El Mundo - Sin red

Aquella bola del 'deuce'

03 ABR 2010 00:34

 

Hay una pelota, con 4-3 para Andy Roddick en el tercer set, servicio del estadounidense y deuce, que explica muchas cosas. Rafael Nadal venía de un passing reciente, que provocó uno de sus pocos gestos encorajinados, tan abundantes, hasta el exceso, en la confrontación de cuartos contra Tsonga. Roddick, como es lógico, ya no era el jugador imposible de mediados del segundo set e inicios del tercero, el que dio la vuelta al partido con máximo riesgo y máximo acierto, después de hacer sentir al español, a lo largo de toda la disputa, que iba a pasar cuantas pelotas pudiera, que esta vez no sería el ejecutor apresurado e iracundo que se desespera cuando no acierta con los dos o tres primeros disparos.

En esa bola de la que hablamos ambos jugaron con cautela, llámenle cautela, prudencia o, para ser más exactos, miedo. No hace demasiado, con otro bagaje de éxitos, Nadal seguramente habría afrontado el punto con mayor determinación, haciendo retroceder al contrario, tirando de sus mejores recursos. La sensación al otro lado de la cinta tal vez también hubiera sido otra, la del Nadal fiero, infranqueable, valiente, que sabe matar y nunca muere. Ahora ya no es así. El enemigo también percibe los signos de debilidad, los golpes que él mismo se propinó en las piernas en uno de los descansos, los monólogos entre punto y punto que recordaban al gran Boris Becker cuando las cosas se le torcían, el desierto en su cosecha de los últimos 11 meses, las dudas (Murray, Davydenko, Ljubicic)...

Esa pelota, la del 4-3 y deuce en el tercero, la envió Nadal a la red, tras un diálogo entre murmullos, de voces trémulas. No era el punto más importante, sí un signo, la manifestación palpable de un estado de ánimo. 

javierhortiguela@yahoo.es

Comments

[luna]

ESPERO QUE ESOS TEMORES NO TENGAN RAZON!!! 


Me gustaría ver que Rafa sabe mantener la calma!!!


Debe de dar por hecho y esperar que sus rivales reaccionen e intenten remontarse durante partidos.  Eso es lo normal... lo que no es normal es que Rafa
se sorprenda e incluso se desconcierte hasta el punto de no saber como responder. El equipo debe de trabajar para
eso no ocurra!!!! 


 


Rafael Nadal's Knee Problems a Thing of the Past?



by Marius
Written on April 07, 2010






Following the French Open last year, the tennis world was shocked to hear that Rafael Nadal would be away from competitive tennis for a period of over two months.


A period that would see him not defending his hard earned Wimbledon title and eventually lose his number one ranking which he had so deservedly attained.


The culprit?


Knee tendinitis.


When he finally made the first of his long awaited returns at the 2009 Roger's Cup, it was clear that he was not the same player the tour had come to fear. Sure, he lacked some confidence, but
more importantly he wasn't moving like his old self and it seemed he missing his patented never-say-die attitude.

Somewhat surprisingly, he refused to let the lack of success and his apparently still bothersome knees deter him from finishing the remainder of the season.


Come this year's Australian Open, all eyes were on the Spaniard. After the much deserved break he was back under the microscope. Every round he advanced seemed to solidify his healthy return to
the game.

Then, in the quarterfinals, disaster struck. After playing two extremely high level, physical sets against Andy Murray, Nadal made the difficult decision to retire due to pain in his knees. Yet
another title forced out of his grips by the chronic sports injury.


Despite the withdrawal, Nadal seemed more optimistic than after his first long-term absence. He assured the tennis world that he would be back in time for the year’s first Masters 1000 title in
Indian Well, and he did not disappoint. He played a very high level tournament, losing to the eventual champion Ivan Ljubicic who in total would be responsible for exit of three top-10 seeds.

More importantly, he showed no signs of discomfort throughout any of his matches while maintaining the sort of level of tennis that saw him challenge for the number one ranking over a year ago.


The same story could be said for Masters 1000 Miami. By the fourth round, Nadal was the last remaining top-four seed in the tournament and in the quarters he continued his rampage by dismissing a
very in-form Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. He then went on to face Andy Roddick in the semis.


In their last three meetings, all on different surfaces, Nadal had not given up a single set against the American, and after the first set it seemed the trend would continue. Roddick, however,
appeared to change his game plan in the second as he began to hit bigger and take more risk. The risks paid off big time, and Roddick eventually went on to win the match, seemingly surprising
Nadal with his sudden offensive play.


It was generally accepted that Andy Roddick simply played too well and Nadal could not have done much more at that point. While Roddick did play very well beginning in the second set, Nadal did
not seem quite himself in the latter stages of the match. On a couple occasions he simply gave up on shots that one would expect him to run down.

He also sprayed a few forehands making it look like he was rushing, desperate to keep the points short. This was not the new, more selective and aggressive Nadal that we had seen in throughout
the rest of the tournament, this was a Nadal who had something else on his mind.


Many who watched his match against Roddick may not have noticed odd behaviour from Nadal's during a change-over midway through the third set.


For those interested, here it is .


While sitting down, a very frustrated Nadal could be seen yelling at his corner and pounding angrily on his right knee.


Never had he shown this level of frustration over a physical ailment in the past. On previous occasions, Nadal would opt for injury time outs, requesting the trainer maintaining a cool, calm
demeanour. This time it looked as if his worst fear, something he thought he had seen the last of, was showing its ugly face once again.


So could it be that the sceptics were right all along? Has Nadal indeed burnt out?


For the sake of the sport, let's hope not.