Rafael Nadal on Sunday finally won another clay-court title at the Mutua Madrid Open, although not in a manner that alleviated any concerns about the Spanish ace’s recent form on his favorite surface.
The top-ranked Spaniard won his fourth trophy at the Caja Magica after Japan’s Kei Nishikori was forced to withdraw with a hip injury when trailing 2-6, 6-4, 3-0 in the final.
Coming off two atypical quarter-final losses on clay, Nadal said his mental strength is still lacking just two weeks before the French Open.
Photo: AFP
“I was blocked. There were some moments where, I don’t know, I couldn’t find myself,” said Nadal, whose win on Sunday guarantees he will stay No. 1 in the rankings heading to Roland Garros. “It wasn’t that I didn’t want to play or I was missing intensity, I was just mentally blocked.”
Although Nadal’s triumph made him the first repeat winner in Madrid, it was only his second clay-court title and third overall so far this year.
Nishikori’s aggressive start allowed him to jump out to a 5-1 lead as his powerful ground strokes overwhelmed Nadal, who struggled to answer to his Japanese opponent.
“We don’t deserve the victory, [Nishikori] deserves it, he played better than us the whole time,” Nadal’s uncle and coach, Toni Nadal, told Antenna 3 TV. “We had a lot of luck today. We didn’t really come back, he was hurt.”
Nishikori broke the Spaniard again to start the second set, leaving the Caja Magica center crowd, which included Spanish Queen Sofia, dumbfounded to find Nadal struggling so badly.
The Japanese first experienced discomfort while leading 4-2 and Nadal took advantage to break back. Nishikori soon needed a medical timeout for treatment on his back and hip, and his energy looked sapped afterward as he hit a shot long to concede the set.
Nishikori, who withdrew from this week’s ATP Rome Master to recover for the French Open, visibly struggled in the third before eventually retiring.
“It was very sad, especially [since] I was winning, playing almost best tennis in my life,” said Nishikori, who will become the first Japanese player in the top 10 when the new rankings are released. “It was very tough mentally for me, but I get a lot of confidence from this tournament. You never know what happens today if I’m not hurt. I may have chance to win.”
Earlier on Sunday, Maria Sharapova of Russia bounced back from a poor start to beat Romania’s Simona Halep 1-6, 6-2, 6-3 and win the women’s title.
Sharapova, who lost to Serena Williams in last year’s final, crumbled in the first set, when she held her serve just once. Yet Halep’s serve dipped in the second set and Sharapova started hitting pinpoint ground strokes that kept the fifth-ranked Romanian running. The ninth-ranked Russian converted both her break points in the set to even the match.
Sharapova then pulled away in the deciding set with an early break to follow up her triumph in Stuttgart with a maiden title in Madrid.
The Russian said she planned to continue celebrating her 32nd career title on the plane to Rome. “They better have some champagne for me,” she said. “I need a drink.”
Since the 2011 French Open, Sharapova has a 47-3 record on clay, with all defeats against Williams.
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