Federer, Nadal And Liverpool Win By Alix Ramsay

Swiss player Roger Federer in action during his first round match against France’s Richard Gasquet at the Mutua Madrid Open tennis tournament in Madrid, Spain, 07 May 2019. EPA-EFE/JUANJO MARTIN

 

 

We begin with an apology: we are sorry for the lack of coverage from the Mutua Madrid Open yesterday. But, you see, yesterday was a special day. A very, very special day.

 

Yesterday was the day that Liverpool FC did the unthinkable, the seemingly impossible, and came back from a 3-0 deficit in the first leg of the Champion League semi-final to beat the mighty Barcelona. No matter that Barca fielded the world’s greatest player in Lionel Messi and no matter that the statisticians gave Liverpool only a four per cent chance of success, the Reds won 4-0 on the night at Anfield and 4-3 on aggregate.

 

Messi was duff, the Barca defence was pants and Liverpool were sensational. We are in the Champions League final on June 1. Ah, best warn you now: there will be little by way of tennis news from Roland Garros on that day, either. Come on you Reds!

 

Back at the tennis, everything was a lot quieter. True, Roger Federer got a standing ovation on his return to the red dirt courts after a three year absence but he barely had time to break a sweat as he pulverised Richard Gasquet 6-2, 6-3. It was all blissfully straight forward for the Swiss maestro. And he was done and dusted before the football started. It was a win-win sort of night.

 

When he first turned his back on the clay it was 2016. He was still trying to recover from knee surgery and, to add to his woes, he hurt his back as he tried to get himself ready to play in Madrid. With a bad back and swollen knee, he pulled out of Madrid, gingerly attempted a challenge in Rome and then finally threw in the towel before Roland Garros.

 

The following year, he simply skipped the clay court swing in order to be fit and fresh for the grass. The two month break was designed to prolong his career and increase his chances at the tournaments that he thought he could still win. And it worked: he won his 19th grand slam title at Wimbledon. So, if a long break served him well that year, why change the plan for 2018?

 

But this year is different. Now with a clean bill of health, he can do as he pleases and much as clay can be a brutal, physical grind, sometimes it pays to suffer a little.

 

After losing to John Millman in the fourth round of last year’s US Open, our Rodge thought that he needed to work on his stamina because, like everyone else, he was struggling in the stifling heat and humidity of Flushing Meadows. The plan, then, was already being formulated for a clay court return.

 

“This was more about preparing for extended rallies which I knew I wanted to work on because of the problems I had at the US Open with the heat,” Federer said. “I had a desire to work again, especially on fitness, because the matches [on hard courts in the summer] didn’t allow me to extend the rallies as much, to work on playing longer points and that, obviously, is what you need on clay.

 

“I think it helps for any surface, you know, to be really tough when the rallies go long. And I feel very strong right now. And obviously we worked on that in December already.”

 

Admittedly, Madrid is not what you would call a regular clay court event. The city sits on a plateau 2,200 feet above sea level so the air is a little thinner up here and the ball flies a little faster though it. This is more like playing on a hard court than a Roland Garros court on a damp day in early June. But it is more than enough for a gentle reintroduction to the swish-slide-swish stuff of the dirt ball game.

 

“Maybe it will be just one game in Paris and it was all for nothing,” Federer mused, contemplating his chances at the French Open. No one agreed with him, though. Onwards to Gael Monfils, the 1-6, 6-4, 6-2 winner over Marton Fucsovics in the third round.

 

Rafa Nadal clearly has plans on sticking around in Paris for more than a round as he has his sights set on a 12th title there. But, so far, the clay court season has been doing him no favours – he was chasing a 12th trophy in Monte Carlo and Barcelona and never got as far as the final.

 

In Madrid, he was felled by a stomach bug almost as soon as he arrived which put the mockers on his preparations. He was putting a brave face on it on Tuesday and by Wednesday he was fit enough to dispatch Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-3, 6-3. It was not Rafa’s finest hour but he did not care; he had won, he was feeling a bit better physically but, more importantly, he was feeling heaps better in himself.

 

A couple of weeks ago, when he came back from his latest bout of knee problems, he was struggling to find the spark, the ignition key, to fire up his competitive edge again. After all the injury problems he faced last year, the recurrence of his knee issues was a crushing mental blow. The dicky tummy this week has not been fun but he knew it would pass fairly quickly – what pleased him most about his opening win was that he felt better about being on court and finding a way to win, no matter what.

 

“It was really complicated for me to come back to be able to stay fit and to recover that energy that I need to play,” he said. “And right now I think I have it again.

 

“So, this is the joy that I need, the joy that I need to do things and this is what gives you the drive and the passion to do things and then fix my work or not.

 

“Right now, I have the possibility during these next two weeks to do something good and before, I didn’t have this opportunity. “And normally, when you have the capacity, this is what makes the difference, to have the energy and the joy and the attitude to be able to try to do it and then you have some better times and worse times. This is just part of a sportsman’s life.

 

“But I think that right now, I have the drive and the option and the will to do it. Two weeks’ ago, I didn’t have the energy. Right now, I have that energy to do the things real good.”

 

His next chance to do “real good” will be against Frances Tiafoe on Thursday.