Swing and a Miss! Federer Can’t Hold It Together Against Nadal in Madrid

By
at Internationaled.org

Published: May 17, 2010

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The final point was almost as comical as it was a summation of the entire match.

After getting the mini-break back, Roger Federer served to even the score in the second set tie-break at six apiece, only to swing and completely miss the Rafael Nadal return which had caught a bad bounce just beyond the service line.

Game, set, match Nadal , who won his 18th Masters crown Sunday with a straight-set 6-4, 7-6 (5) win over Federer at the Madrid Open in Spain.

Looking back at the start of the week, few would have penciled Federer into the final following his less than stellar clay court campaign that had the likes of Stanislas Wawrinka , Ernests Gulbis, and David Ferrer standing in his way.

And even fewer folks would have picked him to beat Nadal .

So in that regard, Federer losing to the unassailable Spaniard—winner of his record 18th Masters title—is by no means an underachievement, but rather a slight overachievement. 

But when all is said and done, Federer could have made it a much more interesting encounter.

Both players were far from their best during the first set, with Nadal tallying up unforced errors in double digits within the first few games, and Federer barely doing anything other than putting the ball back in the court.

It would be the Swiss' inability to capitalize on Nadal's lackluster form, however, that would set the tone for the first set. After trading breaks early on, Nadal went on to break Federer once more at 3-3 and, after consolidating the break, found himself serving for the set at 5-4.

The difference in the first set was, as it has been in most of their previous matches, Nadal's ability to convert on break point opportunities versus Federer's inability to do so. 

At 3-3, Federer saved four break points, only to be broken by Nadal on his fifth attempt. It seemed only fitting then, when faced with the sa...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Tennis

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