FERRER TO FACE NADAL IN LAST 16

On the first sun-splashed day in Miami in some days since the tournament began, Ferrer will hope the tennis gods shine down on him in his R16 clash against Rafael Nadal. The bookies certainly aren’t offering glimmering odds on him –surprise, surprise – conspicuously leaning towards Nadal in their encounter.
Ferrer is a mere puppy at 3/1 at William Hill. But Ferrer has reason to be optimistic – Nadal is not up to his lofty 2008 standards, far from it really. Well, aside from a few outrageous shots that should be just outlawed in tennis, his mental faculty, which was once so revered and held up as a standard that all should aspire to, is suspect these days (e-hem, Ljubicic? Porque Rafaelito?). These suspect faculties could give Ferrer angles to work with and capitalize on.
Nadal weighs in as the favourite in the market but not so much so to be a rock-solid fave. He is only a conservative 2/9 to win outright. The shine has come off Nadal’s odds in the market quite a bit and all things considered, the move is understandable.
Nadal is without an ATP title in over ten months, desperate to rejoin the winners circle. Slipping in ranking after failing to defend both his Aussie Open and Indian Wells titles hasn’t helped his stock value either, especially the latter tournament that saw a rather uncharacteristic mental brain cramp midway through his semi-final clash against Ljubicic, a costly slip that ended up costing him the match itself.
Yet, Rafaelites worldwide will be pounding whatever the market has to offer on Nadal, so unshakeable is their belief in THE ONE, at whose temple they worship.
Nadal has had a look at Ferrer’s game eleven times already in his career; eight times, he has gotten into the win column. Most representative of this mark is that he is on a four-match winning streak against Ferrer since losing back-to-back matches to his compatriot in 2007 at the US Open R16 and the Tennis Masters Cup. More importantly, Nadal has dropped only one set against Ferrer since going on his positive run against him.
Speaking of 2007, Nadal was a wounded warrior at the time (those knees again giving up on him towards the tail-end of the season) but Ferrer was playing some of his best tennis and deserved all the kudos that came his way on the back of those wins.
We haven’t seen Ferrer in that kind of form though in years. Certainly, he showed us he is capable of elevating his level against Nadal, and going toe-to-toe with him, but as he hasn’t had a win over Nadal in three years, those distant memories can’t be a source of inspiration for tennis bettors looking to buck the trend.
Moreover, all those disappointments have to be weighing heavily on Ferrer and as he isn’t always the most confident sort on court, one can only imagine what is going on in his head.  
I am going with Nadal in this one not just because I am a huge fan but because I do believe he is on a distinct upward trend. He has struggled a bit here and there but that is not reason enough to suddenly turn against him, even though the market makes it rather tempting to do so. Keep in mind, Nadal is a winner. He is a proven champion and all he wants to do is get better. A refreshing change from some of the big-talkers but big-flops in the biz (okay, a bit of shot at Muzz and Nole, but I couldn't help it).