This week freelance tennis writer Ravi Ubha is blogging from Queen's Club in London. Here's his final post from the Artois Championships
The first few days of a tournament are great. The buzz generated by the throng of players is a high, with fans scurrying all over to catch a glimpse of the action on the practice courts. That reminds me of something else I witnessed this week, which will particularly please our Canuck readers.
Doubles standout Daniel Nestor is hitting with partner Nenad Zimonjic and former pro Marty Laurendeau, along with what appears to be a junior who I admittedly can't identify. Nestor, like a big brother, gets on his younger opponent every time he misses a shot and stares him down, in good humor. They get serious for a second and Nestor unleashes a lovely backhand lob that heads toward the baseline. In full swagger, Nestor gushes, "You can't teach that.''
Nobody had the heart to tell him the ball was out.
This could have been Canada. Besides Nestor and Laurendeau, former Canadian Davis Cup captain Louis Cayer was on the next court working with Jamie Murray and Max Mirnyi. Cayer, now with the LTA, is limping noticeably after stepping on a bottle at Roland Garros and turning his ankle.
As mentioned, the constant activity of the opening rounds is fabulous. But now it's quarterfinal day, and things get serious. The weather is slightly better than yesterday. There's more sun, although the wind remains. Roddick, due to renew his rivalry with Andy Murray, arrives in the tournament car, as usual with coach and brother John and trainer Doug Spreen. Surprisingly, only one fan spots him and asks for an autograph, with Roddick duly obliging.
Time to watch Rafael Nadal battle the 6-foot-10 Ivo Karlovic, which turns out to be a three-set win, all tiebreaks, surprise, surprise, for Rafa, 6-7 (5), 7-6 (4), 7-6 (4). The world No. 2 withstands 35 aces. Karlovic has long been criticized for being boring, but he's doing the best with what he's got. And in recent years it's been quite good. The serve placement, backhand slice, and volley are better, and he's even trying to hit through the backhand. In the pre-match introductions, the Croat is described by the announcer as "a very big man,'' drawing laughter.
Karlovic staves off the lone break point of the first with an ace down the middle in the seventh game. The only other memorable incident of the set – prior to the breaker – arises when an attempted Nadal forehand pass shoots off the end of his racquet and into the first row. He checks if the fan's OK, tapping her, which the crowd appreciates. The next point, Karlovic levels an ace that hits a backboard and eventually finds itself in the same section of the crowd. Look out.
The turning point of the tiebreak happens when Nadal delivers a double fault to trail 2-1. A rare show of Nadal frustration emanates after he falters on a forehand pass at 3-5.
There's some excitement after Karlovic holds for 2-2 in the second. Ageless Swede Jonas Bjorkman, playing doubles on the adjacent Court 1, hits a double fault, then skies the returning ball all the way to Center Court, getting a warning for ball abuse. The next time I look over, one of his opponents, Czech Frantisek Cermak hits, albeit tamely, Australian partner Jordan Kerr with a volley.
Back to Center Court, where the Spaniard's pattern on serve isn't hard to pick up: Serve to the backhand. Karlovic mostly slices when he returns on that wing, and three mishits throughout the match turn into drop shots. The drive backhand isn't working – more than a few splutter into the bottom of the net. Speaking of the bottom of the net, no Nadal slips today.
At 3-3 in the second tiebreak, after Nadal relinquishes a mini-break lead, he kneels and pumps his fist upon producing a drop volley off a hot Karlovic forehand. Another fist pump and loud cheers from the crowd ensue, as Nadal hits a forehand pass to regain the mini-break advantage.
Karlovic fends off the only break point of the third with a service winner out wide at 2-2, then plays some breathtaking stuff at 5-5. From 0-15, a drop volley, crosscourt backhand volley dug out from his shoelaces – it's a long way down – and another drop volley, almost from a backhand overhead, give him a 40-15 lead. For the first time in one of his service games, there's no ace.
The final tiebreak resembles the second. Karlovic rallies from an early mini-break deficit (running around his backhand on a return for the first time to load up a forehand, uncorking a blistering reply down the middle), and it's 3-3. Nadal gets the mini-break back for 5-3, pummelling a forehand return down the line off a first serve, and rides it home. He's suitably pumped.
"I think it was a very tough match mentally,'' Nadal said, a day after Fernando Gonzalez received a game penalty facing Karlovic. "But at the same time I was very focused all the time. I didn't have a lot of chances. When I touched the ball, I returned well.''
Nadal says he'll be going home to Mallorca to play some golf and hang out with friends and family for a few days when his tournament concludes, to "forget the tennis.'' If he loses tomorrow, he'll be at Wimbledon on Wednesday. If he's in the final, it's Thursday.
"I need three days off,'' he said. "Four gonna be amazing. I spent like nine days in the last four months at home. I need to play golf. But I have an important match in the semifinals tomorrow.''
By this time, Andy Murray has pulled out of his quarterfinal against Roddick due to the sprained right thumb he sustained yesterday, so it's Nadal-Roddick in the last four. Murray intends on practising and playing a match at the Boodles exhibition in England next week, and doesn't think the injury will be a problem for Wimbledon. Still, it's not ideal preparation for the man carrying the hopes of a nation (kingdom?) on his shoulders.
"It's one of those things where I need to get the swelling away as fast as possible because if not, you know, I keep playing on it, it will obviously just sort of hang around and I won't be able to get rid of it,'' Murray said.
As it turns out, the top four seeds reach the semis. Perhaps predictably, Djokovic beats Lleyton Hewitt, though the score might be a surprise, 6-2, 6-2—the two contested a four-hour epic in the fourth round at Wimbledon last year, with the same winner. Then again, by Hewitt's own admission, if it wasn't the grass-court season, he probably wouldn't be playing due to his ailing hip.
David Nalbandian edged Richard Gasquet in a third-set tiebreak, easily the match of the day between these two unpredictable artisans.
Gasquet fans shouldn't feel too bad; the life is back in him. He pumped his fist, a look of determination on his face, after winning the second set, let out an "allez'' when holding for 5-5 in the third, and slammed a ball at the backboard when falling behind 5-2 in the tiebreak. Earlier in the tiebreak, he slipped during a rally, got up, and won the point when Nalbandian's backhand later went wide.
The duo served and volleyed intermittently, rallied from the baseline, threw in drop shots and, par for the course, made some shocking errors. Their backhand exchanges – featuring arguably the best one-hander and two-hander on tour – were a joy to watch.
The final few days of a tourney aren't so bad, either.