In all facets of life and not just tennis, Rafael Nadal is a man of actions, not words. The 22 year- Lucas take the charge in the match early and finally thrashed the 6-1, 2-6, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (6) in a four-hour match.
Advertisement
Djokovic, on the other hand, had been a bit lucky as he had played just two complete matches at Flushing Meadows this year going into his fourth match of the tournament. The Spaniard shot his retort back immediately.
Pouille’s win sends him into the quarter-finals for the first time in NY. Nadal scoffed in response.
But the 30-year-old believes he knows what he needs to work on, saying: “You can see it or you can write the way that you want”. There were errors and patches which were nearly unwatchable if not for the significance of the moment.
Two days ago I had talked about the sharp contrasts in the sport of tennis, and how unusual it is to see the players behave so differently on and off the court. In terms of overall points, the match could not have been closer: both men finished with 156 points.
Nadal who came to the net far more often than usual wouldn’t concede yet, though, and one forehand victor by him plus two tight forehands by Pouille evened the score. However, his nerves clearly affected him in these important moments.
In the tension-packed decider, the Frenchman rushed out to a 4-1 lead. A few games later, he did it again. The pair traded two tight sets to take it to a fifth where neither gave an inch and the inevitable tiebreak ensued.
The Spaniard looked poised to reach match point himself when he came in on a short ball and looked set to unleash a victor. He yanked a forehand into the net. “Even if he’s one of the best, he feels the pressure”.
“My wrist is improving a lot”.
More worryingly, there are question marks over Nadal’s staying power itself, for his last three defeats at the majors have come in five-setters. I try my best.
“I need something else”.
“I guess everything was fine today”, the two-time NY semi-finalist said. In this time, the overall issues have become clear. This only means that 2016 is the first year since 2004 in which Nadal has failed to reach a Grand Slam quarter-final, according to BBC. His forehand misses sent murmurs of panic around the stadium, but you could see that he himself was the worst affected by each one of those untimely errors.
But victory over Nadal is nothing short of sensational, and it sets up a tough-but-winnable meeting with compatriot Gaël Monfils in the quarter-finals. They simply allow opponents the opportunity to take the ball early and put the hurt on.
Nadal acknowledged that his sloppy forehand was “a big mistake”. The biggest problem with assessing where exactly Nadal is in his 30th year, after so many struggles, is the fact that it’s hard to know with all his physical problems.
Advertisement
Nadal responded with an equally dominant showing in the second but when Pouille started to enjoy more joy on the Spaniard’s serve in the third, the writing appeared to be on the wall for the former world number one.
