By Ricky Dimon
Stop me if you’ve heard this before: “Rafael Nadal wins Rogers Cup, withdraws from Cincinnati.”
Well, you have.
In 2018, Nadal triumphed in Toronto and immediately pulled out of the Cincinnati Masters. He successfully defended his title (this time in Montreal) on Sunday before again taking his name out of the Cincinnati hat.
Thus it will be next stop: New York for the second-ranked Spaniard. And winning a hard-court Masters 1000 tournament followed by two weeks of rest sounds like ideal preparation. Nadal will head to the U.S. Open off a 6-3, 6-0 victory over Daniil Medvedev in Sunday’s Rogers Cup final on Sunday afternoon.
It was surprisingly routine day at the office against an opponent who did not lose a single set en route to the championship match. Medvedev was also coming off a runner-up performance in Washington, D.C., so hopes–at least those of his own–were high heading into Sunday. Instead, the ninth-ranked Russian folded on the big stage and got swept aside by Nadal in one hour and 10 minutes.
“I did a lot of things well, changing directions, changing rhythms during the point,” Nadal said. “The slice worked well this afternoon. I played some high balls, then changed down the line. I think I played smart this afternoon.
“My tactic was to not give him that much time, to try to play deep, to not give him easy shots,” Medvedev explained. “It was kind of working in the beginning of the match, but then I completely lost the momentum. It was only him controlling the play, controlling the game. Even a few moments in the match, I tried not (to) come back but win one game, see how it goes. I was close; he just played too good.”
Nadal was good and also lucky in Montreal. He did not even have to play a semifinal match, as Gael Monfils withdrew from that scheduled showdown after outlasting Roberto Bautista Agut earlier on Friday in a rain-delayed quarterfinal clash.
Both Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer return this coming week in Cincinnati after skipping the Rogers Cup. They are joined by Andy Murray, who is making a highly-anticipated singles comeback.
Ricky contributes to10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand. You can follow him on twitter at @Dimonator.
