Paris – Briefly, and only briefly, Rafael Nadal was in a difficult spot in the French Open quarterfinals. For the first time in this year’s tournament, the eight-time champion dropped a set.
And this had to be on Nadal’s mind: His opponent, David Ferrer, could present real problems. Not only is Ferrer ranked No. 5, and not only was he the runner-up at Roland Garros a year ago – to Nadal, of course – but he also beat Nadal on red clay the last time they played each other.
So how did Nadal handle this test? Perfectly. From late in the second set, he won 10 games in a row, and 13 of 14 the rest of the way, to come back and beat Ferrer 4-6, 6-4, 6-0, 6-1, setting up a semifinal Friday against Wimbledon champion Andy Murray.
”At the beginning,” Nadal acknowledged, ”David was playing with a higher intensity than me.”
But once Nadal made a key adjustment – deciding to dispense with his surprisingly off-target backhand as much as possible and instead do whatever he could to use his topspin-heavy forehand – he took over…
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