Rafael Nadal's most impressive wins in 2018
Despite the fact he struggled with injuries and missed Acapulco, Indian Wells, Miami, Cincinnati, Beijing, Shanghai, Paris and the ATP Finals, Rafael Nadal was the best player in the world for the most of 2018, losing the ATP throne only in Paris when Novak Djokovic passed him to finish as the year-end no. 1 player for the fifth time. Rafa won the Tour leading five ATP titles in the season behind us and he won 45 out of 49 matches he played, wrapping up another stellar season on clay to conquer Monte Carlo, Barcelona and Roland Garros for the 11th time and his first title in Rome in five years.
After being forced to retire against Marin Cilic in the quarter-final of the Australian Open, Nadal was sidelined until April when he rattled off a great run on his beloved clay. The Spaniard lost an epic clash against Novak Djokovic in the semi-final of Wimbledon before going all the way in Toronto, lifting his first Masters 1000 trophy on hard after Cincinnati 2013! By the end of the season, Rafa played only at the US Open, retiring due to a knee injury in the semi-final against Juan Martin del Potro and ending his season much earlier than he expected. Nadal had some impressive wins, especially on clay, outplaying his rivals in every crucial aspect and dominating on both the serve and return to notch commanding triumphs.
Rafa won at least 60% of the points in a lot of matches and we have picked his four most impressive victories from 2018, three on clay and one in the very first match of the season when he destroyed Victor Estrella Burgos in Melbourne.
Barcelona SF vs David Goffin 6-4 6-0 (63-37) Monte Carlo QF vs Dominic Thiem 6-0 6-2 (67-33) Rome R2 vs Damir Dzumhur 6-1 6-0 (67-33) Australian Open R1 vs Victor Estrella Burgos 6-1 6-1 6-1 (68-32)
The crowd in Barcelona had a chance to witness a very interesting semi-final encounter between the defending champion Rafael Nadal and the 4th seed David Goffin but it turned out to be a one-way traffic match, with the Spaniard who scored a 6-4, 6-0 win in an hour and 22 minutes. Thus, Rafa entered his 113th ATP final and the 11th in Barcelona, never losing a title match here and improving his score to a mighty impressive 57-3! In addition, Rafa claimed jaw-dropping 44 straight sets on his beloved clay since the Roland Garros 2017 and this was his ATP win on clay number 400, becoming only the fourth player in the Open era to achieve that after Guillermo Vilas (659), Manuel Orantes (502) and Thomas Muster (422).
This was the fourth meeting between the Spaniard and the Belgian and the third win for Nadal, all on clay, dominating from start to finish to continue his clay court streak. This was the best match of the week for Rafa, hitting 25 winners with just eight unforced errors and losing only 11 points in eight service games. David did manage to break him once but he needed much more than that since he lost 55% of the points in his games, playing against 11 break points and dropping serve five times.
The match kicked off in an unexpected fashion, as Nadal lost four points in a row to give his serve away after a backhand error but he got it back in game four when he fired a forehand winner to break David at love and overcome the deficit. The Spaniard was the better player in the rest of the set and the opener was in his hands when David sprayed a forehand error in game 10 after 49 minutes. There was only one player on the court in the second set and that wasn't Goffin who won just two points on the return in three games and dropped serve on all three occasions to suffer a bagel. Nadal broke in game two with a forehand cross court winner and again in game four after a double fault from the Belgian. The sixth game was the longest of the match and David wasted some three game points before Nadal converted his third match point after a forehand error from his rival to reach his 11th Barcelona final.
A week earlier, Nadal performed another dominant display of his abilities on clay, dismantling Dominic Thiem 6-0, 6-2 in an hour and eight minutes to reach the semi-final in Monte Carlo, claiming his 66th win in 70 matches in the Principality! Thiem needed two and a half hours to defeat Novak Djokovic in the third round on the previous day and he had nothing more left in the tank for the toughest possible rival on clay, struggling both on his serve and in return games. Nadal did everything right behind his initial shot, dropping six points and keeping Dominic miles away from break points, mounting the pressure on the other side of the net.
The Spaniard clinched 57% of the points on the return, converting five out of 12 break points and controlling both the shortest and longer rallies to cross the finish line in no time at all, winning 27 out of 33 longest points to stand strong and march towards the semis! Thiem was the only player who defeated Rafa on clay in 2017, ousting him in the quarter-final of Rome before Nadal restored the order in the semi-final of the Roland Garros a few weeks later, losing just seven games and showing the same kind of dominance in this Monte Carlo encounter as well, dropping just two games in the last three sets he played against the Austrian!
Tired, slow and unsettled, Thiem served at 41% and his service games have turned into a nightmare for him, losing almost 60% of the points and facing 12 break points. On the other hand, Rafa sailed through his service games, dropping six points in total and allowing Thiem to reach just one deuce and no break points. Nadal was in his full glory from the baseline, dictating the pace with deep and accurate groundstroke that dismantled Dominic completely and left him with no chances for a more positive result. In that Rome match last year the Austrian was very effective on both the return and in the crucial points but nothing worked for him in this encounter, struggling to find an open space and making almost 40 errors overall.
Nadal's groundstrokes worked like a charm, hitting just 10 errors in total and standing as the dominant figure in both the shortest but especially in the longer rallies where Thiem had nothing to confront him and make the match a little bit more interesting. Outside the eight forced errors he committed, Rafa was never out from the comfort zone and he played almost an error-free match, keeping a high level throughout the match and giving no glimpse of hope to his rival of scoring any kind of comeback. As we already said, the defending champion served at 71% and he was untroubled on both the first and second serve, maintaining the pressure on the other side of the net and hitting with more risk in the return games.
Outside the service winners, Dominic failed to do much behind his initial shot, unable to find the zone with his first groundstroke and reducing the chances of winning the point with every extra shot he was forced to play. His strokes lacked both the power and accuracy and they couldn't harm such a strong rival on the other side of the court. They had 11 service winners each and Rafa fired 10 winners from the field compared to six from Dominic, none from his backhand. Five of those Nadal's direct points from the court came in the opening two games but there was no need to chase them in the rest of the match, crumbling Thiem with a sheer depth of his shots and counting rival's errors.
The most striking difference between Rafa and Dominic emerges on the surface when we check the number of unforced errors, with two from Nadal and 18 from Thiem who couldn't control his backhand like he usually does. Rafa did make eight forced errors, seven from his backhand wing, but Dominic had to count to 14, powerless against Nadal's cross court missiles that would open the court for him and give him the initiative in the rallies. In addition, Thiem sprayed five double faults compared to only one from Nadal and the Austrian had 17 winners and 37 errors overall, a little bit too much if he wanted to stand a chance against the king of clay.
Rafa tamed his shots perfectly, firing 21 winners with just 11 errors and his victory was never in doubt after the very first game. The Spaniard had the edge in the shortest points up to four strokes (31-22) but he made the real contrast in the points that have reached the five-stroke mark, taking 27 out of 33 to demolish Thiem and leave him in ruins after another epic performance from the baseline from the greatest clay courter in the history of the game.
Following the dominant performances in Monte Carlo and Barcelona, Rafael Nadal continued in the same style in Rome as well, defeating the Bosnian Damir Dzumhur 6-1 6-0 in exactly an hour for his 19th win of the season and the 52nd in the Italian capital in 58 matches! Nadal arrived in Rome after a quarter-final loss in Madrid to Dominic Thiem and he played on a very high level, losing just nine points on serve to avoid break points and cementing his win with a dominant run on the return as well, winning 60% of the points in Damir's games and breaking him five times from eight chances to move inside the last 16.
Nadal hit 17 winners and nine errors while Dzumhur could only stay on five winners with 26 mistakes, losing the battle with a mighty opponent in both the shortest and more extended rallies. Rafa held at 15 in the opening game of the match with a service winner and he gained a break in game two when Damir's backhand finished in the net. The Bosnian wasted two game points at 0-3 and Nadal broke after a long rally that earned a double break lead for him. Damir avoided a bagel after saving a break point in game six but Rafa closed the set with a forehand down the line winner a few minutes later for a 6-1 after 34 minutes.
Determined to finish the match in the best possible manner, Nadal broke at the start of the second set with a forehand return winner and he found himself 3-0 in front after a double fault from Damir in game three, sailing towards the finish line. Dzumhur was powerless on the return and he got broken again in game five, allowing Nadal to serve for the match in the following game. The Spaniard cemented the win with a forehand down the line winner in game six for his most dominant win in Rome after toppling Robin Soderling by the same score in 2009!
Rafael Nadal's most impressive win in terms of the total number of points won didn't come on clay but in his very first match of the season at the Australian Open, destroying the veteran Victor Estrella Burgos 6-1, 6-1, 6-1 in an hour and 34 minutes, winning 68% of all the points. Rafa served at 73% and he saved five out of six break points while leading 6-1 5-0 to keep the pressure on Estrella Burgos all the time, taking 60% of the return points to grab eight breaks from 12 opportunities for the best possible start of the year.
The world no. 1 broke in the second game of the match after a forehand error from Victor and he was 4-0 ahead after just 12 minutes following another break in game four. Rafa closed the set with a perfect drop shot winner after just 23 minutes and he was eager to follow the same pattern in the rest of the encounter. Estrella Burgos was powerless on both the serve and return and he trailed 3-0 in the second set following a backhand error, with Nadal securing another break to move 5-0 up and march towards a bagel.
That didn't happen, though, facing six break points in that sixth game and getting broken after a forehand drive volley winner from Estrella Burgos. Still, the Spaniard stole the opponent's serve a few minutes later to clinch the set 6-1 and move a set away from the finish line in less than 70 minutes. Rafa never lost his focus and he raced into a 4-0 lead in set number three after a double fault from Victor, sealing the deal with four winners at 5-1 to kick off the campaign in style and secure the most impressive win out of all 45 he grabbed in 2018.
from Tennis World USA http://bit.ly/2GIxkdu
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