Viña del Mar: No contest
AP Photo/Luis Hidalgo
In the day’s last semifinal, Rafa took on #26 Jeremy Chardy of France. I went into the match hoping Chardy would push Rafa a bit. I think Rafa needs it to feel more confident. But that just wasn’t happening. Rafa was playing pretty well, Chardy was not. At all. A player stands no chance against Rafa on clay – even a rusty Rafa – if they aren’t playing their best. It was pretty much a no-contest affair as Rafa is through to the final: 6-2, 6-2.
Stats:
| Nadal | Chardy | |
|---|---|---|
| Statistics on Serve | ||
| Aces | 2 | 4 |
| Double Faults | 3 | 0 |
| 1st Serve % | 79% | 78% |
| 1st Serve Points Won | 32/39 (82%) | 18/33 (55%) |
| 2nd Serve Points Won | 4/10 (40%) | 4/9 (44%) |
| Break Points Saved | 5/5 (100%) | 2/6 (33%) |
| Service Games Played | 8 | 8 |
| Statistics on Return | ||
| 1st Return Points Won | 15/33 (45%) | 7/39 (18%) |
| Second Return Points Won | 5/9 (56%) | 6/10 (60%) |
| Break Points Won | 4/6 (67%) | 0/5 (%) |
| Return Games Played | 8 | 8 |
| Statistics on Points | ||
| Total Service Points Won | 36/49 (73%) | 22/42 (52%) |
| Total Return Points Won | 20/42 (48%) | 13/49 (27%) |
| Total Points Won | 56/91 (62%) | 35/91 (38%) |
Some as it happened blatherings:
Chardy is serving to start the match. On the second point, Rafa pushes Chardy out wide to his backhand further and further with each shot and then comes into the net to hit a short angle into the open court. This was not a good sign for Chardy. Rafa breaks to start the match.
Rafa’s forehand is looking good so far. Well, I just jinxed him – he was a little tight on that one and hit it into the net: 15-15. Chardy sends a ball long: 30-15. Double fault: 30-30. Rafa grunts, Chardy puffs…they run each other around until Chardy nets a ball: 40-30. Double fault: deuce. Or not, the out call is overruled after the chair takes a look at the mark. But Rafa goes ahead and double faults any way: deuce. Forehand down the line winner gets Chardy a break point. A nice serve out wide draws an error from Chardy: deuce. Rafa will have none of that…he double faults to give Chardy another break point. Nice forehand that Rafa follows into the net, but he doesn’t need to as Chardy can’t get the ball back: deuce. Chardy sends a ball out (that he shouldn’t have): game point. Oh wow. He shouldn’t have won that point, Chardy had him, but sent a ball long. Game to Rafa: 2-0.
Ace: 15-15. Forehand down the line winner from Rafa: 15-30. Chardy sends another long ball: 15-40. Second serve. Rafa bosses a forehand to break and go up 3-0.
And then Rafa held at love. And the match is so one sided, it’s boring and I’m crocheting while watching now.
Rafa goes on to take the first set 6-2 in just 33 minutes and 41 seconds.
I’d hoped that maybe Chardy would reset a bit after that 1st set. Oh well. There’s still time?
No. Chardy ran out of time. Actually, he ran out of game before he got onto the court. He’s a far better player than he showed tonight. I’m so glad my super-sucky days at work aren’t done in front of a global TV audience.
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Rafa, Good Luck for tomorrow! Go go Rafa!
Seemed like a quick match, quick workout.
I am looking forward to the next match.
Rafa is improving, One step at a time.
I wish him all the luck in the world for both finals.
woo hoo! 3 matches played, 3 matches won and not a set dropped. Ditto in the doubles. Couldn’t have asked for a better week for his return to the tour. Just want to wish them both lots of luck in both finals tomorrow.
BTW, for fans in the UK, Sky Sports 3 will be showing the match at 9pm on Sunday night ON THE RED BUTTON.
Great thanks for the information. Fed up with the laptop but better than nothing.
Happy for the win! Do you know the time of the final tomorrow? I missed the semi today and since it ended fast, it was done when i got to the TV.
6pm local time – the OOP for Rafa’s current tournament is just about always linked to from the side bar on every page of the site (sometimes it’s not there if I forget to add it at the start of a tournament)
Well he has a 0-1 win over Horacio Zeballos so hopefully he will be biting one or two trophies by the end of this week.
This win will give his confidence a nice boost going into the next tournament.
i meant 1-0 win
I am pleased that he has improved with each match. I thought it might take more time, or is it the level of competition? Don’t really know, but it is a good sign for his return and recovery. Sunday 2 finals – Vina del Mar was certainly the place to begin anew, great fan support. He has been adopted by the Chileans, and it seems mutual.
Good he is playing doubles with his friend, Pico. Always helps.
“I’m so glad my super-sucky days at work aren’t done in front of a global TV audience.”
Could not agree with you more on that one!
Maybe there’ll be so much less expectation on Zeballos tomorrow that he can just go for broke and play wonderfully? I agree, i think Rafa would hugely benefit from a more diffiuclt opponent – ah well, it’s a 250 tourney, can’t expect too much i guess.
Of course, still happy for the win. :D Have a great final Rafa!
Way to go Rafa. After seeing how Chardy was playing at the Aussie Open thought this would have been a really tough contest and one that he might have lost considering his lack of match fitness. I think it shows that the plan to come back on clay is 100% the right thing to do. there is nothing like winning to make you feel good about yourself and your game.
Vamos Rafa, eat them up out there tomorrow.
Rafa you ROCK ! Best to you for your health and fun competing !!
Rafa is feeling good. YouTube video (in English) after Chardy match:
Does anyone know what the minute’s silence was for before his match to Chardy? Also anyone notice the branding of this tournament – full of red hearts! If you look at some of Miri’s pics or in the vids where Rafa might be standing to search or returning etc. there is a red heart right behind him – how appropriate!
I wonder if any of Rafa’s fellow tennis competitors are envious of Rafa in a tiny 250 tourney being treated like a rock star / god! and there is nothing but Rafa mania in the news……x
I think most of the players understand that Rafa is a champion, a former world number 1 with 11 grandslam titles, he is going to be treated like a rock star in some small 250 tournament where none of the top players venture to, where they could never fill all the seats and most of the major TV networks and journalists never pay attention to this tournament.
It is a positive thing for the tournament and the country.
I also think that there must be a little unease with a couple lower ranked players who play these tournaments to earn a few points and win a little money.
With the king of clay there they stand less chance of winning, cause despite Rafa returning from a long injury he is still a champion who has an incredible clay court record.
Hi guys! Such great news to wake up to. I didn’t watch this due to time difference, but I am so happy to read he did well. Any sigh of the knee bothering him?
Sign*, sorry. You can tell I’m not completely awake yet ;-)
Miri, thanks for the review of the Chardy match..I couldnt watch it due to time difference.. But the first thing I did when I woke up today was to run to the computer and learn the result.. Somehow I was a bit nervous about Chardy..After all he is number 23, no ?
I am so happy that Rafa is enjoying the matches.. He is back to the competition. Wonderful to play to supporting and loving crowds.. Two finals today..Vamos Rafa !
*
So happy that Rafa won easily cause he has so many muches in a row at the moment…. Which is of course great for us and he needs match practice, but I am a bit worried about too much doubles…
I didnt see any sign of the knee troublng him, knock on wood.
Chardy is no 26, but seemed totally awed by Rafa the King of Clay. They had never played before and with all the amazing buzz around Rafa who can blame him?:)
Rafa vs Chardy on YouTube (OK video quality), there will probably be a HD video uploaded later.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AqMq2l05h3k
Great to see Rafa & Juan doing well. Good luck for the matches tomorrow.
Vamos our Rafa & Juan.
So happy he’s in both finals. It will give him so much confidence. Thank you Miri for the tweets with the scores. I woke up in middle of night (UK time) and immediately looked at twitter to see what had happened and could go back to sleep easily after the feedback on the match.
Good luck for this evening Rafa and all Rafa fans!
Amazing Performance!!! Rafa is the one and only TRUE King of Clay!!!! Hail to the King!!!
Quick win for Rafa and not much of a fight. Rafa looking good and more confident, and it is a joy to listen to the commentators on my streaming, Spanish, that is. Even though I don´t understand very much, they seemed to be so thrilled on his behalf, and the crowd really know how to embrace Rafa.
Good luck for both matches. Can´t wait and a bit tired after watching at the crack of dawn, but hey, it´s Rafa! Sleeping isn´t an option when he is playing!!
I so agree with Tina – it is fun to hear the Spanish announcers even though I can’t understand half of it. But their joy in having Rafa back is obvious and to see the joy on Rafa’s face is gorgeous! He really is happy and is doing so much better every match. I think 2 finals today will be great for his timing and hitting and he will go to Brazil feeling great.
I do wonder what Maria thinks about the lovely ladies who seem to be Rafa’s new bodyguards :-)
Yes Phyzzie, and a happy and confindent Rafa is the most important thing right now, I think.
Sorry “confident”
I’m in England, does anyone know what time GMT the doubles is on. I’ll stay up no matter what. Wondering what the time difference is in Brazil . If a big difference then ill be up next week too but I’ll cope it’s Rafa.
Hope he wins both finals but I wish him well win or lose.
The doubles match follows straight on from when the singles one finishes….maybe they’ll give him a short breather inbetween to change, freshen up etc, don’t think there is a specific start time though.
Hi Sharon, I’m in the UK too and Brazil is 2hrs behind us, so better than Chile ;)
Does anyone know why Chardy wasn’t able to hit what looked like routine balls back? Is Rafa’s new racquet creating extra topspin or was Chardy just not playing well at all?