Montreal Masters: Rafa Blues

The post-Wimbledon hardcourt tennis season is my favorite—even though I’ve always despised an excess of asphalt. It is also the most difficult season to follow, because the tournaments take place in opposite geographic time zones.

I had to have a night-out last night to watch four enticing quarterfinals in Montreal, dozing off in between matches and keeping things going with a bit of caffeine. I missed two of them but managed to catch hold of the more important ones.

It was a pleasure to see the “punk rocker” back on court. Tennis becomes much more exciting when Rafael Nadal’s sweat-dripping tees are combined with the ferocious backhands and unbeatable slides—even on hard courts.

It was good to see him in a full, competitive match, after David Ferrer’s early retirement, and the no-contest against Philipp Petzschner, “the Pet guy”, didn’t live up to the curiosity of Rafa’s comeback.

I had to be content with watching the matches on live stream—with alien commentary—but  I have started to appreciate them over time. It started when I watched Rafa’s match versus Fernando Verdasco at Australian Open, and managed to jump up and down the seat without any background commentary.

First of all, I can get away with the useless commentary when a particular event or shot is hyped to an extent beyond its need—something similar to the background laughter we are used to seeing in sitcoms. If the commentator is not Jason Goodall, John McEnroe, or Dick Enberg, a big part of my enjoyment is reduced.

I can also put the television on mute, but it is no fun when even the sounds of a racket hitting the ball, or the roaring noise of crowds are not audible.

Secondly, there are no commercial breaks in live streams, and one can closely notice what the players do in between breaks—I had missed Andy Roddick’s conversation with the chair umpire during Melbourne—the way they ask for water bottles, adjust their towels, etc.

I carefully observed Rafa’s obsession with aligning his water bottles to put them exactly on the circles he had marked, and being restless in his chair while urging himself back to the court.

I was surprised at Rafa's decision to enter doubles initially, but then it seemed logical to get a little bit of match practice before his first competitive singles match. He has been not been at his best, as expected, but is improving gradually.

I was watching with caution whenever Rafa would run around the court, thinking this would stress his knees too much. It's amazing how the psychology changes, when, three months back, I would sit and applaud those unreachable takes.

Rafa’s movement seemed pretty decent, though not back to its full intensity. A couple of times during his match with “The Pet”, he just gave up on drop shots that his opponent had hit.

Similar droppers were converted into half volley winners against Novak Djokovic at Madrid. It was not a sign of withdrawal, but erred towards caution. Frontal movement requires a lot more effort, and Rafa looked promising enough to not stress himself against an opponent who would not offer much resistance.

His slice-backhand has improved over the years, and against Juan Martin del Potro, it looked very effective. It was close to the net, and stayed very low which forced a lot of errors out of the Argentine during the first set.

Del Potro showed his strategic sense, as he started attacking Nadal’s forehand a lot more, and adapted to the slice in the second set. These are very encouraging signs for the Argentine, and if he continues to improve himself technically and strategically at this rate, he will be ready to become a multiple Grand Slam winner soon.

One thing that was surprising was Nadal’s first-serve percentage. It dropped to 63 percent today, when he would usually serve over 70. Perhaps he was not bending his knees enough to avoid excess strain.

His intensity was never a problem, though, as he fought till the very last point. At 0-40 and 1-5 behind, he chased down a good approach from del Potro and hit two overhead smashes to stay in the match—he lost the match on the very next point.

As Uncle Toni had suggested, Rafa would be back, but not in full form, and it was evident with his performance here. He must have been pretty pleased with this outing, though, and there will be definitive improvements in the next few tournaments.

He will drop down the rankings if Andy Murray manages to overcome the boxer Ali from France, but that would be the least of his concerns at the moment. It is hard to say, if that happens, that it would be the end of an era. It will be the first time since mid-2005 that Roger Federer and Rafa would not occupy the top two spots!

Oh, by the way, this was a rare time when Rafa's girlfriend Xisca Perello was accompanying him in the stands. She looked subdued, and uncomfortable in the crowd.

Not surprising, considering that she has spent almost all her life away from spotlight in the silent beaches of Mallorca. I guess we will be seeing her more in the upcoming tournaments.

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P.S.: F.R.I.E.N.D.S. still remains my favorite sitcom.