Few times, very few, do you see such a disastrous match by Rafa Nadal on clay as the one he offered this Friday in the Monte Carlo quarterfinals. The Balearic Islands collided with a bad day of his and with a great Andrey Rublev (Moscow, 23 years old), who came from hitting Roberto Bautista in the round of 16 and also beat the number three in the world: 6-2, 4-6 and 6-2 in two hours and 32 minutes. Nadal was really horrible until 3-1 of the second set and when he found some inspiration and managed to play from power to power, the Russian prevented him from completing the comeback without ever showing a fatigue that would have been logical.
It will be who will face this Saturday (15:45, #Vamos) in the semifinals the Norwegian Casper Ruud, who surprised the reigning champion of the tournament, the Italian Fabio Fognini (6-4 and 6-3). Rafa loses the opportunity to equal the record of finals (52) and titles (36) in Masters 1,000 that Novak Djokovic will continue to hold, and he will not be able to recover in the Principality of Monaco the two of the ranking, which will be maintained by Daniil Medvedev. Nadal had only lost six games on clay in the past four years, since 2017, for a total of 42 in his career, 43 now.
In the first sleeve and the beginning of the second he experienced the most anomalous moments that are remembered on a track, with five double faults in four turns of service, bad faces, gestures of despair and public self-criticism. “Rafaaaaaa, Rafa. Go!”. “What a miss, man!” “It's awesome, what are you doing!”Said the 11-time champion of the tournament while his team, very restless, constantly encouraged him. Before all this, Rublev, hardly fazed and if he lost the second set it was because he had the God of the earth in front of him, capable of doing great things and, above all, of fighting in his favorite field even in such dark days.
The time and inertia of the meeting seemed to favor Nadal. He would have beaten almost anyone. However, Rublev, a machine, was able to increase his level and earn eternal points against the best specialist in long exchanges. to annihilate a rival who had given everything to resist in the second round. The truth is that he lacks minutes on the court (6-2 in 2021) and the pace that neither Delbonis nor Dimitrov had given him in previous games. In the end, the ease with which he beat both of them turned against him and he knew that could happen.
Great ground player
He had no choice but to surrender to the most on fire of the circuit, which drags a streak of 22-0 when he wins the first set and has a balance of 23-4 this course, the best. He hits the ball as if it were a hard court and his preparation for a few years in Barcelona together with former Spanish tennis player Fernando Vicente it has made him a magnificent player on land. This was the first clash between him and Nadal in brick dust and it became an instant classic that promises. Both will coincide next week in Barcelona, where there could be a rematch. But for that the manacorí will have to rise again.
Results, table and calendar.
Andrey Rublev
vs
Rafael Nadal
Sets: