Kohlschreiber played extremely well like he did at the US Open against Nadal, but there was no way through The Great Wall of China that is Nadal. Nadal is not just a defensive wall these days though. Since his comeback he has taken his offensive game to a new level which explains the 25-match unbeatable run on hard courts. Love him or hate him, you gotta give the guy credit for the way he keeps evolving and improving.
I thought his prime was in 2008 or 2010, but he may currently be playing better than ever. Certainly on hard court. I have always thought Federer's prime level was the highest level ever reached in the sport, but Nadal may currently be matching that level. In his prime Federer was unplayable and hardly ever lost a match. That is the case with Nadal now. What made Federer so special though was for how long he maintained that level. He dominated the tennis world from 2004-2007 unlike anyone had done before.
He won three slams in three different years. We will see for how long Nadal can keep this level up. Something tells me it won't be for as long as Federer did. Nadal's whole career has followed an up and down pattern, which meant he never dominated the sport for an extended period of time. So you would expect him to hit a low again in the not too distant future. But for now he is still relentlessly steaming ahead, taking no prisoners.
Today against Kohli his level was just scary again. In the first set at 4-4 Kohlschreiber produced a break point after some magnificent play. What happens? Nadal paints the line with a forehand down the line winner after a good return from Kohli. He goes on to hold serve and then breaks Kohlschreiber in the next game. In the 2nd set at 1-2 15-30 he gets a second time warning from the umpire which means he forfeits his 1st serve. Kohli crushes the 2nd serve for a return winner.
Two break points. Nadal then misses his 1st serve. Big chance for Kohli, but Nadal serves a 2nd serve ace. And his serve is not even known as a strength. It was like he got mad at the time warning and served a 2nd serve ace to show the umpire. At 30-40 he plays another unbelievable point and goes on to hold serve. I mean it's like he can do what he wants, which is the feeling you got with Federer when he was in his prime. Just untouchable.
I thought Djokovic would be very hard to beat after his first round match, but having watched Nadal today I once again believe he is the favorite. It would sure be another interesting final if they were to meet, but I still think Nadal has the edge. Elsewhere Hewitt got trounced 6-0, 6-2 by Fognini, and apparently Hewitt had a dismal day at the office. The Fog now plays Nadal and has about a 0,01% chance of winning. In Tokyo Del Potro thumped Berlocq 6-2, 6-2 which was nice to see for me as a fan.
Tsonga was upset 6-4, 7-6(5) by Dodig which improves Federer's chances to make the Masters Cup, although he was probably gonna make it anyway after the withdrawal of Murray. This is the first year since 2002 that Federer's spot at the Masters Cup was in any doubt at all, but even after the dismal year he had by his own high standards he will surely make it now. Tomorrow Djokovic is back in action against Verdasco. The kind of match we will see all depends on which Verdasco shows up.
Potentially he could trouble Djokovic but you'd expect Djokovic to win. Hopefully Verdasco can bring his best level and we will see a competitive match. Stan plays Querrey as well so lets see if we will have a Djoko/Stan quarter which would no doubt be good stuff. In Tokyo I don't see anything particularly interesting for tomorrow so I will keep focusing my viewing on Beijing. Until tomorrow then.
On a side note David Nalbandian announced his retirement today which is sad to see. One of the most talented players I ever saw and a character too. I will miss those days when his vast talent was on full display. Probably his finest hour was when he defeated Federer in the 2005 Masters Cup final in that 5 set epic.
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