Mutua Madrid Open, Spain

Men’s Semifinal: [2] Novak Djokovic (SRB) vs. [5] Rafael Nadal (ESP)

It was the blockbuster match that everyone wanted to see since the draw was announced.  Djokovic led their head-to-head 26:23 and had won the last seven consecutive matches they played. Historically he may have had the advantage; however, given his recent scrappy play, perhaps that statistic was irrelevant.  Was it the blockbuster match that everyone expected?  Sadly, it fell short of the hype.  Nadal did not play his bes and there were remnants of the tentative Nadal throughout.  The memory of losing seven straight times to Djokovic was still clearly on his mind.   Yet, Nadal is brimming with confidence at the moment and he did not need to play his best to beat Djokovic in his current form.

If we doubted that Djokovic was struggling, take a look at the first set.  He was clearly not himself.  The aura of invincibility we have become so use to associating with him was not present.  His whole demeanor conveyed uncertainty.  His head was bowed more often than not and negativity emanated from him with every error he made.  There were moments of brilliant play from him but not enough to threaten Nadal.  Every player goes through a slump at some point in their career and if he is committed to tennis he will eventually find his way; however, not today as Nadal was not about to let this opportunity slip by.  Nadal won 6-2, 6-4 and ended his losing streak against Djokovic at fifteen sets.  He will contest his sixth final of the season tomorrow, his third consecutive final and third on clay.

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