17
Henk Abbink Reports From Monte Carlo: Day 4, The Bottle Incident
19 Comments · Posted by Staff in Bios
Text and Photos By Henk Abbink
Maybe it was out of frustration. Maybe it was just plain unsportsman-like. Or maybe it was a well-planned move to try and rattle Rafa and his habit of meticulously arranging his bottles. Whatever Matosevic had in mind by knocking over the Spaniard’s bottles, it did not have the desired effect.
I have often wondered if any player would have the guts to try and mess with Rafa’s rituals and see if it would change the dynamics of the match. Well, Matosevic did. Rafa saw it happen just after he hit an incredible winner in the far left corner of Matosevic’s end of the court, taking a 5-2 lead. All the Australian got out of it was boyish laughter and a huge smile from his opponent. I was right next to Rafa’s on-court coaches bench and neither Tony nor any others in this team realized what had just happened. So Rafa, in a totally relaxed and amused way, tried to explain what happened with sign language and bottle movement. The photo speaks for itself.
The Australian lost the first set, squeezing only one game out of the defending champion. He started the second set by breaking Rafa and holding serve. He had two breakpoints to take a 3-0 lead, but Rafa would not be Rafa if he let Matosevic get away with this. Order was restored and the next 6 games were for the Spaniard.
In his meeting with the press Nadal made clear he only wishes to talk about tennis and not his knee: “Talking more than usual about the knee is not positive for me, is not positive for the opponents, for the tournament, for nobody, no?â€
Despite this someone who apparently has problems in understanding Rafa’s English asked: “It feels good?†All the Mallorcan wanted to say was: “ I answered.†He also used the opportunity to speak up for more clay court tournaments and not less: “If the tour continues this way, in 10 more years, going to be less clay court players. Is normal. If we reduce the tournaments on clay, the best players ranked are specialists on hard courts. That’s normal. When you have more tournaments on hard courts, is more that the best players and the top-ranked players are more specialists on hard than on clay.â€
NOVAK TESTED
Djokovic seemed in serious danger when he was 1-5 behind in the first set against Youzhny. The Russian was hitting winners from all sides. The Serb re-grouped late in the first set and managed to come back to 4-5 but then had to hand the set to Youzhny 4-6. The second set was all Djoko and the 6-1 score says it all. The third set could have gone either way after Novak got a time violation warning but he held on and walked away with a 6-4 victory. During the press meeting the Serb acknowledged the time violation rule and said he has no arguments against the rule. “The only argument that I have is I think it’s fair to players, as chair umpires did in the past, to have a pre-warning.â€
Novak’s ankle (twisted during Davis Cup play), seemed okay even though, according to Novak, he twisted it again during the match: “I twisted it again, unfortunately. But, you know, protection, the tape was good. So I managed to overcome the pain and go through the match.â€
Tomas Berdych sent off Marcel Granollers 7-5, 6-4 and Andy Murray, who played safe, solid and non-risk tennis, reached the third round with a 6-1, 6-4 win over Roger-Vasselin.
With Juan Martin del Potro, Richard Gasquet and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga already reaching the third round yesterday, all top seven seeds are still in the running for the Sunday final.
Tennis Prose was right there next to Rafa's bench
Mitch · April 17, 2013 at 10:28 pm
From what I’ve read, it seems to have been meant as a joke which is probably why was Rafa laughed it off instead of exploding. He did it at 5-2 in the 2nd right? Getting under Rafa’s skin does seem to be a successful strategy though, as proven by Soderling, but I guess most other players are too deferential to try anything unsportsmanlike.
Scoop Malinowski · April 17, 2013 at 10:46 pm
Matosevic is a bit of a character, I’ve seen him in action, playfully calling Wally Masur’s son (in the parking lot in Delray) who works in ATP communications, a certain epithet that could cause a controversy if the wrong person heard him say it. He also tossed a ball at me from the practice court, which I didn’t see till the last instant, while I was talking to someone, to bust my chops, still not sure why he targeted me or if he was half joking. So it’s not a surprise at all Matosevic would pull this on Nadal. I can definitely see Matosevic using these kinds of mind games to rattle an opponent, like Roddick’s bully/intimidation tactics or Tursunov stealing and hiding a former #1s racquet bag before a match.
Henk · April 18, 2013 at 3:39 am
Mitch, from where I observed this, it didnt seem like a joke. We talked about it with Rafa during the press meeting and he didnt take it as a joke either, but decided to remain focussed. As a matter of fact, I think it helped him relax and get ready to deal the final blow.
Scoop, that is definitely how I see it too.
Steve · April 18, 2013 at 8:01 am
Had a feeling Birdman would underestimate Fognini. A Fognini/Gasquet match would be fun if Gasquet can get through Cilic.
Steve · April 18, 2013 at 8:50 am
Well, Stan vs. Murray WAS interesting. The better player won. 🙂
Steve · April 18, 2013 at 9:39 am
If anyone DVRs Gasquet vs. Fognini let me know.
tootsie · April 18, 2013 at 11:17 am
Soderling has proven he can get under Nadal’s skin? Pray tell when that might have been. If you’re referring to the long-ago Wimbledon match, Rafa won it.
I’m not at all surprised Rafa laughed about the water bottles. He’s basically just a happy friendly guy who happens to be a fierce competitor when he’s on the court. There are some big talkers *cough*jimcourier*cough* who say they’d wait Rafa out at the beginning of the match to upset him which is laughable. Several players have waited until he went first to the coin toss and Rafa hasn’t been bothered at all. He’s going to do his own thing, eat his energy gel, arrange his bottles, etc. and he doesn’t get wound up by what anyone else does – just like he wasn’t fazed by what Matosevic did.
Darn, wish Monaco had been able to pull off the upset again today. At least he made Djokovic play three sets which can’t be good for Djoker’s ankle.
Steve · April 18, 2013 at 12:35 pm
I suggested this tactic when Gulbis played Nadal is IW. 🙂 You have to think creatively out there!
Steve · April 18, 2013 at 12:43 pm
Djoker is winning his matches but his dominant level is gone. The Monaco’s and Fognini’s don’t fear him and take sets from him.
Henk · April 18, 2013 at 2:13 pm
Steve, you were absolutely right yesterday when you predicted Murray vs Wawrinka would be interesting. Stan totally dominated. Ivan Lendl was very quiet while the rest of the Murray team tried (in vain) to get some more aggression out of their player. More (and pics) later.
Agree Tootsie. Rafa will always do his own thing out there and if he is not “in the zone” he will get there by simply focusing.
No dominance from Novak, Steve, you are right. Actually thought Monaco would take him out. Lets see how he manages against an in-form Nieminen.
Tomorrow will be another interesting day!
Henk · April 18, 2013 at 2:20 pm
Dan, hope you caught some of the Nieminen-Delpo match. Trust you understand better why Milos Raonic lost yesterday. You mentioned he never challenges on the bigger stages. This is a pretty big one here at MC; Nieminen is on fire and may well cause an upset tomorrow and send Djokovic packing. Well, Novak lives at walking distance, so not much packing necessary 🙂
Dan Markowitz · April 18, 2013 at 2:44 pm
Henk,
Did not see Nemo’s win, but give him a lot of credit for pulling the gigantic upset. Can’t see him taking even a set off Djoko unless the Serb is severely compromised and he didn’t look that way against Monaco today.
Look, Del Po almost lost to Dolgo the other day. By all means, Del Po should have lost, but this is Nieminem’s biggest win in a long time.
It’s not that I say Nemo doesn’t do well on the biggest stages, the guy has lost in either the 1st or 2nd round of the last 15 slams! He’s actually done better than I thought when I looked it up, reaching three slam quarters.
Does Nemo deserve credit for playing this well for this long? Absolutely. Is he one of the most fit 31 yr olds on tour? Yes. But his statistics show that while he’s above “journeyman” status for his career (remember, that was Agassi’s assessment of Spadea, of course, Vince 4 years later pulled off one of the great comeback’s in men’s tennis history going from No. 247 to No. 19), he’s not much above it.
The Finn is a meager 46-41 in his GS career and that number will certainly get worse if he plays 2-3 more years. He’s 350-283 lifetime with 2 titles and is ranked No. 49. Compare this to Spadea, who played at 35 on tour: 311-359, 1 title and 42-55. Nemo’s high ranking is No. 13, Vince No. 18.
Clearly, Nemo’s had a better career, but not by much and Agassi called Spadea a “journeyman.” You think Agassi would call Neiminem “great?”
Henk · April 18, 2013 at 3:42 pm
Let’s wait and see Dan. Don’t think Novak is anywhere near being seriously compromised. Why would he risk injury and not play at Roland Garros next month.
With regard to Jarkko, my opinion remains the same: I think he’s a great player. Don’t care what anybody says, whether it’s Agassi or anyone else. Maybe if you ask Agassi (who was upset by Jarkko) his answer may surprise you.
The point is that he’s playing great tennis right here, right now!
Mitch · April 18, 2013 at 4:23 pm
Nieminen is going to run out of gas tomorrow. Djokovic might have another slow start, but he’ll get through comfortably in straight sets.
Scoop Malinowski · April 18, 2013 at 9:10 pm
Soderling certainly annoyed Nadal but it did not work to win the Wimbledon match. Nadal became fired up from it and it made him play better.
Scoop Malinowski · April 18, 2013 at 9:17 pm
Henk anyone who can play great tennis in a Masters Series event is a great player.
Scoop Malinowski · April 18, 2013 at 9:19 pm
If it’s not too hot over there, I think Jarkko will be good to go. It’s really hot here in Sarasota, a couple of the players have told me they don’t like the condition of the court – too slow, bounces too high, too hot and humid, but they love the organization and how they are treated here.
tootsie · April 19, 2013 at 1:42 am
I agree with you Henk about Jarkko. He’s a terrific tennis player and has had some good success. I’ve watched him in a few other tournaments and have always been impressed by his play and have wondered why he hasn’t had more success. He certainly has the game.
I too am afraid he might run out of gas tomorrow. That was a tough match against Delpo today plus it was very emotional which can be as tough to get over as the physical aspect. Djokovic will likely go out there and act out like the drama queen he is – he’ll limp and grasp various body parts and bend over and call out the doctors and trainers and moan and groan and look like he’s about to keel over and then next point he’ll run like a gazelle. He’ll probably win.
Steve · April 19, 2013 at 9:30 am
I’m curious who will have more crowd support today, Gasquet or Fognini.