That was a really engaging match for a very lucky crowd.
Jerzy lost, that’s true, but the match was much closer than a normal 2 setter. Jerzy served for the first set when he was leading 6-5 (Rafa broke him) and he squandered a 5-2 lead in the breaker.
In the second set the Pole had a 3-0 lead with a break point that would have put him in a strong 4-0 position. Rafa got Jerzy once again. The Match 1 hour and 49 of great fun.
Janowicz Problems
Jerzy had a couple of problems in the match against Rafa. First it was…. Rafa. We all know that to beat the Spaniard you need not to have any “blank moment” beacause then Rafa goes and gets you (Roger has a good experience about that). You can say that Rafa has lost only after he shakes hands. Jerzy lowered the guard when he was leading in both sets… and that was it.
Jerzy’s second problem was his serve. His 1st service percentage was terrible (49%), he fired only 6 aces (same as Rafa), but worst of all he committed again too many double faults (9). When the Pole gets nervous he is really prone to double faults and this may be a big problem in his career. Something to fix.
Janowicz world no.1?
The very good point for Jerzy was that he was completely comfortable at playing an in-form Nadal (that’s rare) and it was rather clear that he has all the firing power and the class to be at the very top of the ranking. We are not talking about been a top 10 player as, besides the actual rankings, he is already there, we are talking about being a world no.1. That is very probable especially when the big 4 will fade (4 years down the line?)
Rafa: It’s a great victory for me
A happy Rafa commented “I think I had a very good victory today against a very difficult opponent. I’m very happy. I did a few things well during the match; a few things that I need to improve a little bit more. But in general I am pleased the way I played against a very tough opponent. So it is a great victory for me, an important one.”
…about his knee
Nadal had a couple of toughts about his knee to say “I was able to play without limitations these two matches; hopefully I can continue like this. That’s my goal. I will try to forget this injury with my knee.”
Next vs. Matosevic
Rafa will play a surprising Marinko Matosevic (world no.74) in the quarters. Head to head is 1-0 for Rafa. Details
