Recap: Rafa’s 3 most thrilling matches of 2018

There were a fair bit of similarities in 2017 & 2018 as far as Tennis is concerned, but none bigger and as evident as top guns still ruling the tennis world as if it's still 2008. If 2017 was Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal’s year of redemption, Novak Djokovic, coming out of his slump, certainly owned 2018. The second half of the season saw him winning Wimbledon & US Open.

Once again, the next-gen players like Dominic Thiem and Alexander Zverev shone in bits & pieces, pushing top dogs to their limits, but it’s one thing to give a tough fight but quite another to actually win in crunch moments, like in Grand Slams. It was a year of heartbreaks yet again for the two warriors in Juan Martin Del Potro & Marin Cilic, who have timelessly kept on going, despite coming across what you call so near, yet so far moments year after year.

Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal finished with winning one major apiece as the former retained Australian Open while the latter retained Roland-Garros, stretching his French Open titles to whopping 11.

But for a Rafa fan, it was a mixed year, while it was so emotional and enthralling to witness Rafa conquering French Open for a record 11th time and dominating the clay season as he did last year, it was depressing to see Rafa retiring mid-match in both the hardcourt majors.

Apart from his fabulous clay season and an impressive 45-4 win-loss record this year, it was wonderful to experience Rafa playing some of his best tennis on Centre Court, SW 19, Wimbledon. Here’s a look at 3 of the thrilling matches of 2018 of which Rafa was part.

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Moments

like these make sports interesting to watch

#3: Nadal Vs Del Potro, Wimbledon Quarter-Final, July 11

Prior to his epic quarterfinal clash against Argentina’s Juan Martin Del Potro, Nadal had a perfect Wimbledon as he cruised through the first four rounds without dropping a set. But in the quarterfinal, stood in front of him Del Potro, the ‘tower of Tandil’ more than capable of taking out Nadal on his least favorite surface.

After 11 consecutive holds (6 from Nadal & 5 from Delpo) in the first set, Delpo had to hold in the 12th game of the first set to force a tiebreak. However, on Nadal’s second set point opportunity, Delpo committed an unforced error, thrashing the backhand into the nets and after 54 minutes of play, Nadal took the first set 7-5.

The second set was a contrast to the first set as both the players exchanged breaks in 9th & 10th games and tie-break looked inevitable. With Delpo serving at 3-6 in the tiebreak, Rafa had three set points, but squandered each one of those and eventually Delpo who looked all but pumped up took the tie-break 9-7 to make it 1-set apiece.

In the third, Rafa's service game let him down as Delpo broke in the 10th game to close out on the third set 6-4. Being in a deficit of 1-2, Nadal’s box looked nervous and they knew their man had to dig deep or else he could be vanquished thanks to Del Potro’s ominous forehand.

In the 5th game of the 4th set, Rafa had three break points and this time, there was no mistake whatsoever as Delpo slipped and Nadal pounced upon the window of smallest opportunity to break Delpo. Delpo was shattered and one break was enough for Rafa to take the 4th set 6-4 and force the match into the deciding set.

This was the first instance when Nadal-Delpo match had gone into the 5th set and Rafa was all but determined to make it to the semifinal for the first time in Wimbledon since 2011. And once again, just like in the 4th set, Delpo faltered in his third service game as Nadal moved one step closer on what promised to be a blockbuster showdown against Djokovic.

There were as many as six deuces in the 8th game as Delpo fought with everything he had left as he tried desperately to square the set at 4-4, but Nadal managed to prevail and gained a 5-3 lead, with just one game away from a famous win. At 5-4, 40-30, Nadal served out wide, Del Potro slipped as Nadal raised his arms much in relief rather than jubilation. After 4 hours 48 minutes of absorbing and high-quality tennis, Rafael Nadal marched through to the semis.

What followed just after the match was the moment of supreme sportsmanship as Rafa, just as he did against Verdasco in Australian open 2009, crossed the net to embrace Del Potro, who was a winner too, despite losing the match. The Commentator’s words “No wild celebrations yet for Nadal, he has too much respect for Del Potro” speak for themselves as crowd rose to applaud not only Nadal but also Del Potro as they both put together an edge of thriller contest which will surely go down as one of the classics in the rich history of Wimbledon.

Both the legends matched each other shot for shot in this thrilling encounter

#2: Nadal Vs Djokovic, Wimbledon Semi-Final, July 13-14

Just 2 days after his epic quarter-final clash with Argentina’s Juan Martin Del Potro, Nadal found himself engaged in a ruthless battle, this time against his nemesis, none other than Novak Djokovic.

Not only the match was decided in five sets but also it lasted over a course of 2 days as the match began 5 minutes past 8 in the evening on Friday and after being suspended for the day, was completed on Saturday, thanks to ever-lasting battle between Kevin Anderson & John Isner that saw the scoreline for the deciding set as Anderson 26-24 which took place right before the mouth-watering Rafa-Djoker second semi-final clash.

After two disappointing years on SW 19 and being plagued by injury and poor form for the majority of 2017, new look Djokovic was raring to go in what was to be his ultimate test since his comeback earlier this year. After Djokovic won the all-important first set 6-4, Nadal came storming back winning the second set 6-3. With neither Djokovic nor Nadal willing to give away an inch, the third set was forced to be decided via a tiebreaker.

Just like the other day against Delpo, Nadal was the first to reach to a set point playing with strength and finesse, executing that drop shot exceptionally at 5-5 in the tiebreak, but once again squandered that advantage as Djokovic secured the 3rd set and was just a set away from a berth in Wimbledon final.

After the match resumed on Saturday with Djokovic leading 2-1 in the set tally, Rafa looked like a man on a mission as he made an explosive start gaining a 3-0 advantage in the 4th set. But we all know how tough Djokovic is and responded strongly by squaring the set at 3-3. However, Rafa was all but determined too, to push the match into the 5th set and once again broke Djokovic in the 8th game, eventually conquering the set by a margin of 6 games to 3.

This was the third instance when Rafa-Djoker match headed into the fifth set. At 3-4, Nadal faced some anxious moments as he faced a break point, but quickly brushed aside any chances of providing his rival an early break by serving pin-point at the ‘T’ and then finishing the point by a blistering inside-out forehand.

At 7-7, with Djokovic serving, Nadal had two break points, but Djokovic was quick to shut the door for his opponents with a fine cross-court forehand. This match was already bringing back the memories of last year’s Round 4 match between Rafa and Giles Muller, where each one of them simply refused to be broken. At 8-9, 0-30, Nadal slipped and thereby was up against an uphill task of saving three match points. And it was not to be as Nadal finally succumbed to Djokovic’s inspired efforts and Djoker had prevailed, winning the toughest match since his comeback, taking out Nadal in 5 sets, in 5 hours 15 minutes to be precise, over a course of 2 days.

This match was worth its value in gold, fought fiercely between two rejuvenated men, unlike two previous 5-setters, one at Australian open 2012 & one at Roland Garros 2013 which were more like bull-fights fought with extreme strength, aggression and undying willpower between two men at the peaks of their prowess.

The king of clay and his challenger fight it out on the hard court

#1: Nadal Vs Thiem, US Open Quarter-Final, September 4

Nadal was at it again, the defending US Open champion Rafael Nadal, on the back of two impressive but hard-fought wins against Karen Khachanov & Nikoloz Basilashvili in the third and fourth rounds respectively making his fourth Grand Slam Quarter-Final appearance for the year and his opponent was what they call him the next ‘king of clay’ Dominic Thiem.

The first 24 minutes of the match left everyone in a state of shock as Thiem stunned Nadal taking the opening set 6-0. The expression on the face of Carlos Moya, Rafa’s coach said it all as Rafa’s box witnessed their man sink in the first set in just 24 minutes.

The commentator John McEnroe said on air “He is struggling big time right now, physically there is something off because he is not moving well.” But, Nadal putting the disappointments of first set behind, upped his level of tennis, capitalizing on Thiem’s mistakes broke him twice to win the second set 6-4, drawing even with his opponent.

In the third set, once again Rafa found himself on the ropes trailing 3-5. But what followed was an inspired performance from Rafa, as he won four consecutive games to seal the set at 7-5. It was clearly Thiem’s set but Rafa stole the set very much in the same way as he stole the second set away from Russia’s Karen Khachanov four days back.

The fourth set saw the pair exchange breaks as Thiem refused to throw in the towel just yet. With Thiem serving at 6-4 in the tie-break, Nadal’s unforced error saw Thiem winning the 4th set and the match went the distance at Flushing Meadows in hot & humid conditions.

If the match was already a blockbuster showdown, played under extreme conditions, with players trading body blows, the best was yet to come as the players returned to their ends preparing themselves mentally for a grueling 5th set that was to follow.

There was no break of serves in the 5th set, but there was the edge of the seat rallies, brutal ball-striking shots and some really tense and anxious moments not only for the players but also for the fans witnessing this amazing battle of brute force, swift moments and never give up attitude.

Eventually in the deciding tie-break of the match, with Thiem serving at 5-6, Nadal had a match point. Thiem produced a perfect out-wide serve and as he looked to close the rally, he missed a simple overhead lob from Nadal as he hit the ball long and there was jubilation in Nadal’s camp as he had survived the Thiem storm in 4 hours 49 minutes, the longest match of 2018’s US Open.

It was phenomenal for Nadal to win this match after losing the opening set 0-6 as he showed tremendous composure when under the pump. It was about those small mistakes in the end for Thiem as Nadal’s years of experience helped him prevail yet again in those moments that matter the most.

Such cruel is the game of Tennis that even though Rafa won the match, Thiem won 171 points & 28 games to Nadal’s 166 points and 26 games. But that’s for statisticians to worry about. For others, this epic battle would surely go down as one of the best matches not only for the year but also in the history of US Open, which was by the way 50th edition of the tournament since the beginning of Open Era in 1968.