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Rafael Nadal made the perfect start to his grass court preparations as he defeated Victor Troicki 7-6 6-3 to win the Mercedes Cup in Stuttgart. The Spaniard had previously won the event twice when it was held on clay, but added his third tournament victory after displaying an assured performance to beat the Serbian in the final.
In the first set, Troicki started brightly and held a break point in Nadal’s first service game, but he was denied by the Spaniard. The Serbian barely dropped a point on his service games, using his attacking intent and big first serve to keep his opponent at touching distance.
Similarly, Nadal was in a great service rhythm as he matched Troicki’s domination behind the first serve, but it was the Serbian who had the opportunities to gain the lead. Troicki established a 30-0 lead at 5-4 on Nadal’s serve, but the Spaniard held firm to ensure the first set would remain on serve and eventually go to a tie-break. Nadal’s serve remained impenetrable, and an untimely double fault by the Serbian proved costly as the Spaniard maintained the lead to win the first set 7-6.
The second set saw both players hold serve relatively easy, but Nadal threatened to take firm control of the contest at 2-1, as he began to pressurise Troicki for the first time on his serve. Another double fault presented the Spaniard with his first break point of the match, and unlike his opponent in the first set, Nadal capitalised on the chance when his fizzing forehand extracted an error from the Serbian.
From that point, Nadal remained untouchable on serve, increasing his ace count and placing his serve with tremendous accuracy. Troicki was unable to gain a foothold on his opponent’s serve, and looked to be in danger of suffering another break as Nadal forced him to deuce at 4-1. However, the Serbian managed to just hold his serve and made his opponent serve for the championship when he quickly wrapped up an easy service game for a 5-3 scoreline.
Nadal appeared to be on course for the title when he held two match points, but Troicki had other ideas when he denied the Spaniard on both occasions. But, a golden opportunity to establish a break point and put Nadal under further pressure was incredibly missed by Troicki. The Spaniard left a volley sitting right in the hitting zone of the Serbian, and Troicki looked certain to easily win the point with a backhand winner down the line. But, Troicki remarkably netted the backhand with Nadal stranded at the net, and the Serbian was visibly perplexed as to how he had managed to let Nadal off the hook.
The Spaniard was not to be denied the third time, as an overhead smash sealed a testing last game but overall solid victory for Nadal.
So, for Troicki, it was a great run to the final and a promising display against Nadal, but he will be especially disappointed by that missed backhand at 5-3 down to create a potential route back into the final. However, Nadal will enter the Aegon Championships nest week with new-found confidence and satisfaction following his overall form throughout the week in Stuttgart. His recent high percentage serving displays, and his performance during the critical points of his matches will delight the Spaniard, and this will put him in good stead as he continues his preparations towards Wimbledon.
