Rafa Nadal had no issues today handling Fernando Gonzalez to move into the final of the Rome Masters. Gonzalez who has not won a set in their previous four appearances was overwhelmed at times and took this one on the chin - 6-3, 6-3. With that victory, Nadal now has a perfect 15-0 record this season on clay.

If there is any doubt that Nadal will almost certainly end of being the greatest clay court player ever, these types of semi-final throttles should remove that doubt. Gonzalez, while not top tier, is a fine clay court player, but his only hope out there is a Nadal injury, or he completely zones.

In watching pieces of the match, I marveled at Nadal’s perfect movement on the clay. He can cover a court just as well on dirt as he can on hard court. It’s really remarkable.

His backhand is also, just so strong out there. You’ll tend to find that with two-handed backhands on lefties. It can be as strong as their forehand, and often an overall better shot.

I’ve always preferred the two-handed backhand provided that player has a solid one-hand backhand for spins, and defence (reach). There is just so much more available to the player with two hands. Funky angles, heavy balls, wicked topspin, and an overall more consistent shot.

So tomorrow we have another Djokovic vs. Nadal final.
Djokovic is certainly a strong foe, stronger than Gonzalez proved today, however I am just finding is near impossible for this guy to lose on clay at this point.

MarkOskar

Original post by Mark Oskar