New No. 1 Nadal Passes Tough First Test

USopen.org - Monday, August 25, 2008
Against a surprisingly tenacious qualifier, the German Bjorn Phau, ranked a lowly 136, Rafael Nadal survived his first-round encounter on Arthur Ashe stadium Monday – his first match as the newly minted World No. 1.
Nadal won, 7-6, 6-3, 7-6, but he was unexpectedly extended to nearly three hours under gray, humid skies in dispatching the German, who was only playing in his second ATP tour match of the year. The Spaniard, of course, is having a banner year, winning the French Open, Wimbledon, and the gold at the Olympics in Beijing en route to the No. 1 ranking.
Asked if he felt different taking the court as the top player in the world, Nadal said: "I have the same goal. When I was No. 2, the goal was the same: win the US Open."
Nadal, the winner of the US Open Series, looked occasionally sluggish, perhaps feeling the effects of his exhausting, tour-leading year and travel from China. But Phau, a scrappy 28-year-old journeyman, did plenty to make Nadal uncomfortable on court. He scrambled well, playing the kind of defense Nadal is known for, and occasionally unleashed big running forehands and jumping one-handed backhand drives.
"I didn't play with normal intensity," commented Nadal. "I play a little bit less intensity than last few months for sure. Important thing, final, is win."
In the early going, there was little sting on Nadal’s groundstrokes or his serve, and he uncharacteristically misfired on shots off both wings. Nadal registered 35 unforced errors and was just 2-for-13 in break point chances. In the final set, several times it appeared that Nadal would finally break Phau to close out the match, but the determined German fought back each time and forced a final tiebreak.
Nadal roared to a 5-2 lead in the breaker and held off Phau to advance. The top seed moves on to play another qualifier, Ryler De Heart, of Tampa, Fla.