How does Rafa Nadal maintain his concentration on his serve when perspiration is constantly dropping from his nose onto the red clay?
Obviously, the sweat just makes the red clay more to Nadal’s liking.
Rafa has never played better than he did Sunday at Roland Garros. He was nearly perfect.
And don’t blame Rafa’s excellence on an “old” Stan Wawrinka. Rafa was simply terrific.
RAFA SIMPLY DUG DEEPER
Every time Wawrinka tried to make a match of the French Open final, Nadal simply dug one step deeper.
Rafa played like a kid. He made more spectacular gets and shots than ever, even when he was a 19-year-old kid winning that first of his record 10 French Open titles in 2005.
As the final point played out in his 6-2, 6-3, 6-1 conquest of Wawrinka, Nadal made his signature slide and fall on his back on the red clay. He didn’t drop a set in this French Open. He yielded a total of just 35 games in his seven matches.
Yes, and now he’s headed to London. At a time when some of the other members of the “Elite Five 30s” players, indeed, are looking a little old, Nadal has as good a chance as anyone to win Wimbledon. Even Roger Federer, who is creeping up on age 36 and is the oldest of the “Elite Five 30s” gang but certainly not looking old in the manner of Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray.
NADAL’S EXUBERANCE TOOK TOLL ON STAN
Wawrinka only looked old because of Nadal’s exuberance. But Stan the Man simply could not hurt Rafa on this day, no matter how hard or what the Swiss tried.
Nadal was everywhere. He hit winners around the net posts. He made impossible gets, then came right back with extraordinary winners on his next strokes.
With the exception of a few points, Nadal rendered Wawrinka’s power harmless. That doesn’t happen often to a player who has rivaled the best in the game the last couple of years.
Going into this final, Wawrinka was considered by many to be the most dangerous player in the game. And he may be at Wimbledon.
But not on Rafa’s court.
WAWRINKA’S ONE-HANDED BACKHAND NEUTRALIZED
Nadal took Wawrinka’s marvelous one-handed backhand out of play. That may have been one of the real keys to Rafa’s 15th Grand Slam title.
He pulled Wawrinka so wide on the forehand side that Stan couldn’t find his own backhand. Stan ran down most of the wide ones, but by the third straight ball off the court Wawrinka was ready to surrender the point as his forehands sailed over the baseline.
Nadal took Wawrinka’s shots unusually early, keeping his opponent off balance and out of rhythm. Nadal returns on Wawrinka’s shots came back like ping-pong balls, hitting the angles before Stan could react.
NADAL PUNCTUATED HIS SHOTS
At times early in the match when he was creating his dominance, Nadal chose to out-backhand Stan, going side-to-side with forehands and backhands in textbook tennis, always a step ahead of his opponent, making Wawrinka keep his weapons holstered.
All the while, Nadal was punctuating his shots. He did it from start to finish, never after the first four games giving Stan a chance to think he was in the match.
It was a performance of the ages, Stan 32 and Rafa 31. And now it’s off to London where Federer awaits.
Where are all of the young guns? Talented over-hitter Dominic Thiem may show up again at some point once he learns how to play the real game when it counts. Then again, the grass of Wimbledon may still belong to the old guys.
James Beck is the long-time tennis columnist for the Charleston (S.C.) Post and Courier newspaper. He can be reached at Jamesbecktennis@gmail.com. See his Post and Courier columns at http://www.postandcourier.com/search/?l=25&sd=desc&s=start_time&f=html&t=article%2Cvideo%2Cyoutube%2Ccollection&app=editorial&q=james+beck&nsa=eedition
