On This Day: Rafael Nadal rallies from two sets down to lift 2005 Madrid trophy

In October 2005, following nearly a year’s worth of incredible achievements, Rafael Nadal returned to his homeland to play an ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Madrid. Though currently played on clay, at the time, this was an indoor hard-court event.

As breakthrough years go, Nadal’s 2005 had been extraordinary. In January, he was ranked 51 in the world. By July, he’d soared up to number two, an ascent fueled largely by Nadal rapidly proving himself the king of clay—a total of eight titles won on that surface in 2005. Most notable was what happened in Paris that spring. Competing at Roland Garros for the first time, Nadal won the title, an effort highlighted by a semifinal victory over Roger Federer on June 3—Nadal’s 19th birthday.

But by Madrid, Nadal was beginning to prove himself a man for all surfaces, earning hard-court titles in Montreal and Beijing. He arrived in Madrid with a sparkling 74-10 win-loss record for the year.

In Madrid, Nadal won his first four matches without the loss of the set, including victories over Top 20 players Tommy Robredo and Radek Stepanek. His opponent on this day in the final was 12th-ranked Ivan Ljubicic. Ljubicic at the time was red-hot. He’d won two straight tournaments (Metz and Vienna), 16 consecutive matches and over the course of 2005, would also lead Croatia to the Davis Cup title. In the semis of Madrid, Ljubicic had earned a three-set win over world No. 9 David Nalbandian.

Ljubicic and Nadal had already played one another twice, both times in 2005. Each match had gone three sets, Ljubicic winning in Doha, Nadal the victor in Miami.

ATP Masters 1000 finals in those days were three-out-of-five sets. Ljubicic’s big serve and sharp groundstrokes made him particularly effective indoors. So it was that Ljubicic dominated early. With all aspects of his game clicking superbly, he won the first two sets, 6-3, 6-2. Most notable was that Ljubicic’s one-handed backhand was smoothly handling Nadal’s lefthanded crosscourt forehand, a shot that usually tormented such one-handers as Federer. Added to this was exceptional serving, Ljubicic firing 32 aces. Forty-one percent of his serves were unreturnable. Ljubicic also hit 52 winners.

In trademark fashion, revealing his precocious superpowers as a competitor, Nadal fought back. At 2-2 in the third, he at last broke Ljubicic’s serve and went on to win the next two sets, 6-3, 6-4.

But in the fifth, Ljubicic went ahead 2-0. Instantly, Nadal broke back. On it went, in this case to a decisive tiebreaker. Here, Nadal surged ahead. A crosscourt forehand winner put him ahead 3-0. Then Nadal took a 5-2 lead. At 6-3, on the sixth shot of the rally, Ljubicic netted a forehand. Broadcasting the match, John Barrett said, “A quite remarkable comeback for the young man who’s been setting new records all year.”

Nadal’s belief was that the support of the Spanish crowd was the decisive factor. “Elsewhere in the world, it would have been impossible to defeat Ljubicic,” he said. “Thanks to them, I won this final.”

Ljubicic was exceptionally classy in defeat. “It was a beautiful feeling to play here,” he said, “and I’m really happy for Rafa because he’s young and will have a lot of victories ahead of him still to come.”

Following that match, though, Nadal began to experience significant pain in his left foot. Madrid proved his last tournament of 2005. And the left foot injury remains chronic.