PARIS—It appears that Fabio Fognini was not put on this earth to beat Rafael Nadal; his pre-ordained mission is to torture him. That’s what it seemed like in their third-round match on Court Philippe Chatrier today.
Nadal, the No. 3 seed in this French Open, won the match in straight sets, 7-6 (5), 6-4, 6-4, in 2:44—but has any ultra-consistent, ever-present warrior ever had to endure such a nerve-wracking, unpredictable carnival of hit-or-miss tennis? That Nadal was able to hold onto this watermelon seed of a match so doggedly and firmly while lugging around the cumulative pressure that comes with his unearthly record here was a praiseworthy accomplishment.
“Is always the same, is the same history (with Fognini),” Nadal said afterward. “He plays unpredictable. If you are playing well and playing every point the right way, at the end when the opponent isn’t predictable, the mistakes are there, too. He has winners, he has mistakes, too. But if I was playing the right way all the time, probably I didn’t suffer as much as I did today.”
How often has Rafa been unable to convert more than five break points on red clay in 18 attempts (a disappointing 28 percent success rate)? Come to think of it, how often has Nadal looked at 18 of those opportunities? Customarily, he runs out of sets, perhaps even whole tournaments, before he bludgeons his way to that number. The more astonishing statistic may be that Fognini himself had 11 break points, and Nadal probably is still thanking his higher power (and I don’t mean Tio Toni) that his capricious opponent only converted three of them. Now we’re talking suffering!
Slick as snot and slippery as an eel, Fognini is not just a deft, volatile shotmaker. He’s also a master of chaos, a hot-blooded, expressive Italian who ranks as the best-looking pirate since Johnny Depp’s Jack Sparrow. He knows how to work a crowd—and how to bamboozle an opponent. Nadal is no piker in the charisma department, but he was as grimly focused on his work today as a diligent stone mason trying to complete a job while three clowns, a juggler, and a fire-eater danced around him. As a further irritant to the man who made his aversion to rain delays and postponements perfectly clear yesterday, gunmetal blue clouds gathered and hovered over the stadium in the most crucial, midpoint of the match.
Fognini is a free spirit, seemingly unencumbered by either the ambitions or the wealth of success Nadal is protectively lugging around. He strolled out into the bright sunshine like a man without a care in the world, and over the course of the first set and-a-half he did a fair impersonation of a conductor, orchestrating the crowd with hand and racquet gestures instead of a baton.
Given the accomplishments and reputation of his rival, you have to admire Fognini’s spunk, as well as his ability to smack winners while accepting his own unforced errors with not entirely convincing melodrama. From the outset, he seemed to revel in making Nadal’s life anxiety-ridden if not exactly miserable.
Providing a blow-by-blow of this one would be a fool’s errand, so let’s just say that Nadal’s recovery from a break down to level the first set at 4-all was a critical step in retaining control, and that he was very lucky to reach the haven of a tiebreaker after Fognini served for the first set at 6-5, only to be broken.
In the tiebreaker, both men wavered. Nadal couldn’t hold an early mini-break lead, while Fognini couldn’t force himself to take advantage of his reprieve. He was broken again for 2-4, but a rocketing forehand by Fognini wiped out that Nadal edge and left it at 4-all. A backhand error by Fognini off a service return two points later gave Nadal another opportunity and he made the most of it, serving it out at 7-5.
Fognini had a few more tricks up his sleeve, though. He failed to capitalize on a break point in the second game of the next set, and fought off four break points in his next service game to go up 2-1. But Nadal then held easily, and when he broke Fognini in the next game with equal facility, the pressure eased up. There were more break points generated—and usually wasted—but the turning point was passed.
Afterward, Nadal was admirably frank and thoughtful in his presser. He basically admitted that he’s been a bundle of nerves, without really saying why—could it be because he’s gunning for an unprecedented eighth title at Roland Garros? Addressing the areas he feels he needs to improve, Nadal said:
“Is difficult to say—forehand, backhand, serve. I think is a question of calm down a little bit myself, play a little bit more relaxed, play with a little bit more confidence. Because what make me think that I am playing with a little bit of anxiety is that my movements are not being enough well, you know, and my movements normally are fantastic.
“So the only reason why that’s happening is because I am not playing with the right calm during the whole match. It’s not a physical thing. You cannot lose your physical performance in two weeks.”
The interesting thing that ought to kindle hope in the Nadal camp is that he’s being realistic and, in admitting so freely to his anxieties, courageous. He isn’t holding his cards lose to his vest and allowing his doubts to eat away at his insides. He almost appears to be challenging himself in public to overcome what ails him, and that’s the bold move of a man who knows what he has to do—and to hail with the rest of it.
Nadal also made a pointed reference to his complaints about the weather delays and his inability to get practice time yesterday, suggesting that he’s been denied the tonic he’s found most helpful for shedding his anxieties and shortcomings. ”Finally tomorrow I have a day off for practice because I didn’t have the chance on Thursday. So tomorrow after a few days I have another day to prepare well, to try to change a few things that I need, and that’s it.
“The positive thing is that I played very well last couple of weeks. Is not a moment that I didn’t play well for two months or three months. So just try to change a little bit the dynamic of my game, and play with a little bit more intensity with my legs. But to play more aggressive, I have to calm down a little bit more myself and play more relaxed and less anxious in my movements.”
One thing the near future isn’t going to bring Nadal’s way is a player anywhere near as disruptive or anxiety-inducing as Fognini—both Benoit Paire and ace-monster Jerzy Janowicz lost today. The skies suddenly look clear for Nadal, which is just the way he likes them.