Madrid Open 2013: Rafael Nadal’s Finals Appearance Bodes Well for French Open

By
at Internationaled.org

Published: May 11, 2013

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Stop us when you've heard this before—Rafael Nadal is heading to a clay-court final.

The superstar Spaniard dispatched of wild-card entry Pablo Andujar 6-0, 6-4 in their semifinal matchup at the 2013 Madrid Open on Saturday, foraging his way to the tournament's final match in typical Nadal fashion.

Playing mostly away from the net, Nadal sprayed a brilliant display of groundstrokes against the overwhelmed Andujar. He won 88 percent of his serves in the first set, got a critical break in the second after Andujar rallied and dominated his way through the straight-set victory as the fans roared with excitement. 

The match took all of one hour and 17 minutes—barely more than an episode of Mad Men. Tennis TV's Twitter feed captured Nadal's moment of triumph: 



It was far different from the three-set slog Nadal battled through against David Ferrer in the quarterfinals, and Nadal will come into his final with Stanislas Wawrinka as a favorite. Wawrinka defeated Tomas Berdych during their semifinal matchup on Saturday.  

The result of Sunday's match is ultimately irrelevant. This tournament has broken wide open with the upset losses by Roger Federer, Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic, leaving Ferrer as Nadal's only true pound-for-pound test. It would be a massive upset if Nadal lost to Wawrinka, but there would be less than zero takeaways barring injury. 

Instead, the Madrid Open represents just another piece of continued excellence from Nadal since returning from injury. He's reached the final in all seven tournaments he's entered, capturing four titles this calendar year—more than any other player.

And with the French Open in the offing, this statistic from Spanish tennis journalist Alvaro Rama feels particularly salient: 

Nadal has reached the final in every single red clay event (19) he has played in since R...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Tennis

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