Fatigue finally sets in for Nadal
Nadal On Loss To Del Potro
KEY BISCAYNE, Fla. -- The final forehand was a world-weary stroke that landed, probably inevitably, in the net.
As the raucous crowd at the Sony Ericsson Open jumped to its feet and roared for the victor, Juan Martin del Potro, vanquished Rafael Nadal pulled off his sodden bandanna and shook his head. Del Potro, who has known Nadal since he was 12, had never taken even a single set from him at the professional level, much less beaten him.
Usually, the world No. 1 doesn't fade until the American hard-court season builds toward its zenith; he has never reached the final at the U.S. Open, the only major that has eluded him. But summer came early for Nadal when 20-year-old del Potro was simply a little better early Thursday evening.
The No. 7-ranked Argentine had let three match points slip away, but he prevailed 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (3) when Nadal appeared to hit the wall. It was a marvelous win for del Potro but, truthfully, it was more of a loss by Nadal.
Maybe that's why Rafa was uncharacteristically shrill afterward.
"I think he didn't play one of his best matches, no?" Nadal said. "That's what I feel. You can ask him later, maybe.
"His level is [No.] 7 of the world, no; so he's very good. I think he didn't play an unbelievable match, but I didn't play on my best level today."
Asked afterward to respond to Nadal's comments, del Potro predictably insisted he had played "incredible."
Said del Potro, "I beat the No. 1 of the world. If you don't play unbelievable, you cannot beat him."
Was this the biggest moment of his young career?
"Of course," del Potro said.
You could see this one coming.
Nadal spent an extremely productive but exhausting several months to get here. He won all seven of his matches at the Australian Open, defeating Roger Federer in the final, then reached the final in Rotterdam, losing to Andy Murray. After two Davis Cup wins, one over Novak Djokovic, Nadal smoked the field at Indian Wells, including a tough fourth-round match with David Nalbandian, followed by defeats of del Potro, Andy Roddick and Murray.
Here in Miami, Nadal has struggled, modestly so even against Portuguese qualifier Frederico Gil and more obviously in beating Stanislas Wawrinka in the fourth round in a pair of tiebreakers. Against del Potro, Nadal fought courageously, as he always does.
Nadal staved off those three match points while serving at 5-6 in the third -- two of them with aces. One of those aces was recorded at 131 miles per hour, which is believed to his fastest serve ever.
The tiebreaker was even at 3-all when del Potro stepped into a forehand and crushed it for a clean winner. Nadal wound up losing the last five points of the extra session.
It was a slugfest that consumed 2 hours, 59 minutes, with Nadal winning 101 points to del Potro's 99.
Fatigue, clearly, was a factor.
It was the 10th best-of-three-sets match for Nadal -- four of them against top-10 opponents -- in a span of only 19 days. That's a bit much even for Nadal, perhaps the game's fittest and most energetic player.
Historically, the daunting double has been achieved, but relatively rarely. Only one woman, Steffi Graf, and three men (Federer, Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras) have gone the extra mile and won the Australian Open, Indian Wells and Miami in the same year.
Thus, sixth-seeded del Potro advances to his first ATP Masters 1000 semifinal, against No. 4 seed Murray.
"I'm happy, but tomorrow I will play again, so I have to think in the next match," del Potro said.
Nadal, meanwhile, is heading home to Mallorca, Spain, where he is expected to arrive Saturday. He said he would start working on his clay game Monday. He will be looking for his fifth consecutive French Open title in early June, then transition to grass and Wimbledon, where he is also the defending champion.
"Always is a reason because you are not playing at your level during the tournament," Nadal explained, almost lectured. "I am calm. I am happy about myself, about everything this year, yeah. I don't know.
"Always is a reason," he added, mysteriously, "but it's personal."
Greg Garber is a senior writer for ESPN.com.
