CAMELOT FANTASIES

Nishi came into the final match with a plan. He's going to outhit and outrun Nadal and make it a very short and quick win. In his mind, either he'd win or lose but that was the plan - not that he though he'd definitely win but he definitely had his hope. And he did a good job too until he took the break in the 2nd set. You know, these top players especially Federer and Nadal - they are like sharks. They can smell blood from miles away and they are always hungry and desperate. So when Nishi took that break, it sent Nadal  a message that he was waiting for and he struck right away. Nishi knew he had no chance in the 3rd set since he was coming off a marathon match against Ferrer and had only less than 24 hours recovery time. Something that took away most of his stamina. So he wanted to keep things short if possible and had he not taken that short break to get his back fixed, I believe he would have won the match in straight sets. But that break was unfortunate and deciding factor of the match. He showed he was injured and it's never a good idea especially if you are leading the set and only a couple of games away from winning the match.

Well, what's done is done. Nadal did get lucky with the draw opening up nicely and then followed by a half dead opponent in the final. But then again, sometimes things do happen for a reason and players do get lucky - it's not just Nadal.

Congrats to both. Nishi played an excellent tournament. And I am glad he's taken himself out of Rome. This will give him enough time to heal his  back and get his strength back.

Nadal, along with Andy, is going through a very low phase at the moment though Nadal is still playing a lot better than Andy - clay's notwithstanding. They are humans after all.

Oh and I am surprised (or maybe not) Federer is playing in Rome only after a week long break.

A low phase indeed. I think they're both playing well below their level.

I never thought Federer would miss too many tournaments, but I absolutely expected him to be at RG, that due date was about a month away.