Rafael Nadal wins the Western & Southern Open for the first time in his career and completes the improbable Montreal-Cincinnati double with a victory over John Isner on Sunday. With the win, Nadal will be seeded second at the U.S. Open.
Rafael Nadal’s remarkable, resurgent 2013 campaign keeps getting better and better.
Nadal captured his ninth title of the season and first of his career in Cincinnati with a 7-6(8), 7-6(3) win over John Isner in the final of the Western & Southern Open on Sunday afternoon. The Spaniard fired six aces and saved all three of the break points he faced to prevail in one hour and 54 minutes.
Isner, as he often does, had delivered a flair for the dramatic during his surprising run to the championship match. The 6’10” American had won four of five tiebreakers this week while upsetting Novak Djokovic 7-5 in the third set and saving a match point in the second set against Juan Martin Del Potro. In this one, however, Isner did not have quite enough at the crucial moments.
Nadal faced two set points at 5-6 in the opener, but he fought them off with clutch serving. The No. 4 seed saved another in the tiebreaker before finally sealing the deal on serve at 9-8 when Isner netted a backhand. Nadal ultimately got the job done without earning a single break point against his opponent’s huge serve. The second ‘breaker, though, was more straightforward. Nadal raced to a 5-1 lead an ultimately converted championship point with a perfect forehand passing shot.
“It means a lot winning two straight titles on hard (courts),” assured Nadal, who also triumphed last week at the Montreal Masters. “It’s just amazing for me. I never did something like this in my career.”
“I played extremely well all week,” Isner reflected. “I played well again today. Unfortunately, it just wasn’t good enough. Unfortunately for me, I ran up against one of the greatest tennis players of all time. As I said on the court, i’m going to hold my head up high after today’s match and after this whole week. But Rafa was better than me today.”
Nadal will move up to No. 2 in the world on Monday and be seeded second for the U.S. Open. He will also win the U.S. Open Series unless Isner reaches at least the semifinals next week in Winston-Salem. Isner’s Cincinnati run earns him a Top 16 in New York.
highlights:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0yQ8ZN6tbs]
I think those odds make sense. Djoker would not be an overwhelming favorite at this time. There is a question mark with Murray given his poor showing at Montreal and Cincy. But I did check the atp website to see last year’s results for the top guys and was surprised to see that Murray did not do well at either event. I expect Murray to show up big time as the defending champion.
I see the three favorites as Djoker, Murray and Rafa. The odds may change before the tournament starts. I still think we need to see the draw. That will tell us a great deal.
The aggregate site I’m looking at has Izzy at over 50:1 good for 7th behind Berdych at better than 40:1.
Isner 33-1 where I’m looking. Berdych seventh choice at 40-1.
Yeah, pretty much co-favourites give or take (I’d take Izzy over The Bird given home turf and current form).
basically Berdych has a better chance than Isner to reach the QFs or the SFs, but Isner has a better chance winning the whole tournament.
Ferru and Jerzy are same odds as Izzy.
How the heck does Isner have a better chance than berdych to win the whole event ?? Totally disagree ! berdych has a WINNING head to head record against murray and he has scored some big wins against federer including last year’s win at the open.. rafa seems to be the biggest obstacle for him and then novak…
Isner stands little chance to beat the top 4 in a best of 5 match…winning 3 tie breaks won’t be easy ! plus, berdych has much more experience at Qfs, SFs , he is also a slam finalist..he is absolutely a bigger favourite than isner
Berdych has no chance against Nadal. Hell, Berdych basically has no chance against FERRER! Isner has a chance against everyone.
what I agree about is that isner is more vulnerable to getting out before the QFs…
berdych DEFINITELY has a chance to take down ferrer, esp given ferrer’s poor form and niggles of late…
how much chance does isner have to beat the big 4 in a BEST OF FIVE format? very low ! berdych can beat murray and federer and if the draw opens up nicely for him, he can have his chances..surely more than isner’s (who does have a chance this time though) but I won’t be surprised at all if he does not make it to week 2..got to see if he gets any good returners early on…. I do not want nadal to face him though !
Right now the odds don’t mean much. When the draw comes out on Thursday, then we will have a better idea of who has the best chance.
I honestly couldn’t care less about the odds. It’s what happens on the court that I care about and the oddsmakers have nothing to do with that.
sana@August 20, 2013 at 10:53 am
—Rafa & girlfriend Maria Francisca Perello enjoy NYC before the US Open.
Rafael Nadal was spotted in New York with his girlfriend Maria Francisca Perello yesterday. Rafa sported a lime green shirt and neon green Nike shoes, while Maria looked great in a striped shift dress and carrying an oversized red bag. Glad to see Rafa enjoying a short rest before he starts practicing again for the final Grand Slam of the year.—
http://tinyurl.com/lmhgcpn
NNY: Yesterday you said you could not open the TinyURL link (which was for the ATP site), You need to check you have opened the ‘Preview’ option when you get to the TinyURL site.
I am always rabbiting on about it not being wise to extrapolate the results of the two Masters leading up to the USO to predict form!!! That Rafa managed to win these back to back would have been an amazing performance at any time but this year of all years it is positively jaw-dropping. I would love to think it is a precursor to what we can expect from him in the next fortnight: I remain optimistic he will go deep but I think people are getting carried away to assume he is a dead-ringer for another Slam.
#EeyoreSyndromeAtWork
Thanks for letting my know about the TinyURL link!
http://www.mundodeportivo.com/20130821/tenis/open-usa/toni-nadal-rafa-nadal-us-open_54378693011.html
Uncle Toni says:
1. Rafa is one of the favourites;
2. Team Nadal goal is to win the tournament and attain #1;
3. Other contenders are Murray and Djokovic. Says Isner is a clear candidate for the title because his serve is very difficult to return;
4. Rafa is used to playing with pain and the time is right.
So there you have it, Team Nadal is gunning for #1!
Vamos Rafa!!
good stuff, thanks
It’s nice to have coming from Uncle Toni, but I knew it just by watching Rafa in the two tournaments. I said he’s a man on a mission. It’s interesting that Uncle Toni has come out and said these things. He likes to keep it close to the vest and not necessarily say what he is thinking. He must be pretty impressed with what Rafa has done.
Djoker would have to lose before the semis I think and Rafa would have to win the USO to be #1. But even if it doesn’t happen at the USO, I think it’s only a matter of time.
The only part is when he said that Rafa is used to playing with pain. I wish it didn’t have to be that way. I agree that the time is right. I think Rafa has to do it while he can.
This is what Rafa thinks about favourites:
Nadal said through a translator,” I don’t care at all.” “Frankly, what words could I find to tell you? I mean, what else can I say? I try and play my best tennis, and the least of my concerns is to know if I’m favoured or not. These are words that will be carried away by the wind”.
Typical Rafa! He is now pretty fluent in English and is able to express his thoughts far more eloquently than was the case a few years ago.
His reluctance to be lauded as the favourite going into any tournament contrasts sharply with Djokovic’s reactions who in the past has been known to express his displeasure at not being acknowledged as one of the favourites.]
i think some of you will enjoy this: detailed stats of Nadal’s match vs. Federer. Some interesting revelations – https://tenngrand.com/2013/08/22/nadal-vs-federer-cincinnati-qf-statistics/
Having high fever waiting for USO main draw !!! Isn’t today the draw will come out, what time? 🙂
noon. 55 minutes.
that is when the ceremony is. it won’t be posted for another hour.
Thanks for the info. Is there any place with a board updated online with the draw?
thanks ricky