French Open Men’s Final – Nadal has it in the bag!!!

Watched the French Open semifinals yesterday. First one was the number 2 player in the world (and the best on clay) against the number 3 in the world and the guy, who everybody believes has everything in him to be a future number 1. The other one was between the World number one, the Numero Uno, who has been Men’s Tennis’s top player for a long long time now and a young French pretender, a guy with loads of talent, but a fair amount of immaturity and playfulness about him too. I had expected (as many others) that the first semi between Nadal and Djokovic would be a much closer affair, and the second one had all the makings of being a one sided washout. How wrong was I.

Nadal is (has been and probably will be for a long time) the best player on clay by a country mile. His ability to chase down lost causes and the heavy top spin shots make him almost unbeatable on clay. Guess, the only person who can beat Nadal is himself. His game is full of strength and lots of extra effort, something normal human body isn’t supposed to be able to sustain for long. That kind of game puts a lot of load on the body, how long can his body sustain that? Already he has faced quite a few injuries in his career. Djokovic’s game isn’t the typical clay courter game; however he has won the Australian Open this year, and at just 20-21 years, already looks like the future face of Men’s tennis. He was expected to give Nadal a tough fight, some people even going to the extent that Djokovic has a better chance of beating Nadal in Paris than Federer. Nadal though had different ideas. Djokovic was struggling to keep up with Nadal, it almost seemed like Djokovic was blown of the court. Then Nadal eased up a bit after going up 3-0 in the third set, having won the first two. Djokovic, who was almost up against the wall till that point, saw his chance and made a game out of it. Nadal just upped the game at crucial stages in that set and eased home in three sets. What I expected to be a titanic battle ended up as a clay court tennis master class from the best man possible.

Federer versus Monfils was a different game altogether. Monfils has got height and awesome strength; however the spin he took when he made a mistake in a drop shot against Ljubicic gave the impression that his mental aspect may need some work. He has the talent and the physical attributes; however the will to fight and win at all costs seems yet to be inculcated. His run till the semis and the fight he showed against Federer should stand him in good stead though. The match was a see saw battle, with Federer making uncharacteristic mistakes. Federer seemed unsure at times, and out of his depth at others. But then this is the 200+ weeks World Number 1 you are talking about. He can dig deep and turn the tide whenever needed. The experience showed in the end.

Despite all Federer’s class I would be shocked if he is able to get past Nadal in the final and surprised if he doesn’t loose in straight sets…