Recap: Rafa’s 3 most thrilling matches of 2018
There were a fair bit of similarities in 2017 & 2018 as far as Tennis is concerned, but none bigger and as evident as top guns still ruling the tennis world as if it's still 2008. If 2017 was Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal’s year of redemption, Novak Djokovic, coming out of his slump, certainly owned 2018. The second half of the season saw him winning Wimbledon & US Open.
Once again, the next-gen players like Dominic Thiem and Alexander Zverev shone in bits & pieces, pushing top dogs to their limits, but it’s one thing to give a tough fight but quite another to actually win in crunch moments, like in Grand Slams. It was a year of heartbreaks yet again for the two warriors in Juan Martin Del Potro & Marin Cilic, who have timelessly kept on going, despite coming across what you call so near, yet so far moments year after year.
Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal finished with winning one major apiece as the former retained Australian Open while the latter retained Roland-Garros, stretching his French Open titles to whopping 11.
But for a Rafa fan, it was a mixed year, while it was so emotional and enthralling to witness Rafa conquering French Open for a record 11th time and dominating the clay season as he did last year, it was depressing to see Rafa retiring mid-match in both the hardcourt majors.
Apart from his fabulous clay season and an impressive 45-4 win-loss record this year, it was wonderful to experience Rafa playing some of his best tennis on Centre Court, SW 19, Wimbledon. Here’s a look at 3 of the thrilling matches of 2018 of which Rafa was part.
#3: Nadal Vs Del Potro, Wimbledon Quarter-Final, July 11
Prior to his epic quarterfinal clash against Argentina’s Juan Martin Del Potro, Nadal had a perfect Wimbledon as he cruised through the first four rounds without dropping a set. But in the quarterfinal, stood in front of him Del Potro, the ‘tower of Tandil’ more than capable of taking out Nadal on his least favorite surface.
After 11 consecutive holds (6 from Nadal & 5 from Delpo) in the first set, Delpo had to hold in the 12th game of the first set to force a tiebreak. However, on Nadal’s second set point opportunity, Delpo committed an unforced error, thrashing the backhand into the nets and after 54 minutes of play, Nadal took the first set 7-5.
The second set was a contrast to the first set as both the players exchanged breaks in 9th & 10th games and tie-break looked inevitable. With Delpo serving at 3-6 in the tiebreak, Rafa had three set points, but squandered each one of those and eventually Delpo who looked all but pumped up took the tie-break 9-7 to make it 1-set apiece.
In the third, Rafa's service game let him down as Delpo broke in the 10th game to close out on the third set 6-4. Being in a deficit of 1-2, Nadal’s box looked nervous and they knew their man had to dig deep or else he could be vanquished thanks to Del Potro’s ominous forehand.
In the 5th game of the 4th set, Rafa had three break points and this time, there was no mistake whatsoever as Delpo slipped and Nadal pounced upon the window of smallest opportunity to break Delpo. Delpo was shattered and one break was enough for Rafa to take the 4th set 6-4 and force the match into the deciding set.
This was the first instance when Nadal-Delpo match had gone into the 5th set and Rafa was all but determined to make it to the semifinal for the first time in Wimbledon since 2011. And once again, just like in the 4th set, Delpo faltered in his third service game as Nadal moved one step closer on what promised to be a blockbuster showdown against Djokovic.
There were as many as six deuces in the 8th game as Delpo fought with everything he had left as he tried desperately to square the set at 4-4, but Nadal managed to prevail and gained a 5-3 lead, with just one game away from a famous win. At 5-4, 40-30, Nadal served out wide, Del Potro slipped as Nadal raised his arms much in relief rather than jubilation. After 4 hours 48 minutes of absorbing and high-quality tennis, Rafael Nadal marched through to the semis.
What followed just after the match was the moment of supreme sportsmanship as Rafa, just as he did against Verdasco in Australian open 2009, crossed the net to embrace Del Potro, who was a winner too, despite losing the match. The Commentator’s words “No wild celebrations yet for Nadal, he has too much respect for Del Potro” speak for themselves as crowd rose to applaud not only Nadal but also Del Potro as they both put together an edge of thriller contest which will surely go down as one of the classics in the rich history of Wimbledon.