Nobody is surprised that Rafael Nadal is in the final of Roland Garros for the seventh time, but the one-sided nature of his semifinal victory might raise some eyebrows, as he made one of the world’s finest clay-court players look utterly ordinary, beating David Ferrer, 6-2, 6-2, 6-1, in one hour and forty minutes.
After their last two matches in Barcelona and Rome this season, we might have expected one tight set. But Ferrer, not at his best, could not oblige. To push Nadal, Ferrer was required to change the game plan that got him here and try to play first-strike, high-risk tennis. He started off doing just that, pushing Nadal to a break point at 1-2. Nadal, as always at his bravest when pressed hardest, put a risky second serve right on the line, then hit the first of many forehands down the line to eventually force the error from Ferrer. Another big forehand gave Ferrer another chance, but with a short ball and an open court, he could not overcome his conservative instincts, pushing the ball back at Nadal. A too-safe volley drew him into an exchange at net and Nadal won a point that should already have been over.
After 22 minutes, Ferrer’s best chance of the match had passed and Nadal began to impose his will, breaking to love not once but twice to take the set. At 1-1 in the second set, Ferrer gave up two forehand errors for 30-30, then traded punishing blows with Nadal before the defending champion, charging into the net, slipped and somehow played an excellent drop volley with his right hand in the clay before bounding up and lobbing Ferrer. Lost in the excitement of that point, and further proof that Nadal could do no wrong today, was the fact that Ferrer, again, could and should have done more to capitalize on a winning position.
A rash of forehand errors saw Nadal break twice to lead 4-1 when the rain started to fall, forcing a suspension of play at a moment when Ferrer must have been silently begging for some kind of reprieve. Ferrer did come back revitalized, hitting with more purpose, but Nadal held to close out the second set and Ferrer was immediately broken to begin the third.
Beyond Ferrer’s somewhat timid play today, however, lies the reality that even if he had played his best, he probably still would have lost in straight sets, because Nadal was just that good. His first serve percentage was not overly high—60 percent for the match—but it was brutally effective against one of the game’s underrated returners, yielding 85 percent of points won behind it. His forehand, as always, stole the show, but it should not be overlooked that his backhand was excellent today, generating persistent depth. His intensity, furthermore, did not waver for a second until after he had cracked one last forehand winner to end the match. A seventh Roland Garros title looks all but inevitable unless either Roger Federer or Novak Djokovic can come up with something truly extraordinary.
