Paris used to feel like a second home for Rafael Nadal. However, it’s clear to see that ever since that quarter final loss at Roland Garros to Robin Soderling five months ago, nothing has been quite the same in the Spaniard’s world.
Indeed, it’s been 28 weeks since Nadal last won a singles title – back in May at the Rome Masters. Injury has had a lot to do with that but, since coming back from his two and a half month layoff, it’s clear to see that Nadal is far from his imperious best.
Of course, traditionally, the Paris Masters is a tournament that can provide the odd shock, with the big players usually opting to rest up in preparation for the season-ending finale - the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, which will be staged in London this year. It was Tim Henman who claimed the biggest win of his career six years ago by beating, among others, Roger Federer, Andy Roddick, Gustavo Kuerten and Nikolay Davydenko on his way to the title.
Nadal had long ago reserved his place in the elite eight-man field for the finals, which begin at the O2 Arena in 11 days' time. And he may have had one eye on that tournament yesterday. His match with fellow Spaniard, Nicolas Almagro lasted a grueling three hours and 15 minutes, and, after losing the first set, was a match that ultimately Nadal could count himself lucky to win.
In their previous four encounters, Almagro had failed to take a set. It came as a surprise, then, to see Nadal being bullied around the back of the court by his countryman, ranked 25 places below him, for the first set. There was no rhythm with Nadal’s serve, and it was a double-fault in the fifth game that set the tone for the rest of the set.
If Almagro was by far the better player in the first set, then the second set was a lot tighter. It was Nadal who had the first chance to win the set, at 4-5, but the Majorcan conspired to blow his three set points and allow the world number 27 a route back into the match at 5-5.
The usually reliable Nadal was rattled, and it was his serve that let him down again in the following game, giving Almagro the chance to serve for the biggest win of his career.
At 40-0, an unlikely win looked to be on the cards. Nadal is a fighter, though, if nothing else and it was his battling qualities that saw the world number two deny three successive match points, and force an unlikely tiebreaker, which Nadal won in some style.
With an immediate service break, the momentum looked to be with Nadal in the third set, but Almagro – showing some battling qualities of his own, broke straight back.
With the match level at 3-3 in the final set, Almagro was forced to take an injury timeout for thigh cramping. It would prove to be a pivotal moment in the match. An early hold of serve, followed by a break gave the world number 27 hope, but as the cramping continued to worsen, Nadal began to take a firm grip of the match.
He broke Almagro twice more, before serving out the match to deny his fellow countryman victory, who by this point, could hardly move.
Of course, falling foul of injury is something Nadal cannot help but sympathise with. Only five months ago his own knees finally gave away after a gruelling clay-court season, and with it, his aura of invincibility disappeared. Next Sunday could mark the first steps towards reclaiming it.
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