Best ATP Matches Of 2015: Part 1

Continuing our Season In Review Series, ATPWorldTour.com revisits the best ATP World Tour matches of 2015. In today’s countdown we feature Nos. 5-3:

Milos Raonic d. Rafael Nadal 4-6, 7-6(10), 7-5/QF/Indian Wells

Asked what makes Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal stand out from the rest of the pack, Milos Raonic asserted, “You have a complete range of emotions that everybody and anybody can face. It’s just how you deal with them that really makes a difference, that separates the three guys that are at the top from everybody else.”

The Canadian handled his emotions quite well during his quarter-final match-up with Nadal at the BNP Paribas Open, where he saved three match points to claim his first win over the Spaniard, 4-6, 7-6(10), 7-5.

“At the moments when I was playing those match points, it didn’t really feel like match points,” said Raonic. “It was just like another point that I was trying to get through. [I was] just sort of going through the paces at that moment of what do I need to do now, not really signifying it as a match point.”

In reaching his fifth ATP World Tour Masters 1000 semi-final, Raonic ended Nadal’s perfect record against Canadians.

The World No. 6 was broken for the first time in the tournament as the three-time champion Nadal took a 2-1 lead in the opening set, which he went on to win in 36 minutes. Raonic saved three match points in the second-set tie-break to force a third set.

Raonic finally earned a crucial break in the third set to go up 6-5 and a chance to serve out the match. He fired 19 aces and saved six of his seven break points faced in the two-hour, 58-minute victory.

“I feel all sorts of good,” said Raonic. “There was a lot of up and down through that match, and all I could ask of myself was just keep competing and hope to find a way. I got fortunate a few times and it worked out.”

“I think I did well,” said Nadal. “I enjoyed the fact that I felt good on court again. I felt competitive. I felt strong, with the right energy. I lost that match thinking much more positively than negatively.”

Gael Monfils d. Alexandr Dolgopolov 7-6(5), 7-6(6)/R32/Monte-Carlo

It looked as if Alexandr Dolgopolov was on his way to run-of-the-mill victory. After all, the 26-year-old Ukrainian had broken Gael Monfils to take a 5-4 lead in the opening-set of their Round of 32 match at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters.

But Monfils had a few tricks up his sleeve. The 28-year-old Frenchman quickly returned the favor with a break of his own, and managed to steal the stanza in a tense tie-break. A tie-break would be needed to decide the second set, too, after both players lost their service games twice, Monfils booking his place in the third round against Roger Federer with a one-hour, 51-minute 7-6(5) 7-6(6) nail-biter.

There was no lack of flair between these gifted shotmakers, a must-see match that featured highlight after highlight. 

Serving at 7-6(5), 1-2, Monfils completely faked out his opponent (and the crowd) when, following a forehand into the net, he pulled off a half-hearted backhand volley. But here’s where he fooled us: he turned his back, shaking his head as if to concede the point. Dolgopolov, picking up on the Frenchman’s indifference, promptly chased down the volley and smacked what he surely believed was an uncontested forehand winner. But Monfils came to life, spun around and swatted a crosscourt forehand pass of his own, a sly grin and a wink at his coach telling us that he was in control all along.

“He was very creative,” said Monfils, who improved to 3-0 in their FedEx ATP Head2Head. “He does things differently. Sometimes he makes two or three mistakes, so you think you’re all right. Suddenly, he plays three wonderful returns. That’s annoying. But I tried to play each point being positive. It was good tennis.”

Fabio Fognini d. Federico Delbonis 6-4, 6-7(10), 7-6(9)/QF/Rio

It was the kind of match that needed to be seen to be believed; a surreal quarter-final that had a little something for everybody. Fabio Fognini would need nine match points to defeat Argentine baseliner Federico Delbonis 6-4, 6-7(10), 7-6(9) in a three-hour, 12-minute Friday night thriller at the Rio Open.

In a match that featured more than its fair share of momentum shifts and mood swings, the Italian trailed 1-5 in the second set before forcing a tie-break, where he would squander his first of three match points. Somehow, Delbonis managed to force a third set. The real drama came in the final-set tie-break, where Fognini failed to capitalise on five more match points. But after three hours and 12 minutes, he finally closed out the emotionally- and physically-draining match.

“It was really difficult, really tough,” said Fognini. “It was long. Before I closed the match, I had eight match points. But I’m really happy.”