Points won by each set: [ 24-31, 46-40, 53-55 ]
Points won directly on serve:
12 % Simon – 18 of 147
16 % Nadal – 17 of 102
* 3 hours 23 minutes – the second longest ‘Bo3’ match of 2008. It’s absolutely incredible that Simon won that match against the home-crowd favorite having already in his legs four three-setters # Nadal [1] was on his way to get a routine victory at 2:1* (40/0) in the 2nd set, but wasted the triple-break point, also a mini-match point at 4:3 (40/30) when he lost a 22-stroke rally, and the full control over the final outcome. Simon [16] broke in the following game despite being chance-less in Nadal’s all service games before. The Spaniard broke back, led 40/15 at 5-all, had another game points, then break points, but lost the set. In the decider, Simon trailing 0:1 survived a crazy 9-deuce game (six break points) in which he struck all his aces and won the longest rally of the match (33 strokes). He failed to serve the victory out at 6:5. In the tie-break he wasted his first match point, but on the second chance he left Nadal’s passing-shot and the challenge confirmed it was the right decision. A few months earlier, Simon played his first semifinal at this level, and lost it after similarly long match (2 hours 59 minutes).
Simon’s route to the final (the toughest route in Masters 1K history):
1 Igor Andreev 4-6, 6-1, 7-6(7) – 4 m.p.
2 James Blake 3-6, 6-1, 6-4
3 Robby Ginepri 6-7(6), 6-4, 7-6(6) – 2 m.p.
Q Ivo Karlovic 7-6(1), 4-6, 7-6(2)
S Rafael Nadal 3-6, 7-5, 7-6(6)
# trailed *4:5 (0/40) vs Andreev, also 3:5 in the tie-break (2:09h)
# no drama vs Blake, early break in the third set decided (1:26h)
# trailed 4:6 in the tie-break vs Ginepri (2:35h)
# trailed *0:3 in the third set vs Karlovic, 3 pts away from defeat (2:14h)
# trailed *3:4 (30/40) in the second set vs Nadal, also 2:4* in the third & 1:3 in the tie-break (3:23h)
Points won by each set: [ 24-31, 46-40, 53-55 ]
Points won directly on serve:
12 % Simon – 18 of 147
16 % Nadal – 17 of 102
* 3 hours 23 minutes – the second longest ‘Bo3’ match of 2008. It’s absolutely incredible that Simon won that match against the home-crowd favorite having already in his legs four three-setters # Nadal [1] was on his way to get a routine victory at 2:1* (40/0) in the 2nd set, but wasted the triple-break point, also a mini-match point at 4:3 (40/30) when he lost a 22-stroke rally, and the full control over the final outcome. Simon [16] broke in the following game despite being chance-less in Nadal’s all service games before. The Spaniard broke back, led 40/15 at 5-all, had another game points, then break points, but lost the set. In the decider, Simon trailing 0:1 survived a crazy 9-deuce game (six break points) in which he struck all his aces and won the longest rally of the match (33 strokes). He failed to serve the victory out at 6:5. In the tie-break he wasted his first match point, but on the second chance he left Nadal’s passing-shot and the challenge confirmed it was the right decision. A few months earlier, Simon played his first semifinal at this level, and lost it after similarly long match (2 hours 59 minutes).
Simon’s route to the final (the toughest route in Masters 1K history):
1 Igor Andreev 4-6, 6-1, 7-6(7) – 4 m.p.
2 James Blake 3-6, 6-1, 6-4
3 Robby Ginepri 6-7(6), 6-4, 7-6(6) – 2 m.p.
Q Ivo Karlovic 7-6(1), 4-6, 7-6(2)
S Rafael Nadal 3-6, 7-5, 7-6(6)
# trailed *4:5 (0/40) vs Andreev, also 3:5 in the tie-break (2:09h)
# no drama vs Blake, early break in the third set decided (1:26h)
# trailed 4:6 in the tie-break vs Ginepri (2:35h)
# trailed *0:3 in the third set vs Karlovic, 3 pts away from defeat (2:14h)
# trailed *3:4 (30/40) in the second set vs Nadal, also 2:4* in the third & 1:3 in the tie-break (3:23h)
Serve & volley: Simon 1/4, Nadal 0
* Simon played only one longer 3-set match in his long career: 3 hours 24 minutes against Montanes, 6-7, 6-1, 6-1 (!) in Stuttgart ’05 on clay