David Edwards
NormNadal Advances To Quarters After Five Day Marathon
July 4th 2007 15:16
World number 2 Rafael Nadal has finally advanced to the fourth round of the Wimbeldon tournament after winning his match against Sweden’s Robin Soderling which took a marathon five days after rain has backlogged the Wimbeldon tournament to be over 200 matches behind, and the worst the tournament has seen in 25 years.
Nadal, who won the epic match 6-4, 6-4, 6-7, 4-6, 7-5, had to dig deep to defeat the number 28 seed after he was pushed to the limits in many sets, and with rain delays extending the match to over five days after they first stepped on court.
Soderling, who is the highest ranked Swede at the moment, pushed Nadal to the absolute brink in the five sets. At one stage, the game was locked at 4-4 with Soderling the impressive figure on the court. However, once again the rain rolled in to delay the match, and when the game resumed on the final day, Nadal was once again looking like the dominant figure that has gotten him to the number two spot, and after six match points, five sets and five long days to finish off what is nearly a record-breaking endurance match.
What this means for Nadal is now after the longest match he has been involved in his long and lustrious career, he is looking at being on the court every day for the rest of the tournament if he hopes to reach the final once again. After the biggest rain delays Wimbeldon has experienced in quarter of a century, the organisers will be seriously under the pump, and hoping that no more matches are delayed by the rolling clouds to ensure that the competition will finish on time.
Whilst there has to be serious work placed into the remaining scheduling of the matches, the tournament has turned into a hint of a farce as two of the world’s best players will take two very different paths. World number one, and current four-time successive champion of Wimbeldon Roger Federer has essentially cruised into the semi-finals already, after his fourth round opponent Tommy Haas had to withdraw from the competition, placing Feder on already a four day rest and waiting to see who his opponent will be in the penultimate finals match.
Nadal have a completely different system. After the five day marathon he was involved in, it seems positive that he will have play his remaining matches every day until Sunday when the final is already organised to start. This means that one of the hardest players on the circuit will have to dig extremely deep to find the effort and energy to continue, and above all have a chance to win the tournament.
So above all, does this mean that Wimbeldon has started to create a sense of a farce that the cricket world cup had to endure. In a word, no. Whilst he have not seen such horrid weather during the English tournament in recent years, it is the environment that English tennis was created on. It is of course a shame when major events such as these are delayed, or even called off due to unseasonable and shabby weather, but it cannot be blamed on anyone bar the rain.
The Wimbeldon organisers have already taken steps to protect the players, with construction of a retractable roof already slated to be finished for 2009 tournament, but this will only help alleviate a small portion backlog of matches if weather like this occurs again. But as all tennis (and for that matter cricket, who endure the same situation every year) fans knows, when the black clouds begin to roll over the court or ground, there is no doubt that you can only blame it on the rain.
But the biggest question now is, has Nadal have the metal to take his competition right to the edge? Whilst he has been pushed to the brink on many matches in his career, it is right now how he will be remembered. Has he spent so much energy in defeating the hard to pinpoint Soderling that it is beyond impossible to move from the fourth round, or will he character and grim determination take him right to the number 2 spot of the tournament, where he could be facing Federer in one of the biggest matches of his life? Once again, all we can do is sit, wait, and pray for good weather.
Until next time, sports minds.
Nadal, who won the epic match 6-4, 6-4, 6-7, 4-6, 7-5, had to dig deep to defeat the number 28 seed after he was pushed to the limits in many sets, and with rain delays extending the match to over five days after they first stepped on court.
Soderling, who is the highest ranked Swede at the moment, pushed Nadal to the absolute brink in the five sets. At one stage, the game was locked at 4-4 with Soderling the impressive figure on the court. However, once again the rain rolled in to delay the match, and when the game resumed on the final day, Nadal was once again looking like the dominant figure that has gotten him to the number two spot, and after six match points, five sets and five long days to finish off what is nearly a record-breaking endurance match.
What this means for Nadal is now after the longest match he has been involved in his long and lustrious career, he is looking at being on the court every day for the rest of the tournament if he hopes to reach the final once again. After the biggest rain delays Wimbeldon has experienced in quarter of a century, the organisers will be seriously under the pump, and hoping that no more matches are delayed by the rolling clouds to ensure that the competition will finish on time.
Whilst there has to be serious work placed into the remaining scheduling of the matches, the tournament has turned into a hint of a farce as two of the world’s best players will take two very different paths. World number one, and current four-time successive champion of Wimbeldon Roger Federer has essentially cruised into the semi-finals already, after his fourth round opponent Tommy Haas had to withdraw from the competition, placing Feder on already a four day rest and waiting to see who his opponent will be in the penultimate finals match.
Nadal have a completely different system. After the five day marathon he was involved in, it seems positive that he will have play his remaining matches every day until Sunday when the final is already organised to start. This means that one of the hardest players on the circuit will have to dig extremely deep to find the effort and energy to continue, and above all have a chance to win the tournament.
So above all, does this mean that Wimbeldon has started to create a sense of a farce that the cricket world cup had to endure. In a word, no. Whilst he have not seen such horrid weather during the English tournament in recent years, it is the environment that English tennis was created on. It is of course a shame when major events such as these are delayed, or even called off due to unseasonable and shabby weather, but it cannot be blamed on anyone bar the rain.
The Wimbeldon organisers have already taken steps to protect the players, with construction of a retractable roof already slated to be finished for 2009 tournament, but this will only help alleviate a small portion backlog of matches if weather like this occurs again. But as all tennis (and for that matter cricket, who endure the same situation every year) fans knows, when the black clouds begin to roll over the court or ground, there is no doubt that you can only blame it on the rain.
But the biggest question now is, has Nadal have the metal to take his competition right to the edge? Whilst he has been pushed to the brink on many matches in his career, it is right now how he will be remembered. Has he spent so much energy in defeating the hard to pinpoint Soderling that it is beyond impossible to move from the fourth round, or will he character and grim determination take him right to the number 2 spot of the tournament, where he could be facing Federer in one of the biggest matches of his life? Once again, all we can do is sit, wait, and pray for good weather.
Until next time, sports minds.
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Comment by Stanley
if only he had that run of luck in the french.