It took Milos Raonic's blowout loss to Novak Djokovic in the title match of the BNP Finals at Indian Wells to appreciate what Rafael Nadal did against the world's No. 1 in the semifinals.
Djokovic beat an ailing Raonic 6-2, 6-0 Sunday to win his fifth Indian Wells championship. The Canadian suffered a leg injury in the first set but said it did not play a factor against Nole, according to Tennis.com.
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"I don't think it affected my effort," Raonic said. "I thought he played much better than I did."
Which brings us back to the wayward Spaniard, who had a first-set set point against Djokovic but ultimately lost 7-6, 6-2 in the semifinals at Indian Wells.
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Considering Nadal lost in the first round of the Australian Open and failed to reach the finals of two tournaments on clay, a surface in which Nadal was nearly unbeatable for 10 years through 2014, he showed very little evidence that he was capable of bouncing back from a subpar 2015 by his standards and returning to his place among tennis' elite of Djokovic, Andy Murray and Roger Federer.
"Today was closer than the last couple of times against the best player of world, so it was a very positive week for me," Nadal said, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Compared to Raonic's results, Nadal certainly has an argument that his play is much improved.
Djokovic is 22-1 so far in 2016, his only loss coming against Feliciano Lopez in the quarterfinals at Dubai. He routed Nadal in the finals of the 2016 Qatar Open.
"Coming close is about all the consolation anyone seems able to get against Djokovic, who has shown no sign of relinquishing his stranglehold on the No. 1 world ranking after 89 straight weeks, the Times' Helene Elliott indicated.
And Nadal's improved competitiveness against Djokovic wasn't as impressive at seems, Chris Evert told ESPN, via International Business Times.
"It's a long road back," Evert said. "He's unlike any other player. He trained differently, and maybe that has something to do with his struggles now. It doesn't look like he will get to the semis and finals of big tournaments as regularly as the other top guys."
Nadal will compete in the Miami Open starting March 21, and his result there will show how much confidence he has gained back.
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