MC: Peachy keen
Photo by Julian Finney/ Getty Images
Rafa started his annual Monte-Carlo title defense by playing #48 Jarkko Nieminen of Finland. Nieminen had an aggressive game plan and executed it well, but it wasn’t enough for Rafa – even a Rafa that appeared to be doing just enough to win. Rafa’s through: 6-4, 6-3.
Stats:
| Nadal | Nieminen | |
|---|---|---|
| Statistics on Serve | ||
| Aces | 1 | 0 |
| Double Faults | 0 | 4 |
| 1st Serve % | 65% | 67% |
| 1st Serve Points Won | 22/31 (71%) | 24/38 (63%) |
| 2nd Serve Points Won | 12/17 (71%) | 8/19 (42%) |
| Break Points Saved | 0/1 (0%) | 3/7 (43%) |
| Service Games Played | 9 | 10 |
| Statistics on Return | ||
| 1st Return Points Won | 14/38 (37%) | 9/31 (29%) |
| Second Return Points Won | 11/19 (58%) | 5/17 (29%) |
| Break Points Won | 4/7 (57%) | 1/1 (100%) |
| Return Games Played | 10 | 9 |
| Statistics on Points | ||
| Total Service Points Won | 34/48 (71%) | 32/57 (56%) |
| Total Return Points Won | 25/57 (44%) | 14/48 (29%) |
| Total Points Won | 59/105 (56%) | 46/105 (44%) |
| Other Stats | ||
| Winners | 19 | 15 |
| Unforced errors | 17 | 25 |
| Net Approaches | 7/9 (78%) | 8/15 (53%) |
As it happened blatherings:
The Borg is in the house to watch The Nadal.
Aggressive Rafa breaks to start the match. (I barely got my compression stocking on in time to sit up for the match! That puppy’s a bitch to put on. Oh had a minor procedure done on my leg yesterday, thus the need for the stocking and getting up to walk every 30 minutes.)
Rafa consolidates and he’s up 2-0.
Jarkko moves Rafa well to go up 40-0. Jarkko into the net, Rafa passes, Jarkko lets the ball go by and it drops in: 40-15. Good hold for Nieminen.
Jarkko goes for a line and misses. Aggressive play from Jarkko earns him a point: 15-15. 30-15. Jarkko nails the baseline, Rafa gets caught a bit and sends his reply long: 30-30. Jarkko nets the serve return: 40-30. Nice serve down the middle gives Rafa control of a point and he finishes it off with a smash: 3-1.
Jarkko hits to the forehand and moves Rafa left, then finishes with a winner to Rafa’s backhand: 15-0. Jarkko smashes: 30-0. Nice first serve: 40-0. Another good serve and Rafa’s reply is long; Jarkko holds at love for 2-3.
It would be lovely if Rafa could get a first serve in. Longish rally ends on an error from Jarkko. Nice forehand winner from Rafa: 40-0. Rafa holds at love for 4-2. (Despite only getting 36% first serves in)
Rafa pushes Jarkko back bit by bit: 15-30. Jarkko works his way in and smacks a nice forehand that Rafa can’t get back in the court: 40-15. Drop shot into the net: 40-30. The net cord drops Rafa’s ball just over the net: deuce. Jarkko into the net, Rafa attempts a pass and Jarkko can’t quite get to it effectively: break point. Rafa has his forehand, but sends it just wide: deuce. Lovely backhand winner behind Rafa: game point. Some nice hitting from Nieminen and he holds for 3-4.
Time for me to talk a bit.
Jarkko into the net, Rafa passes: 30-15. Rafa pulled wide, sends reply cross court, down the line winner from Jarkko: 30-30. Ace: 40-30. Rafa holds.
Nice angle from Jarkko: 30-30. Double fault: 30-40. Horrid return of serve: deuce. Rafa’s forehand is out: game point. Rafa runs Jarkko all over the place, but the point ends with a forehand winner from Jarkko. He holds for 4-5.
Rafa sends a forehand into the net: 0-15. Rafa has a forehand set up for himself – perfect shot…except he sends it into the net: 0-30. We aren’t doing that serving for the set jitters thing again, are we, Rafa? Nice serve draws an error: 15-30. Nice forehand from Rafa and Jarkko’s down the line shot goes into the net: 30-30. Rafa hits short, Jarkko steps in and Rafa gets the ball right at his feet: 40-30. With a backhand passing shot, Rafa holds to take the first set 6-4.
48 minutes; 52% 1st serves in; 71% won on 1st; 77% won on 2nd; 1 ace; 1/3 break points won.
Nice and steady hold for Jarkko to start set 2. Rafa follows with a love hold of his own.
0-40. Rafa’s return of serve is long: 15-40. Jarkko nets a ball and Rafa breaks for a 2-1 lead.
Marcel is watching.
Rafa smashes: 15-0. Rafa’s shot is out: 15-15. Nice point from Jarkko and yet Rafa still manages to turn the tables and take it: 30-15. Time for me to walk again. Rafa holds for 3-1.
Beautiful backhand winner from Jarkko: 40-0. He holds at love for 2-3.
I need to get ready for work soon – can we wrap this up, boys?
Rafa holds for 4-2.
Jarkko serves into the middle of the wrong box and then into the doubles alley: 15-30. Nice forehand winner from Jarkko: 30-30. That backhand went into the doubles alley: 30-40. That was a fun point – ends with a Rafa passing shot winner for a break. He’s up 5-2. Seems to know I need to leave for work soon.
Jarkko’s shot is out: 15-15. Break point for Jarkko… 2nd serve…Rafa’s shot is long and he’s broken.
Jarkko hits a winner behind Rafa: 15-15. Rafa went for a very cutesy angle and I thought it was going to be his undoing, but the point ends with a forced error from Jarkko: 15-30. Jarkko pulled out wide and Rafa hits a winner into the open court: 15-40. Sad end, Jarkko double faults and Rafa takes the match: 6-4, 6-3.
Loading ...
Good win for Rafa. Nieminen gave Rafa the court time he needed and Rafa didn’t seem to need to push himself too much.
It was so lovely and gratifying to see Rafa back on court, esp on clay!
Vamos!
Rafa seemed a little bit cross eyed in pic. to me.
So happy for Rafa!!! Now we can all exhale, until the next match:)
He looks so good in that shirt, on that dirt <33
Peachy means victory! Vamos Rafa!
well it looks like everything works in djokovic way , well his clash with ferrer will not take place since Mr Ferrer just lost and pretty easily therefore that is why i allways say , it is way better if nadal takes care of the business himself rather than relying on others to do that for him
wish nadal imroves his game and be able to defend his title agaisnt anyone who steps into to final stage
Just Peachy Rafa!
Bjorn and Rafa at the same time was almost a little TOO much ;) I managed. ;)
Good win … not great , but the second set looked better than the first (save for that serving it out blip!), so hopefully that means onward and upward. Rafa this is your territory. Claim it.
Hope that leg heals up soon, Miri. Thanks for the blatherings. :)
Yep. Looked like Rafa was a bit rusty understandably and also a little bit cautious running around the court – maybe something to do with his bestest friend Pico getting injured with a sprained ankle and didn’t want to do the same. Boy he did look gorgeous in peachy peach – and yeah everyone his hair is getting longer and straighter, just like the early days.
Thank god he didn’t play Belluci – he was on fire, played a blinder with his killer powerful shots and totally destroyed Ferrer. If he plays like that he could take Djoker down – from his pure power.
Vamos Rafa,we can breathe again for him and his knees until the next match x
Back in 2004 Rafa had foot injury. Doctors told him at that time that he could not play Tennis anymore. Fast forward 8 years, he has won 1- a career grand slam 2- Olympic gold medal 3- Record tieing 6 times Roland Garrors 4- Davis Cup 5- He played in Wimbledon final in his last 5 participations (That’s a huge and comparable to grass court greats such as Becker and Edberg) 6- He has beaten Roger Federer in 8 Slams on 3 different surfaces
My guess that if Rafa was told back in 2003 that he would achieve all the above but at the cost of developing a chronic knee injury, he would have signed in with no hesitation. I suspect most of us would do the same.
Even if Rafa stops playing now, he has left a lasting footprint and a great legacy!
I say anything he wins from now, is only a bonus
Agree. Still, I think Rafa totally deserves many more huge bonuses. ;)
Peach?! No, no, no, no, no… Apricot. Which still looks like a bum, so it’s fine.
Love Jarkko forever! Rafa? Pfffttt. He didn’t impress me today, but I guess he’s got a bit of time to improve. Vamos and upwards!
Watching the match and, yes, it’s not Rafa’s best performance by a long shot. Having said that, he got the W and some much needed match practice against a high-caliber opponent (who was playing well actually), which is all that matters at this point.
One thing Rafa needs to get rid of -and FAST- is that new, disturbing habit of choking on match points, which he still did today on his best (and, thus, most confidence-inspiring)surface. Rafa used to be one of the best finishers out there and playing Monte Carlo, which is his favorite tournament, should be a good opportunity for him to regain the confidence in his game that seems to be eluding him these days.
Not meaning to start an argument but having watched quite a few ‘old’ matches of Rafa’s, he’s often had problems finishing off matches. He’s always had nerves but I think we all notice them more as we’ve seen him play ‘in the zone’ and even with the nerves wins easily. Hope he finds that level again soon! Vamos rafa!
l have noticed that too he has a problem to finish the match. Yeah,he finds his way back but that was not the case in the finals AO , remember 5th set, lead 4:2, serving for 5:2 ? l will never forget that! He had the match, he could have won if he just finished the match well but…
This has been symptomatic lately when serving for a match, he just gets nervous and it is really killing my nerves…
He may be able to find his way back against easier opponents or less consistent ones, but against top players playing with a lot of confidence and precision it will be more difficult and it will cost him the match, as was the case in the AO final. The harder the situation the more the nerves will cost you. It happens not only in tennis but in life in general.
Rafa started quiet careful, probably didn’t want to push his knees too hard. Second set was much better, he started to increase his level. Jarkko is a tough oponent, played so well today and l think it is good Rafa had to face such player early so he could test himself, his physical condition and improve his game. As he said he didn’t play an impressive match but didn’t play bad either. In my opinion, he played just enough to get the win! Good luck for the rest of the tournament! It would be amazing to win MC again, it would lift his confidence for the rest of the clay season. Well, l don’t want to think of his knees as a problem to win Trophies but if it happens it happens…he’ll recover and find his way back just as he did earlier.
Bellucci played great today, if he keeps up like this l am sure we’ll be watching very intense match vs. Djokovic….
I am happy to see Rafa back. And veryhappyforthewin. The first match on clay after a hard court season is never easy, I suppose. But the fact that he gets broken when serving for either the set or the match is becoming a habit and it worries me. It worries me even more than the short play, I think. And not even the peach/abricot tshirt that you can see from the moon can compensate for that :-(
This is wrong- Rafa was not broken in both sets. He was only broken once in the 2nd set. Other than that 1 game in Set 2, Rafa didn’t face a break point against his serve.
I didn’t say Rafa was broken in both sets in that specific match, please read my post again. I was talking about his tendency to get broken when serving for the set or the match, something he has been doing a lot recently.
Good luck Rafa, keep it up!
Totally missed the match, thanks to new electronic system installation at work. :( Love the outfit. Peachy shirt=peachy mind : )
Keep it up Rafa !!!