TENNIS: Wimbledon fourth round

[feather_ghyll]

I came home to watch Pironkova serving out the match well, decisively beating Williams again, and, apparently reversing a bad year in terms of match wins. So, both Williamses and Wozniacki are out (with Venus and Serena, I thought it was a tough ask to get through to the very end, but if it was possible with any players, it was possible with them. However, they were vulnerable, as past matches had shown. As for Woaniacki, well, she seems like a nice girl, but I'm not going to get engaged until she gets through to a grand slam final, which seems beyond her at present).

This leaves Azarenka as the highest seed left, Sharapova as the most experienced and favourite (so the grunting and shrieking final is still on), but with Bartoli, Lisicki, Kvitova and obviously in form players in the mix, it's an interesting line-up with lots of potential (and contratsing with what's going on in the men's game).

But only one match mattered, and I was so pleased that I got to see all of it. I thought Nadal vs. Del Potro lived up to the build up and I'm glad that Wimbledon found out about Del Potro and warmed to him (I hope that someone has explained that 'Del Boy' is a sign of affection). It really started out mano a mano, with both men serving well faster than ever. I thought Nadal had more to his game - the slices, seemed happier to come in and the first to get break points - but then the injury happened at the end of the last game and what he was sayng to the trainer and doctor sounded painful. I didn't want Nadal to be injured or to damage his foot by playing; it looked like a match that would demand a lot physically (all that running and thumping of the ball). But he came back, and he did seem to be able to move, and he was Nadalesque in terms of being there. And Del Potro double faulted.

But what was impressive - as it was throughout the match - was that Del Potro didn't fade away, he just came right back after disappointments. Proof of his pedigree. He adapted his game in this set, got the break and got right back at even stevens. And the high-quality thumping continued, with Nadal's various fantastic forehands, Del Potro and Nadal retrieving what should have been winners and a really good selection of points to choose as highlights. It was also so tense throughout. Del Potro was competing even more than he'd managed to in the French against Djokovic. And this even after his horrible injury moment. Thankfully, he came back and wasn't limping so much and was able to move and continue the high standard of play. As was pointed out, the further in he gets into a match, the more he wallops the ball (although that's not all to his game. Nadal has more touch, but Del Potro worked some very good serve and volley points etc.)

Nadal won the third set tie-breaker, rather than Del Potro losing it - as with Mueller. He was making Del Potro move, knowing he had a slight physical edge and maybe mental, with more match experience, more years of improving his play and being number 1, and hey!, the defending champion. And so Nadal finally broke, and although Del Potro didn't go away, there was a feeling of inevitability. Er, especially when Nadal rescued his service game from 0-30 by playing fabulously.

So Nadal is through (and his next match may well be less ferocious, depends on how Fish is servicng). This time. Del Potro has improved since the French - he was a adapting during the match, and will be more and more of a threat. I hope that he will regain his place up at the top. I would love to see him against Murray - Nadal had some success messing about with the pace. It shouldn't be the Fantastic Four, but the Fantastic Five. And some of his crowd interactions (he was obviously loving the big stage after coming back from injury) reminded me of how young he is and how likeable.

But Nadal had more in this tournament. Federer vs. Tsonga looks like the pick of the men's quarters to me.

Comments

[callmemadam.livejournal.com]

The sign of a true champion, for me, was that when Nadal came to serve out the match, he did it with a love game: no wobbles.

[feather-ghyll.livejournal.com]

That's a good point. There's so much about Nadal's game that marks him out as a champion, more, as one of 'the great ones' as the commentators indulge in calling him and Federer.