The Hindu : Sport / Tennis : Nadal overcomes sluggish start

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Monday, Nov 12, 2007
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Sport - Tennis

Nadal overcomes sluggish start

Paes and Damm cruise to victory in straight sets; easy for Ferrer

— Photo: AP

DICTATING TERMS: David Ferrer was in dominant form against Novak Djokovic.

SHANGHAI: Spain’s Rafael Nadal overcame self-doubts and a sluggish start to beat France’s Richard Gasquet 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the opening match of the season-ending Masters Cup here on Sunday.

Novak Djokovic wasn’t as lucky. He got broken in the first game and never recovered, losing to David Ferrer of Spain 6-4, 6-4 in the other Gold Group round-robin match of the tournament that features the top eight men’s singles players and doubles pairs.

Nadal looked uncharacteristically slow and subdued as the eighth-ranked Gasquet fended off an early break point, then broke Nadal as he served at 3-4 in the first set.

Nadal fell behind 0-40, won the next two points, then saw Gasquet send a stinging forehand winner down the line. The Frenchman finished off the set with a pair of service winners.

Even though both of his knees were taped, Nadal claimed he was feeling “perfect,” but said he was a little nervous at the start. “Every match is very difficult because you play only against the best,” he said.

Fired up

Gasquet’s downfall began when he hit an overhead into the net on game point while serving at 1-2 in the second set. Nadal rallied to break when Gasquet tried a drop shot that went wide. The Spaniard suddenly got fired up, pumping his fists while tracking down the Frenchman’s array of groundstrokes, volleys and spins.

Gasquet’s serve, so strong in the first set, let him down too. He got only 53 per cent of his first serves in during the second set, and Nadal picked on Gasquet’s second serves, winning 10 of 13. Gasquet, who saw his record against Nadal fall to 0-4, broke back in the next game, but Nadal broke to pull ahead 4-2 and held serve to finish off the set and level the match.

With the unforced errors piling up, Gasquet served at 30-30 at 2-2 in the final set. He thought he had an ace, challenged the call and lost, then double-faulted. He saved one break point, but back-to-back forehand errors handed Nadal the last break he needed.

After the Spaniard cracked a clean winner on match point, he leaned back and shouted, his fists clenched.

Ferrer never let up after getting the early break against the 20-year-old Djokovic, who won five ATP titles this year and reached his first Grand Slam final at the U.S. Open. Ferrer never gave Djokovic an opening in the first set, broke the Serb for a 5-4 lead in the second and fended a break point while serving for the match. The contest ended when a Djokovic forehand hit the tape and ricocheted well wide.

Sweet revenge

In doubles action, Leander Paes and Martin Damm registered a convincing 6-4, 6-1 win over defending champions Jonas Bjorkman and Max Mirnyi.

Paes and Damm, appearing in their second successive Tennis Masters Cup, exacted revenge on the Swedish-Belarussian combination which beat them in the semifinals last year and went on to win the title.

Paes and Damm proved too good for their opponents in the Gold Group encounter, converting four of the seven break points that came their way. After winning the first set 6-4, the Indo-Czech pair stepped on the accelerator to take the second 6-1 in a contest that lasted nearly 65 minutes.

The results: Singles: Gold Group: Rafael Nadal bt Richard Gasquet 4-6, 6-3, 6-4; David Ferrer bt Novak Djokovic 6-4, 6-4.

Doubles: Gold Group: Leander Paes & Martin Damm (Cze) bt Jonas Bjorkman (Swe) & Max Mirnyi (Blr) 6-4, 6-1; Jonathan Erlich & Andy Ram (Isr) bt Paul Hanley (Aus) & Kevin Ullyett (Zim) 6-7(1), 6-3, 14-12, tiebreak. — Agencies

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