Rafael Nadal will get a shot at revenge on David Ferrer when the two Spaniards clash on Tuesday in London. Both players are looking to get off to a 1-0 start at the year-end championship.
Rafael Nadal and David Ferrer will be doing battle for the 26th time in their careers and for the second time in four days when they collide in round-robin action at the World Tour Finals on Tuesday afternoon.
Ferrer will hardly concern himself with the fact that he still trails the head-to-head series 20-5 and has lost nine of the last 10 and 16 of the last 18. He is 4-3 against his higher-ranked countryman on hard courts and he just prevailed 6-3, 7-5 in the Paris semifinals on Saturday.
“We know each other very well,” Nadal said after his surprising loss. “I know what things he is doing well. When he’s playing well, he’s very dangerous on all the surfaces, but especially on this one because it’s probably the worst surface for me.”
The world No. 1 has actually enjoyed his best-ever season on hard courts, but his form during the fall-swing has dropped off. After capturing hard-court titles in Indian Wells, Montreal, Cincinnati, and at the U.S. Open, Nadal failed to win Beijing, Shanghai, and Paris. Of course, none of Nadal’s setbacks in these past two months has come against anyone outside the top five.
Just when it looked like Ferrer may be showing signs of dropping out of the sport’s elite group, he defended almost all of his 2012 Paris title points to keep himself in the top three of the world. A post-Wimbledon slump is clearly a thing of the past now that the 31-year-old Spaniard has reached finals in each of his last three tournaments (runner-up in Stockholm, Valencia, and Paris). Ferrer is 60-21 for the season, which includes nine finals (Roland Garros among them) and two titles (Auckland and Buenos Aires).
Playing tournament after tournament never seems to faze Ferrer, who is one of the fittest players on tour. At the same time, though, competing for six consecutive weeks and advancing at least two rounds in all of them is not ideal heading into London, where he has advanced out of group play once in three appearances (lost in the 2011 semifinals). Everyone–Nadal included–must be feeling some wear and tear at this point on the calendar, but the top seed may benefit from having exited Paris on Saturday rather than Sunday.
It’s more than obvious that Ferrer can be competitive in this matchup on this surface, but beating Nadal twice in the last four days after previously beating him twice in the last five year is simply too much to ask.
Pick: Nadal in 2
[polldaddy poll=7533230]
Had to post this pic of Rafa: What a dramatic picture, perfectly symbolizing his triumph. (pic from rafaelnadalfans.com via Clive Brunskill/Getty Images Europe). http://rafaelnadalfans.files.wordpress.com/2013/11/rafaelnadalbarclaysatpworldtourfinalswyd38jodeewl.jpg?w=604
I think by coaching, Stan included cheering which, to be fair, encouragement is an important element.
But so what. Coaches should be allowed to yell Vamos. Swiss are a touchy lot.
I just read an account of the incident by someone who was actually there and she said it did appear that Toni was yelling more than just Vamos, but that she was too far away to make out what he was saying. After Stan complained and then at the changeover, she said that Rafa went over to his box and “had some stern words” to say and then went over to Stan and apologized (this was after the initial apology from across the net). I myself noticed that after that, the camera would occasionally show Toni and he was silent and unanimated. So whatever Rafa said to him did the trick.
@pseudodofed: I need to file a complaint. Yesterday, when I I played Novak, I think I heard someone from his box cheering for him #seriousoffence