Top 10 Matches of 2015, No. 5: Sending the Open Into Orbit

What do we do now that the 2015 season is over and tennis is in its all-too-brief December recess? Go back and watch the best matches of the year, of course. Over the next two weeks, I’ll count down my 10 favorite contests, accompanied by video highlights, of this season.

No. 10: The Day the Circus Came to Town—Kyrgios d. Federer, Madrid
No. 9: New York Knockdown—Azarenka d. Kerber, U.S. Open
No. 8: Cup Runneth Over, and Over, and Over—Mayer d. Souza, Davis Cup
No. 7: Stan Mans Up—Wawrinka d. Djokovic, Roland Garros
No. 6: Simona Finds the Power—Halep d. Azarenka, U.S. Open
No. 5: Sending the Open Into Orbit—Fognini d. Nadal, U.S. Open
No. 4: Richard the...Lion-Hearted?—Gasquet d. Wawrinka, Wimbledon
No. 3: The Serena & Simona Show—Williams d. Halep, Miami
*No. 2: Vincanity—Vinci d. Williams, U.S. Open

No. 1: Fierce and Fiercer—Williams d. Azarenka, Wimbledon<em>*</em>

The Big 4 had another big year in 2015; they occupied the No. 1, 2, 3, and 5 spots in the season-ending rankings. When it came to epic matches, though, they tended to find themselves on the losing end. So far in our Top 10, we’ve seen Roger Federer go out to Nick Kyrgios in Madrid, and Novak Djokovic do the same at the hands of Stan Wawrinka in Paris. Today, at No. 5, we take a glance back at Rafael Nadal’s 3-6, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 third-round loss to Fabio Fognini at the U.S. Open. It was the first time in 152 Grand Slam matches that Nadal had squandered a two-set lead, but at three hours and 46 minutes, with a finishing time of 1:30 A.M., it was also an old-fashioned New York night-match classic.

Here’s a look at the highlights below. The ball is slightly blurred in them, which isn't inappropriate; it was hard for the eye to keep up with the ball that night. (For longer, un-blurred highlights, go here.) As I wrote the morning after this match: “If Fognini’s ground strokes were hard for Rafa to track down on the court, they were almost as hard to track with your eyes in the stands. The ball was on his strings one second, and against the wall on the other side of the court the next. You had to trust that sometime during that blur, the ball had actually landed inside the lines.”

—This is really the way to watch Fabio Fognini play tennis, isn’t it? No rants, no sulks, no hand gestures. Though as far as I remember, he was pretty well-behaved in this one. It’s easy to understand why; while he loses the first two sets, it’s clear from this clip that he was moving and hitting well from the start.

—On the other side of the net, Nadal blew a two-set lead, and couldn’t hold serve to save his life in the fifth set, but it’s hard to say he played poorly. Rafa moved well enough to return most of his opponent’s rocket attacks, but there wasn’t much else he could do with them. Nadal was playing tennis; Fognini was playing ping-pong.

In the immediate aftermath, many of us wondered about Nadal’s future. His defeat meant that, for the first time in more than 10 years, he had failed to reach the semifinals or better at any of the Grand Slams. Yet Rafa didn’t sound concerned.

“He play great,” Nadal said of Fognini. “It was not a match that I lose, even if I have opportunities. It’s a match that he wins. He played better than me, no? I didn’t play bad at all. I played a normal match, but not enough...I think I have a good base now. Good thing I am not playing terrible matches like I did at the beginning of the season.”

These highlights, as well as the fact that he made just 18 unforced errors over five sets, back up Rafa’s analysis. When his results improved later in the year, he would look back and say that he began to feel better again in his practice sessions at the Open.

—Fognini hit 70 winners, including 20 in the fifth set alone. But Nadal’s 18 errors may be the Italian’s most impressive stat of the night; he didn’t let Rafa have a chance to hit any more than that. I had forgotten that not only was Fognini down two sets, he was down an early break in each of the next two as well. Fognini’s comeback, and Nadal’s demise, begin with two shots at the start of the third set:

In the opening game, Fognini reaches into the doubles alley to slap a forehand down the line for a ridiculous winner; it’s a sign of many more ridiculous things to come from him.

A little later, serving at 3-2, Nadal tries what we tennis writers like to call an “ill-advised drop shot.” It’s never a good idea to try to drop Fognini, who can really move. He’s all over this one, and he’s soon leveled the set at 3-3.

—From there, Fognini sprints ahead. As hard as Rafa tries, as often as he fist-pumps, as loudly as he grunts, he never catches up. These highlights soon turn into a showcase for the best of Fognini. He hits short-hop forehands for winners. He hits jumping backhands for winners. He knocks off swing volleys without even needing to swing; for Fognini, that shot is just another flick of the wrist.

After one of those Fognini winners, Nadal finally throws his head up in exasperation, while the Italian struts across the baseline like John Wayne. Watching again, I keep expecting him to put two fingers to his mouth, as if he’s just fired a gun and hit his target.

“Well, I was starting to feel the ball really good, believe me,” Fognini said.

We believed you, Fabio. By the time the final set began, it was after midnight, and the crowd in Ashe Stadium had begun to move closer to the court. This year’s evening sessions at the Open were even glitzier than they had been in the past, and this match offered the best example. Ashe's new roof allowed the tournament to install more lights and Jumbotrons; and the echo off the top structure made the pounding, between-games music louder than ever.

This is how I described the fifth set of Fognini-Nadal the next day:

“With no prepration or effort or worry or even knee bend, standing straight up and down and keeping his body completely still, Fognini swung his racquet and the ball simply exploded. Fans gasped and roared. Italian tennis writers spun around in their chairs to look at each other, bug-eyed in disbelief. At that hour, deep in Queens, Ashe Stadium, with its new roof and blaring music and dancing fans, felt like some kind of enchanted island, or tennis-party spaceship, where the game is always unreal.

Fognini dominated the rallies, but he wasn’t the only one providing the entertainment. Rafa, as he will, fought against the fifth-set ground-stroke tsunami. He ran as he always runs, tried every spin and angle he could, and was carried along by a crowd that chanted his name.”

Afterward, the tennis press, Italian and non-Italian alike, was wired and smiling as we boarded the 3:00 A.M. bus and left a still-glowing Ashe Stadium behind. This is what I typed when I got back to Manhattan:

“There’s a memory of a peak point from the fifth set. Nadal and Fognini had run each other all of the court, and slugged and stabbed at the ball with abandon. Each shot brought the fans an inch closer to the edge of their seats; it felt as if everyone was moving toward the court as the point went on. Nadal had it won, Fognini had it won, Nadal had it won—until, finally, Fognini won it for real with a drop volley.

Fognini didn’t need to hit that last shot quite as short as did, or put quite as much mustard on it as he did, or send it as low over the net as he did. But he did all of those things anyway; because there were thousands of people watching, because it was 1:00 in the morning in New York City, because he could do whatever he wanted on this night. Before the ball had bounced twice, it felt like the entire stadium was out of its seat and up in the air.”

The tennis-party spaceship had gone into orbit.