Tri Match Stats/Reports - Nalbandian vs Federer final, Nalbandian vs Djokovic semi-final & Nalbandian vs Nadal quarter-final, Madrid 2007

[Waspsting]

David Nalbandian beat Roger Federer 1-6, 6-3, 6-3 in the Madrid final, 2007 on indoor hard court

It was the unseeded Nalbandian's first Masters title and he beat the top three ranked players (#2 Rafael Nadal in quarter-final, #3 Novak Djokovic in the semis and #1 Federer) in succesion in winning it. He'd follow up by winning Paris shortly after, again beating Federer along the way. Federer was the defending champion

Nalbandian won 78 points, Federer 78

Serve Stats
Nalbandian...
- 1st serve percentage (40/75) 53%
- 1st serve points won (30/40) 75%
- 2nd serve points won (18/35) 51%
- Aces 4
- Double Faults 2
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (21/75) 28%

Federer...
- 1st serve percentage (48/81) 59%
- 1st serve points won (36/48) 75%
- 2nd serve points won (15/33) 45%
- Aces 7
- Double Faults 1
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (26/81) 32%

Serve Pattern
Nalbandian served...
- to FH 30%
- to BH 67%
- to Body 3%

Federer served...
- to FH 39%
- to BH 58%
- to Body 4%

Return Stats
Nalbandian made...
- 54 (21 FH, 33 BH), including 2 return-approaches
- 2 Winners (1 FH, 1 BH)
- 19 Errors, comprising...
- 4 Unforced (2 FH, 2 BH)
- 15 Forced (6 FH, 9 BH)
- Return Rate (54/80) 68%

Federer made...
- 52 (14 FH, 38 BH), including 2 runaround FHs
- 2 Winners (2 FH)
- 17 Errors, comprising...
- 5 Unforced (3 FH, 2 BH)
- 12 Forced (6 FH, 6 BH)
- Return Rate (52/73) 71%

Break Points
Nalbandian 3/5 (4 games)
Federer 2/5 (3 games)

Winners (including returns, excluding aces)
Nalbandian 15 (6 FH, 3 BH, 2 FHV, 2 BHV, 2 OH)
Federer 20 (10 FH, 6 BH, 2 FHV, 2 OH)

Nalbandian's FHs - 1 cc, 1 cc/inside-in, 1 dtl, 1 inside-out, 1 inside-in return and 1 running-down-drop-shot cc pass at net
- BHs - 2 dtl (1 return) and 1 inside-out

- 2 from return-approach points (1 FHV, 1 OH)

Federer's FHs - 5 cc [1 slice, 1 at net, 2 passes (1 at net)], 3 dtl (1 return), 1 lob and 1 net chord dribbler
- BHs - 5 dtl (2 passes - 1 sliced and 1 net chord flicker)

- 1 from a serve-volley point, a first volley FHV

Errors (excluding returns and serves)
Nalbandian 30
- 18 Unforced (9 FH, 8 BH, 1 FHV)
- 12 Forced (5 FH, 6 BH, 1 BHV)... with 1 non-net BHV lob
Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 48.9

Federer 41
- 32 Unforced (16 FH, 15 BH, 1 BHV)
- 9 Forced (5 FH, 4 BH)... with 1 FH running-down-drop-shot at net
Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 47.2

(Note 1: all half-volleys refer to such shots played at net. Half -volleys played from other parts of the court are included within relevant groundstroke counts)

(Note 2: The 'Unforced Error Forcefulness Index is a measure of how aggressive of intent the average UE made was. 60 is maximum, 20 is minimum. This match has been scored using a four point scale - 2 defensive, 4 neutral, 5 attacking, 6 winner attempt)

Net Points & Serve-Volley
Nalbandian was...
- 9/16 (56%) at net, including...
- 0/1 serve-volleying, a 1st serve
---
- 2/2 return-approaching
- 0/1 forced back

Federer was...
- 12/16 (75%) at net, including...
- 2/2 serve-volleying, both 1st serves

Match Report
Good, hard hitting, pressuring cum attacking baseline match on a fast court, with both players serving well to keep the returner down. Nalbandian's ability to counter-attackingly swat good second serves gives him a little edge in prospects, but there's precious little in final outcome

In first set, Federer essentially doesn't allow Dave to play, and sweeps it 6-1
In 3rd, Fed is a quite poor and loose of the ground, and Dave takes it comfortably with 2 breaks, 6-3
That leaves the 2nd set, where both players play well and Dave comes out ahead in a tight, lively contest, 6-3 with 1 break

Its a fast court, where good first serves are likely to be irresisitible and even second serves are likely to give server healthy initaitve. As the better server, that would seem to be favour Federer

Fed leads first serve in 59% to 53%. Dave's figure is low, but he serves particularly well, hitting his spots as well as Fed himself, though not at the same pace
1st serve won is dead even at 75% apiece

2nd serve points won reads Dave 51%, Fed 45%. Thin and indecisive given Fed with higher first serve in count
Total points are dead even at 78 apiece
Break points read Dave 3/5, Fed 2/5 - with Dave having them in 4 games, 1 more than Fed

In the competitive 2nd set, Dave converts his only break point and Fed is 0/2 on them (1 game). Dave serves 6.8 points per game, Fed 5.5

In short, things are very close.

Baseline play is hard hitting off both sides. Both players largely stick to staying couple steps behind baseline, but even from there, the way they hit is pressuring. Fair amount of point ending shotmaking going on (particularly from Fed) and wide hit attacking shots (from both players), but staple of play is hard hitting, not wide baseline rallies. Its not an out and out, wide open running-each-other corner to corner encounter like their upcoming match in Paris would be, but it comes as no surprise when a given rally turns that way

Unreturned rates read Dave 28%, Fed 32%. That's a good job by the returner. Its a potentially 40%+ unreturned court and both serve very well in hitting their spots out wide. Good job by Fed to move over and poke returns back in play and an even better one by Dave to do the same against first serves

Where Dave has thin advantage is in getting of the odd, dashingly full sweep return attackingly wide. Almost always against 2nd serves, but even those aren't easy. Fed should have it easier, with Dave's 2nd serve not being as troubling, but isn't able to attack in same way, usually just blocking the return back, leaving Dave with initiative

And then they rally. Both hit mightily hard but in controlled fashion. Fed does so off the BH as well as FH, and off both sides, is willing to go for the attacking wide or dtl shot. Dave's left to counter punch in first set and is outdone off the FH side against Fed's attacking shots in both directions. Fed is the faster player and his speed is tested by Dave's wider shots. He zips around to reach hard hit balls more or less comfortably. Its kind of court where even hard hit shots that are within reach aren't easy to tackle - great job by Fed on the run. Dave isn't called on to chase as much - partially due to Fed's finishing shots being unreachable, partially because Fed sets them up with hard, deep shots (as opposed to wide) to draw weak/short ball - but isn't as quick, though he's by no means slow either

As match wears on, Dave starts getting better of BH-BH rallies with Fed missing the odd routine BH. A consistency problem, not a movement one

Winners - Dave 15, Fed 20
Errors forced - Dave 9, Fed 12
UEs - Dave 18, Fed 32...

... are good, short of great figures. Fed's 32 UEs accounts for the biggest lot of points by far and is 2 more than Dave's total errors. Its not as bad as it sounds. The UEs for 2 sets are rushed, harried of nature with both players hitting cleanly and deep. After 2 sets, UEs read Dave 14, Fed 19. Last set, where Fed is poor, sees him make 13 to Dave's very tidy 4. Lot of routine balls missed by Fed in last set. Prior to that, more pressured UEs amidst fast paced play

Fed playing a hard hitting game, including off BH, and looking to dictate with FH when he can. He doesn't overdo it - it'd be crazy to try given pace of play - but does move over to take FHs when he can

 

[Waspsting]

Lead or attacking position in rallies is up for grabs. More often than not, Dave's pushed into reactive position. From there, he throws out wide, counter-attacking shots, especially off the BH, to turn the positions around good lot the time, but Fed's court coverage is also good enough to thwart such attempts regularly. Fed ends up dictating more and looks to finish with shots that leave Dave no chance (i.e winners or hard forced errors). Dave's finishing is less decisive, wide hit or particularly deep and straight shots which at least leave Fed chance to defend

Attacking UEs - Dave 6, Fed 3 (with Dave forcing 12 errros, Fed 9)
Winner attempt UEs - Dave 5, Fed 10 (Dave with 15 winners, Fed 20)...

...reflect job well done by both players in finishing

Neutral UEs - Dave 7, Fed 19 is where there's a big difference and that's almost all about the 3rd set

Even most of those are relatively hard for UEs, against clean, hard and deep-ish balls. Still, big difference match long is Dave's greater consistency off the ground. In last set, Dave has just the 1 neutral UE to Fed's 9. So not too big a factor (Dave 6, Fed 10) for 2 sets, with a poor showing from Fed in the decider

Match Progression
Federer's on fire at start of match with his serve almost untouchable, his movements exemplary and looking to end points aggressively after suitable build up from hard hit, deep shots. Odd net chord flickers and dribblers also go his way and he runs through first set 6-1 in quick time

Nalbandian breaks to move ahead 2-0 in the 2nd with powerful returns - including a FH inside-in winner - shaping action. Great set of tennis follows. Fed has 2 break points down 2-5, but can't make return on either of them

Dave misses all his first serves in serving out the set and is down 0-30 following a perfect, running BH slice dtl pass winner and a lucky net chord dribbler one by Fed. he wins the next 4 points though, including Fed missing conseutive returns (1 going for a winner dtl, 1 routine shot)

Dave extends his runs of missing first serves to 9 at start of 3rd set in holding for 1-1. Federer ground consistency drops significantly and he's error prone in the set without being unduly pressured. Dave breaks to 30 (2 aces, 4 ground UEs from Fed) to move ahead 2-1 and breaks again to end the match with some spectacular shots - a BH dtl winner against a very powerful FH inside-out, a swatted BH dtl return winner and on match point, a return-approach ending with FHV winner

Summing up, very good match of hard hitting, pressuring (as opposed to neutral) play, with Federer more able to gain leading position form 50-50 starting points but not unduly and with Nalbandian able to counter-attack with wide shots from reactive positions when he falls a step behind. Excellent defence from Federer also against the counter-attacks with typical zipping fast court coverage

Nalbandian has 2 major advantages on a court where returning even second serves isn't easy. He's able to swat and sweep 2nd serve returns attackingly occasionally, despite very good second serves from Federer that could reasonably be expected to leave him in charge of points. And he's more consistent off the ground neutrally, with Federer being especially loose in the deciding set

Stats for Nalbandian's final (vs Rafael Nadal) and third round (vs Federer) in upcoming Paris - Duel Match Stats/Reports - Nalbandian vs Nadal & Nalbandian vs Federer, Paris final & third round, 2007 | Talk Tennis (tennis-warehouse.com)

 

[Waspsting]

Nalbandian beat Novak Djokovic 6-4, 7-6(4) in the semi-final

Djokovic won his last tournament in Vienna on indoor hard court about a week earlier

Nalbandian won 81 points, Djokovic 68

Serve Stats
Nalbandian...
- 1st serve percentage (42/68) 62%
- 1st serve points won (36/42) 86%
- 2nd serve points won (14/26) 54%
- Aces 8, Service Winners 1
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (24/68) 35%

Djokovic...
- 1st serve percentage (49/81) 60%
- 1st serve points won (36/49) 73%
- 2nd serve points won (14/32) 44%
- Aces 9
- Double Faults 5
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (30/81) 37%

Serve Pattern
Nalbandian served...
- to FH 38%
- to BH 50%
- to Body 12%

Djokovic served...
- to FH 49%
- to BH 45%
- to Body 7%

Return Stats
Nalbandian made...
- 46 (23 FH, 23 BH), including 1 runaround FH
- 1 Winner (1 BH)
- 21 Errors, comprising...
- 9 Unforced (5 FH, 4 BH), including 1 runaround BH
- 12 Forced (8 FH, 4 BH)
- Return Rate (46/76) 61%

Djokovic made...
- 44 (20 FH, 24 BH)
- 1 Winner (1 FH)
- 15 Errors, comprising...
- 6 Unforced (2 FH, 4 BH)
- 9 Forced (2 FH, 7 BH)
- Return Rate (44/68) 65%

Break Points
Nalbandian 1/5 (3 games)
Djokovic 0/2 (2 games)

Winners (including returns, excluding aces)
Nalbandian 15 (5 FH, 6 BH, 2 FHV, 1 BHV, 1 OH)
Djokovic 8 (6 FH, 2 FHV)

Nalbandian's FHs - 3 cc (2 at net), 1 inside-out/dtl and 1 inside-in
- BHs - 3 cc (1 pass), 1 inside-out, 1 inside-in return and 1 lob

Djokovic's FHs - 1 dtl, 3 inside-out, 1 inside-in and 1 net chord dribbler return

- 1 from a serve-volley point, a first volley FHV

Errors (excluding returns and serves)
Nalbandian 30
- 17 Unforced (7 FH, 10 BH)... with 1 FH at net
- 13 Forced (3 FH, 10 BH)... with 1 BH running-down-drop-shot at net
Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 45.9

Djokovic 37
- 24 Unforced (9 FH, 15 BH)... with 1 BH at net
- 13 Forced (6 FH, 5 BH, 1 BHV, 1 BH1/2V)
Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 46.3

(Note 1: all half-volleys refer to such shots played at net. Half -volleys played from other parts of the court are included within relevant groundstroke counts)

(Note 2: The 'Unforced Error Forcefulness Index is a measure of how aggressive of intent the average UE made was. 60 is maximum, 20 is minimum. This match has been scored using a four point scale - 2 defensive, 4 neutral, 5 attacking, 6 winner attempt)

Net Points & Serve-Volley
Nalbandian was...
- 12/14 (86%) at net, with...
- 1/1 forced back

Djokovic was...
- 8/13 (62%) at net, including...
- 3/4 (75%) serve-volleying, all 1st serves

Match Report
Very good serving from Nalbandian and a largely weary, unfocused showing from Djokovic define a below par match

86% first serve points by Dave speaks to how well he serves. That includes 8 aces + a service winner or an unreturnable 21% of his first serve (the more powerful serving Djoko has 18% to compare). He wins 24 straight 1st serve points at one stage and boasts high 35% unreturned rate (2% less than Djoko)

Its the placement that takes the eye. Lots of wide, court opening serves. They force errors or are poked back down the middle and an advancing Dave has a routine attacking shot into open court to start

Djoko's 1st serve is more powerful but usually not wide and Dave from his early position is able to cut it off and take potentially point ending swings. Djoko's somewhat lucky that Dave just misses large lot of would be winning returns. He's bound to miss a few but is regularly close enough that just 1 return winner comes as surprise - small mercy for Djoko

Both players hit some excellent, attacking 2nd serve returns - Dave wide on top of powerful and deep, Djoko usually not as wide and not taken as early. Advantage Dave and pressure of it tells. 5 doubles for Djoko (Dave has 0), and Djoko riskily ventures into aggressively placed 2nd serving

Action is a bit strange, with Djoko trying out a few things - without much success. He starts looking for quick winners - he misses 2 BH inside-outs 3 points into match - and misses. Serve-volleys a bit. Looks to approach - no easy task with the power hitting going on. There are sloppy errors and poor movement. Basically, he looks tired and just not knowing what he wants to do in a rally or what he wants to achieve with a particular shot

Dave does the needful - taking ball early, hitting clean and deep. Just the odd flashy wide attacking shot. Djoko's looseness of the ground is more than enough to see Dave come up ahead in first set

Djoko continues to be flat in 2nd set too, and makes no effort to retrieve a small number of balls. But set is 1st serve-dominated to degree of comfortably holds and Djoko's play picks up a little, especially good strong returns against 2nd serves. Dave remains steady

Winners - Dave 15, Djoko 8
Errors forced - both 13
UEs - Dave 17, Djoko 24

Djokovic's BH with 0 winners and match high 15 UEs. Its more sloppiness than being outhit or outmanuvered by Dave, who is steadier (he has 10 UEs). Just the odd flash of wide hitting brilliance from Dave

Dave's high 10 BH FEs are mostly passing shots or drawn by FH longlines or returns. Not by Djoko's BH cc's. Just a very bad BH day from Djoko. He hits cleanly enough neutrally and deepish as his wont, but Nalby's just as strong - without the sloppiness and with extra ability to open court or hit point ending shots. No contest on BH side of things - Dave ahead by a mile and Djoko's more poor than Dave's is good

FH figures are near equal - Djoko +1 on winners, Dave +2 on UEs (as in, he has fewer), but important action goes beyond point ending shots on that side. Dave regularly starts his attacks by hitting hard to Djoko's FH (which he does off both wings) and drawing and error, a weak ball that he can attack more vigorously or at least, command rally from. Though it hasn't come out in numbers, Dave's ability to exploit Djoko's FH is key to shaping play. More credit to Dave here than discredit Djoko

Djokovic forcing 13 errors while hitting just 8 winners is strange. Its a good way to play, indicating ability to end points without taking much risk and its kind of court where slightly wide hit balls are likely to draw errors. Lack of offensive gusto isn't his problem. Sloppiness and odd missteps in shot choices is

Djoko finishing -3 on points ended aggressively/UE differential is poor, despite Dave hitting with depth and pace regularly. Dave is +11. Djoko's showing is more discredit worthy than Dave's is the opposite

Match Progression
Dave dominates first set with Djoko being particularly off. Djoko manages to squeak out a 16 point hold via unreturned serves but is broken next time round via sloppy errors (and slow movement). No more breaks, though Djoko's remains under the gun. He serves 41 points in the set to Dave's 27

Still not all there from Djoko in set 2, but set is competitive with the first serve dominating for both players. Both hit wonderful returns against 2nd serves too. No break points for 11 games, but Dave with thin edge in play. A particularly good point features a lovely combination of attacking shots from Dave, ending with a perfect, running BH lob winner that Djoko applauds

Couple of loose errors from Dave in game 11 opens door a touch and Djoko near pounces by swatting a FH inside-in winner from regulation position to bring up sets first break point (also set point). He smacks the 2nd serve return deep and wide, only for Dave to smack it BH dtl from defensive position to end the point - and Dave goes on to hold

Power return + FH cc winner 1-2 gives Dave opening point of the 'breaker. He adds a stunning BH inside-out winner and Djoko double faults and misses a routine return to go down 6-2. Dave finishes up with a very strong serve that doesn't come back

Summing up, good showing from Nalbandian - the precison first serving stands out and is a constant, with flashes of more expected wide attacking returns, regular hard and deep hitting and the odd attacking combination starting with a wide shot. More than that though, a flat showing from Djokovic who is at times slow, sloppy off the ground and a little directionless in his play

 

[The Big Foe fan]

@Waspsting bruh would you please do me a favor?

 

[Waspsting]

@Waspsting bruh would you please do me a favor?

what's on your mind, bro?

 

[The Big Foe fan]

what's on your mind, bro?

Would you please analyse all of the slam encounters of Djokovic and Zverev, bruh?
Starting from 2019 RG I presume.
I know its a lot to ask for, so your call bruh.

 

[Third Serve]

Would you please analyse all of the slam encounters of Djokovic and Zverev, bruh?
Starting from 2019 RG I presume.
I know its a lot to ask for, so your call bruh.

why would you wanna put the man through such agony?

 

[The Big Foe fan]

why would you wanna put the man through such agony?

Put myself in there, maybe??

 

[Waspsting]

Nalbandian beat Rafael Nadal 6-1, 6-2 in the quarter-final

The two would meet again about a week later in the Paris final, with Nalbandian winning 6-4, 6-0

Nalbandian won 58 points, Nadal 33

Serve Stats
Nalbandian...
- 1st serve percentage (18/38) 47%
- 1st serve points won (17/18) 94%
- 2nd serve points won (12/20) 60%
- Aces 1
- Double Faults 2
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (7/38) 18%

Nadal...
- 1st serve percentage (35/53) 66%
- 1st serve points won (19/35) 54%
- 2nd serve points won (5/18) 28%
- Double Faults 1
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (11/53) 21%

Serve Pattern
Nalbandian served...
- to FH 25%
- to BH 72%
- to Body 3%

Nadal served...
- to FH 25%
- to BH 69%
- to Body 6%

Return Stats
Nalbandian made...
- 41 (14 FH, 21 BH), including 2 runaround FHs & 1 runaround BH
- 2 Winners (2 FH), including 1 runaround FH
- 11 Errors, comprising...
- 6 Unforced (3 FH, 3 BH), including 1 runaround FH
- 5 Forced (1 FH, 4 BH)
- Return Rate (41/52) 79%

Nadal made...
- 29 (9 FH, 20 BH), including 4 runaround FHs
- 6 Errors, comprising...
- 2 Unforced (2 BH)
- 4 Forced (3 FH, 1 BH)
- Return Rate (29/36) 81%

Break Points
Nalbandian 5/8 (5 games)
Nadal 0

Winners (including returns, excluding aces)
Nalbandian 13 (8 FH, 4 BH, 1 FHV)
Nadal 4 (1 FH, 1 BH, 1 FHV, 1 OH)

Nalbandian's FHs - 2 cc (1 pass), 2 dtl (1 return), 1 dtl/inside-out runaround return, 1 dtl/down-the-middle pass, 1 inside-out, 1 inside-out/dtl
- BHs - 2 cc, 2 dtl

Nadal's FH pass - 1 cc
- BH - 1 cc

- 1 from a serve-volley point, a second volley OH

- the FHV was a non-net, swinging longline shot

Errors (excluding returns and serves)
Nalbandian 16
- 13 Unforced (7 FH, 6 BH)
- 3 Forced (2 FH, 1 BH)
Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 46.2

Nadal 37
- 25 Unforced (11 FH, 12 BH, 1 FHV, 1 OH)... with 1 OH on the bounce from just behind service line (marked a net point)
- 12 Forced (7 FH, 5 BH)
Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 47.6

(Note 1: all half-volleys refer to such shots played at net. Half -volleys played from other parts of the court are included within relevant groundstroke counts)

(Note 2: The 'Unforced Error Forcefulness Index is a measure of how aggressive of intent the average UE made was. 60 is maximum, 20 is minimum. This match has been scored using a four point scale - 2 defensive, 4 neutral, 5 attacking, 6 winner attempt)

Net Points & Serve-Volley
Nalbandian was...
- 5/6 (83%) at net, including...
- 1/1 serve-volleying, a 1st serve
---
- 1/1 retreated

Nadal was...
- 2/7 (29%) at net, including...
- 2/4 (50%) serve-volleying, all 1st serves
---
- 0/1 retreated

Match Report
Nalbandian’s on the baseline and Nadal is 4-6 paces behind it as the two rally. Nalbandian plays well, Nadal doesn’t, 1 & 2, QED

Few standout stats
- Dave winning 17/18 first serve points
- Nadal with 0 break points
- Winners/UEs - Dave 13/13, Nadal 4/25

And couple interesting ones -
- low unretunred rates (Dave 18%, Nadal 21%)
- Nadal serve-volleying 4 times


The 25 UEs from Nadal are by far the most important one. From where he’s rallying and with his top-spinny shots, he doesn’t look good in baseline rallies. More defending than reacting against fairly normal, firmly hit stuff from Dave, taken from his customary position around baseline. Clean ball striking and a few attacking wide ones he goes for from routine position - but nothing to get into a jitter over

Combo of good hitting and quick court make it not easy to handle, but Nadal’s showing against it is poor. From his position and with his hitting style, gives up the odd short ball - which Dave belts wide attackingly or knocks away a winner. Off either wing

Nadal’s faulty backward court position on hard position was common during the period. He’d play similar way on clay, where combo of slow surface and his own quickness allowed him to out-defend even the strongest attacks. Trying to do so on a quicker court is lunacy. Still learning how to play on these types of courts

Again, Nadal getting blown off court being passive wasn’t too rare playing this way, but 25 UEs against opponents 13 very, very much was.

Little rushed at times - credit Dave’s hitting and position. But plenty of shanks and mishits of both sides, not just when rushed a little - discredit Nadal

Dave has stronger serve, with Nadal’s being near harmless. Looks like 40% freebies court for a good server (which neither player is). Around 20% is bad yield for both. Just 1 ace in match. Nadal average paced serves, rarely wide. Dave standing around baseline or inside can cut them off and swing lustily regulalry on returns. He has 2 return winners

Nadal returning conventionally. Not from too far back, but not likely to do any damage. Good 81% return rate and not weak returns. Slightly wider serving from Dave - and a few stretch Nadal out

Dave very solid off the ground. Winning 17/18 first serve points would usually happen with large lot of freebies or/and dispatching third ball winners. He does neither. Commands the not strong returns, the imbalance of court position accentuated and sees point through to winning time and time again

Similar story on Nadal’s second serve points, where he wins just 5/18. Early taken returns, usually just inside court, with Dave swinging them wide at times too. Uncomfy third ball for Nadal, sometimes on the move. And rally developing from there - Dave on baseline or inside, Nadal falling well behind it

Credit Dave’s serve and returning for those, while noting Nadal not making a fight for command of rally. More to the point, even in outright neutral situations, Nadal falls behind baseline to rally

To win doing that, he’d need Dave to mess up with errors. Doesn’t happen and doesn’t look likely too. Dave hits on up (against not-deep balls), well enough to make it difficult for opponent to contest for control (unnecessary as Nadal shows little interest in trying). Nadal makes errors (mildy pressured or just routine ones). And if Nadal plops a weak ball back, Dave smacks it wherever he wants - wide cc, dtl, with FH, with BH. Dave’s stock ball is good enough that there’s little chance for Nadal to runaround to attack with FHs

Neutral UEs - Dave 7, Nadal 13
That stat alone would tell you who won the match

Nadal also with 5 attacking UEs (while forcing 3 errors) and 7 winner-attempt ones (while having 4 winners). Atrocious stuff. Its kind of court where attacking shots will usually draw error. Even against Nadal, let alone Dave, At least it shows he tries some to break the shackles of relative court position. Dave’s game keeping Nadal honest (in terms of not being able to hit runaround FHs) shows itself here, with more aggressive errors being BHs Nadal feels compelled to take on for lack of opportunities on his preferred FH

Dave has 5 attacking UEs for forcing 12 errors and 2 winner attempt UEs for striking 13 winners - very good

What else? Play is dual winged. Both players with virtually equal UEs across wings (Dave 1 more FH than BH, Nadal the reverse). And Dave with about half as many off both wings. Wisely, Dave uses FH more to attack (8 winners), but BHs not just holding the fort (4 winners), with the high 12 errors he forces (Nadal forces 3) drawn in same proportion

4 serve-volleys from Nadal is surprising. First 1 is in very first game, so not something he feels pressured into

A young, long haired del Potro is courtside for the match. He’d entered the tournament as a wild card and lost in the previous round to Dave
Crowd gets into full on, cheering Dave's double faults and UEs in second set. He doesn't bat an eyelid and gets on with game, even serving while crowd's making noise

 

[Waspsting]

Match Progression
Dave whacks a first return winner and Nadal responds with an OH winner serve-volleying in opening game, which Nadal holds with a pair of unreturned serves

Its only game he wins in the set. Its Dave who makes all 3 UEs in next game, but he wins 5 points aggressively (2 return FEs, a net point and 2 winning, wide BH cc’s - the one to end the game a winner set up by a good FH inside-out)

An odd retreat after serve-volleying by Nadal in next game, and he’s punished by a big shot that reaches him on half-volley on baseline. 2 third ball errors get him broken. More loose errors get him into trouble next go around, but Dave closing out a lively rally with a FH cc winner

Aggressive errors, including 2 BH dtl winner attempts feature in third break, which again ends with a Dave winner. This time, he anticipates which way a smash will go, runs it down and smacks it back for a winner to end the set

Dave breaks for 2-0 to start the next set. Nadal saves first break point serve-volleying, but wonderful, runaround FH return winner brings up another. Nadal misses an easy third ball FH from mid court on it

Dave does a Nadal in retreating while serve-volleying, but does it better to win the point. He doesn’t even make it to net, stopping just behind service line to play an angled BH drop short before retreating. Nadal runs it down and Dave passes him FH cc for winner

Nadal’s broken again to close out match, in a 12 point game. Misses a smash on the bounce from just behind service line stands out, but there’s some fine play from Dave in the game too (including 3 winners). On third break/match point, Nadal serve-volleys and is awkward in moving to slow, dipping pass and misses the volley to end things

Summing up, good match from Nalbandian and a bad one from Nadal

Nalbandian’s stock hitting from on the baseline off both wings is good, sound stuff. And he’s not slow to go on the attack when anything not-strong, let alone weak comes his way. Does it nicely, the aggression he shows matching the weakness of the ball - not more, not less

Nadal’s content to play from well behind baseline, which is difficult against the hitting he’s up against. And he doesn’t play well from there either - mishitting balls, giving up errors and unable to attack, which he’d need to take risks to do as his opponent gives him few openings, including with return against an ordinary serve

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And there you have it. Legends and Greatest Ever candidates falling like dominoes to a fat man with 19-17 win-loss record for the year coming into the event

Its telling that in all matches, the losers UEs are forefront of outcome. That’s a little deceptive if it suggests result is due to their playing poorly. Good ball striking + taking ball early can be very effective on quick court. Nalbandian strikes a lovely balance of playing neutrally in that way - his errors low, but his ‘neutral’ being pressuring (good for both drawing errors and weak balls), while quick to capitilize on weak balls, without undue risk. Off both wings

(Pretty swift fat man, admittedly)