Nadal Advances in Doha—Nathan’s Blog

Written by: Staff on 3rd January 2012

Nadal Advances in Doha—Nathan’s Blog |

By: Nathan M. Cuny

Nadal is looking forward to playing Federer in the Qatar ExxonMobil Open finals, in Doha, but first he has to get there. Nadal started his path to the finals positively but with difficulty in Tuesday’s first round match. Despite his sore shoulder Nadal defeated No. 43, Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-3, 6-7², 6-3, in two hours and thirty-three minutes.

Nadal played like the amazing athlete he is, winning the first set with ease. The second set gave Nadal trouble as he fell behind 1-4 but quickly won three straight games leveling the second set. Kohlschreiber and Nadal battled it out for the remainder of the second set until a tie break was reached. Kohlschreiber powered through the tie break taking the second set from Nadal.

Kohlschreiber broke the third set immediately gaining the advantage. Soon after Kohlschreiber dropped his serve in the following game allowing Nadal to swoop in and convert a second break, advancing 3-1. After Nadal gained the advantage he finished the match with his routine service game. Nadal’s Tuesday defeat of Philipp Kohlschreiber brought him to a record of 8-0 against Kohlschreiber.

Following the match Nadal felt very optimistic about his performance. Nadal stated, “I’m very happy about my level. I think I played a very good first set. The only moment that I didn’t play well was the beginning of the second and after the tie-break. For the rest [of the match], I think I played solid.” Even with his sore shoulder Nadal, attributed much of the difficulty to his opponent’s skill rather than his own injury, stating, “He can play at a very high level. He has fantastic shots. His serve worked very well for him in moments today, [as well as] his return. Sometimes I felt that I was serving okay, and sometimes his return was very fast. So it was difficult.”

Nadal’s optimistic attitude about himself and other players will undoubtedly carry him where he sees himself by the end of 2012. Nadal remains No.2 at 4,035 points behind Djokovic but he feels brave about his prospects at regaining the No.1 spot. Nadal may have a slow start this season, considering he has pulled out of the Australian Open to rest his shoulder and practice. Winning the tournament is worth 2000 points alone, but avoiding the first Grand Slam of the year may allow Nadal to comeback just as he hopes.

Nadal faces No. 189 Denis Gremelmayr on center court during the tournament’s second round on Wednesday the 4^th—they are the second match following 3:30 PM. Gremelmayr defeated No.58 Potito Starace during the Qatar ExxonMobil Open’s first round, 6-3, 6-2, in one hour and thirteen minutes. Nadal and Gremelmayr fans alike can expect entertaining match this upcoming Wednesday.

Topics: Qatar ExxonMobil Open, Rafael Nadal