ATP World Tour Finals: The Return of Rafa
London: World number 5 Rafael Nadal found form early on as he defeated world no 4 Stan Wawrinka 6-3, 6-2 in his opening match at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals.
Nadal is looking to find form after a disastrous year, at least according to the high standards he has set. After being beaten in Paris by Wawrinka, questions were raised about Nadal’s mental stature going into the match – but the Spaniard proved that he is indeed on the way to doing so.
Set 1: Early on in the first set, both players held serve. But Nadal who showed signs of improvement eventually bettered his game and broke Wawrinka to take a 5-3 lead in the first set. Then, at 40-15 up, Nadal closed the set with an ace.
Set 2: Wawrinka found a break opportunity early in the second set. Nadal however, hot an amazing lob hotshot to save the break. Nadal then did not allow Wawrinka to settle in the second set and quickly brushed Wawrinka 6-2 thereby finishing the match in one hour and 22 minutes.
Nadal hit one ace compared to Wawrinka’s 10, winning 74% of his 1st serve points compared to the Swiss’ 60% and won 55% of his 2nd serve points compared to Wawrinka’s 34%. He would break Wawrinka 4 times in that match.
After the match, Nadal seemed delighted with the match and said that he was extremely happy to play in London. When asked if he went fishing during his absence in London last year, he said that he was actually in London for some time, and could not go fishing, also thanking the crowd for their support.
Nadal now leads the Ilie Nastase group with one win, and a games win/loss of 12/5. He is followed by Andy Murray, David Ferrer and Stan Wawrinka at second, third and fourth place respectively.
Next up: Andy Murray
Nadal is next scheduled to play Andy Murray on 18th November at 2:00 pm London time. With Murray looking to secure his world number two ranking and Nadal looking to avenge his loss at Madrid to Murray earlier this year, this match will definitely be an interesting one to watch for tennis fans.
Nadal leads Murray 15-6 in their head to head.
The pair last played each other in the semifinals of this event in London in 2010, and the match was a three-set thriller which Nadal eventually won. The next match would be one to look forward to and tennis fans would definitely hope for a thriller.