Yesterday in Paris:
I was watching on Court Chatrier with MarieJ. We first saw saw the quarterfinal between Ana Inanovic and Patty Schnyder - the Swiss had no convincing answers to the Serb's firepower, and seemed oddly committed to using the dropshot, which hardly worked for her at all. However, she continued to work every point, and didn't make it easy for Ivanovic to close out the match.
This was followed by the surprising triple-breadsticking of Nicolas Almagro (who, after all, knows his way around a clay court) by Rafael Nadal - who entered the court with an uncharacteristic smile on his face, after the announcer reminded everyone in the crowd that it was his 22nd birthday. MarieJ told me that what some of the Spanish fans were singing as he came on was their version of "Happy Birthday". Wind was gusting around the court from the beginning, which was just one of the factors that made life difficult for the younger Spaniard - there were some moments when we could see red dust blowing above the surface.
Almagro held serve in the first game, and for a few moments it looked as though we might have a contest on our hands (though, looking back, Nadal committed two or three of his total of nine unforced errors in that game alone). However, after this, Nadal reeled off six straight games to take the set, and barely seemed to have broken a sweat, let alone acquired any red stains on his socks. Almagro put up his biggest fight at the start of the second set, when Nadal served, and the game went to multiple deuces as Almagro fired some winners, and even achieved break point. However, once Nadal had succeeded in holding there, it looked as though Almagro's spirit was broken. The defending champion was comfortably ending points with forehand winners, and looked anxious to get off court. Perhaps the generous matching bright-green embrace at the net was telling - Almagro looked as though he needed a hug from someone.
As a Nadal fan, I'm really looking forward to the semifinal matchup with Djokovic, and not only because of the showdown that could change the number two spot (if Djokovic goes on to win the title), for the second time in the space of three weeks - but because there seems to be a reasonable prospect of a good match. Nadal beatdowns are infrequent enough throughout the year that I can quite happily deal with a few, but on balance I would be even more pleased, having made the trip to Paris each time, if someone were to detain him on court for longer than his last three opponents have done. In the first five rounds, he's surrendered no sets, and just 25 games. During Bjorn Borg's amazing run in 1978, the latter had given up all of 26 games by this stage (a feat he repeated in 1981, while losing only 27 games in 1980). The implausibility of Nadal matching Borg's total of only 32 games lost by the end of the two weeks in 1978 will probably come as a relief to many neutral observers, and lovers of good contests.
