Rafael Nadal had to dig deep before finally securing a hard-fought 3-6, 7-6 (7/5), 6-4 win over Andy Roddick in the ATP World Tour Finals on Monday.
Nadal has spent much of a remarkably successful season sweeping opponents aside with consummate ease, but the world No. 1 was pushed to the brink in his opening match of the prestigious end-of-year event at London’s O2 Arena.
The Spaniard was playing for the first time in five weeks after resting a shoulder injury and he initially looked a little rusty as Roddick took the first set.
PHOTO: AFP
However, the 24-year-old eventually found the remorseless rhythm that has crushed so many top players and he battled back to ensure a winning start to his bid to land the Tour Finals crown for the first time.
Nadal crashed out in the group stages last year after losing all three matches and readily admits that lackluster effort represented one of the lowest moment of his career.
His recovery since then has been stunning. In the space of 12 months, Nadal has reasserted himself as the sport’s pre-eminent force by winning the French Open and Wimbledon titles, lifting a first US Open crown and returning to the top of the world rankings.
Yet Nadal’s unique brand of poise and power has never translated well to indoor tournaments. He has won only one roofed event and he made a slow start here.
He had a golden opportunity when he earned two break-points in the opening game, but Roddick saved both and seemed energized by that escape act.
The American had beaten Nadal in their last meeting in Miami earlier this year and he applied pressure on the Spaniard’s serve with some searing returns that earned the first break.
When Nadal responded by -unloading those ferocious top-spun forehands that so often crush opponents into submission, he found Roddick in obdurate mood.
Roddick, a three-time finalist across south London at Wimbledon, saved two break-points in the fifth game to build a 4-1 lead and Nadal was unable to make any further impact on his powerful serve as the former US Open champion closed out the set.
Roddick had a chance to take complete control when he broke in the third game of the second set.
However, Nadal has never been one to throw in the towel and he finally found some rhythm to break straight back. That proved to be the turning point.
The set went to a tiebreak and both had chances to take the initiative before Nadal seized control with a stunning double-handed winner that whistled across court before catching the line.
Nadal didn’t waste the opportunity and sealed the set when Roddick mishit a forehand into the net.
A sublime cross-court winner earned a break for a 3-2 lead and Nadal, now full of fist-pumping defiance, refused to surrender that advantage as he served out the match
Nadal joins Novak Djokovic at the top of Group A after the Serb advanced earlier on Monday with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Czech Tomas Berdych.
Djokovic dominated from start to finish against a player, whose form has deserted him since reaching the Wimbledon final in July, after he was gifted a service break in the first game.
A tense Berdych, the only debutant in the eight-man field, offered up two double faults and Djokovic completed the set when his opponent faltered again on his own delivery at 3-5.
The world No. 3 quickly moved 3-0 ahead at the start of the second set and closed out victory in front of a subdued mid-afternoon crowd, which was far from a sellout.
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