New York, September 09: The No.3 seeded Rafael Nadal has beaten No. 13 Frenchman Gael Monfils, 6-7(3-7), 6-3, 6-1, 6-3 on Tuesday night at the Flushing Meadows to qualify for the quarter finals of the U.S.Open 2009.
Albeit the winner, Nadal who was plagued lately by abdominal troubles and a serious knee injury showed nothing of it on the court. Monfils refused to admit to his loss fighting hard even after he was cognizant about the inevitability of his defeat, scoring some impressive points in the final set.
Even though Monfils displayed good alertness he could not withstand the opponent’s manly hold on the court as he covered it well leaving few aims unanswered. The long exchanges were mostly intervened by Monfil’s missed shots, as Nadal got the upper hand of the challenge.
The match is a turning point in Nadal’s career as it places in a good probability of the attaining the No. 2 rankings. Even if that does not follow he will surely surpass Andy Murray in the following week’s ATP rankings.
About 3 weeks ago Nadal had suffered his diminution from position No.1 or 2 (since July 2005) to No. 3 reportedly. Monfils was expected to have fared better at the match since Nadal had physical shortcomings.
Since he has what it takes to be a champion, having taken the ATP singles final in 2005, things seemed to have gone wary for this powerful player this time. Coming all the way from the 44th place (junior rankings) he took in 2002, he has made a good improvement to reach World no. 13.
Nadal will face No. 11 Fernando Gonzales in his next match of the tournament.
–Agencies–