Sony Ericsson Open, Miami: Novak Djokovic Remains Unbeaten, Nadal Looks Forward To Clay For The First Title in 2011

Novak Djokovic continued his unbeaten streak in 2011 to 24-0 by defeating Rafael Nadal in the finals of Sony Ericsson Open at Miami. This was the second time in succession that Nadal lost to Djokovic in the finals of the Masters event having been beaten by him at the Indian Wells a week ago. On both the occasions, Nadal had taken the first set.

Rafael Nadal was in a determined mode. He was running in a way similar to what he does on the clay court, retrieving every ball. Many a time he was forced to go for the lines, and ended up going past the lines. But once he broke Djokovic, he grew more confident with his ground strokes, and it was Djokovic who went for the lines and missed them. Djokovic started hitting very hard hoping to induce forced errors but in such situations, Nadal was content with keeping the ball in play. Nadal was trying to put too much pace on the first serve with the result that he committed two double faults in the first three service games when he tried too hard on his service. Nadal gave up the seventh game on the Djokovic serve perhaps to try closing out the first set on his own serve. That appeared a tactical mistake since Djokovic came out determined in the next game and denied Nadal to take the first set. Winning 13 of the 18 points by hitting as hard as he could, Djokovic brought the score to 4-5 from 2-5 and it was on the racquet of Nadal to once again try to take the first set on his own serve. Nadal was finding it difficult to put the first serve in which went down to 38%. In an evenly contested tenth game, Nadal was able to serve out the first set riding on two forehands into the net by Djokovic. But it was no guarantee for the match yet, since Djokovic had won from a similar position in Indian Wells just a few days before.

In spite of losing the first set, Djokovic had the momentum in his favour. Djokovic broke Nadal in the very first service game and went up 2-0 in the first set. Nadal was standing much behind the baseline and his service returns were falling short sometimes allowing Djokovic to take advantage. Many of his ground strokes too were not that deep. Djokovic on his part was playing deep. His shots were landing invariably at three-fourth the length of court. It was not that Nadal was not winning points. He was, but more often than not, it was Djokovic who stole the big points from Nadal. The second set ended 6-3 in Djokovic favour.

The third set went to the tie breaker. Djokovic did not put a shot out of the court, absorbing all the top spin but Nadal went on offensive taking risks on his back hand. The first five points went against the serve with Nadal serving a double fault to give lead to Djokovic 3-2 on serve. Djokovic consolidated the break at the change over and after. Nadal did not win a single point on serve and Djokovic found himself with 4 set points at 6-2. At that point, Nadal was able to put his first serve in for the first time and hold serve. Djokovic did not falter on the third match point and proved that he is the latest. His days have truly come.

The bad news for Nadal is that he lost at Indian Wells and Miami to Novak Djokovic playing at his best without injury issues. Djokovic has played a better all court game. He has won points on drop shots and lobs too. There is a similarity in the way Nadal has lost to Djokovic in the past one month and Nikolay Davydenko in the past. Both Djokovic and Davydenko play a similar type of game, though Davydenko is more mechanical than Djokovic. There is no single shot in particular which is the demolition shot for Djokovic, but he has no weakness on either flanks. His backhand appears to be becoming as good as that of Marat Safin. It is also clear now that Novak Djokovic is prevailing over Nadal in the baseline game. Midway through the final set, Djokovic had won 54 points in the baseline rallies to 37 by Nadal. With the baseline advantage gone, Nadal is susceptible to errors. His confidence level comes down in the same way Roger Federer’s used to come down when his shots were absorbed by Nadal without difficulty and when the point would not end within first few shots which Federer was used to while playing with others. If Nadal said that the days of his and Federer’s domination were over, he was spot on. For now though, all eyes would be on the clay court season starting Monte Carlo on April 10, 2011. We could be in for surprises.