Masters Series Rome - Going the Distance

Today’s ATP Master Series Rome final between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal was worthy of being dubbed an “instant classic” and thus I would like to present my match notes in full rather than just the usual summary. After the notes, I’ll analyze the day’s events and what they mean for each player. On to the match …

· From the outset, it appears that Federer is directing his forehand almost exclusively to the Nadal backhand. One of Roger’s signature shots is his inside-out forehand, but that plays directly into Nadal’s forehand. It’s also the forehand shot that goes awry more often for Federer.

· In the first 4 games, Federer has only hit his forehand to Nadal’s forehand 4 times. Federer is patiently playing the forehand cross-court and he’s practically error free up to this point in the match. He’s broken Nadal for a 3-1 lead in the first set.

· Errors are starting to creep into the Federer game. He drops serve and Nadal now trails 2-3.

· Nadal serving at 3-4: Federer was up 15-30 on Nadal’s serve, but he commits two cross-court forehand errors on relatively easy balls. Nadal holds for 4-all.

· It must be some sort of Fila throwback day in Rome. The lines-people and ball-kids are wearing the Bjorn Borg Fila shirt from the late ‘70s and early ‘80s. The ball-girls are even wearing a similar headband to the one that Borg made so famous. Our chair umpire is wearing the Guillermo Vilas Fila shirt from the same time period.

· Federer goes down 15-30 on his serve, but manages to serve well on the remaining points and he holds for a 5-4 lead.

· We just got a view of John McEnroe in the crowd, sitting with Prince Albert of Monaco. Federer and Nadal just played in front of the Prince a few weeks ago in Monte Carlo.

· Nadal starting to show some frustration with his own errors. At 4-5, he’s down 15-30.

· Rafa surprises Fed with an ace up the T to get back to 30-all. The vast majority of Nadal’s serves have been directed at the Federer backhand. The Spaniard holds serve after playing 2 excellent points from 30-all.

· Nadal serving at 5-6: Again, Federer is up 15-30 on Nadal’s serve, but makes a couple of errors to let his opponent back in the game.

· Rafa saves a couple of set points against him to go to 6-all and force a tiebreaker.

· Roger jumps to a quick 3-0 lead in the breaker with some excellent aggressive play. He’s continuing to attack the Nadal backhand and Nadal hasn’t found the range on his backhand passing shot.

· The breaker is a blow-out – 7-0 for Federer. Federer has to be pleased with how he has been able to implement his game plan to take a one set to love lead in this Master Series Event final.

Second Set, Federer leads by 1 set to love: 7-6
· A rarity in tennis has just occurred – Nadal wins a point after hitting a between the legs shot. Federer tanked an easy volley to give Nadal the point.

· The level of tennis has come down in this set. Through the first six games, the receiver hasn’t offered much resistance.

· Nadal looking a little unsure of himself now. He’s backing up while hitting his backhand and the balls are landing short in the court.

· Federer puts some pressure on the Nadal serve in the seventh game of the set, but he hits a wild inside-out forehand error that was more characteristic of his effort in Monte Carlo.

· Federer serving at 4-5: Nadal playing a better receiving game and he earns a set point. However, the world’s number one saves the set point with a brilliant lunge backhand volley that’s just out of Nadal’s reach. Federer holds for 5-all in the second set.

· Nadal is picking up his level and he holds for a 6-5 lead.

· We’re two hours into the match and the second set will be decided in a tiebreaker. If this match goes 5 sets, we’re on course for a 5 hour match at the current pace. Last year’s final between Nadal and Guillermo Coria lasted 5 hours and 14 minutes.

· Nadal looks like he is feeling the pressure of the situation now. He’s got the match streak on the line and the expectations of the tennis world that he can beat Federer on clay at will. He makes a forehand error on the first point of the tiebreaker on his serve.

· Rafa was down 2-4 in the tiebreaker, but he’s just won 3 points in a row to take a 5-4 lead. The defending champion is showing a lot of heart out here.

· 5-5 in the tiebreaker: Federer blows an easy forehand over the baseline. Nadal hit a short ball that Federer should have put away, but instead Nadal is up 6-5 with a set point.

· Nadal takes the tiebreaker and the set! He really picked up his play from 2-4 down in the breaker to snatch the set away. Over two hours played now and we’re even at one set all.

Third set, One set all: 6-7, 7-6
· Federer faces an early break point at 1 all in the third, but he manages to save it. Early pressure being exhibited from the Spaniard.

· Roger is pounding the Nadal backhand in this game and he does it to his advantage as he holds for a 2-1 lead in the third.

· Nadal continues to put the pressure on Federer early in this set. He’s got a break point at 2-2.

· Nadal breaks for a 3- 2 lead. Federer was upset about something that occurred in that game, but we’re not sure what it was. Our match commentators don’t seem to be aware of what it was either.

· The world’s number two holds again for a 4-2 lead in the third. Federer continues to approach exclusively on the Nadal backhand.

· Great artistry from Federer – he hits a high backhand volley over his shoulder for a crosscourt winner. This guy can be a shot making machine when he is on.

· Rafa holds his serve easily for a 5-3 lead. It looks like he is going to take this set.

· Nadal serving at 5-4: Great first point of the game from Rafa as he dominates Federer with some heavy forehands. He wins the game and the set, 6-4, and is now up 2 sets to 1. His confidence has to be extremely high now especially after recovering from that first set loss.

Fourth Set, Nadal leads 2 sets to 1: 6-7, 7-6, 6-4
· Federer starts the set off with a hold under pressure. Nadal had a break point, but Fed saved it well with a forehand winner up the line.

· Nadal hasn’t been as effective with the backhand pass as we’ve seen him in the past. Federer’s game plan of not approaching to the forehand is working when he has the opportunity to hit an approach off a short ball.

· The Mighty Fed just approached to the Nadal forehand and he gets burned – loses the point. He probably won’t do that again for a while.

· Both players were challenged on serve in the first 2 games, but there were no breaks – one-all.

· I’m getting the feeling that Nadal will wrap this up in four sets. He’s moving Federer around very well.

· All of a sudden, Federer has raised his level and he’s got a break point on Nadal’s serve.

· Once again, Nadal serves an ace up the T on break point – good change of direction from the 19 year-old.

· Federer breaks! He’s up 3-1 and then 4-1 after a hold. He has played extremely well to get to this point. Maybe Nadal isn’t going to win this in four sets.

· Roger is dominating the play now. He wins the set 6-2 and he has the momentum and the crowd on his side. For the second year in a row, the Rome final is going 5 sets (and maybe 5 hours).

Fifth Set, 2 sets all: 6-7, 7-6, 6-4, 2-6
· Federer starts off the fifth set playing brilliantly. He breaks Nadal early on and takes a 3-1 lead.

· Nadal is trying to pump himself up in order to get back in the match. He has break chances on Federer’s serve, but Roger comes up with winners to stave them off. Federer leads 4-1.

· A good service game from Nadal makes the score 4-2 in Federer’s favor.

· Rafa is really pumped up now. He’s showing Federer that he isn’t going to quit in this final set.

· Federer serving at 4-2: Fed looking a little tense with his play. He goes down love-30.

· An ace from Federer evens the game up at 30. The tension in the match is quite high now. The atmosphere is great. The drama of the fifth set is exactly what we all hoped for.

· Federer goes up 40-30, but Nadal does well to get it back to deuce with a huge forehand.

· Rafa has a break point chance now – he hit an inside-out forehand to win the previous point. Federer hasn’t made a first serve in a while.

· Rafa breaks! He’s back on serve in the fifth at 3-4.

· Nadal serving at 3-4: At 15-all, the players have an incredible point that is eventually won by the Swiss. The quality of tennis in this set is excellent.

· The Spaniard is hitting forehands as much as possible now so that he can keep the pressure on Federer. Roger isn’t finding Nadal’s backhand as easily any longer.

· A brilliant forehand pass by Nadal enables him to hold for 4-all. At 1-4 down, this didn’t look possible, but Nadal is a fighter. He will not give this match away. The question is can Federer hang tough and win it?

· Federer serving at 4-all: At 30-all, Nadal missed an easy return and he can’t believe it. He hasn’t missed one like that all match long. Federer holds for a 5-4 lead and Nadal serves to stay in the match.

· With the match reaching its climax, let’s go point by point until the end.

· Federer wins the first point on Nadal’s serve with an excellent backhand return that lands deep in the court and on the sideline. It forces an error from Nadal.

· 15-all: A Nadal forehand draws an error from the Federer backhand.

· 30-15: A long rally ends with Federer shanking a forehand long – very tense point.

· 40-15: A crosscourt backhand from Nadal sets up an inside-out forehand winner to take him to game point.

· Game 5-5: Another inside-out forehand winner from Nadal clinches the hold. New balls for the end of the match.

· 15-love: Federer hits a crosscourt forehand winner. He continues to pound away at the Nadal backhand. That’s been the biggest difference between today’s match and the final in Monte Carlo.

· 30-love: Nadal commits a forehand error over the baseline.

· 30-15: Now a Federer error brings Nadal back into the game. Again, Federer was going crosscourt with the forehand, but he hit it wide.

· 40-15: Federer with a service winner wide to the Nadal forehand.

· Game Fed: Rafa hits a forehand in the net and Federer now leads 6-5. Once again, Nadal must hold serve to stay in the match.

· 0-15: A very nervous looking error from Nadal. Could this be the end of the streak at one match short of Vilas’ record?

· 0-30: A double fault! The first of the match for either player brings Federer to 2 points away from the title.

· 15-30: A long and tense rally ends with a Federer backhand error. Both players were playing safe in that point.

· 15-40: Nadal was pounding at the Federer backhand and Roger withstood the pressure. When Nadal attempted to break the pattern by going up the line, he hit his forehand long. Federer has 2 championship points now.

· 30-40: Federer tries to play aggressively, but he misses a forehand long. It’s probably a good play for him to pressure Nadal at this point.

· Deuce: Roger goes for a big forehand up the line, but it’s not even close. Nadal has survived two match points. The kid refuses to lose.

· Advantage Nadal: Rafa does some great running and eventually hits a forceful crosscourt backhand that Federer can’t handle. Nadal has completely turned this game around.

· Game Nadal: Nadal punctuates the comeback with another forehand winner. For the second year in a row, this final will be decided by a tiebreaker in the fifth set.

· 1-0 Federer: Service winner gives Fed the early lead.

· 1-1: Federer commits an error on an easy forehand.

· 1-1: The players have to re-play a point as there was an errant call on the Federer baseline.

· 2-1 Federer: Federer attacks the Nadal second serve and is able to force a short reply that he then puts away. Mini-break for the top seed.

· 3-1 Federer: A short return by Nadal sets up the point for Federer. He wins it with a volley at the net.

· 3-2 Federer: Nadal is on the run for nearly the entire point, but manages to recover and hit a winner.

· 4-2 Federer: Roger hits a big inside-out forehand to end the rally. Federer is really going for his shots in this breaker. We have just hit the 5-hour mark. It’s amazing that these guys are playing so well after 5 hours of play.

· 4-3 Federer: Nadal plays an aggressive point and attacks the Federer backhand.

· 5-3 Federer: Is Nadal feeling the pressure? He misses a forehand pass wildly. It looked like he had time to set up for it and hit it by Federer, but instead commits the error.

· 5-4 Federer: An easy short ball for Federer, but he blows it. One gets the feeling that Nadal may capitalize on that mistake at this crucial time in the match.

· 5-5: Nadal was on top of Federer in the whole rally and eventually Federer mis-hits a forehand wide and long.

· 6-5 Nadal: Rafa takes his first lead in the breaker and it brings him to his first championship point. Federer missed a backhand return long. It was not a difficult shot for him to make.

· Game, Set, Match Nadal!: A Nadal shot lands right on the baseline during the rally and the crowd thinks it’s out. Federer hesitates, but Nadal doesn’t and he puts the next ball away to complete his comeback victory. It was simply an amazing fifth set – the kind you hope for in any major final. Rafa has now tied Vilas’ consecutive victory streak on clay at 53 matches. The time of the match: 5 hours and 5 minutes.

Quite simply, today’s final was an epic. The tennis in the first and fifth sets was the best, and Federer proved that he can compete with Nadal on clay. However, Nadal is the human embodiment of “refuse to lose”. When he was down a break in the fifth set at 1-4, he willed himself back into the match and he showed Federer that it would not be easy. Federer held match points, but couldn’t capitalize on them and that may haunt Roger for some time.

Federer’s game plan in this match was quite different from the one he employed in Monte Carlo. He eschewed his signature inside-out forehand in favor of going crosscourt to the Nadal backhand. That seemed to keep him in points longer and Nadal’s backhand isn’t nearly as difficult to deal with as his forehand. When the world’s number one chose to come to the net, he almost exclusively approached to the Nadal backhand. That strategy was highly effective when he was able to execute it.

However, he couldn’t execute it as much as required as Nadal managed to dictate enough of the play with his forehand when he needed it to turn the match in his favor. In the end, the King of Clay took out the Swiss Master for the third time this year and for the fifth time in their six career meetings. It was truly a final to remember and let’s hope that we can see a repeat at Roland Garros in June.