In theory, Rafael Nadal’s straight-sets win over Tommy Haas in the second round of the Australian Open was a simple and utterly predictable result – the world No.2 and former champion sploshing the veteran German 6-4 6-3 6-4 with the minimum amount of fuss and bother. But the this year’s tournament has been anything but predictable and watching a bloke with a gammy knee take on a bloke with a gammy everything else was not for those of a nervous disposition.
Given that Nadal was not even sure whether he would be able to step on court for his opening match, the fact he is now safely into the third round without dropping a set is cause for celebration.
After recharging his batteries over the Christmas break and feeling as if he was mentally back to his usual, battling self, he was just sitting on the couch in his hotel on Sunday when he felt his knee click. A couple of moments later, he was in agony and his knee had seized up completely. Suddenly Nadal was seriously worried. Luckily, the ministrations of the local medics and the tour’s trainers have seen him right, but he is still playing with a bandage the size of the West Gate Bridge just to be on the safe side. The strapping helped him through Wednesday’s encounter without so much as a twinge; it was Haas who was causing him problems.
When it comes to injuries, the German knows it all. Had it not been for his body breaking down on him almost annually, he could have had a glittering career. To date he has had two lots of surgery to his shoulder, endless problems with the joint ever since; sprained ankles, left and right; torn abs and even a bout of food poisoning after eating cheese and broccoli (he has not looked at cheese broccoli the same way since). His most recent trauma was a torn calf muscle, an injury picked up just a couple of weeks ago.
The calf problem required yet another MRI scan – and that was one too many for Haas. Over the years, he reckons he has had about 40 MRIs. And he hates them. The machine is claustrophobic, the noise is deafening and usually the results are dire. This time, though, the outcome was not bad at all – they only stuck his leg in the scanner while the doctors discovered that the injury was not a serious as first feared. With a new spring in his step, albeit a tentative one just in case he pulled another muscle, he set about Nadal with gusto and not without a little skill. He made the former champion work for his win, and that made all the medical troubles of the past fade into the distance.
“These are the moments, when you play in Rod Laver Arena, that's great,” Haas said. “You know, against one of the greatest, that's obviously awesome. Trying to go to Brisbane early and get some matches there was a goal, maybe even playing the second week and having a minor tear in the calf after my first round there, that didn't help. Seven, eight days of doing nothing before coming here and going out against somebody like today, that's a high task.”
Even though he was a break up in the third set, he could not resist the oncoming truck that is Nadal on his way to victory. The Spaniard was not at his best but, then again, he did not need to be. As the former champion sets his sights on his 11th Grand Slam title, he knows how to husband his resources – he will not be playing eyeballs-out until it is absolutely necessary. That said, he knew he could not afford to take Haas lightly. The German may be 33 years of age and have a ranking of 190 in the world, but Haas used to be the world No.2 – and he can still play stunning tennis.
“I started match playing fantastic, especially the first seven games,” Nadal said. “I think he played well. He played aggressive. He played with very good second serves. For moments, his first serve was really difficult to read. I think he played well.
“My way has to be the seven first games of the match. You cannot expect win easy against nobody, and especially against Tommy Haas. He's fantastic player. That to say, happy to have this strong match early on.”
The next obstacle in his path is Lukas Lacko, the 6-3 6-1 3-6 6-3 winner over Donald Young. That, in theory, ought to be an easier encounter but with the way Nadal’s luck is running at the moment, who knows?
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