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Rafael Nadal gets his revenge over Lukas Rosol at Wimbledon Rafael Nadal gets his revenge over Lukas Rosol at Wimbledon
(about 3 hours later)
The animosity between Rafael Nadal and Lukas Rosol, now part of Wimbledon legend, again drifted towards ugly on Centre Court on Thursday as the Spaniard steeled himself to prevent a repeat of the Czech’s shock win here at the same stage two years ago. Rafael Nadal has constructed his engaging persona of humility by consistently refusing to either denigrate a beaten opponent or to indulge in shameless boasting.
This was a rematch to savour – and probably hell to play. Never close, they niggled, quibbled, stared and grimaced for the two hours and 43 minutes it lasted, Nadal winning 4-6, 7-6, 6-4, 6-4, and was much relieved to go through to the third round. He celebrated victory as if he’d just won his first major. However, after resisting the high-quality challenge of Lukas Rosol in four sets to advance to the third round of the 2014 Wimbledon championships – two years after losing to him at the same stage – the world No 1 was inclined, correctly, to describe his comeback from a set and 2-4 down as a bit special.
On Saturday he plays Mikhail Kukushkin, the 26-year-old Kazakh ranked 63 in the world. Kukushkin, who is coached by his wife, Anastasia, defeated the Canadian Frank Dancevic 6-3, 6-3, 6-2. He had shoulder problems in March but has played untroubled here. “I am very happy the way I played,” he said of his 4-6, 7-6 (6), 6-4, 6-4 victory. “Seriously. It is a great win for me. It is the best level I played on grass since long time ago, the last three sets.”
Nadal-Rosol started in conventional fashion, the points carefully constructed and few risks taken, but after half an hour, the world No1 lost it – his patience, the plot and his serve. Clearly irritated by Rosol’s fidgeting at the other end when receiving, he clawed back a couple of break points before failing to get under a backhand return and netted, much to his tormentor’s fist-pumping delight. Rosol, meanwhile, claimed he had put his historic effort of 2012 out of his mind which, with the best will in the world, is difficult to accept. “I was not thinking if I can do it again or if I cannot do it again,” he said.
This was eerie. In the space of a few minutes Rosol, who had been slugging toe to toe with Nadal, reverted to the player he was here two years ago. Every shot was loaded – and he served out to love to take the first set. He was blowing Nadal off the court. “I was trying to just play my game, concentrate on every single point and, from the beginning, it was pretty good, everything was working.”
What ought not be forgotten is that Rosol has talent, quite a lot of it. What he doesn’t have much of is consistency – which his record since he bundled Nadal out of the tournament in 2012 shows: he was ranked 100 that day, and got as high as 34 a year later, before tumbling back to 52 now. It surely was. Indeed, had he built on what was a cyclonic start, he might well have blown Nadal off the court. But, as Rosol conceded, “Third and fourth set, I was really struggling on my serve. Not many first serves in.
Five games into the second set and he found another burst of energy, eyes now blazing with frightening intensity, and he forced a second break. If Nadal was not to be steamrollered, he needed to change the pace, or somehow mess with Rosol’s rhythm. But the Czech kept finding the corners and his shot-making resembled pistol shots. “Without serve, then we start to play rallies, and that was his game.”
Centre Court held its breath. Surely not, was the unanimous, unspoken sentiment. All eyes were trained on the combatants, as if they were squaring up in a bar-room brawl. This was a match of undeniable edge, the glare coming as much from the exchange of searing intensity on either side of the net over for two hours and 43 minutes as the sunlight giving Centre Court all the warmth of a fight in hell. Rosol persistently fidgeted when addressing Nadal’s serve, which visibly annoyed his opponent, and the Spanish maestro celebrated each point with the sort of animosity associated with the boxing ring.
This year Rosol has rediscovered some of his zest; it took Grigor Dimitrov to break a nine-match winning streak in April, then they got together to reach the semi-finals of the doubles at the Rome Masters. He was up a set and a break against Andy Murray at Indian Wells before folding in three sets. They do not much like each other, that much is clear.
For all of his flickering brilliance, the disparity in achievement between the two 28-year-olds on Centre Court on Thursday was so marked – 64 Tour titles to one – that nobody thought it possible Rosol could repeat his heroics against Nadal. Nobody except Rosol. Nadal, though, was quick to douse the impression that there was any element of revenge in his performance. “What happened, happened,” he said of the 2012 seismic five-set loss, in which Rosol, then ranked 100 in the world, played perhaps one of the most perfect sets in the history of tennis to finish off his illustrious opponent in the second round.
He has never got past the third round of a slam and went out in the first rounds of the Australian and French Opens this year. When Nadal broke back to level at 4-4, a look of fiery determination spread across his face. He was ready to put down the upstart. “That’s it. We already congratulate him for what happened two years ago,” Nadal said. “Today is another history, another story. I needed to find the solution. Finally I did. I think I played with fantastic energy during the last three sets. Very positive. Very quick with my legs. Very quick mentally. I was returning great last three sets. I was able to have more breaks.”
As they went into the tie-break, stats flashed up showing that Nadal was taking an average of 25 seconds between serves – five more than allowed at the slams – and the umpire cast a disapproving eye in his direction. As he also pointed out, the early rounds of slams are now more often minefields than cakewalks.
Rosol needed no assistance from the official, however, in banging a forehand down the line for a 5-3 tie-break lead – and he was responsible too for blowing a simple volley at 5-5 – followed by an ace and set point. Nadal, serving, got to 7-6 and the pressure transferred across the net – where Rosol double-faulted, and they were back on level terms after an hour and a half of the most enthralling contest of the tournament so far. “Every match is so difficult here, especially when you play against players that have decided to play every shot full power, with serve, with the forehand, with the backhand. When that happens you are in trouble if the inspiration is there for the opponent, no?”
When Nadal forced a netted forehand out of Rosol for a second break and a 2-1 lead in the third, there was a sense that the fight was draining ever so slowly from the Czech. Yes, in fact. And Rosol deserves full credit for the way he seized his chance in the first set, lathering the ball as if it were a life-long enemy, trusting his talent and letting the points fall where they may.
That suspicion strengthened when Nadal closed the set out with an ace, then worked his way through the fourth with routine efficiency, bar Rosol’s astonishing service game to love in the ninth game, which took less than a minute, and a last gasp of defiance in the concluding game. “I played a bad game at four-all and I lost the first set,” Nadal admitted.
After a tentative start and edgy finish here, as well as a dip against Martin Klizan on Tuesday, Nadal is back to near his best. “Until that moment I was playing better than him, but didn’t have my chances on the return because he was serving well. I was confident with my serve, but I lost that game. Then he started to hit every ball full power, every serve serving unbelievable. In the second set when I had the break back at 4-3 I played an unbelievable game.”
All very believable, as it happens. Few doubted Nadal would get back into the match.
Nadal did have to hold fast against some brilliant serving by Rosol, who put 17 aces past him, including four in the fretful fourth set when the French Open champion might have imagined he had seen off his best work and would have a comfortable ride to the finish.
Rosol, though, battled all the way, even in his opponent’s closing service game. Had he taken advantage of a break point there, levelled and gone on to force a tie-break, we would have been in the realm of the unknown, because the Czech has a track record of fighting hard to the finish, most notably in doubles for his country in Davis Cup.
Now Nadal has a challenge of an entirely different kind, one with no in-built angst, against Mikhail Kukushkin, the 26-year-old Kazak ranked 63 in the world. Kukushkin, who is coached by his wife, Anastasia, beat the Canadian Frank Dancevic 6-3, 6-3, 6-2. He had shoulder problems in March but has played untroubled here.
Nevertheless, it is difficult to see Nadal struggling for the third match in a row at a major against a player ranked outside the top 50. If he does, it might be fair to say he is in some sort of trouble in these championships.