So I just finished buzzing through the French Open Final. There was some dissension between myself and others about what kind of match we were in for. So, as I sit here trying to pay enough attention to Lakers/Celtics Game 2, I can tell you that I was right.
As I had said going into the later rounds of the French Open. I had seen Rafa Nadal play for a couple hours in the earlier rounds and was able to think the following: "He looks healthy again." I then told you that you could interpret that statement to read: "Rafael Nadal will win the French Open". I was certainly not kidding. Nadal is unstoppable on the clay when he is healthy, and he proved it yet again this morning, against the man who knocked a troubled, unhealthy Rafa out of the same tournament last season (the only time he's lost there).
Nadal dominated this match from about 20 minutes in. He didn't always dominate it physically. Robin Soderling is a physically imposing player. But Rafa, as he always does, especially on clay, dominated the mental aspect of the game. You don't believe you can win when you play a healthy Rafael Nadal. And if you don't believe you can win, you certainly are not going to win.
Soderling is tremendously powerful. He has a big serve, a very strong two-handed backhand, and a tremendous forehand. And he has the height and physical presence to take Nadal's high kicking top spin shot and crush them back down into the far court. He can use his power to reset points that he is behind in, and that kind of power can be effective against a Rafael Nadal that is not playing his best.
I didn't get to see the match that Soderling won last year, but I imagine that a less fit Rafa was actually able to be moved side to side effectively. From what I saw early in this match, I also figure that Soderling was able to capitalize on Nadal's shorter slice shots and deposit them into the corners. Rafa was shying away from using his slice offensively early in this match. When they were trading service games early in the first set, he was only using it on the run, to get back into points. But you could tell from the first time that he attacked Soderling with it, that the shot was just what he needed to keep the big man off balance. Between his ability to use that shot to keep Soderling teetering, and his use of the outside lines in both service courts, Rafa just had too many shots for the less versatile Soderling, who tired quickly, both mentally and physically.
Rafael Nadal, when healthy, kills your will to play the game. He is everywhere on the court, especially on clay, on which he slides so effectively. He is able to use his speed, not only to get to shots that he has no business touching, but then to reset the point by centering a slice in the opponents court and then using his speed to center himself back behind the baseline, and prepare to be everywhere once again. He punches you in the stomach time and time again, as you hit winner after winner, but end up down 0-15 by point's end. He forces you to try to hit the ball harder and harder, driving it down the opposite end of the court, but unless you are perfect, he sends it right back until you either mis-hit in an effort to strike even harder, or just lose all mental capacity to continue to compete. Nadal is one of the fittest players in the game, the quickest player in the game, and has a rarely matched ability to center his running slice-stabs. He is everywhere on the court that Lleyton Hewitt was 10 years ago, but with twice the striking ability.
Like I said, Robin Soderling is an imposing player. He has great physical ability and an excellent power game that he is able to use effectively on clay, because of his knowledge of and comfort with the surface. I expect Soderling to begin to have more success on the other surfaces as his game is refined. Look for him to be a major player at Wimbledon, this summer, as he seems to have a game that lends itself naturally to success there. The speed of the grass will help him against runners like Nadal, and perhaps give him that extra skip to beat them to the corners with out having to be line-perfect. As powerful as Robin Soderling and others like him are, however, Rafael Nadal is MORE powerful. He doesn't have the velocity on his shots that the power players do, but power becomes a relative term in tennis when you have to relate it to your opponents ability to react. Nadal's ability to react and his agility moving laterally and his accuracy on the run renders his opponent less powerful. When you compare it to the relationship of his power strokes with his opponent's movement and striking ability, he becomes the more powerful player.
I still think that Rafa needs to move the bigger players forward and backward more, as long as he can get comfortable enough cutting the ball and keeping it low, because that threat will move his opponents up just far enough that the depth of his shots will become debilitating. That being said, the way that Rafa is playing right now, if he continues to pace himself tournament-wise, you can all but pencil him in for a Wimbledon title. I know that grass is Federer's best surface, but his best surface against Nadal will always be the hard court.
Nadal handled Soderling in straight sets this morning, for his 5th French Open in 6 tries. Bjorn Borg won 6 in 8 tries. If Nadal is healthy, I truly belief he will win 7 in 8 to surpass Borg as the best clay court player tennis have ever seen. Nadal turned 24, I believe, earlier this week. He may win 10 French Opens by the time he's done, but we'll have to see how his legs hold up. Nadal was able to serve right with the more powerful Soderling, as the two finished even in aces, or close to it, with Rafael Nadal double-faultless, first-serving at an outrageous 78%. Soderling had more than his share of chances to break Nadal early in the match. Nadal saved a chance that would have put him down the first break and then saved several chances that the Swede had to gain serve back later in the set. Soderling strained to save a double-break at 2-4, but couldn't eek out a break in the next game, despite his opportunities. By halfway through Set 2, Soderling's will started to break. Nadal broke him early and late in the set, and after going up the double break, the match was as good as over. Soderling held serve in the third all but once, with the help of a more conservative Nadal, who collapse onto the clay, covering his back in brown, as he has been known to do upon completing a championship. For the second time in three years, Nadal finished the tournament without dropping a set, and reclaimed his right to the Roland Garros throne.
-APT
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