Rafael Nadal had suggested he couldn't win the tournament, that he was ill-prepared, and on that score, he was right. Alternatively, when a 14-major winner is belted by an admittedly excellent player whom he had beaten in their previous 17 meetings, you know he wasn't right.
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Nadal's tormenting of Tomas Berdych had lasted 8 years, ending on Tuesday with a decisive 6-2, 6-0, 7-6 rout. The breaking of the streak reminds one (and many who cover tennis) of the famed quip of the late Vitas Gerulaitis when he finally overcame Jimmy Connors after a run of 16 losses.
"And let that be a lesson to you all. No one beats Vitas Gerulaitis 17 times in a row." No one beats Tomas Berdych 18 in a row. "Well no, definitely not," said a bemused Berdych, when this quote was put to him.
The past favoured Nadal, but the only history that counted in this match was the past several months, in which an injured Nadal had played little tennis. At this level, a recovering champion will not beat the world No.7 and Berdych has been a consistent quarter and semi-finalist in grand slams and a Wimbledon finalist.
Now, he's made the last eight at Melbourne five times in a row, and the last four here consecutively. You could say no one beats Tomas Berdych without a decent lead-in and preparation. "He's a top player, Nadal said. "You have to play well to win against a player like Tomas. I didn't play my best today."
The logical conclusion is that Nadal's previous ownership of the gifted and highly ranked Czech must have been psychological, rather than technical. This time, Berdych was somewhere approaching his peak form while Nadal played without spring, zest and almost with resignation.
Nadal said he felt OK. "Just was not my day. I didn't play with the right intensity, with the right rhythm." Usually a merciless cyborg from the baseline, Nadal said he had "tested him [Berdych] for one hour, for a set. For the rest of the thing, I didn't test him."
Nadal's game was defined by what was missing. He didn't run down [many] balls, didn't scramble madly or change direction abruptly. The clay master had feet of clay.
He felt his right hamstring when sitting down in a break, though he never called for a trainer. Nadal shook his head and looked up to his box, where his uncle Toni and conditioning man would have known the score – the situation, not just the dismal numbers.
The scenario was a familiar one for Rafa, who has returned underdone after injury quite a few times. "Is not the first time that I have bad feelings when I am coming back [from injury]. ... Coming back from an injury, you lose more easier the feeling than what you do when you are on rhythm."
Berdych climbed all over Rafa's suddenly anaemic second serve, while Nadal barely made inroads on Berdych's. The first set was comfortable, the second almost embarrassing. Nadal's power was reduced. Berdych grew in confidence.
The Czech has not been harmed by compatriot Ivan Lendl spurning his offer to coach him, and has taken up with another ex-coach of Andy Murray, Danni Vallverdu.
Nadal had talked down his chances pre-tournament, in the knowledge that he had played barely four or five matches in seven months. He said if he was still around here in a week, he could re-assess. It is a measure of his grit and talent that he still made the quarter finals – along with seven of the top eight (only Roger Federer didn't make it) – albeit there were struggles along the way.
Only once at Melbourne Park, in his straight-sets romp over 14th seed Kevin Anderson, was Nadal playing at what he deemed the "regular" level.
This would not suffice against Berdych, who is back in the semis, where he fell to eventual champion Stan Wawrinka last year.
