With the decision STILL standing on surfaces not called red since Nadal is yet to beat Djokovic there after being spanked seven straight times, we can safely focus on clay and clay ONLY.
The fact that Nadal was eliminated in straight sets in the finals on his first encounter with Djokovic ON CLAY after having had significant success on his return from the injury break, clearly points to Nadal NOT being at even close to par with Djokovic's form - forget about passing him. Add ALL the carrots that were at stake - from 9th straight Monte Carlo title to validation of his success at previous four events to Roland Garros implications to........... and you can safely assume the outcome be the most authentic one to accurately gauge the meter.
I mean, this wasn't some bad day at the day care center or some windy conditions or some stop and start play for weather or some massively out of skin play from one end or whatever. It was the MOST legitimate and trustworthy barometer of where the two stand vis a vis each other. AND it wasn't even close.
In the second set, Nadal was as close to being the dominating self he has EVER been ANYWHERE - maybe out of sheer and stark necessity - but even that wasn't enough. To assume that Nadal can pass that in weeks to come - over three sets, forget five - is asking Nadal to pass heights he reached BEFORE the injury hiatus. For rock people, Nadal produced the MOST scintillating show right before he went down for seven months.
That without even inserting the fact that Djokovic may have matured even more and may have already overshot the threshold Nadal can summon even on his best day now.
If above BS is true - that Nadal was close to his best he has ever been on clay in that second set and Djokvoic may have handily passed Nadal's best - the rivalry may have already witnessed the last chapter. Nadal may still reach the final but he is NOT winning against Djokovic anymore AND thus the word 'rival' automatically gets released from the equation called rivalry. You have to win to make it a rivalry.
ONLY scenario that may still offer some hope for Nadal could be the unforeseeable possibility that Nadal HAS that added gear in his psyche and elsewhere to soar one more time and reverse the slide like he did against Federer, Blake, Tsonga and even Djokovic on clay last season. However, with added mileage, knee with a second (3rd?) hit, age No. 27, no grandfathers left etc. the disparity of the time he achieved all that last time and today seems unbridgeable.
Besides, the LONE weapon Nadal has SOLELY relied on to overcome his past tormentors has been rendered useless - if not turned into a huge advantage for Djokovic - against Djokovic. That means he has to find a new weapon - in weeks - to compensate. NOT FREAKING HAPPENING. That loopy inviting ball to Djokovic's backhand was the cause of MAJOR damage @ Monte Carlo. Did you notice how many points he won on that shot alone? Maybe 70% of them.
All that without even factoring in Djokovic superior over-all game compared to Blake, Tsonga and even Federer if you insert the backhand BS.
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