Rafael Nadal overcomes distractions for win in Australian opener

Rafael Nadal made news on the eve of the Australian Open for his sharp criticism of Roger Federer. The next morning he nearly dropped out of the first Grand Slam event because of a sudden and very painful tendon problem in his right knee.

But it was business as usual after he got going on the court. The Spaniard had no problem defeating Alex Kuznetsov of the U.S., 6-4, 6-1, 6-1, even with a heavily taped knee.

Nadal said he really doesn't understand how the injury occurred.

“I was sitting on a chair in the hotel, I felt like a crack on the knee … really strange,” Nadal said. “I stand up. I felt the knee a little bit strange. I moved the leg like this two times to try to find the feeling. After the second time, the knee stays with an unbelievable pain completely straight. I have no movement on the knee.”

The 10-time Grand Slam champion considered forfeiting the match but decided to give it a shot after an MRI exam showed no major damage.

“I started with a little bit of a scare at the beginning, and nervous because I was really disappointed yesterday,” Nadal said. “But after the first 10 games … I started to play with normal conditions."

With the win Nadal advanced to the second round, as did Federer, who defeated Alexander Kudryavtsev, 7-5, 6-2, 6-2. Nadal and Federer said there is no rift between them, despite Nadal's criticism of Federer a day earlier for not publicly speaking out in support of changes in scheduling and prize money.

“Things are fine between us, you know. I have no hard feelings towards him,” Federer said. “It's been a difficult last few months in terms of politics within the ATP.”

Nadal said: “I always had fantastic relationship with Roger. I still have fantastic relationship with Roger. Just I said we can have different views about how the tour needs to work. That's all.”

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Photo: Rafael Nadal hits a return against Alex Kuznetsov. Credit: Torsten Blackwood / AFP / Getty Images

Rafael Nadal's cliches are music to ears of tennis fans in Spain

Rafael Nadal's comments at Monday's news conference in advance of the Davis Cup final between Spain and Argentina were enough to put most of us to sleep. The Spaniard talked about being "very excited," trying his best and wanting to win.

Yawn.

But for tennis fans in Spain, those words were reason to celebrate. They were in stark contrast to the comments he made just a few days earlier after a tough time at the ATP world finals.

Following back-to-back losses to Roger Federer and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga last week, Nadal told reporters, "I had little bit less passion for the game probably because I was a little bit more tired than usual," when asked why he hadn't appeared up to his usual form since losing to Novak Djokovic in the U.S. Open final.

Nadal has been defeated by Djokovic in six finals overall this season and also lost his No. 1 world ranking to the Serbian player.

"This year was a tough year for me," the 10-time Grand Slam winner said last week.

So it was nice to hear some upbeat words -- as unoriginal as they might have been -- coming out of his mouth on Tuesday as he and his teammates prepared for the Dec. 2-4 event in Seville.

"It's a pleasure playing in front of my crowd, in front of the Spanish people," Nadal said. "Always the feeling is very special when that happens. We're all very excited, and we’ll try to play our best and win."

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The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Photo: Rafael Nadal gestures during a training session Tuesday. Credit: Cristina Quicler / AFP/Getty Images

U.S. Open: Novak Djokovic the champion over Rafael Nadal

For more than four hours Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal played punishing tennis that was also beautiful. They grunted and groaned and sent tennis balls straight at each over, over each other, around each other.

And after it appeared Djokovic was down and out, when he had lost the third set and was groaning on the sidelines while a trainer stretched and pulled and pounded on his aching back, the 24-year-old from Serbia came out for more.

Djokovic played the final games as if pain didn’t matter and, after making a sign of the cross, Djokovic bounced the ball 10 times, hit a serve and then a forehand winner, a massive thing that left Nadal almost immobile.

For the sixth time in a row Djokovic beat Nadal 6-2, 6-4, 6-7 (3), 6-1, in 4 hours 10 minutes. The win made Djokovic 64-2 this year, gave him his first U.S. Open title and also placed him among the all-time greats.

He became the sixth man to win three of the four major titles in the same year since tennis' open era began in 1968. He won the Australian Open over Andy Murray in the final and beat Nadal in the Wimbledon final.

Overall, this was Djokovic's fourth major title. His first was at the Australian Open in 2008.

“It’s been an incredible year,” said Djokovic, who put on a blue baseball cap with FD/NY on it in honor of New York City firefighters, a day after the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

The second-seeded Nadal, the defending champion, said, “Obviously I am disappointed now. This guy is doing unbelievable things.” Then he looked toward Djokovic and said, “What you did this year is probably impossible to repeat, so well done.”

After dropping the first two games of the first set, Djokovic began opening up the court with his swift movement and Nadal started to grow frustrated at watching some of his shots get shifted by a swirling, late-afternoon wind. Djokovic began making Nadal run corner to corner and from baseline to net and won six games in a row.

After 53 minutes, Djokovic served a love game and Nadal dropped his head as he walked to his seat on the changeover. The Spaniard had his serve broken three times in a row to end the set.

The third game of the second set encompassed enough ovation-causing tennis for an entire match. It lasted 17 minutes 15 seconds, and while trying to defend a sixth break point, Nadal, who appeared positioned for a winning overhead, slammed the ball into the net into the net.

If Nadal had held serve, he would have grabbed a 3-0 lead. Instead it was Djokovic who pumped his fist, came out after the changeover and held serve at love.

It was a game of momentous physical tennis, with both players grunting loudly. Djokovic has a two-toned sound, Nadal’s grunt is deeper and at the end of points and it made that single game sound symphonic.

U.S. Open: Rafael Nadal joins Novak Djokovic in finals

Defending champion Rafael Nadal earned his way into the U.S. Open men's championship match on Monday with a 6-4, 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 win over fourth-seeded Andy Murray on Saturday at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Nadal beat Murray for the fifth consecutive time and for the third straight time in a Grand Slam semifinal. Nadal will play top-seeded Novak Djokovic in the finals here for the second straight year. Djokovic eliminated third-seeded Roger Federer earlier Saturday in a five-set match.

Murray had 55 unforced errors to only 23 from Nadal in the 3 hour 24 minute match that ended Saturday's day session at the Open at 9:10 p.m. Eastern time.

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Photo: Rafael Nadal. Credit: Charles Krupa / Associated Press

U.S. Open: Rafael Nadal crushes Andy Roddick

Defending champion and second-seeded Rafael Nadal met little resistance from 29-year-old American Andy Roddick on Friday in a U.S. Open men's quarterfinal. The Spaniard beat Roddick, who won the 2003 Open title, 6-2, 6-1, 6-3, eliminating the last U.S. man in the singles draw.

Nadal will play fourth-seeded Andy Murray on Saturday in the second semifinal, after top-seeded Novak Djokovic meets third-seeded Roger Federer. The men's semifinals will begin at 9 a.m. PDT.

Roddick received medical treatment on his left thigh twice during the match but when Nadal broke Roddick's serve in the very first game it was an indication that Roddick had no weapons to hurt Nadal, who made the semifinals at the Open for the fourth straight year.

For the second time this year, the top four seeded men have advanced to the semifinals at a Grand Slam event (it also happened at the French Open), and for the third straight major, Nadal and Murray will play each other in the semifinals. Nadal beat Murray in straight sets at the French Open and in four sets at Wimbledon.

Murray said the sport benefits when the top four men compete at the end of a major.

"I think it's good for tennis," Murray said. "What people would like to see would be for you to play your best tennis here."

Wimbledon just missed having the top four when Jo-Wilfried Tsonga upset Federer in the quarterfinals, and David Ferrer upset Nadal in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open to keep the top four out of the semis in Melbourne.

After Roddick's loss in 1 hour 53 minutes, he shook Nadal's hand and said, "Good luck," and he waved his baseball cap at the crowd.

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Photo: Rafael Nadal follows through on a forehand shot against Andy Roddick in their U.S. Open quarterfinal on Friday in New York. Credit: Mike Segar / Reuters

U.S. Open: Andy Murray, Rafael Nadal finally into quarterfinals

 

First Andy Murray and then Rafael Nadal made good use of unexpected good weather Thursday by finishing off their fourth-round U.S. Open matches.

Murray, seeded fourth, needed 1 hour, 58 minutes of match time to end the run of wild-card entrant Donald Young with a 6-2, 6-3, 6-3 win. Young committed 53 unforced errors and so never threatened to make Murray nervous.

Nadal, who fell behind, 0-3, to unseeded Gilles Muller in the 16 minutes of tennis that was played Wednesday, won their match in straight sets, 7-6 (1), 6-1, 6-2 in 2 hours, 8 minutes.

The second-seeded Spaniard, who is the defending champion, was one of the most vocal players Wednesday in criticizing the United States Tennis Assn. for putting the players on court while it was misting and the courts were slippery.

"Yesteray was a tough a day for everybody, for the players, for the fans too, who waited here a lot of hours," Nadal said. "I am very happy now. I had a tough yesterday but today I think I played well. He played very aggressive all the time.

"The situation yesterday was not easy for nobody, even the organization. They were wrong yesterday but everybody have mistakes. Now, I think I'm playing my best tennis since Wimbledon here."

Next for Nadal will be the winner of the fourth-round match between fifth-seeded David Ferrer and 21st-seeded Andy Roddick. Roddick led, 6-3, 3-1, in that match.

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U.S. Open: Rafael Nadal suffers cramping at press conference

After a straight set win over David Nalbandian in the third round of the U.S. Open Sunday, defending champion and second-seeded Rafael Nadal conducted a press conference in English and was deep into his Spanish portion when Nadal put his hands over his eyes, then suddenly slumped to the floor under a large table.

United States Tennis Assn. officials cleared the room of media but what was happening could be seen on television screens in the working press room. Three people began working on Nadal and after about 5 minutes he put a leg on the table. Someone said, "He's OK," and then ice, water and Gatorade were offered to the still-prostrate Nadal.

After a few more minutes Nadal sat up and a few minutes after that he made a statement in English and then finished his Spanish-language interview.

In English, very simply, Nadal said he had begun cramping and the pain caused him to slip to the floor.

His agent, Benito Perez-Barbadillo, said Nadal told him the pain was so intense that he didn't want to cry and that's why he covered his eyes and went under the table.

Perez-Barbadillo said Nadal had drunk two bottles of water and a bottle of Gatorade as well as having lunch before doing his media conferences.

"I just have cramping in my leg. I have cramping in front and behind. That's why it was so painful. That's all," Nadal said.

In the match before Nadal beat Nalbandian in Arthur Ashe Stadium, Italy's Flavia Pennetta became physically ill on the court in Louis Armstrong Stadium. "I was feeling really bad," she said. "I think it was because it's really humid. It's hot. Also when you have a lot of emotion in the court. My body needed to breathe and I started to maybe have the sensation of throwing up. But nothing came, with nothing inside, it just wouldn't come out."

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Photo: Rafael Nadal of Spain waits as a trainer works on his foot during his match against David Nalbandian of Argentina during the U.S. Open tennis tournament in New York on Sunday. Credit: Charlie Riedel / Associated Press

Novak Djokovic dominates Rafael Nadal, wins first Wimbledon

Novak Djokovic earned the match point with a serve and volley, a sign that he wasn't worried about nerves or playing it safe.

And without worrying about anything but winning, Djokovic reeled off a giant serve and feasted off of Rafael Nadal's helpless, desperate service return. Djokovic cracked a cross-court forehand and all that was left for the defending Wimbledon champion to do was hit a backhand wide.

With court calm, with quickness afoot and with dominance from the backcourt, Djokovic won his first Wimbledon title Sunday, beating Nadal 6-4, 6-1, 1-6, 6-3 on Centre Court in 2 hours, 28 minutes.

It was Djokovic's third major tennis title, and after the final point Djokovic, a 24-year-old from Serbia, made the sign of the cross twice and kissed the grass.

This was the fifth straight time Djokovic has beaten Nadal this year but no victory mattered as much. Djokovic's win ended a 20-match Wimbledon winning streak for Nadal. Djokovic, who was seeded second in the tournament, officially becomes the No. 1-ranked player in the world Monday, moving ahead of Nadal on the computer.

"It's really hard to describe this with any words except to say it is the best day of my life," said Djokovic, who was cheered on by Serbian President Boris Tadic in the Royal Box. "This is the most special day of my life, it is the tournament I always dreamed of winning, it is the first tennis tournament I ever watched on television in my life. I think I'm still sleeping and still having my dream."

Rafael Nadal smashes through Andy Murray and into Wimbledon final

For one set Andy Murray had defending Wimbledon champion Rafael Nadal on the run. Murray, seeded fourth and trying to become the first British man since 1936 to win the most important tennis tournament in the world, broke Nadal's serve to end the first set.

As the top-seeded Spaniard knocked a backhand awry, the cheers were huge, both from inside Centre Court and around the grounds, where fans watched on television.

But instead of a big upset and a chance to celebrate at least until Sunday's final, most of the crowd exited the All England Club as if they were Chicago Cubs fans. All they could think was, "Wait till next year."

Photos: Scenes from Wimbledon

Nadal played nearly error-free tennis over the last three sets and won his 20th straight Wimbledon match 5-7, 6-2, 6-2, 6-4. The Spaniard hasn't lost here since falling to Roger Federer in the finals in 2007. (Nadal missed Wimbledon in 2009 with a knee injury.)

Andy Murray, Rafael Nadal easily move to Wimbledon semifinals

Rafael Nadal might have been afraid he broke his foot during his Wimbledon fourth-round match, but the defending champion and No. 1 seed moved smoothly Wednesday in his quarterfinal match and beat 10th-seeded American Mardy Fish 6-3, 6-3, 5-7, 6-4.

In Friday's semifinals, Nadal will play fourth-seeded Andy Murray. Murray, the great hope of Great Britain, beat unseeded Spaniard Feliciano Lopez 6-3, 6-3, 6-4. Murray appeared to be wincing through much of the third set, at least between points, but whatever was hurting him didn't appear to slow Murray down.

Nadal, who is now 6-0 in his career against Fish, could only leave Fish smiling with some of his shots, especially a lunging forehand hit by Nadal that curved around the net post, past a flailing Fish. The ball landed resolutely in the corner in the eighth game of the final set and Fish could only tug on his baseball cap, shake his head and grin.

Andy Roddick, Mardy Fish to play for U.S. in Davis Cup against Spain sans Nadal

After the No. 1 player in the world, Rafael Nadal, said Monday night that he would not be playing in the Davis Cup for Spain against the United States on July 8-10 in Austin, Texas, U.S. Davis Cup captain Jim Courier announced Tuesday that No. 9-ranked Mardy Fish, No. 10 Andy Roddick and the world's top-ranked doubles team of Bob and Mike Bryan would represent the United States.

Fish will get his own mini-Davis Cup match against Nadal when he plays the Spaniard on Wednesday in the men's quarterfinals at Wimbledon.

Roddick, who has 33 career singles wins for the U.S., will be playing in his hometown at the University of Texas' Frank Erwin Center.

Spain is not without talent even with Nadal's absence. David Ferrer, ranked No. 6 in the world; Fernando Verdasco, a 2009 Australian Open semifinalist; Feliciano Lopez, who upset Roddick at Wimbledon; and Marcel Granollers will represent the Spanish team.

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Photo: Mardy Fish. Credit: Alastair Grant / Associated Press