China Open: Amid Djokovic's rising dominance, Nadal shows glimpses of a comeback

On Sunday, Beijing was witness to an interesting battle between familiar foes. Even though their orbits were intercepting each other in the final, the two men are clearly on courses that diverge more than they converge. A sixth career victory in the tournament and an eighth title this season underlined Djokovic’s unrelenting dominance of the sport. Even in defeat, the final was a fresh ray of hope for the flagging spirits of Nadal, who seems eager to work his way back to the top draw. For Djokovic and Nadal, the China Open helped define each man’s quest on the tour right now. At 13,285 points, Djokovic has a commanding 5,775 point lead over second placed Andy Murray. Just for context, that is nearly three grand slam titles between the top ranked player and his nearest rival. [caption id=“attachment_2465738” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal pose with their trophy after the men’s singles final at the China Open. AFP[/caption] Nadal, ahead of the final in Beijing, echoed the view of the wider tour in many way. “I know today Novak is not my league, is a different level of me this year,” admitted Nadal before the match, as candid as ever. It is rare in today’s cut throat world of professional sport for athletes to admit inferiority. But Djokovic’s superiority hasn’t been marginal. He has been head and shoulders above the rest of the field and with all due credit for being straightforward, Nadal was merely stating the obvious. We are left with two ATP Masters Series events and the Tour Finals, before the curtain strings are drawn on this season. Djokovic is currently three behind Nadal on the count of Masters titles and it will take a brave man to bet against the Serbian catching up with his illustrious rival, early next year if not in 2015. The physicality of Djokovic’s supremacy is taunting his rivals and he is acutely aware of his ability to dictate terms. “I think I maintained that level of aggressivity (sic) and strength and power in my shots,” explained Djokovic after the win over Nadal in Beijing. “And eventually I knew that he’s going to make mistakes and he’s going to give me shorter balls so I can dominate the rallies, which happened.” 10 Grand Slam titles, 4 ATP World Tour Finals, 24 ATP Masters 1000 titles is already a substantial legacy for Djokovic. In winning his 56th career title in Beijing, Djokovic asserted his desire to continue ruling the sport with his brutally physical brand of tennis. While Djokovic has been busy harvesting the crop, Nadal has been dealing with a confidence sapping drought. The fact that the indomitable Spanish warrior was happy to celebrate reaching the final is a reflection both of the state of his mind and his poor run of form. “For me, [to] be in the final is a great event. Very happy with that result,” Nadal said. “The goal for me is try to find a good level at this end of the season.” “The World Tour Finals is a goal and it will be good news if I finally qualify,” added Nadal. “I’m going to fight for it, competing with the right mentality again, the right confidence and the right level of tennis.” Confidence has been in short supply for Nadal, who hadn’t reached a hard court final since the Sony Open in Miami last year. Nadal is clearly aware that his game has slipped. But Beijing offered him some respite – first, defeating Fabio Fognini 7-5, 6-3 in a hard fought match helped Rafa avenge a string of recent losses to the Italian. Second, playing Djokovic in the final allowed Nadal to test his current level against the best in the world. As he prepares to work his way back to the top, it was a match that must have offered Nadal and his team some raw material to prepare for another assault at Roland Garros for his 10th French Open title. “That’s the thing that I am working hard to try to recover the level that I want to recover,” said Nadal. “And for moments in that first set, I was very close to that level, thinking that I am playing against a player who is playing unbelievable and with huge confidence.” Only time will tell if Nadal is able to build on his good run last week and regain some of his lost venom. Having won just two of his ten matches this season against top 10 players, Nadal has to turn the tide. Beijing could prove to be a turning point for him in that sense.