It must be a thankless task playing someone that everyone expects you to beat, and that was precisely the situation confronting Rafael Nadal today in his 6-2, 6-3 victory over Colombian qualifier Robert Farah.
Currently ranked No. 264 in the world, the 25-year-old Farah, a former NCAA champion, is better known as a solid doubles player than for his achievements in singles; until this week he had never won an ATP main-draw match. Coming into today, he had already won two, the second a major upset over 16th seed Pablo Andujar, and had nothing to lose. He made a poor start to the match, being broken to love, but recovered to hold for 1-2 with a brilliant forehand winner on the run, grazing the outside of the line off a decent volley from Nadal. Nadal seemed less intense than usual, but woke himself and everybody else up with his own remarkable shot to hold for 4-2, tracking back a bunt down the line from Farah, then somehow twisting and flicking the ball cross-court for a winner.
It seemed to be the shot in the arm the champion needed, serving out a straightforward first set before immediately breaking Farah to open the second. However, Nadal's intensity seemed to dim again, as three unforced errors off the forehand gave up two break points and a lucky netcord, and Farah got back on level terms. Farah’s strong backhand and willingness to finish points at the net let him, at least for a few games, go toe-to-toe with a below-par Nadal. His biggest fault was his tendency—when faced with what should have been an easy backhand winner from the middle of the court, he jumped into it instead and consequently missed. It cost him dearly at 3-3, deuce, when precisely that error gave up break point from a winning position in the rally. A fine defensive lob from Nadal earned the defending champion the crucial break, and as is his wont, Rafa put in one of his strongest service games of the match to secure the advantage.
It was a shame for Farah that he couldn’t hold serve one more time. Another poor error off a short backhand rendered him vulnerable serving at 3-5, 30-30, and in a bigger shame the match ended with consecutive double faults from the qualifier—they were Farah’s first of the match, which could not be explained away by Nadal’s second-serve returning, which was less than intimidating today. Still, the fact that Farah can leave Barcelona knowing there were opportunities he did not take testifies to how far above his current ranking he has played this week.
Nadal, on the other hand, will know—if he didn’t already—that he can put in a performance that falls well short of his usual high standards and still win comfortably against an opponent who was playing probably the best tennis of his life. He will have energy and intensity to spare against Janko Tipsarevic in the quarterfinals.