“A wild patience has taken me this far,” is a line from the great American poet Adrienne Rich, and it perfectly describes how Rafael Nadal plays tennis. Watching his straight set win over Tomas Berdych, I was struck by how Nadal plays with unbridled energy and passion, but he’s also calm and contained mentally. In his match with Murray in the semifinals, and again on Sunday against Berdych, there was a sense of inevitability to each match. The scores of each set were close, but you just knew that Rafa wouldn’t get broken, and that at some point Murray and Berdych would blink.
At 4-5 in the third, Nadal raised the level of his game to break Berdych and win the match. He got up, love 30, by using his strong forehand, but Berdych battled back to get an ad. A deep backhand return pushed Berdych deep in his backhand corner, and Nadal rifled his next forehand for another down the line winner. At deuce, Berdych missed a short forehand long to give Rafa match point. Berdych attacked, but Nadal ripped a topspin crosscourt forehand passing shot for a winner. He then fell to the court in delight, celebrating his second Wimbledon title in three years.
Via: The New York Times