NEW YORK — Maybe no one has ever played this game of tennis better than Rafa Nadal played it Friday night.
Roger Federer or any of the other greats of the game might not have ever better demonstrated how to play this marvelous game than the Spanish left-hander demonstrated the last three sets in totally dominating big-hitting Argentine Juan Martin del Potro in the semifinals of the U.S. Open.
Del Potro is known as a fighter. He had demonstrated that trait in a quarterfinal four-set win over Federer as well as in overcoming a two-set deficit against hard-hitting Dominic Thiem in the round of 16.
But after a pair of net cord shots that went del Potro’s way in the first set, Nadal destroyed del Potro’s will to win from everywhere on the court.
NADAL NO LONGER A CLAY-COURTER
Rafa took care of business on floaters at the net the way only Rafa can. He showed world-class quickness and speed on the baseline against del Potro’s powerful forehands.
Nadal hit harder than ever before. No one can ever say again that Rafael Nadal is a clay-courter.
The world No. 1 played stunningly excellent hard-court tennis on Friday night. No, make that brilliant.
The crowd at Arthur Ashe Stadium idolized Nadal the last three sets of his 4-6 6-0, 6-3, 6-2 win over del Potro. It was that complete.
NO HELP FROM THE NET CORD
Nadal maybe even won over a few Federer fans, maybe even a lot of them. Federer has played nearly perfect matches, but not in the style of Nadal on Friday night against a player of del Potro’s caliber and capability.
Most players would have been discouraged by the pair of net cords that cost Nadal the first set. It just wasn’t meant to be, they might have said.
But not Rafa. It made him more determined to play nearly perfect tennis the last three sets.
It wasn’t that he made few errors the rest of the way. It was the way he played.
With style! His own style.
TITLE ISN’T GUARANTEED
Nadal may never catch Federer’s total of 19 Grand Slam titles. Even if Nadal win this title in Sunday’s final against another tall big hitter, Kevin Anderson, he will still trail Federer by three Grand Slam titles.
Of course, a win over Anderson isn’t guaranteed — unless Rafa plays the way he played against del Potro, especially those nine straight games starting with the first game of the second set in which he lost only 10 points.
Del Potro didn’t just hand those games to Rafa, especially the last half dozen. It had to be not only discouraging, but also embarrassing to a former U.S. Open champion.
The good natured Argentine, the tournament’s male sportsmanship award winner, just couldn’t help himself. Rafa was in total control.
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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
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