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Looking Back at the Court: Another Notch in Nadal’s Belt
by Nadya Vlassoff
With the French Open looming on the horizon, how
are the WTA and ATP players fairing on the court
after the most recent serves, volleys, and match-ups?
 Rome,
Italy. Novak Djokovic, the defending champion,
stared across the net at his opponent, a man
whom he had become uncomfortably familiar to
see, Rafael Nadal. It was only weeks ago, in
the final at the Monte Carlo Masters that these
same two players had squared off with Nadal
coming out the victor. This match proved to
be slightly different but not without the similar
displays of frustration from the ever temperamental
Djokovic.
Djokovic, down 4-3, struggled to hold serve as Nadal looked to break to go up a game, but Djokovic was unable to hold as he smashed his racket into the court after giving up the game. Nadal, patient as always, sat down after the game to collect himself while Djokovic picked up the shattered pieces of his racket as he stormed off the court for the changeover.
It was no picnic for Rafael Nadal, however, as Djokovic showed as much tenacity as he could muster under the circumstances and he leveled the set at 6 all, breaking Nadal to even the match. In the tiebreak, Djokovic failed to take advantage of his service points, hitting his returns long and into the net and giving Nadal the first set as his attempted drop shot return at 6-2 was dumped into the net.
A little more than two hours since the first serve of the match, Nadal finally managed to pull away at 5-2 in the second set. Djokovic, tired but still fighting, appeared sullen, almost knowing that he was facing the greatest clay court player of all time but defeat was still going to be bitter. On the last point, with Djokovic charging the net, Nadal scrambled to return the volley and he hit a high spinning lob over Djokovic, who could only look back as the ball dropped in at the baseline and Nadal dropped to his knees, victorious once again. Rafael Nadal had 4/5 break points compared to 2/4 for Novak Djokovic, but the numbers are irrelevant when compared to the fact that Nadal on clay is almost a guarantee of a win for the still young Spaniard. At 22, the sky is definitely the limit for Rafa and his fans will be there every step of the way.
 On
the WTA end it was Anabel Medina Garrigues from
Spain who took her 9th career title when she
defeated her Russian opponent Ekaterina Makarova
in Fez, Morocco at the same tournament final
that she had lost the year before. It was a
quick match as Medina Garrigues took only about
an hour to dismantle every aspect of Makarova’s
game, hitting precision points when it counted
most. She took the title in straight sets and
is now riding a wave of confidence as she looks
ahead to the French Open.
In Stuggart, Germany the women’s Porsche Grand Prix tournament was also in full swing in another all Russian showdown with the new number 1 seed Dinara Safina, squaring off against compatriot, Svetlana Kuznetsova. Safina, having improved much over the last several weeks was beginning to show signs of tightness as she struggled to hold serve and Kuznetsova used her heavy groundstrokes to knock her opponent off-balance. A much improved service game from Kuznetsova was also key as she won her first title since September of 2007.
In the final set, after squandering two match
points, Svetlana Kuznetsova was finally about
to put away an overhead smash that cemented
her first Stuggart title in 5 attempts. Although
Dinara Safina lost, this was a good tournament
for her as she remains one of the favorities
for the upcoming French Open, which is only
a few weeks away. She was the finalist there
last year when she lost to Ana Ivanovic and
Safina is looking to win her first slam title
of her career. Kuznetsova, the 2004 U.S. Open
champion is looking to erase her mark as a one
slam wonder and capture a second slam. After
her performance at Stuggart there is little
doubt that she is still a formidable opponent.
 Anabel
Medina Garrigues is following in the footsteps
of her compatriot Rafael Nadal who has already
established his dominance on clay. As the road
to the French Open heats up, the ever-growing
Spanish arsenal on clay will become a difficult
threat to overcome for any player, both men
and women. Add Fernando Verdasco, David Ferrer,
and Carla Suarez Navarro to the list and Spain
has the best chance in a long time to see both
the men and women take the title at the French
Open. It will be no easy task but it will be
an interesting one to watch.
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