Rafael Nadal scores a straight-set victory over Carlos Berlocq in the Shanghai third round on Thursday. Nadal will battle Stanislas Wawrinka for a place in the semifinals. Hasan Murad recaps the action.
Rafael Nadal was made to work for a berth in the quarterfinals of the Shanghai Rolex Masters on Thursday night. The Spaniard was in devastating form early in the match before getting past Carlos Berlocq 6-1, 7-6(5) in one hour and 50 minutes.
The world No. 1 came out with an attacking mindset as he raced to a 3-1 lead in the opening set and continued the strong momentum by breaking Berlocq’s serve for the second time with a series of scorching inside-out and down-the-line forehand winners for a 4-1 advantage. Despite Berlocq playing fine tennis and making only three unforced errors in the set, Nadal continued to surge and wrapped it up with 19 winners to just four unforced errors.
Berlocq did not get demoralized with the scoreline failing to do justice to his strong level. The veteran Argentine started to play with even more variation and took advantage of a dip both in Nadal’s intensity and aggressiveness. The entire second set stayed on serve with Berlocq saving break points in the seventh game by virtue of excellent serving and aggressive hitting off his forehand. In the tiebreaker, Berlocq continued to make inroads to the net by pummeling Nadal’s backhand and it earned the underdog a healthy 5-2 advantage. Not too surprisingly, though, Nadal responded by reeling off five consecutive points to steal the ‘breaker and the match.
A high-quality encounter ended with impressive statistics for both players. Nadal managed 78 percent first serves in and finished with 35 winners to 14 unforced errors while Berlocq finished with 26 winners to 12 errors. Nadal will take on the world No. 8 Stanislas Wawrinka in Friday’s night session.
[polldaddy poll=7465539]
great recap
Good stuff VR. They’ll soon have to take you on as a full-time writer.
Re: your bye-line. If ‘Hasan Murad recaps the action’ came at the start of the paragraph instead of at the end it would be far more visible.
no it wouldn’t. and it also wouldn’t make any sense.
^^^told you to have his name blinking like a christmas tree…….
^^^^that put’s me in my place. I’m suitably crushed.
it is the true, no?
Haha!!
—Berlocq continued to make inroads to the net—
Berlocq has a good net game. Rafa and C. Berlocq won the same number of points at the net.
Net points won:
Rafa: 12/17
C. Berlocq 12/18
Sorry Gussie. I know you want to discuss tennis but we have to get this matter sorted out first 😉
QF expert picks – https://tenngrand.com/2013/10/10/shanghai-quarterfinal-expert-picks/
OK then. What about a stand alone line under your intro para?
how can you not see it when it is in bold AND in a different color?
Because you can if you’re speed-reading.
Agree with that, cos at the mo u can miss it.
Ed mind your own business.
There. I’ve said it for you Ricky.
Shall I mind mine too ed?………………….;)
In fact I did miss it and had to go back because Rick’s is the name that leaps at you.
Obviously went to the same speed reading school……
how? my name is in like size 2 font on every article…..
this is bizarre.
haha feel free not to, cause this discussion is #LOL
Haha!! Ed! That was awesome
LOL LOL @ ricky and ed.. but yeah, funnily, have been told the same by few other people ! haha
not that it means much, but a way to deal with it could be to may be write the name of the author with the title of the article on the home page if that is possible. You guys will gradually get used to it anyway haha
thanks for the appreciation ed,ricky 🙂
Put his name in ALL CAPS!!!
#SHOUTITSHOUTITSHOUTITOUTLOUD
italicized AND underlined!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Your name leaps out because it’s first. I think unconsciously your brain then assumes the article is by you, especially when skim reading.
My point exactly Deucy.
For pity’s sake. This is your tennis blog Ricky. Naturally we assume you are the author unless you make it screamingly obvious it’s by a guest contributor.
#MemoToSelf
#GoToSpecSavers
duecy got it right !
btw duecy, had you purchased tickets for the WTF this time? its a pity muzz won’t be there :/ muzz’s absence significantly raises everyone’s chances to win WTF no question about it
Deucy: you could auction them on this site for fans of other players 😉 😉 😉 to attend and send the proceeds to Andy’s favourite charity e.g. The Marsden.
Rafa said it was very humid on Thursday, he changed his shirt 5 times.
Rafa’s interview on Thursday after the match vs C. Berlocq
[Full] TRANSCRIPT – 10 Oct 2013 Rafael Nadal:
http://en.shanghairolexmasters.com/transcripts/transcript-10-oct-2013-rafael-nadal-127.aspx
Excerpts:
—Q. A very entertaining match, particularly the second set. When those sorts of points are going on, are you aware and can you enjoy those sorts of matches or do you not realize it until afterwards?
RAFAEL NADAL: Yes, but the situation today with the humidity was not nice. When you play these crazy points with the good conditions it’s fine because you feel fine for the next point. With the conditions of today, not comfortable to play with this situation. Too much humid, sweating too much.
Q. You were mentioning the humidity. How many shirts do you walk on court with?
RAFAEL NADAL: Seven today. I used five. Maybe tomorrow I will be with nine. Yeah, is too much. Feels like every two games I can change the T shirt. Crazy humidity.
But happy the way I played at the end. I think I played a fantastic first set. The second I felt a little bit more tired. ..—