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by Philipina A. Marcelo
I thought I've seen enough of heart-thumping first-round French Open matches in those of Juan Martin del Potro and Ivo Karlovic, and Roger Federer and Feliciano Lopez yesterday... but I was so wrong! The big matches kept coming today!
Earlier today, Sam Querrey and Philipp Kohlschreiber engaged each other in a four-set duel, which the former won... and later, the impressive five-set match between Nicolas Almagro and Lukasz Kubot, which the latter amazingly won, sent their clay court on a roaring noise. Yup, "exciting" is the operative word for the men's first-round encounters at Roland Garros, which made the women's side even more drab than it already was. While Andy Murray cruised to the second round, leaving French qualifier Eric Prodon (my first time to see him play) as a first-round casualty, the lad didn't demonstrate any sort of greatness worthy of comparison with two-time first runner-up Robin Soderling's first-round showpiece against the spirited challenge of American Ryan Harrison. But what made me gasp non-stop for four hours was Rafa Nadal's tooth-and-nail battle with the taller-than-tall American John Isner. I had to check my calendar there for a while, just to make sure that I was watching a first-round match rather than the final match! Yes, it was too amazing for a first-round match!
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Nadal vs. Isner: An epic of a first-round match in Roland Garros
Rafa opened up the match with a first-set win, 6-4... and it made me feel kinda bad for John Isner, expecting that he'd be joining Murray's hunt, Eric Prodon, in the first-round Roland Garros casualties in three sets. After all, he was confronting Rafael Nadal - the undisputed King of Clay! And then, the American showed some amazing esteem and steam... matching The King point for point, and eventually murdering the second set in a tie-breaker with awesome variety of shots and HUGE serves in the 220++ kph regime, to go one set even with Rafa Nadal... yes, he who is the King of Clay - the one and only!
Rafa took a deep breath and began the third set with some awesome shotmaking of his own, determined to show Isner why he was the King of Clay. But Isner was not paying attention... he was in the zone,
and continued to send great variety of shots on the other side of the net... his serve-and-volley was a perfection, it totally took the better of the seemingly surprised Rafa in the third set! John Isner demonstrated the advantage of his long reach, stretching nicely all over the court to save points and to send winners from all angles possible - beautiful to watch... except that it was at the expense of Rafa. When it looked like Rafa was about to take the third set, John Isner came back from 15-40 at 5-6 on his serve. All of a sudden, the score board showed 6-6 in the third set... and so, into the tie-breaker they went - again! Dang, The King was being forced into a five-setter in his own kingdom... and in the
first round, too!!! Isner served up huge balls to Nadal, as big as 232 kph! In only a few minutes, there was a look of grimness in Rafa's eyes as the tie breaker score went 6-2, on his serve... and then, with a huge return, the sizzling hot John Isner eventually took the third set! He went one set up over Nadal! Unbelievable!! I was up on my feet, mouth open - totally speechless, but absolutely awed!And so, The King, who is Number One in the World, was going into a five-setter in the first round of the French Open. Roland Garros was in a state of shock! While Isner didn't look spent as they went into the fourth round, he moved languidly in the court as Rafa's power and his will to win got renewed... and surged! Rafa charged like a wounded bull, running at top speed to save points, spraying winner after winner in Isner's half of the court - absolutely beautiful ones, too!! In a few minutes, Isner was looking confused as the ball flew past him and over him in blinding speed... Nadal took the fourth set from the stunned Isner, 6-2! An impassioned fist pump and a vamos that reverberated all around Roland Garros sealed it, too! Just beautiful!
While Isner showed some admirable resistance up to the very end for
which he totally deserved a great round of impassioned applause, the fifth set was a vintage King of Clay masterpiece! There are no words to describe it. Absolutely most amazing shotmaking on that beautiful red clay that only The King himself could ever make - I'm 100% positive about that, too! And so, The King of Clay prevailed in a gruelling four-hour five-setter, 6-4, 6-7, 6-7, 6-2, 6-4. Whew! CONGRATULATIONS, RAFA!!!
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My clay money
I know, I know, I said I'd decide on my bet whether or not Rafa Nadal would equal Bjorn Borg's six French Open titles after Rafa's first-round meeting with John Isner. More than the brilliant shotmaking, it was the way Rafa kept his composure after falling one set down going into the fourth set, and battled for five sets to come back and take the match that compelled me to put my money on The King in Roland Garros this year. He did show vulnerability out there, but he also showed the BIG HEART of a true fighter on court, overcoming even himself to secure a win! While it's true that all Nole Djokovic has to do is get into the final in Roland Garros - he doesn't even have to win it - to take the Number One in the World spot, I think that Rafa will be making his own mark in tennis history this year. I think that the King of Clay is on his way to equal the Great One's clay record this year! Vamos!! :)
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Photo credits: Photos were grabbed from the Roland Garros 2011 website and from Zimbio - thanks.
