Has Hell Frozen Over?
So, Rafael Nadal has lost to someone he shouldn’t have, on clay, in the second round (his first match) at the Italian Open. Not only did Rafael Nadal to former number 1 Juan Carlos Ferrero, he lost to him badly, 7-5, 6-1. Nadal did complain after the match of a sore foot that began affecting him in his Barcelona final, and almost caused him to pull out against Ferrero before the match started. That being said, I watched most of this match, and Juan Carlos played like it was 2001. Ferrero was doing to Nadal what Nadal does to most of his opponents, keeping him on the defensive with penetrating, heavy balls, playing tremendous defensive shots, and attacking when necessary. Nadal has had some choice words regarding the strenuous ATP Calendar in the month leading up to the French Open, and the fact that he had to play Ferrero about 72 hours after winning Barcelona (which came a week after winning Monte Carlo) certainly adds to his argument.
What’s even stranger than that? Two American’s have lasted longer than Nadal at a major clay-court event. Both James Blake and Andy Roddick have made it to the quarterfinals in Rome. A bit unexpected, given that this is Roddick’s first clay-court event of 2008, and that Blake got destroyed by unknown German Dennis Gremelmyr last week in Barcelona in his first match. Blake got a bit lucky, as he was scheduled to play Nadal in the quarters, now gets to face Wawrinka (who beat Ferrero today) instead. Roddick will face the winner of Roberedo/Davydenko.
Now, for perhaps the most shocking tennis news of the week, let’s turn our attention to the WTA. Justine Henin, in her second match since getting decimated 6-2, 6-0 by Serena Williams at the Sony Ericsson Open, lost to 17th ranked Dinara Safina today, 5-7, 6-3, 6-1. Truthfully, even though it went three sets, besides a five game stretch in the first set, Henin was thoroughly dominated. In addition to that upset, Kuznetsova was upended by Alona Bondarenko 6-2 in the third. With the second slam of the year looming, both of these gals will be looking to regain some confidence next week in Rome.