Nadal Falls to Ljubicic: Still a Server's Game When You Serve Like Ivan

Rafael Nadal made his long awaited return to competitive tennis after a scare that saw him retire against Andy Murray at the Australian Open due to pain in his recently suspect knees.

With the disappointment of injury and drop in rankings far behind him, Nadal came into Indian Wells determined to prove his doubters wrong and defend his title. Over the past week and a half, fans were treated to a new and seemingly improved Rafael Nadal. One who was moving like his old self, but with a new, more aggressive mentality. He was hitting the ball harder, keeping points shorter and cruising through the field.

His first real test came in the form of 6'9 John Isner, the man many deemed was unbreakable. Despite dropping a set Nadal came out of that match more comfortably than he could have hoped to, winning both his sets without the need of a tie-break.

He then went on to face an in-form Thomas Berdych, a player who in the past had caused problems for Nadal by overpowering and dictating play. It was Nadal, however, who would dictate and overpower in their latest encounter, coming through in straight sets.

At this point, it seemed as though Nadal had done all the hard work and was a lock for his third final appearance in four years. I mean, what could Ivan Ljubicic throw at him that Isner and Berdych hadn't already?

From the get go it seemed like "nothing" was the answer. Getting broken in his first service game and again in his fifth, Ljubicic was simply out-classed surrendering the first set 6-3 without making much of an impression on the Nadal serve. Despite hitting the occasional ace here and there, Ljubicic found himself working very hard just to win a few games on his own serve. It was looking like the most routine of matches for Nadal. 

Things would change in the second set however, as Ljubicic began taking more risks on his serve which saw Nadal struggling to get the ball back in play even off second serves. Ivan further improved on his first set tactics by often coming in to the net off those big serves.

It would eventually pay off as Nadal's forehand seemed to let him down at the end of second set along with a rare double fault which gave Ljubicic the break. He would then hold and take the set 6-4.

After a lousy start in the third from Nadal it seemed like Ljubicic's luck would run out. Nadal broke back immediately and would continue to hold effortlessly throughout the remainder of the set, while regularly extending Ljubicic to deuce on his own serve even earning a few break point opportunities. It seemed like only a matter of time before Ljubicic would succumb to Nadal's relentless pressure.

However, as all great servers have done, when in the face of adversity Ljubicic pounded his way out of trouble with both his first and second serves. Nevertheless, going into the tie-break you couldn't help but think that Nadal was going to take it once and for all, which is why it was so surprising to see Ljubicic cruise to victory 7-1 thanks to some consistent play and in large part some unforced errors from Nadal.

So what can one take away from this match? Sure, Nadal played a less than applaud-able third set tie-break, but other than that he didn't do much wrong throughout the match. Ljubicic with his back against the wall much throughout the match was able to constantly rely on his one true fallback, his stalwart serve which presented him the opportunity to play a great final set tie-break.

In this modern era of versatile ralliers such as Federer, Nadal, Murray, and Djokovic, no one is safe when someone comes out serving like Ivan Ljubicic has throughout this tournament.