By Charles Bricker
Even if you’ve several times seen a comparable display of magnificence from Rafa Nadal, it was impossible not to once again leap from your seat, or shout with joy, or, for the more sedated viewers, simply shake your head in disbelief at the performance the incomparable Spaniard put on in this Monte Carlo final Sunday afternoon.
If there was even a remote doubt about the current condition of his worrisome knees, it was dispelled in five one-sided matches during this incomparable week of play, which culminated in a 6-0, 6-1 triumph over countryman Fernando Verdasco.
Nadal delivered one scintillating point after another while Verdasco, in a heavily frustrating one hour and 25 minutes on court, was left screaming, muttering to himself and, in his one minor moment of glory, on his knees blowing kisses to the sky.
It was a record-breaking afternoon. For the first time, an ATP player had won a tournament six times in a row, and it’s a feat Nadal can repeat at Barcelona this week as he moves on to Stage Two of his quest to regain the French Open title in June.
Under nothing but blue sky and with just enough wind to ruffle the flags surrounding the Monte Carlo Country Club, Nadal won the first six points of the match, won the first seven points Verdasco served and blitzed through the opening set.
There were a few sticky moments in the second set, but after Verdasco double-faulted — both into the net — on successive points at 1-1 and 40-15, then broken for a fourth time in a row to lose that game, there was a palpable sense that his spirit was irretrievably lost.
He did play a strong game with Nadal serving at 4-1, but he couldn’t convert any of five break point opportunities and, even if he had, he was already down two breaks at that point. This match was gone and nothing could have delivered the final beat-down than Nadal’s running forehand pass to ward off one of those breaks.
Verdasco had forced Nadal deep into his backhard side to make a defensive save and Rafa could do no more than bloop up a return. There was Verdasco racing in to hit a swinging forehand volley from mid-court that he must have thought was a sure winner.
But — stop me if you’ve seen this before — Nadal was already into a full run to the left side to make the play, slamming a cross-court pass for a clean winner. Incredible? Of course not.
The numbers Nadal has run up in Monte Carlo are, well, numbing:
* This is 32 straight wins at Monte Carlo. He hasn’t lost since he went out in the round of 16 in 2003 to Guillermo Coria. Nadal is 66-5 in sets during the win streak.
* To Thiemo de Bakker and Michael Berrer he lost one game each. He defeated Juan Carlos Ferrero 6-4, 6-2. He beat David Ferrer 6-2, 6-3. And now this. This is the worst beating in a Masters or ATP 1000 final since Lleyton Hewitt won over Gustavo Kuerten 6-1, 6-1 at Indian Wells in 2003.
* Nadal is now 10-0 against Verdasco, 5-0 on clay. His record for the season is 21-4.
* And it is his first tournament title in nearly a year — since he won Rome in May of 2009. That will please him most.
The knee skeptics won’t be fully convinced, of course, pointing out that Nadal’s long-term fitness depends not on just one tournament, but how he holds up in consecutive weeks. Those knees have been an alarming problem in one so young (23 years old), but Nadal believes he now has the schedule and the training program to stay healthy.
He took a week off after losing in the semifinals at Key Biscayne (hard court) to Andy Roddick, but he will play a second week in a row at Barcelona, though for a second tournament in a row he will not have a chance to encounter No. 1 Roger Federer, whom he has devastated on clay in past years.
Everything was working for Nadal this week. Forehand? Electrifying. The topspin was so heavy that it forced opponents back behind the baseline, where it’s harder to take the ball early. Backhand? More aggressive than in the past. Serve? It’s less important on clay, where it’s easier for Nadal to back it up with his ground stroking, but it was, nevertheless, very strong in this tournament. Return game? He was aced only four times in five matches — one each by Ferrero and Ferrer and two from Verdasco. He faced 13 break points and was broken just three times.
Perhaps most impressive was his running. This was the kind of court coverage we remember when Nadal was winning consecutive French Opens. His movement is once again in remarkable harmony with his stroking, and that’s so much more important on clay than on other surfaces.
He was properly ecstatic with this win, but the celebration won’t last long. It’s time to move on and, with airports closed because of the erupting volcano in Iceland, Rafa and a number of other players are making the 450-mile drive to Barcelona along the southern edge of France and then down the east coast of Spain.
It wouldn’t be surprising if the Nadal entourage got a police escort when he crossed the border. The national treasure is coming home.
Charles Bricker can be reached at nflwriterr@aol.com