Mind Over Matter, Rafael Nadal Is Back

NEW YORK – I wonder what Roger Federer is thinking now. Has Rafael Nadal crept into his brain yet?

Federer has won his French Open now, gotten his majors record, regained his No. 1 ranking and his perfection.

Are we sure he has overcome his Nadalaphobia?

We've come to expect certain things of Nadal. He's back from the bad knees and the two weeks of the U.S. Open are just a prelim for the Federer-Nadal final, right?

That's the thinking that has let the Nadal story slip through the cracks. Truth is, his run through the Open has been incredible, and also impossible.

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No way is he doing this. His knees must still hurt. His abdominals hurt so much that he can't blast his serve. Yet he was able to complete his rain-delayed match Saturday morning, winning a tiebreaker and six quick games to beat Fernando Gonzalez 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-2), 6-0.

Nadal is in the semis now. He and Federer are one win away from the classic final.

"I'm more fresh than last year, 100 percent sure," Nadal said. "We will see how I am physically tomorrow. But mentally, the last year I was totally mentally destroyed.

"Mentally this year, I am perfect, no?"

Yes. And that's exactly what's happening here. I have never been satisfied with Nadal's explanation for missing Wimbledon. Fine, tendinitis in his knees. But he wasn't in danger of permanent damage, and this was Wimbledon, afterall. Why not fight for two weeks?

The pressure was getting to him. That's what I think. He had surpassed the great Federer, and not just on a goofy computer rankings system.

Nadal was better than Federer. What a mountain that was to climb. But he didn't handle the pressures of No. 1. How did he describe his feelings at last year's Open again?

Totally mentally destroyed.

That's where he was earlier this year, too.

Not anymore. And the transformation we have seen over Nadal in the past week and half has been amazing.

Will he actually win the tournament? Well, Juan Martin Del Potro, his opponent Sunday, is going to be a superstar. His game is already there.

But when I asked him about coming along in the era of Federer and Nadal, he said, "For sure, Roger, Rafa, (Andy) Murray, they are two or three steps more than me. I'm working hard every day hard to be like them."

Not sure Del Potro, at 20, believes he's ready to beat Nadal this close to a major final, even if he did beat him this summer.

"Today, Federer is playing better than Nadal," Gonzalez said. "Today. But you never know, because I don't think Federer likes to play Nadal."

Surely, Federer didn't expect to see Nadal this good, this soon, either.

Last time Nadal was healthy, Federer was smashing racquets, losing to players beneath him.



Federer fans attribute his drop to mono, suggesting that last year's U.S. Open victory was the sign that he was healthy again. Then he lost to Nadal at the Australian Open and fell apart.

Nadalaphobia.

But this is Federer's tournament. He has won five U.S. Opens in a row. Nadal has never even reached the final here.

The hard courts are not Nadal's specialty. But he has adapted. He isn't hitting the short loopy shots on hard courts the way he used to. And he's attacking. So he won the Australian.

But while Nadal's mind is back, his body isn't.

He's wearing a heavy wrap on his abdominals, which he hurt in the tournament. You should have seen him when he called for a trainer Thursday during the first part of the Gonzalez match.

Nadal sat there with the hardest look, breaking it only to wince. The McEnroes on TV seemed to interpret that look as concern.

It was full-out rage. His mind was angry at his body for the betrayal. They are not in harmony anymore, as they were in June, when both wanted a soft place to lie down.

His game is still violent on his body, and you wonder how long he can do this.

"I am 23 years old," he said. "I expect to have a lot of years to be fighting to win this tournament. I'm going to try all my life."

Just over three weeks ago in Cincinnati, Nadal admitted to me that his knees still hurt. He was having trouble getting in position to attack. And he didn't want to run down his backhand, stomp on that left foot and drill a shot. So the slice became his best friend.

He wouldn't talk about the possibility of winning the U.S. Open. Now, he talks about fighting the rest of his life.

It turned for him in the fourth round against Gael Monfils, who was supposed to be a physical test. Nadal ran him into the ground. Monfils was exhausted as Nadal's body held up.

"The knees are perfect," he said.

In the quarters, he beat Gonzalez down mentally.

And the rain delays, which threatened to be a disaster for Nadal by forcing him to play three long matches on three consecutive days, are now helping him. He played foosball in the players lounge on Friday. On Saturday, his match lasted no more than a normal workout.

So his body is as fresh as possible. His mind is back.

I can't predict a Nadal title, considering how perfect Federer has looked. Also, because I can't believe Nadal is even here.

If he gets to the big matchup, he will only have done what people expected. But if a guy with bad knees and a debilitating stomach injury can do that, it would truly be amazing.

Email me at gregcouch09@aol.com