PARIS—“It’s going to be a fast day." That's what we heard from everyone in the know this morning. A hot and sunny afternoon, with the new, quicker Babolat balls, was going to make them fly. But by the time Rafael Nadal and Ivan Ljubicic took to Court Philippe Chatrier, the sun was on the wane, rain appeared to be on the horizon, and low clouds were in the process of blanketing Roland Garros. Conditions were heavier than expected, and Nadal in particular seemed stuck in them.
His forehands landed short, his backhands popped up, and he struggled to get his older and taller opponent on the run. Coming into this match, the talk had been about Rafa’s lack of confidence and Ljubicic’s recognition of that lack. For much of the first set and a half, the press room talk appeared to be coming true on the court. Nadal really did seem, after all of his wins here over the years, a little unsure of himself.
That may also have had something to do with his opponent. Ljubicic owns a win over Nadal, at Indian Wells last year, and he has played him tough on other occasions. This is partly due to his excellent serve, his height, his strong backhand, and his ability to take Nadal’s topspin in his strike zone. And he had success today hanging behind the baseline and knocking flat lasers into the corners. More important, though, Ljubicic isn’t in awe of Nadal. He plays to win against him, even on clay.
Nadal made a number of easy errors in the first, especially on passing shots. He broke early, but in what has become something of a pattern, he was broken back soon after. But Nadal held the rest of the way and broke when he needed to at the end of the first. Still, it took until midway through the second, when he began to open up the court with his inside-out forehand, for him to get rolling. After a strong hold for 3-3, he appeared to gain confidence, a confidence that showed in his movement more than anywhere else. He lightened up.
Nadal again broke early in the third and was again broken back. Why is this happening? His first-serve percentage—68—was fair, but he won 82 percent of points when he got it in. I think part of the difference can be chalked up to the ever-so-slightly more positive attitude that the players walk on court with when they play Nadal on clay. In the post-Djokovic, post-Madrid, post-Rome era, there’s infinitesimally—the word I keep using—more belief from his opponents. When Rafa breaks, and then starts his next service game with an uncharacteristic error, as he did twice today, there’s a little more hope in the air now. As Ljubicic said before this match, Nadal has been talking about his (relative) lack of confidence himself—"he's not hiding it." Why shouldn't his opponents listen?
From inside the stadium it was hard to see much different or wrong with Nadal’s game. His shots are still heavy, they still bend dramatically as they cross the net, they still kick up high, they still pin his opponents far behind the baseline, and he still moves with the same energy. By the third set, he even produced a piece of vintage Rafa—scrambling backhand get, followed by dipping topspin forehand pass—to break. Overall, Nadal hit 23 winners today and made 24 unforced errors—not apocalyptic, but also not a ratio that's likely to get him a win over Novak Djokovic if they meet in the final. How about if he faces Robin Soderling in the next round? He'll need the depth and movement he had in the second half of this match, or he could be in trouble.
A word on the crowd. Do the Parisians hate Nadal? They don’t love him, that’s true, and it’s another testament to his ability to block the world out that he’s kept racking up titles in the face of tepid backing, and occasional hostility, from the crowd. But the Parisians don’t hate him, either. What they usually like more than anything here is artful tennis, no matter who it comes from, and when Nadal held the ball on his racquet and flipped a deft little forehand pass behind Ljubicic in the third set, they roared their approval. They did it again after he won.
Maybe that roar and this match will give Nadal a little more confidence; or, if it doesn't, at least teach him not to tell the world about it.
—Steve Tignor