Beijing runner-up Rafael Nadal continues to pick up momentum during the Asian swing as he now finds himself in the Shanghai semifinals on Saturday. Standing in the Spaniard’s way of the title match is Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.
Rafael Nadal and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga will be squaring off for the 12th time in their careers and for the first time in more than two years when they battle for a spot in the Shanghai Rolex Masters final on Saturday afternoon.
Nadal is leading the head-to-head series 8-3, including an impressive 6-2 on hard courts. Tsonga, however, has at least won two of their last five encounters dating back to the start of the 2011 season. They most recently faced each other on the clay courts of Monte-Carlo in 2013, when Nadal prevailed 6-3, 7-6(3). The two veterans have met twice during the fall swing; Nadal got the job done 7-5, 7-5 at the 2009 Paris Masters and Tsonga scored a 7-6(2), 4-6, 6-3 victory at the 2011 World Tour Finals.
The World Tour Finals is where Nadal is headed despite a disappointing 2015 campaign by his standards. Shanghai’s No. 8 seed owns just three titles and did not reach a single Grand Slam semifinal. But he is picking up momentum in a hurry in Asia. Nadal finished runner-up to Novak Djokovic in Beijing and so far this week he has taken out Ivo Karlovic, Milos Raonic, and Stan Wawrinka.
“Being in the semifinals is a great result for me,” the 14-time major champion commented. “I hadn’t played the semifinals on hard court all year and now I am playing two weeks in a row in the final rounds. That’s a big improvement for me. In terms of confidence, in terms of level of tennis, I am playing better. Very happy for that because I am working so hard.”
Tsonga is also gaining some much-needed confidence this fall. In part because of an injury-plagued start to the year, the 15th-ranked Frenchman had just 17 match wins to his credit heading into the U.S. Open. That event ended with a tough five-set quarterfinal loss to Marin Cilic, but Tsonga got right back in action to capture a title in Metz. He punched his ticket to the final four in Shanghai by defeating Tommy Robredo, Victor Estrella Burgos, Albert Ramos-Vinolas, and Kevin Anderson.
Although Tsonga benefited from Roger Federer’s loss to Ramos-Vinolas and arguably from Kei Nishikori’s setback against Anderson, the 16th seed has still needed a combined five hours and 24 minutes to survive his last two matches (2:44 against Ramos-Vinolas and 2:40 against Anderson). That is not a good recipe for success going into a showdown with Nadal.
Pick: Nadal in 2
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For what it’s worth I think Rafa will take positives from this tournament. He beat Stan for his first top 4 win of the season and he barely lost in semis and it was a masters 1000. Also he beat two monster servers in first two matches and broke in each match. I would say Rafa is back to full health and the confidence is almost back to normal.
I’m wondering if Ricky still thinks Rafa wont play O2. It’s a moot point. He’s very motivated to help Spain get back to the World Group and to prepare for AO. OTH he may well want to continue testing himself against the top players.
he will play
Djokovic is annihilating Murray
Yep 6-1 djoker. I’ll take a 6-2 or 6-3 second set most likely 6-2 lol. Novak is gonna obliterate Tsonga in the final most likely. I hope not but it’s very likely.
bakery product likely
Spain doesn’t play in Davis cup action til July so yeah Rafa should play especially now that he knows he can compete at a high level again.
Clearly I haven’t been following the Davis Cup situation closely enough.
No doubt Gussie will point this out to me 🙂
what does not playing DC until July have anything to do with it?
Everything
ed251137 (12:32 pm),
Spain will play its next Davis Cup tie in July 2016!
Tsonga will hand it to Nole on a plate, I’m sure of that. Players ALWAYS bring their best against Rafa.
maybe its easier to play well against Nadal than it is against Djokovic. Have you considered that?
Reusable
Of course.
Yes! Thank you for saying this! 🙂
Not just Djokovic either ATM
honestly, Tsonga stands no chance even if playing his best game…Novak is just too good…he saves his best game for the finals…Rafa had his chances today and he blew it…Even though Tsonga played some good points it was Rafa who lost today rather than Tsonga wining it…we are all aware of it…
yep
Ditto. Improvement though.
My response @ 1:24 pm was meant in response to Ricky’s comment @ 12:53 pm.
Djokovic plays safe, boring tennis…………………..that’s his secret. As luckystar said, he has to be taken out of his comfort zone.
That’s an endorsement of how much better he is than his opponents.
^This.
Coming from a Nadal fan, this is so rich. Djokovic is a lot better than Nadal on the attacking front. He stands much closer the baseline and is keener on finishing points on first strike. Both are ordinary at the net.
I dont think anyone is arguing to the contrary
It was a response to Djokovic playing safe tennis. #Potkettleblack.
The Djoker fooled me. He ain’t jaded today! He’s making Andy looked vin ordinaiire right now.
At least I didn’t believe him when he proclaimed tennis was no longer his No.1 priority: his wife and son would be the most important things in his life.
It is.
It’s one of the things I dislike. The way he makes PC remarks to suit the occasion – always seeking sound-bite opportunities, not to mention the chance of a photo call…
Although to his credit so far he has not over exposed the child.
So you are saying that Novak was not sincere when he said that his wife and child were his first priority. Why is that PC or just a sound-bite? Is it because the guy is so far above the rest of the field that you believe tennis must be his first priority? I’ll let you in on a little secret. He’s just that good.
I started watching my recording and when Rafa lost that first set I decided to go online and check the score. I was really surprised to see that he lost in three sets. From what I saw, Tsonga was playing some great aggressive tennis in that first set, but Rafa blew his opportunity to get back in it when he missed those break chances.
I will watch the entire match later. It’s surprising because Rafa came back so strong to bagel him in that second set. One would think he’d have the momentum in the third set.
I guess there is more work for Rafa to do as I said yesterday.
I don’t think Tsonga has a chance against Novak. From what I am reading here, it appears that Rafa let this one get away. I will definitely check out the last two sets to see how it got away. That third set was tight.
Tsonga can get hot and when his serve is on, he can do some damage. But it won’t matter against Novak. It should be an easy straight set win for him in the final.
Even the most ardent fans have not claimed Rafa is fully rehabilitated. It will be interesting to see what he has to say about his performance. Leaving emotions to one side, overall it was not his best but neither was it a total disaster. It was understandable one had high hopes for today but Tsonga cleverly didn’t allow him any rhthym in the first set and everybody knew thatt could be crucial in this particular match.
I am happy with rafa’s performance. Its not his favouite period of the season. Courts and balls(remember he complained in 2013 or so) dont favour his game. Hence, he is loosing control on his shots.
TSonga can’t do anything in final. Back to back three setters and spent all his enery already.. Expecting 6-3, 6-1 score and reading how great God Nole is all over.
Excerpts from Rafa’s post-match interview he gave in Spanish; translated by Genny:
(Javier de Diego is a Journalist)
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CRh4vV-WUAERuWv.png
He shouldn’t be particularly thrilled by those last two games of the match.
He was serving at an outrageous 83% for the match when suddenly it deserted him in his last service game and he played too tentatively getting broken and allowing tsonga too serve it out.
Tsonga played well and Rafa also but still much room for improvement.
He’s not ready to compete with Novak yet.
Only Federer is.
Rafa is very smart when it comes to analyzing his matches. Having watched the first set, I agree with him. I was thinking that Tsonga was getting the better court positioning and then was able to dictate play. Rafa’s awareness of it is a good thing.
From Rafa’s post-match press conference:
(Carole Bouchard is a Journalist)
https://twitter.com/carole_bouchard/status/655369907752693761
Yes a higher level and needs to stay positive.
“Djokovic plays safe, boring tennis…………………..that’s his secret. As luckystar said, he has to be taken out of his comfort zone.”
lol. Ricky please enlighten your kids.
i’m trying!
I don’t think Novak plays safe, boring tennis. Never have.
Quotes from Rafa’s post-match press conference (the official Transcript will be available
on Sunday):
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CRiFNhmUwAAYCAG.png
In the first half of the year Rafa complained of feeling tired.
Today he said, “I was able to enjoy every match and play with the energy that I want to play.” It’s an encouraging sign.
Video. Rafa’s post-match press conference on Oct.17:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYVU5Bzo4-c
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I said a few times that it’s a work in progress. It’s not like he’s going to go out there and suddenly beat everyone. It’s going to take more time. I also didn’t think Rafa was yet in his best form. He can play at a higher level. He knows it and will continue to work toward that goal.
I can handle this loss. Of course, I wanted Rafa to win. But he’s played so well these past two weeks and has had such satisfying wins that I have to feel good right now.
Guess we all got ahead of ourselves. I dont think anyone expected Tsonga to win today. Bummed to read this.I was secretly hoping Rafa beats Tsonga today, Murray beats Novak and maybe Rafa beats Murray in final and lays his hand on the elusive Shanghai Rolex trophy.
7 5 in 3rd seems matter of few points here and there. Looks like Rafa did not capitalize well. Still work to do though positives to draw from last 2 weeks.
Redaing mixed comments here. Some saying Rafa lost it more than Tsonga won. Some saying Rafa played well enough.Tsonga can catch fire and has caused trouble to Top 4 on various occasions. Remember he beat Fed last year at Montreal/Toronoto in final 7 5 , 7 6 and won his Masters.
Tsonga is the new Lopez. One unreal tournament per year out of nowhere.
^This! Absolutely!
Haha true. I wish they both could have these tournaments more often. Tsonga at his best is top 10 or top 5 material and I’d say Lopez at his best could be top 10 as well. Raonic dropping off the points from Paris soon will give some players chances to move up the rankings actually.
That’s if Raonic doesn’t do well at Paris, which seems kind of likely at the moment.
nadal is improving, getting more aggressive and starting to believe in himself again. good signs.
Unfortunately what Rafa is lacking today is the killing instinct. At key points in the match, he dropped his forehand short, with not much depth and power on Tsonga’s forehand, allowing Tsonga to hit winners. Nadal hasn’t used much his shot down the line today either, and it is the only way he can’t beat Novak, with his shot down the line back to its 2013 form. Overall, a much better performance from Nadal, but he need that killing instinct back, he needs to kill a match before his opponent gets into it. And the only eay he can do that is having some of his decisive shots back (and having the confidence to play any shot from anywhere-deal better with drop shots, kill a point with his forehands down the line, acing at crucial times, and not starting to serve second serves in crucial games…)
Solid post
https://tenngrand.com/2015/10/17/shanghai-final-preview-and-pick-djokovic-vs-tsonga/
London Y, I agree with everything you say but I think there is a little bit of nerves left rather than not having the killer instinct. He had to play at a high stressful level for almost every round.
Yes I was surprised he didn’t use his dtl passing shot in returning serve which was what saved him against Dr Ace. There is no doubt that Rafa had a tough, tough draw. To have overcome the tirade of aces from both Karlo and Raonic one after the other then run into Tsonga was too much.
He is a lot further on to where he was in Canada; I look forward to a better 2016 for Rafa. How many players have had the injuries and illness that Rfa has had to cope with?
Vamos
I agree with you Nadline. 2016 should be really interesting. If Nadal carries on on this improvement curve with no major set back, the clay season might give him the final push to get to where he wants to. Would be really interesting to see how Djokovic will cope with all the titles he won in 2015. He is getting used to it now, defending titles. It is hugely surprising that there is no one competing with him right this second, and that there is no young tennis player having the crazy belief of youth that they can beat him. It is about time for the new generation to kick in, but until then I will sit back and hope for real competition in the “big four”.
Now that I have watched my recording of the entire match, I have a few thoughts. Rafa lost a key opportunity in the first set when he had Tsonga down 15-40 to break back and even things up. He did not get another chance. However, I do not think that was the key to the match. Rafa stormed back in the second set and just took over. Tsonga looked like he was doing one of his walkabouts, but Rafa really played aggressive and didn’t let him get anything going. After that bagel, one might have thought that Rafa would have the momentum going into the third set.
One other key moment was early in that third set when Tsonga had Rafa down 0-40. Rafa came up with some great serves and stellar shot making to hold his serve. Again, one would think this crucial hold of serve would help Rafa to prevail. It was a tight battle until 5-5. Tsonga was aggressive going after the break, but Rafa helped it along.
Rafa missed a volley at the net to lose his serve and they showed a close up of his face. He knew what it meant – he was going to lose this match. A few errors and that was all it took. Tsonga played really well in that third set. I thought both players did.
This is not like Rafa’s other losses where he just gave away the matches. He played really well in this match, but it came down to a few points and that was it. He should come away from this knowing that he played his best. That’s all anyone can ask.
Exactly what I was thinking. I feel like Rafa is almost back to his best and steadily gaining confidence back. He won’t be a non factor in Melbourne imo he just has to hope he is on opposite side of Novak. It would be horrible luck for him if he got Novak in quarters like at the French.