ao07gonzalez_nadal

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1 Response to ao07gonzalez_nadal

  1. Voo de Mar says:
    Points won by each set: | 28-20, 30-27, 31-26 |
    Points won directly behind the serve:
    27 % Gonzalez – 23 of 83
    16 % Nadal – 13 of 79

    “El Bombardero” at his best (47% points won by winners). Gonzalez [9] saved a break point at 1:2 in the opener, and everything was working in his favour since then. Especially his forehand inside-out was impressive, but he also made a couple of stunning backhand passing-shots which wasn’t his domain in general. Nadal [2], not showing any sign of physical problems, took a medical time-out leading 2:1 in the 3rd set, but he couldn’t have interrupted the rhythm of his opponent. Gonzalez was one of Nadal’s toughest rivals in the early stage of the Spaniard’s career. After that night session quarterfinal, Gonzalez led 3:1 in their H2H, but the 20-year-old Nadal was in a development period given other surfaces than clay, trying to improve a lot of things; once Nadal had a better serve, more precise BH volley, and was able to exchange ground-strokes operating closer to the baseline, the trajectory of their meetings changed its course. When they meet again, in Rome a few months later, Nadal easily wins initiating a series of six consecutive victories over the Chilean not dropping a set.

    Serve & volley: Gonzalez 5/5, Nadal 0

    # Comparison of their Aussie Open matches with very similar scorelines (each match 162 points in total):
    2007 (semifinal): Gonzalez d. Nadal 6-2, 6-4, 6-3… 2 hours 5 minutes… Total points: 89-73… Breaks: 5-0
    2009 (4th round): Nadal d. Gonzalez 6-3, 6-2, 6-4… 1 hour 53 minutes… Total points: 96-66… Breaks: 6-2

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