Men’s Championship: [2] Rafael Nadal (ESP) vs. [9] Daniil Medvedev (RUS)
It was their first meeting, and Nadal had history on his side; he was 10-0 against first time finalists. Yet, Medvedev could have been different. He started off well, showing no signs of nerves on his serve; while, Nadal needed over eight minutes to secure his first service game. But Nadal is a quick study and figured out early in the set that the weaker side of his opponent was his forehand. Out of the blue on his second service game, the Russian struggled with his serve and he compounded the situation by serving a double fault to lose his serve. That early break lead was all Nadal needed to secure the first set. After a shaky first service game, the Spaniard settled into his rhythm and he never gave Medvedev another opportunity to break his serve.
Complete Domination By Nadal
The second set was a complete blow-out for the Spaniard. No one could have predicted that Nadal would dismantle another top ten player in such a fashion. Medvedev after dropping the first set seemed to lose his way. He could not mount any resistance against the unrelenting attack of his opponent and Nadal just kept the pressure on until Medvedev cracked. This was probably the easiest Masters 1000 final that Nadal ever had to play and with the 6-3, 6-0 victory, the Spaniard defended his first title on another surface besides clay. This victory also gave Nadal his thirty-fifth Masters 1000 title and his fifth Rogers Cup title.
Big Title Leaders
Although Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic still lead in the number of big titles won at fifty-four; Nadal leads in the number of Masters 1000 titles by two, giving him fifty-three big titles won. Now everyone is wondering will Nadal play in Cincinnati, which started today? The wise decision would be to withdraw and protect his knees for the US Open, which starts on August 26th.
SOURCE OF IMAGES: Zimbio.com (all images by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images North America)
