The battle that was on display between Nadal and Djokovic yesterday and which ended in the fifth hour with: 6-4 3-6 6-1 6-7 9-7 in the favor of Nadal – is hard to put into words. The match had everything. Fantastic points, high drama, nerves, comebacks, and brute physicality. It was another classic in their rivalry. In the end, Nadal had the edge of being (almost) unbeatable at Roland Garros and he managed to qualify for yet another final.
Who awaits there? His good friend Ferrer. It’s a bit of anticlimax with an all-Spanish final, but at least we had the Djokovic-Nadal drama that we wanted. Ferrer is a great player and deserves to be nr 5 in the world, but it’s very hard to see how he will be able to beat Nadal in a French Open final. We can just hope he can make it competitive and interesting for a while.
Shame for Tsonga who seems to have a hard time stringing two good victories together. After beating Roger in the quarters I had the feeling he wouldn’t be up to it against super-solid Ferrer. It would have been fun with a local hero against Nadal in the final, but Ferrer surely deserves all the success he can get. His determination is definitely an inspiration for young players all over the world.
Congrats Rafa and congrats Nole for a fanastic show yesterday. Hopefully many more to come…
