Rafael Nadal  vs. Robin Soderling
Game, set and Match Nadal 6-4 6-2 6-4
Tennis is getting a bit like boxing lots of hype no juice!

If you were flipping channels like I did since the quarter-finals of the French Open and especially before the last two days previous to the men's final, you would be as surprised as I was at the hype on:

- How Soderling was going to beat Nadal.

- How much Robin had improved.

- How Soderling was the only one that had beaten both Roger Federer and Nadal.

- How the experience of being a finalist last year would help Robin defeat Rafa.

- How Soderling was going to beat Rafa in four sets! 

All of that hype made me immediately think about one of the Klitschko brothers last bouts were he made short work of a super hyped boxer in a few rounds!

If TV commentators are going to attempt an identical disservice to tennis, they might as well hang-up their microphones! Silence is better the trash talk!

Predicting the winner of a match is not a science but, seasoned TV commentators, who watched Robin Soderling and Rafael Nadal progress through the French Open should know better then make absurd claims!

For me, an almost tennis ignoramus without any 'Grand Slam experience' it was simple, as I said in my previous article, there were three fundamental reasons why Nadal was going to win in 3 (or 4 if hot and court is dry) sets::

'- Revenge!

- Soderling peaked in the quarters against Federer.

- Soderling is at the end of his mental/emotional and physical reserves.'

In the end my assessment was right, the high quota of sometimes even sloppy 45 unforced errors from Soderling, revealed a worn out player:

-  Who's legs would not bring him swiftly enough into position.

- A weary mind which did not find the right ideas at the right moments.

- An emotional well that had been dug so deep both against Federer (especially against Federer) and Beridych, that there was nothing else to dig from it!

- A tired forehand swing which had won him so many points in other matches, just did not generate enough racket head speed or pace for winners! 

- The serve (the bread and butter of Soderling) was a shadow of past matches, marred with missed first serves and embarrassing double faults.

To make this whole affair even more difficult for Soderling, it rained torrentially the night previous to the match!  Although a tarp is placed over the court overnight, it still lead to humid, heavy conditions for the first two sets which favored Nadal.  Why?

Here contrary to what I heard from a certain TV commentary box, 'humid conditions would favor Soderling'. This had me shaking my head.

How would a slow playing court, with heavy slow balls that will bounce higher and grab onto the ground be an advantage to Robin? When in fact it would effectively neutralize Soderlings serve and all of his almost flat weaponry and allow Nadal to get to virtually every ball and get an even bigger kick out of his wicked topspin!?!  Mind boggling expert commentary!

Anyway a hotter faster, dryer court, would allow Soldering to take full advantage of his weaponry with the additional challenge to Nadal that would be Robin's incredibly fast and flat shots which would skid and stay low making it almost mission impossible for Nadal to defend (with much less time for everything) and the ace and winner quota from Soderling would also have increased two fold.

Having said what I said, I can not take away one jota of merit from Rafa, he played the best match of this season on clay, proved to be able to withstand enormous pressure, his knees seem to be healed, his desire to win is unabated, lets look forward to a great Wimbledon!

Hope you Enjoyed!

Sergio Cruz 

Questions About Tennis Anyone? Feel free to ask, if I can not answer myself, I will research and find the solution to your question. Write directly to me at, cruze (@) bluewin.ch

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