Cincinnati Masters: Nadal subdues Isner to clinch title

Long after the ink has dried on contemporary tennis history, one story shall be rehashed and retold like an eternal encomium about a warrior who brooked no defeat. Rafael Nadal added another page to an already bulging book of triumphant glory with a typically resilient 7-6(8), 7-6(3) victory over a valiant John Isner to pocket his maiden Western & Southern Open title in Mason, Ohio.

His success this week enabled the Spaniard emulate Novak Djokovic as the only men to have claimed five ATP Masters Series events in a season. The victory also helped Nadal stretch his own record in winning his 26th Masters Series title. Playing for the fourth straight week, Isner tried everything he knew only to fall agonisingly short of a first title at this level.

In their first encounter since that classic five set thriller at Roland Garros in 2011, Nadal sent a sizzling backhand down the line winner to take the first point of the match. Isner responded in the most emphatic manner possible. The 6’10″ American served three aces down the throat of Nadal to offer a sneak peek into the recipe of the day. The rally is to Nadal what an ace is to Isner – the Spaniard engaged Isner in a series of conversations from the baseline to hold his end of the bargain.

At 30-30 in the fifth game, Nadal smelt an opportunity. Isner though introduced Nadal to a powerful forehand winner, bringing his other big weapon to bear on the situation. The inside out forehand was a powerful ally allowing Isner to hold serve from a tricky situation. Despite an enemies imposing arsenal, always trust Nadal to discover a chink in the armour sooner than later.

A moment of reckoning came in the ninth game – Isner looked set for another easy hold at 40-15 on his serve. But as is his wont, Nadal powered himself to find some extra pace and spin to trouble his opponent. The game points evaporated soon as Nadal forced deuce twice. Isner fell back to what he knew best – dealing a service winner and an ace to keep the set on serve at 5-4.

When a singeing forehand cross court winner took Isner to 6-5, it was left to Nadal to push the set into a tie-break. Nadal hit a bump when he threw in a double fault to fall to 0-30 in the twelfth game. Isner had his fingers on the set when Nadal messed up a backhand volley at 15-30. The seasoned warrior in Nadal reared his head again as the Spaniard brought out his clutch skills – two service winners and a pair of aces addressed the threat in the most effective manner possible.

Isner had a 32-12 record in breakers this year, but his nerves jangled at the sight of the indefatigable man across the net. A double fault gave Nadal the mini-break at 3-5. But Nadal sailed a forehand long to return the advantage almost immediately as the duo remained locked at 5-5. Nadal had his first set point at 6-5, but Isner proved equal to it dealing a serve out wide to draw even at 6-6.

At 7-6, Isner had a set point but Nadal used his serve well to direct play to the backhand of Isner. The American sent a cross court effort long to squander the opportunity. At 8-8, Isner had an opportunity to take another set point but ended up offering one to Nadal instead when he dumped a forehand volley in the net.

Isner invited the invader home, and Nadal made the most of it, taking the first set with a service winner. The American had three set points. Nadal had fewer opportunity but he made the most of them to snatch the set. The Spaniard only had 11 winners, but the fact that he won 84% of his first serve points helped him take the set in 62 minutes.

The second set was not very different from the first, except that there was a bout of action in the seventh game. Isner found a winner at 30-30 to earn his third break point of the match. It was a pivotal moment and Nadal’s response was most educative for Isner and those watching.

Nadal was drawn to the net and the Spaniard responded with a backhand drop volley off a dipping ball to claw back to deuce. Incredibly Nadal chose to volley on the next two points as well – holding serve with a pair of volleys off either flank. Such is the tenacity of Nadal that he chose an unlikely method under trying circumstances to surprise his opponent and bail out of trouble.

There was never a break in sight after that, and the second set slipped into another breaker. Isner sent a backhand into the net to offer Nadal the first mini-break at 2-0. At 1-4, Isner crashed another backhand into the net to help Nadal inch closer to another title. Nadal pulverised his way past Isner at the first opportunity with a thumping forehand down the line winner to take the breaker 7-3.

Isner had more winners and faced not a single break point. But in the moments that truly mattered, it was Nadal who came through with some typically important responses to nudge past Isner for the title.

The title marked Nadal’s ninth success of the year in what has been a remarkably decorated season. With the exception of Wimbledon, Nadal has reached the finals in each of the tournaments he played since his return from knee injury. He has an impressive 53-3 record this year and is on a 15-0 streak on the hard courts. Nadal has won back to back hard court titles for only the first time in his career.

Nadal’s success in Montreal and Cincinnati should earn him the tag of favourite ahead of the US Open, due to begin in a week from today. Pat Rafter in 1998 and Andy Roddick in 2003 had also swept the masters series events before going on to take the US Open. While those five set encounters in the heat of New York are going to take some more doing, it is difficult to argue against Nadal at this juncture.

The Spaniard will climb to No.2 in the rankings on Monday, which will ensure that he is safely away from Novak Djokovic till the finals at Flushing Meadows. Isner, who dropped to 22nd last week to mark the first week without an American in the top 20 for the first time since the rankings began, will recover to 14th when the new rankings are released.

While Nadal will get some valuable rest ahead of the final grand slam event, Isner is scheduled to play a fifth straight week when he tries to defend his title at the Winston-Salem Open. Nadal pocketed a cheque for $583,800 and 1000 ranking points while Isner had to be content with $286,240 and 600 points.