Nadal’s win more proof of Big Three’s greatness
Spaniard cruises to victory in Montreal, beating Medvedev 6-3, 6-0 in title match
It’s unlikely Daniil Medvedev will remember his first match against Rafael Nadal as one of the highlights of his week at the Rogers Cup.
The 23-year-old Russian cruised into the final of the Rogers Cup men’s tennis tournament without losing a set, but he was no match for Nadal in Sunday’s final.
Nadal, the top seed and defending champion, needed only 70 minutes to defeat Medvedev 6-3, 6-0. The victory matched the most one-sided final in the tournament’s history — John McEnroe defeated Vitas Gerulaitis 6-0, 6-3 in the 1984 final.
There were a lot of questions this week about when the young players would overtake the Big Three of Nadal, Roger Federer and current No. 1 Novak Djokovic.
If Sunday’s final was an indication, the 30-something crowd is not ready to fade into the sunset.
While Nadal is king of the clay, he has shown he can play at a high level on hard courts and he dominated the 23-year-old Medvedev, who has been the ATP Tour leader in hard-court wins in each of the last two years.
The 33-year-old Nadal has now won the Rogers Cup five times dating back to 2005 and this was his record 35th Masters 1000 title.
To understand the gap between the Big Three and the rest of the players on the ATP Tour, you only have to look at the numbers. Djokovic, who will return to the North American hard-court circuit at the Masters 1000 event in Cincinnati, has won 33 Masters 1000 events and Federer has won 28. The only other active player in double figures is the semi-retired Andy Murray with 14. Medvedev is next with four.
Nadal, playing his first tournament since Wimbledon, said it was important to get a good start.
“The first game was tough,” Nadal said. “He (Medvedev) played a great game with some very long rallies. For me, it was important to start the match in a good shape. He came to that match playing so well, playing a lot of matches the last weeks. For me, it was a different story. I only played three matches on hard court before this one and playing against a newcomer like him, it was important for me in the beginning of the match. It’s true he had a break point, but I played well and saved that game. After that, I think I played a solid match, my best match of the week so far without a doubt.
“I did a lot of things well: changing directions, changing rhythms during the point. The slice worked well this afternoon. I played some high balls, then changed down the line. I think I played smart this afternoon.” Medvedev said it’s more than Nadal’s shotmaking.
“Every player you play has special shots, but especially regarding how many Grand Slams, how many Masters the Big Three have won, they have something better than all of us,” Medvedev said.
“Of course, it’s tough to play. It was tough to play Rafa.
“My tactic was to not give him that much time, to try to play deep, to not give him easy shots. It was kind of working in the beginning of the match, but then I completely lost the momentum. It was only him controlling the play, controlling the game. Even a few moments in the match I tried to not come back but win one game, see how it goes. But the moment I was close, he just played too good. That’s how it went.
“It’s not only the slice or the topspin because everybody in the top 100 knows how to slice or do the topspin. They have something inside of them, in their game better than all of us. Of course, we need to do our best to try to still beat them. I mean, that’s my goal. Every match I play, that’s my goal: to win. That was my plan today: to go on the court to win. I only won three games, but I will be better next time.”
Medvedev hopes there will be a next time here because he’s fallen in love with Montreal.
“It was my first final in a Masters 1000 and it was a beautiful week with all the fans who appreciated me from the first match on,” said Medvedev. “Every time I was speaking French, it was funny, everyone started loving me. I’m sure that Montreal will be one of my favourite tournaments. I hope it’s going to last for all my life.”
In the doubles final, Marcel Granollers of Spain and Horacio Zeballos of Argentina defeated the Dutch pair of Robin Haase and Wesley Koolhof 7-5, 7-5. The winning team, which was playing for the first time, split $311,910 while the runners-up earned $152,210.
Denis Shapovalov of Richmond Hill, Ont., and Indian veteran Rohan Bopanna reached the semifinals.