How Do You Say 'It's On' in French?

“Yeah, you’re right, Nadal’s mom isn’t bad looking, at least from where I was sitting…”

Hi! Sorry, didn’t see you there. Man, we finally made it, didn't we? I just hope all the fans who went into this tournament looking forward to that Nalbandian-Ljubicic smackdown—I know there are millions of you—will put their disappointment aside and join the rest of us on Sunday. It should be a great day for the sport. When was the last time we had a men’s match-up with this much anticipation? I’d say it was the 2002 U.S. Open final between Sampras and Agassi. But, sacrilegious as it may sound, I don’t think their matches were ever as entertaining as most of the Federer-Nadal contests have been.

First, here’s a review of the day’s events, which were not exactly anti-climactic, but not climactic either.

Federer-Nalbandian
What is it with Nalbandian when he gets ahead in Grand Slam semifinals? In January, we saw him collapse against Marcos Baghdatis in Australia, now this. Of course, he was hurt today, an ab strain that began in the last round. But is there a mental aspect here? Nalbandian has always been a steady performer, but he hasn’t gone all the way and won as many titles as you might expect, major or otherwise.

He did come out firing this time, hitting with depth as always and more pace than usual—he looked fired up. Federer was off, shanking balls and looking uncomfortable in the stiff breeze. Did Nalbandian get too far ahead? Down a set and two breaks, Federer threw caution to the wind—and that’s not something you want him to do. He began snapping off winners at will, much like he did in his final, desperate run at Nadal in Monte Carlo last month. This time he peaked with a crazy, backtracking forehand that I’ll call a “spoon shot” for a down-the-line winner. Fed later chalked it up to his years playing squash with his dad. Watching him scramble has always made me think Federer could have been the world’s greatest squash player. He probably still could be.

Nalbandian, as good as he is, couldn’t fight the onslaught off the way Nadal did. By the beginning of the third, Federer had established clear control and Nalbo had the trainer out. Too bad, it began with the makings of a classic. It should be noted that Federer has now established himself as, at worst, the second-best clay-court player in the world, something that Pete Sampras only—or never, more likely—dreamed of doing.

Nadal-Ljubo
I know I publicly prayed for Ljubicic’s demise, but it had nothing to do with the guy’s personality. In my minor dealings with him (press conference, phone interview five years ago) he seems like one of the more intelligent and down-to-earth pros, if a little self-righteous at times. I just don’t like to watch him play very much.

Ljub was testy today even before the first point began. He was set to serve and Nadal was still fidgeting with his socks or scratching at the clay with his foot or whatever he does back there. Ljub looked up, ready to serve, saw Nadal not ready, then stared off into the stands—“He we go again.” Early in the match, Nadal was taking an agonizingly long time between points. The umpire gave him a time warning while he was serving at 4-3 and deuce in the first set. At the moment, I thought this was slightly unfair timing, but it did get Nadal moving somewhat faster the rest of the day.

Nadal had his way during the first two sets. Ljubicic did make a brief run in the first, finding his range on the backhand and moving Nadal around with it, but the Spaniard made the smart adjustment and began to go at Ljubicic’s forehand, which the Croat often catches a little high and late. That spells doom against Nadal’s topspin. Overall, Nadal moved forward and took charge of the points when he needed to. In the end, I felt like Ljubicic didn’t take advantage of a lot of offensive chances within points—he seemed a little passive, even bewildered, all day. Once Nadal had the advantage in a rally, he was deadly. I knew he was rolling when he called off the ball boy who was bringing him his towel!

This is it, the end of a month and a half of dirtball. Federer and Nadal played in Monte Carlo way back in April and gave us a classic in Rome in May. As much as I’ve seen of them this spring, there were still aspects of their games that surprised and impressed me today. It may go against their reputations, but I found myself noticing Federer’s raw physical skills, and Nadal’s variety and smarts.

Compared to the thick, low-to-the-ground Nalbandian, Federer appeared positively elastic. He follows through halfway around his body on his backhand and can slide backward on a diagonal to whip topspin forehands from his shoetops. This allows him to create angles where there don’t appear to be any.

Nadal is known as a bullish grinder, but he rarely loses a touch contest around the net. I love the little two-handed push passing shot he guides down the line as he’s moving forward; or the hook backhand crosscourt pass on the run, a shot that Guy Forget says Nadal can hit because he’s a natural righty. Finally, on an important point late in the match, Nadal ended up at the net. Ljubicic hit a lob that Nadal cracked back at him. Another lob, another hard overhead, another lob. On the third overhead, Nadal calmly took the pace off it and nestled it into the corner with sidespin. It was a beautifully thoughtful and subtle play.

These guys have separated themselves from the pack, and their wide range of contrasting skills cover pretty much everything you can ask to see on a tennis court. We should get a good look at all of it on Sunday.