'If we're both fit enough, why not?' Carlos Alcaraz and Rafael Nadal reaffirm Paris Olympic doubles hopes in Madrid

After capturing the Australian Open in 2009 for his first major hard-court title, Rafael Nadal appeared to be poised for the best season of his career. After all, he was the five-time defending champion at the French Open and had just won his first Wimbledon title in 2008.

Instead, he suffered a shocking loss to Robin Soderling at the French Open in the fourth round, and knee issues forced him to miss Wimbledon. He didn't make a final until Shanghai—his first final appearance since Madrid. The 2009 season was the first year the tournament was held in Shanghai as it took Madrid's place on the calendar (the Spanish city now hosts an ATP Masters on clay in May).

Nadal's challenger in the final would be Nikolay Davydenko. The Russian, in the midst of another consistent season, reached his second title match in three weeks and was looking to capture his fourth tournament of the year.

Gauging who would have the fresher legs heading into the final was an easy task: In the quarterfinals and semifinals, both of Nadal's opponents retired, while Davydenko had to eke out a three-hour, three-set victory against Novak Djokovic in the semifinals.

Davydenko struck first in the match, securing a break in the third game. From there, Davydenko went on a bit of a roll until Nadal managed a difficult hold. In the eighth game, Nadal managed to get the break back to even up the match. The Spaniard got to 5-4 in his favor and earned a set point, but Davydenko leveled it once again. The two eventually found themselves in a tiebreak to decide the first frame. In the breaker, Davydenko took a lead and had three set points, converting on the first one.

In the second set, the two stayed on even ground through the first few games. Davydenko held off a threat from Nadal in the fifth game, then turned up the pressure in the next one, getting to 0-40 on Nadal’s serve. The Russian broke serve, then consolidated it to get within a game of the title. Nadal held, forcing Davydenko to serve for the match.

At 5-4, championship point, Nadal hit a forehand that was called out. Nadal challenged, and it was confirmed that his ball was long, clinching Davydenko’s third career Masters title, 7-6 (3), 6-3.

Davydenko won his second match against Nadal in as many championship encounters, having defeated the Spaniard the year prior in the Miami final.

In 2014, Davydenko retired with a 6-5 head-to-head wining record over Nadal.

In his three ATP Masters 1000 finals, Davydenko won each match in straight sets. When he won Paris in 2006, the title match was best-of-five sets.

Follow Van on Twitter: @Van_Sias

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