Nice... for me a large part of this third encounter, is that it came hot on the heels of their second, and how Novak managed to turn the tables. Nadal never would win Miami, and never enjoyed the success there he attained in Indian Wells. IW is infamously slow, prompting Medvedev's great line about being a hard court specialist. Mind you, even in the Indian Wells highlight reel above, we do see some signs that Novak is going to nail Rafa with the down the line forehand to the huge area of the court Rafa likes to give up knowing his speed, defence and forehand capabilities. Arguably, it would be his undoing, though, in the match up with Novak on a hardcourt.
Setting the scene very nicely! Will have to look up that final game
Thanks, Claire! The video should be embedded in the article -- the final game is in the last few minutes, and it's quite something.
Nice... for me a large part of this third encounter, is that it came hot on the heels of their second, and how Novak managed to turn the tables. Nadal never would win Miami, and never enjoyed the success there he attained in Indian Wells. IW is infamously slow, prompting Medvedev's great line about being a hard court specialist. Mind you, even in the Indian Wells highlight reel above, we do see some signs that Novak is going to nail Rafa with the down the line forehand to the huge area of the court Rafa likes to give up knowing his speed, defence and forehand capabilities. Arguably, it would be his undoing, though, in the match up with Novak on a hardcourt.
Great points, John! Yep, even back then Djokovic had the ability to take the ball so early, enabling him to rush Nadal on both sides.