nadal, photographed by alastair grant/ap, during his match against tomas berdych. the O2 arena, nov 26, 2010.
i woke up this morning, really excited, thinking about...tennis.
there was a fantastic semifinal match yesterday, between my maximum favorite player and andy murray. it might have been one of my favorites of the year, and quite possibly the best indoor tennis match i've seen since 1982 (when mats wilander went down to john mcenroe in the longest match in davis cup history, a 6 hour - 22 minute grind that scarred my heart for years).
nadal defeated murray in three sets.
you know me--i couldn't rattle off the score, or remember significant points without looking at notes or a news report. but i won't forget the faces, the expressions of either player. tennis players are not an undemonstrative bunch--in between the vamoses and the come ons, they'll grimace or frown, raise an eyebrow (in the case of nadal). or he may look like he's about to choke the life out of his... racquet (murray). and then sometimes they say nothing--nerves, fear, doubt, exhaustion can be read in their eyes for a half-second between points, when they catch the eye of someone on their team. and then they shake it off. and hit a winner. not sure if there are any still photos to evidence this (probably because photographers are tethered to the sidelines). but believe me, the match was full of those moments from both players. it was exquisite, fun tennis.
i also thought of one pose after he earned the win--a few photographers got this shot.
nadal has a couple of victory moves in his repertoire (usually he's dropping down, flat on his back). i wondered after this one, how he'd celebrate. but his simple victory smile was entirely appropriate for the tone of the match and respectful of his relationship to murray and murray's home crowd. it's one of the things i like most about him--his sense of place, his sense of a moment. he seems more often than not to understand things wider than himself, even when the moment is "his." it was true when he was younger (i'm recalling his matches against agassi during the andre summer farewell tour) and as he was establishing his dominance over federer (at the australian open a couple of years ago). a few suggested he seemed almost too good?
i wonder if that will change, if someday he will change with more titles, more money, more adulation. who could blame him, i guess, if it all went to his head? i suspect it will not, but there is no way to know.
so for now, enjoy...
nadal d. murray 7-6 (5), 3-6, 7-6 (6). london, uk. nov, 27, 2010.
photo: kirsty wigglesworth/AP
