Rafael Nadal of Spain celebrates with the trophy after winning the 2014 Rio Open men’s singles final against Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, yesterday. RIGHT: Roger Federer of Switzerland celebrates a point against Benjamin Becker of Germany during their match on the first day of the ATP Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, yesterday.
RIO DE JANEIRO: World number one Rafael Nadal shrugged off the injury concerns that wrecked his Australian Open bid as he dismantled Ukraine’s Alexandr Dolgopolov 6-3, 7-6 to win the Rio Open yesterday.
The 13-time Grand Slam winner showed no evidence of the back injury that hampered him in Melbourne as he wrapped up his 48th ATP title against an opponent with no answer to the relentless pressure exerted by the Spanish clay-court legend.
And by winning a 43rd career clay court title, the 27-year-old threw down a gauntlet to pretenders to his French Open crowd which he defends in Paris in May.
Nadal went into the match with a 4-0 winning record against Dolgopolov with the Ukrainian never having even broken the world number one’s service.
And the Spaniard was on top quickly in the first set, breaking Dolgopolov’s second service game to love as the Ukrainian made a succession of unforced errors.
Dolgopolov could find no rhythm against Nadal’s trademark topspins on the Rio clay and made little inroads into the world number one’s service games as he raced into a 4-1 lead in less than 20 minutes.
Dolgopolov held his next service game with three aces and earned a break point in the crucial seventh -- the best of the match -- which Nadal saved with incredible retrieving and a sublime drop shot.
Nadal snuffed out two further break point opportunities and finally took the game himself as Dolgopolov, seeking to shorten the points in intense humidity, shelled a forehand long. The disappointment of squandering three break points appeared to deflate the Ukrainian and Nadal took the first set 6-3 with a love service game in 39 minutes.
The second set followed a similar pattern, as Nadal broke the mercurial Ukrainian in his second service game, taking it with a drilled backhand that Dolgopolov was unable to dig out at his feet.
Dolgopolov hit several exquisite winners, especially from the backhand wing but struggled to find a consistent enough game to trouble Nadal, who hit only a handful of unforced errors in the whole match. To his credit, the Ukrainian refused to buckle and broke Nadal’s serve for the first time ever as the world number one attempted to serve out the match. The success appeared to galvanise Dolgopolov who held his serve to take a 6-5 lead, forcing Nadal to hold for a tie-break, which he did.
In the tie-break, Dolgopolov hit a crucial double-fault followed by an unforced error on his backhand to give Nadal an early lead and the world number one needed no second invitation, taking the set 7-6 and the match in one hour and 41 minutes. AFP
DUBAI: Grand Slam record-holder Roger Federer began the second phase of what he hopes will be a revival of his fortunes by racing into the second round of the Dubai Open.
In the process, he displayed some care-free hitting, lively footwork, and an air of authority which evoked his greatest days.
Beating Benjamin Becker, the German once ranked in the a top 40, 6-1, 6-4, was some way from suggesting these might return, but Federer did look pleasingly upbeat and confident as he dispatched a competent middle-range opponent in only 62 minutes.
The 32-year-old Swiss legend, now ranked only eight, wants to do well in Dubai to show his Australian open semi-final last month represented a step forward and not backwards, and that his game still has the potential to reach its former levels.
“I’m playing top tennis right now, so I don’t need to top that stuff,” Federer claimed for his Melbourne efforts, which saw him beat Wimbledon champion Andy Murray and former Australian Open finalist Tomas Berdych.
“For me it’s a matter of staying healthy now, staying consistent, and getting to semi-finals and finals consistently and giving myself opportunities really. I feel I am in good enough shape as in a year at least now.”
Certainly Federer has never made a more eye-catching start to this tournament.
He made several effective forays to the net and found an extra gear with his ground strokes when he had chances to break serve, which he did twice in the first set and once in the second.
He also managed one moment of pure theatre. Forced by a Becker lob to make a hasty retreat from the net, Federer not only managed that but responded with a hot dog - a shot between the legs - which parabola-ed into a perfect counter-lob, and set up an unanswerable drop shot.
“It’s rare to hit a lob with a hot dog, and I’m happy he got the ball back,” said Federer, probably wishing not to humiliate Becker, though the rapture with which the winning two-shot combo was received must have been disconcerting.
Federer’s only faltering moments came while he was closing the match out at 5-4. He failed to convert two match points, made three unforced errors in a row and went break point down when he volleyed wide.
But afterwards he seemed satisfied with his work. “You have to be a little bit confident to play attacking tennis,” he said. “Thank god I served well, which you have to in the quicker conditions here in Dubai. Then if you hit well you have an opportunity to come in.”
It had been, he suggested “really good fun out there.” Relaxation was at the root of his confidence, and days of practice on these Dubai courts was how he engendered the confidence.
“Really I’ve been preparing for this like for a really big tournament. I’ve been here since Saturday now, or Friday”, Federer said.
“I’ve had over a week’s preparation with not much to do other than practise, so it’s been a really good preparation. I hope it’s going to pay off.”
If he wins the title back he will prevent Novak Djokovic from equalling his record of five titles here. He next plays the winner between Radek Stepanek, the gifted former top ten Czech, and Michael Russell, the 106th ranked American, and is seeded to play Djokovic in the semis.
Djokovic begins his campaign today against Denis Istomin, the world number 54 from Uzbekistan.AFP
