the French Open. Not since before the AO final including three tournaments on his beloved clay.
^^^This.
and this:
Hawkeye63 says: May 11, 2014 at 9:39 pm
Congrats Rafa!!! A win is a win. Rafa, while far from consistent, uped his game forcing Nishi to go for more which led to reinjury.
Continual improvement week to week. Better to peak at the French Open than too early!
—————————————————————————————
Will the real @hawkeye63 please stand up?
Those two statements are consistent with each other.
The only hope is that with his slow improvement, he will peak in time for the French Open final where he will have to be at/near his best to win.
So who is showing the form and consistency to win RG?
No one in particular nadline. But given Rafa’s current doubts and inconsistent form (while slowly improving), it is wide open for about four players with Rafa being one of them. But if Rafa is one of four guys all else being equal then that puts him at 25% instead of 95% chances to have the victory.
I watched Rafa’s interview from yesterday and the most important thing Rafa says is:
“forget about the pressure, forget about the bad feelings and to find my game”
He knows what he needs to do and if he is successful at this, he WILL win in Paris.
That is NID.
Who are the 4 guys in contention in your opinion?
In no particular order:
1. Rafa
2. Nole
3. Federer
4. Wawa or any one of the rest of the field who gets hot.enough to knock out Rafa on any given day.
Are we to believe suddenly that Wawa, Nishikori, Almagro, Dolgo and Ferru are all of a sudden real threats against Rafa when he is anywhere near his best? That is ridiculous thinking.
For me, this is not about who else can win the tournament. It is more about any given player who plays well enough to beat an inconsistent Rafa on a particular day.
Remember last year? When Rafa went into RG with Djokovic being the supposed favourite? And then when Rafa beat Djokovic in the RG semi people could not bring themselves to acknowledge Rafa’s vaunted fighting spirit, they were reduced to blaming the net for colliding with Djokovic for his loss!
The thing that sets Rafael Nadal Parera from the rest is his fighting spirit. We saw that yesterday. It was missing in MC and Barcelona.
In another post, I disagreed with Tiggy’s RR on the final yesterday but I agree with the following line from his blog,
“Nadal did what he set out to do—win the title.”
That’s all he had to do. The rest is just, well…………….noise.
Nadal was the odds-on favourite to win RG last year, not Nole. Same as this year. Nothing has changed in that respect.
Going into the French last year, Rafa had won 35 of 36 matches with titles in Sao Paulo, Acapulco, IW, Barcelona, Madrid and Rome.
#ApplesAndOranges
I blame his ridiculous run last year for his troubles this year………………
#TheBack
rafaisthebest@May 12, 2014 at 2:32 pm
Don’t blame! He is afraid to get injured (a la AO 2014).
rafaisthebest@May 12, 2014 at 2:18 pm
—they were reduced to blaming the net for colliding with Djokovic for his loss!—
Yeah, ‘they’ are still whining that Djoko was caught breaking the rules (!!!) at the Roland Carros last year.
Among them is Mr. Steve Tignor (‘ a disastrous touch of the net with his racquet’; source: TENNIS Tuesday, April 8).
Djoko was more lucky against Andy Murray in Miami – he was not caught.
I think it would be wise to wait and see how Nole’s wrist fares in competition and as for Wawa, he lost to a qualifier in Madrid, remember?
Aha! And therein lies the difference.
In previous year’s, none of that would matter.
good one…
hawkeye,
very well put … your several posts above
Thanks chloro!
Kei has withdrawn from Rome.
Yes. He did that right after yesterday’s match I believe. There was much speculation that he would prior to yesterday’s final win or lose.
There is a limited number of players capable of going toe to toe with him on clay over 5 sets when he is healthy in mind and body.
There is no reason to suspect there are any physical reasons ATM affecting his performance. But most of us agree Rafa is somewhere else mentally – for whatever reason. Whatever happens in Rome I don’t believe it is necessarily a portent for what will happen at RG. Oodles of confidence would be a good thing but so too is remembering to breathe deeply.
I take heart from Rafa’s own analysis of his performance in Madrid. He still has the will to win. That is the only thing that matters when he gets to Paris.
.
True.
Reminds me of RG 2011. When he was about the lowest we’d seen him motivation / jaded wise. Struggled through the first week, and somehow got enough of his will to fight back during the second to make it to the final and win it. A slam trophy is a slam trophy, no matter how you get it. (Isn’t it, Wawa?)
For some reason I don’t think Rafa will struggle through the first week of RG…while we may still see him struggle in Rome since he is yet to ‘restore the order on his beloved clay in his own unique way ‘ Rafa will most likely peak at the RG and destroy them all…Why would anyone think that even if not at his best Rafa is set to lose in RG in the best of five scheme…only Djokovic if healthy could make it happen…and by the time Rafa meets Nole he will be more than ready for it…
natashao,
we’ll have to see. What was on my mind about RG 2011 is that it was a time when Rafa was really not into it, was really low on motivation etc and yet found a way to struggle through that first week and make it all the way to the final and win it. Similarly even if he hasn’t his issues all sorted out in the next 4 weeks, even if he is still not all back as far as mental strength, fight and such, I think that his chances of making it all the way to the trophy are better because of what he is made of.
I appreciate the fact that Shireling gave an opinion and wasn’t slaughtered for it. Whether I agree or not, it’s all about saying what we think. I don’t know that I am ready to say that Rafa won’t win RG. I think that’s a bit premature. Last year the big worry was whether he had enough time to get into good enough form to win RG after a seven month layoff due to injury. This would be his first slam since his return. There was a lot of talk that it was Novak’s year. This was his time because Rafa couldn’t possibly be ready.
Rafa did struggle in the early rounds last year. But he showed that he still had what it takes and got his record 8th title. I am not ready to say whether he will struggle or not in the first week. It doesn’t matter as long as he wins. That’s the objective – to get through to the second week. That’s usually when Rafa is at his best. I don’t care how he gets there, as long as he gets there.
I just don’t feel it’s time to say now whether he can win or not. The truth is that no one can know to any degree of certainty whether he will win RG again. The most important thing is for him to do well in Rome and come into RG with some real confidence. Inconsistency has been the problem recently. That’s the only doubt that I have. But I am not going to freak out or worry or decide at this time that he won’t win. I am just not ready to say that. I want to see how he does in Rome.