IW: Sometimes, hard isn’t so hard
Photo by Beth Wilson
Rafa played his first tournament hard court match in 300 some odd days by taking on Ryan Harrison in the 2nd round of the BNP Paribas Open (aka, Indian Wells). It’s 3:30am and I need sleep so all I’m going to say is: I thought Rafa looked good. He played fairly aggressively and, despite a few wobbles, the match never really felt in doubt. He’s through the the next round: 7-6(3), 6-2. Oh, and he seemed to be pretty darn happy about that.
Stats:
| Nadal | Harrison | |
|---|---|---|
| Statistics on Serve | ||
| Aces | 1 | 5 |
| Double Faults | 5 | 0 |
| 1st Serve % | 70% | 53% |
| 1st Serve Points Won | 36/46 (78%) | 25/35 (71%) |
| 2nd Serve Points Won | 10/19 (53%) | 13/31 (42%) |
| Break Points Saved | 4/5 (80%) | 4/7 (57%) |
| Service Games Played | 10 | 10 |
| Statistics on Return | ||
| 1st Return Points Won | 10/35 (29%) | 10/46 (22%) |
| Second Return Points Won | 18/31 (58%) | 9/19 (47%) |
| Break Points Won | 3/7 (43%) | 1/5 (20%) |
| Return Games Played | 10 | 10 |
| Statistics on Points | ||
| Total Service Points Won | 46/65 (71%) | 38/66 (58%) |
| Total Return Points Won | 28/66 (42%) | 19/65 (29%) |
| Total Points Won | 74/131 (56%) | 57/131 (44%) |
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Vamos RAFA!!!
Iam so happy that rafa is getting better . I give anything to see him in the final it will be I think our dream come true . Love to see him winning more matchs . Vvvvvvvammmossss
I’m shouting at the computer “colm Rafa” in the first set, seems to have worked. Well done for the first match, will watch the second if I can keep my eyes open (8 hours behind IW)!
i missed it due to time difference and couldnt stay awake as im ill at the moment. so happy to hear he played well and won. Great confidence boost for him. vamos Rafa :)
I watched Rafa in this match and I thought this was a good start. Movement seemed good, though I think he was playing within himself, understandably. The air of “colm” was evident, and I believed he was going to come out on top in key points. Hopefully however far he gets in IW will add to match fitness, he’s looking close to match tough.( hope he skips Miami to rest knee before European clay court swing)
Agree why play Miami especially if he gets to the QF or better. why tempt fate?
I only managed the highlights this morning due to time difference and judging from that the second set looked brilliant. What seemed to be working is the return of serve. He’ll need that. Oh, passing shots were looking good too. Net play too.
I watched the whole match and thought Rafa played very well considering he hasn’t played on a hard court since Miami last year. He got off to a quick start and played some amazing shots, then had a blip before winning the first set. The second set was much easier for him and at no time did I ever feel he wasn’t going to win this one. I’m sure he is feeling pleased with his efforts last night. Best of luck Rafa with your next match against Mayer.
uncharacteristic of Rafa to have 5 double faults, obviously it has a lot to do with the nerves. there were a lot of shaky moments especially towards the middle of the first set but i expect him to improve in the coming matches.
can’t wait for the rafa/fed match. that would be a site to see, this early in his comeback.
I think the double faults might be related to the time-warning penalties, and him trying to play faster. I could be wrong; but he doesn’t normally have so many DFs.
ah, good call, Patzin. That sounds about right!
I don’t think so. Rafa’s first serve, both % and points won was excellent. It was the second he was missing and he’s under much less time pressure to get that off. Possibly he was just trying to make it a little too good.
A good start to a long and tough U.S. hardcourt matches… One match at a time and keep on improving… Vamossssss Rafaaaaa :P
Great photo Miri!
Shaky in mid to end of 1st set with a litte nerves and caution as expected but he played the important points well as champions do. Good 2nd set, moved better and seemed more relaxed. Mayer next so Rafa has another match to adjust his game.
Stayed awake to watch the 1st match but with the 8hr time difference it’s going to be difficult to watch him every time :(
Rafa looked great, aside from a few nail-biting moments in the first set. What a joy to see him playing and enjoying himself, and even more fun to watch highlights today! He must be relieved and happy. Vamos!
It was great to see Rafa play at IW again and be so well received by his fans and the crowd. He was shaky, to be sure, but that was to be expected. I thought he did a lot of things well, and I was very pleased to see him 1) hit the ball deep into the court (it took him a while to find that range, but …) and 2) stay inside the court to dictate points rather than hang out 4+ feet beyond the baseline and defend. Both of those things had been frustrating aspects of his game previously – especially against the top 3 – so it was encouraging to see him making those changes. Historically it has always taken him a few matches on a new surface to really find himself, and I don’t see why it should be any different this time. VAMOS!!♥
And I forgot to mention that I was a bit concerned at the beginning of the match when Rafa came out onto the court looking less than pleased. I wouldn’t say his expression was angry, but it was odd – not his usual excited-to-be-playing-tennis-let’s-get-to-work expression. It was close to a scowl. Did anybody else notice that?
I thought he played well, abit nervous on some points and naturally not showing nearly the confidence he had been showing on the clay courts of Acapulco. I’m sure once he gets a few more matches under his belt on the hard courts, his confidence will increase. He does seem to be alittle more guarded in his movement on the hard course, understandable with his knee problem. But it will be interesting to see if over the season we see more of a difference between the way he plays on clay versus other surfaces.
So happy with the win. It would have been a blow out if not for Rafa’s numerous unforced errors. I was getting my torture towel ready in the first set, good thing the second set was easy. Oh Rafa, I never thought I’d miss the “enjoy the suffering” moments. As long as it means seeing you play all the time, I’d take it. :) Vamos!
Hi All,
Great win Rafa on your first hard court match! He looked like the wind was bothering him at times, but pretty good considering!!
Anyone know Rafa’s practice schedule today? I don’t want to miss it! Gracias! My cell is 303-847-9923 and you can text me here at IW. VAMOS!!
so good to see our man back on court. …and enthusiastic greeting from the crowd as he walked in!!
Plusses for me were (1) the quickness of his ovement – esp in the first set he seemed to be dancing on his feet (2) backhand power, (3) his serve (i spite of the double faults the serve was very good today) (4) depth of his shots – esp on the many unforced (just) long or (just) wide unforced errors. As Prash says, except for the unforced error count it would have been a blowout… – and these will go down as he gets the feel of the court under pressure and makes transition from clay.
one match at a time now…Mayer next? who is he? Then a great match up would be Gulbis…who is playing well
Congrats for the win our Rafa and well played. Love the aggressive play.
Vamos.
ive noticed Rafa is coming in to the net more (11 times i think against Harrison) successfully to. I noticed it in Acapulco also.
His net play is an area of his game which has improved and i love watching him at the net, his quick reactions and amazing shots at times.
after watching the final match at acapulco whre rafa massacred david ruthlessly with an immaculate style, the first match in hard court with a baby of tennis both in age & tennis seedings turned out to be a cropper from rafal’s standard.surprising that rafa prduces excellent results while facing renowned stars but fails to impress agaist novices.what must be the reason? rafa must introspect.also, i consider the first match of rafa at iw is not upto the mark from nadal’s standard.the change in strategy in playing tennis after his long sojourn is great & it ll work well agist the top 3, i hope.rafa, pl rectify your mistakes quickly before it is too late.
Awesome pic Miri, and nice result Rafa! Vamos to you both in IW!
Great job for rafa!!!WE,rafa fans should be happy and appreciate that he is back .He is doing his best as allways!!!Vamos champion,vamos Rafa!!!!
Rafa played tentatively in 1st set, which I think is natural being 1st match on HC for a long time. I think he became more comfortable in 2nd set, having more confidence in his movement. I blame time penalties for contributing to the DF count.
He is relishing time back on tour at IW; this is one of his fav tournaments; Larry E. loves him.
I am proud of how Rafa played in his first IW match. Rafa will gain more confidence as the matches go on.
Rafa won’t play Mayer as he has pulled out with a back injury. No Rafa tonight, now :(
Here’s a presser with him talking about Mayer withdrawal and other things
He is so honest and cute
Youtube: http://alturl.com/7gfij
Isn’t it a little worrying that he says he’s not practising much?.
Great pic Miri, btw. Amazing :)
No. He’s deliberately lessened the amount of practice as a part of his Save My Knees campaign. He said in NY, I think, that an hour and a half per day practice is enough for him at this stage of his career.
Thanks for this link, micamica! While everyone else, including the journos, I’m sure, is wondering about the effect of the walkover on Rafa, Rafa is only concerned with Mayer, what happened to him, how soon he’ll be back. Typical Rafa!