Nadal Taken to the Limit by Moya
August 10, 2024
MONTREAL (CP) - Rafael Nadal's first match at the Roger's Cup wasn't an easy one, but the top-seed wouldn't have had it any other way.
Nadal needed three sets to down fellow Spaniard and former world number one Carlos Moya while second-seeded Australian Lleyton Hewitt was forced to retire from his first round match at the Rogers Cup on Tuesday. Nadal beat Moya 6-3, 6-7 (0), 6-3 in a marathon match that lasted two hours, 38 minutes on a sweltering day in Montreal.
"The first match is never easy," said Nadal, the 19 year-old who took the tennis world by storm by winning the French Open earlier this summer. "To play three sets with some important moments, that's important for the confidence."
For Nadal, his match against Moya pitted him against a longtime friend and training partner. Both players hail from the Mediterranean island of Mallorca, and Nadal and Moya took the plane to Montreal together. (A French article says they heard they were playing each other while on the flight.)
Nadal, known as one of the more outwardly excitable players on tour, said he tried to keep his antics to a minimum against his reserved friend.
"I watched my gestures," said Nadal, who ran his winning streak against fellow Spaniards to 20 matches. "Usually, I would be more pumped up. I tried not to show as much . . . He's a very good player and a very good friend."
Nadal got the only two breaks of the match in the first set and late in the third to go ahead 5-3 before serving out the match.
Moya saved 13 of 15 break points, while he missed his one break point of the match.
"There were some points I thought the ball wasn't coming back, but it came back fast," Moya said. "I had to (perform) miracles to win every game."
Nadal called out the trainer with the score 2-2 in the third set, and the match was delayed about 10 minutes as he received treatment for a cramp in a finger in his left hand. Nadal said the injury did not hamper him in any way.
The momentum looked like it was going Moya's way in the second set when he won seven straight points to sweep the tiebreaker.
"Yeah, unbelievable, best tiebreak of my career," Nadal said in jest. "I had a lot of chances in the second set, so when I arrived in the tiebreak I thought it was not possible."
Though Nadal said it helped his progression to be able to practice with a top-10 player so early in his career, it was Moya who said he has benefited more from playing with Nadal.
"The same way I helped him a little bit, he's helped me a lot," said Moya, who turns 29 on Aug. 27. "I'll try to help him, but he doesn't look like he needs it."
**Please do not reproduce without giving credit to the original source and VamosRafael.com.**
Return to VamosRafael.com.
Return to VamosRafael.com Articles.