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Nadal vs. Djokovic: Rafael Nadal Proves Madrid Was a Fluke with Win in Rome
Published: May 21, 2012
Coming off of a loss to Fernando Verdasco in the third round at Madrid on May 10, Nadal had a lot to prove—mostly that he could still contend with top competition...as long as the courts were to his liking and preferably weren't blue. There was no better way to prove his mettle than registering a win over the best player in the world at the Italian Open.
Nadal accomplished that feat, winning 7-5, 6-3, and he moved back into his rightful No. 2 spot.
What made the win even sweeter, however, wasn't the fact that it came off of that bizarre and unexpected loss to Verdasco. It was the fact that he has lost to Djokovic seven of the eight times they've faced each another, that he lost in straight sets to Djokovic in last year's final and the fact that he desperately needed a win to get his momentum rolling before he embarks on the defense of his French Open title on Sunday.
A sixth Rome Masters win wasn't a bad way to accomplish all three of those items at once.
Djokovic made far more mistakes than usual, playing so poorly that he busted up his racket after one particularly frustrating slew of errors, but it was up to Nadal to capitalize. That he did, playing excellent defense and outdoing his rival's athleticism.
Now, Nadal will leapfrog Roger Federer and regain his No. 2 ranking, where he probably would have been all along had it not been for the pesky blue courts at Madrid—a tournament that neither he nor Djokovic plan to play at next year unless the traditional red clay is restored.
Before his win at Rome, Nadal's excuses for his loss at Madrid seemed like just that: excuses. Some said that Djokovic and Federer found ways to win on the uncharacteristically slippery blue courts, and i...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Tennis
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