Nadal 6-2, 6-7, 6-3, 7-6 over Federer at Monte Carlo

Judith G. at Game, Set, Match! has an interesting account of Raphael Nadal's victory over Roger Federer at Monte Carlo today:

The problem may be one of belief, and not thinking clearly at the appropriate moments. Roger Federer lacking in belief?? Several times we saw him close in on a short ball and hit it right back to Nadal when he had the open court. And on important points he sometimes hit to the Nadal forehand, when going at the backhand would be more successful. (Maybe because the Spaniard is a lefty… he got confused).

Stranger things have happened. Even the pros fail to think clearly in the heat of the battle. Andre Agassi once said:

It's shocking how little there is to do with tennis when you're just thinking about nothing except winning every point.

Federer obviously thought he could beat Nadal at his own game, and today, at least, he could not.

Yesterday he had said to the press that he gained valuable knowledge about how to play Nadal in his loss to the Spaniard at Dubai. "He's quite one-dimensional with his game," Federer said. He thought the way to beat Nadal was to be ready for a knock-down drag-out battle. "Just stay with him, for the entire time," Federer said. "I have the feeling that other guys tend not to take the physical challenge with him. That's what I won't do."

Well, as Judith G. says, maybe there's more to beating Nadal than that. Nadal has a heavy duty winning streak going. Read the rest here.