The Hindu : Sport : Youzhny blows away Nadal

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Sport

Youzhny blows away Nadal

Nandita Sridhar

The French Open champion finds the going tough

— Photo: M. Vedhan

RUTHLESS DEMOLITION: In a disappointing 58-minute final, fourth-seeded Mikhail Youzhny thrashed World No. 2 Rafael Nadal in straight sets to win the Chennai Open title on Sunday.

Chennai: Watching Rafael Nadal win just a solitary game in a match is painful, more than anything else. The Spaniard’s image can sometimes consume him.

Playing less than 24 hours after an emotional, intense all-consuming four-hour marathon can take everything out of a man, but Nadal is expected to defy the norm. Almost out of right, the fist pumps, the tireless legs and the demonic forehands are in demand; but even a man of Nadal’s will and tenacity can sometimes succumb to exhaustion.

The top-seed looked completely out of sorts on Sunday. Mikhail Youzhny, by his own admission, had just to keep his game together, to win the Chennai Open final. The fourth seeded Youzhny beat Nadal 6-0, 6-1 in the final of the Chennai Open ATP tennis championship, at the Nungambakkam Tennis Stadium, on Sunday. Nadal had on Saturday beaten Carlos Moya 6-7(3), 7-6(8), 7-6(1) in the semifinals.

The Russian should be applauded for keeping his game together. Playing a tired, exhausted, quality player with nothing but pride driving him could have proved tricky. To the Russian’s credit, he pulled off his shots impeccably. The backhand, which had been lethal all along, was outstanding. He used it to change pace, direction, and pull off difficult slices.

Defensive game

Nadal’s shots flew out, which was very unlike what one had come to see of him. The usual tight defensive game was in disarray. He managed just 17 points in the entire match, a fair reflection of the contest.

“In the final Rafa was not Rafa, today’s win was his present to me. I didn’t play good, I didn’t play bad. He just couldn’t play. I watched a little bit of yesterday’s match between Carlos and Rafa, it is very difficult to come back after a match like that and play. Four match-points, and so many emotions. If the final was after one or two days, it would have been a different Rafa. He played the finals yesterday.”

Despite his honesty, bordering on the underestimation, Youzhny’s game held up well through the course of the tournament. On Sunday, the serve worked very well (He served nine aces in a 57-minute match).

Nadal had a trainer attend to his tired legs when down 1-4 in the second set, but he refused to offer excuses for his loss. “I don’t like to put excuses. Mikhail played unbelievable,” he said. Youzhny thereafter kept his errors down and eased his way to the title. “After the first set I thought he might be able to get his game up, but then after I broke him in the second set I knew I just had to keep the mistakes down and I’ll go through.”

“I could do nothing today. I was tired. Last night’s match could be a reason. I needed time to recover. But it has been a good start to the season,” said Nadal. Youzhny received $68, 800 and 175 ATP points, while Nadal collected $37, 350 and 120 points.

Ratiwatanas win

Sanchai and Sonchat Ratiwatana won the doubles title (second ATP title) beating Marcos Baghdatis and Marc Gicquel 6-4, 7-5. Carlos Moya was presented the “Vijay Amritraj Sportsmanship Award” on Saturday, by V. Narayanan, President, TNTA and Fernando Soler, Tournament Director. Indian tennis legend Ramanathan Krishnan was presented the ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’ by the Asian Sports Journalist Federation.

The results: Finals: Singles: Mikhail Youzhny (Rus) bt Rafael Nadal (Esp) 6-0, 6-1. Semifinals: Rafael Nadal bt Carlos Moya 6-7(3), 7-6(8), 7-6(1). Doubles: Sanchai & Sonchat Ratiwatana (Tha) beat Marcos Baghdatis (Cyp) & Marc Gicquel (Fra) 6-4, 7-5. Semifinals: Marcos Baghdatis (Cyp) & Marc Gicquel (Fra) bt Harel Levy (Isr) & Rajeev Ram (US) 6-7(2), 7-6 (5), 10-8; Sanchai & Sonchat bt Marin Cilic (Cro) & Aisam Qureshi (Pak) 2-6, 6-2, 10-4.