No Super Mario today
Rafa took on Mario Ancic in the third round of the BNP Paribas Open today. Ancic’s ranking has dropped horribly thanks to a prolonged bout of mono, but he’s doing his best to work his way back up and got off to a good start in this tournament. But it’s one thing playing against lower ranked players and another playing against the top guys. Rafa was smacking the ball and looking confident as he rolled over Ancic: 6-2, 6-2.
The agonknee of defeat
In a highly anticipated match-up that felt more like a slam semi than a quarterfinal, Rafa took on #4 Andy Murray today in Melbourne. They came out swinging and playing high-quality no-holds barred tennis. The match was tight, but Murray was out-playing Rafa who was having trouble keeping his shots in the court. And then…the knee. Rafa hurt his right knee at the end of the second set and then aggravated it further in the third. He tried to keep going, but… Rafa’s Australian Open comes to an end with just as many, if not more, questions about the state
Ace this!
Rafa’s opponent for his fourth round Australian Open match was the hard serving freaky-tall #39 Ivo Karlovic. This was their first meeting in a major, but Rafa went into it with a 2-0 head-to-head record. But for someone who likes to gain rhythm in matches and has been having problems with his return of serve, this is a nightmare match up. Or, so we thought. Rafa played a smart game and was finally getting a groove on his returns. He was stepping up into them and it was a lovely thing to see. Rafa is through to the next round
Squeaker
Rafa took on #26 Phillipp Kohlschreiber in the third round of the Australian Open tonight. It was the forth meeting between the two with Rafa only dropping 2 sets in their prior meetings. He got off to a shaky start tonight – firing off 17 unforced errors in the first set – but managed to work his way into the match until the bottom fell out again in set 3. They traded brakes in the 4th and I had no idea who was going to win. But Rafa worked his “not playing well but still eeking it out” magic and
No lucko for Lacko
For his second match at the Australian Open, Rafa played #75 Lukas Lacko of the Slovak Republic. Lacko’s ranking has been on a huge rise this year, but he was a bundle of nerves and hitting error after error. Rafa, on the other hand, was looking good. Still not hitting as deep or moving with as much confidence as last year, but he’s definitely improving. His error rate was a bit high, but I got the feeling that was because he was going for shots more – taking advantage of the lop-sided match. Rafa’s through to the 3rd round: 6-2,
So. Darn. Close. But…
Rafa and #6 Davydenko played in the final of the ExxonMobil Qatar Open today. Davydenko had won the last two matches these guys played on hard court and has been in excellent form of late, so everyone was expecting a battle. The first set, however, was a blowout. Rafa was doing whatever he wanted with the ball and he took it 6-0. Things tightened up in set two – way tight. Davy took it in a tiebreak 10-8. They exchanged breaks in the third until Davy got the set winning break in the tenth game to take it 6-4.
Starting 2010 on the right foot
Rafa greeted the 2010 season by playing David Ferrer in the second round of a high dollar exhibition match in Abu Dhabi today. While his tennis wasn’t the best we’ve seen from him, it was a huge improvement over the WTF. He was hitting the ball harder, deeper and more consistently. Ferrer played a good first set, but couldn’t pull it out despite having 5 break points. The second set was more one-sided as Rafa broke early and rolled on through. He wins 7-6(3), 6-3.
A little spark, but no fire
It was do or die tonight for Rafa in London as he took on Davydenko in his second WTF round robin match. The first set was painful, let’s not talk about it. Much like his first match, Rafa looked tentative. Oh wait, we aren’t talking about it. There was a bit of fire in the second set and Rafa forced it to a tiebreaker, but he will not make it to the semis as he is the only player to lose two round robin matches in straight sets: 1-6, 6-7(4).
Rhythm overrun
Rafa met world #3 Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals of the Paris Masters. These guys have had some tight matches this year and we were all hoping for another exciting one today. It started out looking like it was going that way, then cyborg Nole showed up and wiped the court with Rafa. It’s not like Rafa was playing bad; Nole was on fire. He was seeing the ball well and anticipating all Rafa’s shots. Rafa’s Paris tournament is over as he loses: 2-6, 3-6. Onward to London.
Wait, I won that?
Rafa and countryman Nicolas Almagro attempted to follow-up the emotional farewell to Safin today in Paris. Almagro hadn’t taken a set off Rafa in their previous 4 meetings, but it only took 32 minutes for that stat to change. Almagro had a plan and was executing well; Rafa was serving awful and his timing was off on his shots. Suddenly, Rafa won a 2nd set tiebreaker. Then things got really weird. I’m not sure I can or want to describe that third set. Let’s just say I never want to see one like it again. Rafa is through
Recent Comments
- miri on No Super Mario today
- Kathy on No Super Mario today
- CC on IW: 3rd round videos, videos, videos
- Kate on IW: audio interview
- teejustice on IW: post round 3 presser
- natch on IW: 3rd round videos, videos, videos
- Dolcefuga on Facebook update: 15 Mar
- mj on IW: 3rd round videos, videos, videos
- k on Vote for Rafa
- mj on Facebook update: 15 Mar
Loading ...General Tennis
- Down the Line!
- Forty Deuce
- GOTOTENNIS
- Great Tennis Photos
- HeartSetMatch
- Mens Tennis Forums
- Tennis Nexus
- Tennishead
- Tennistalk
- Tennisworld
More Rafa
- ATP Player Profile
- El Toro De Rafa
- Fundación Rafa Nadal
- Official Facebook Page
- Official Site
- Rafael Nadal
- The World of Rafa Nadal – book
- Vamos Rafa
- VamosBridgade
Silliness
Support this site
Shirts, jackets, scarves, prints and a calendar - get some fun gear and help pay this site's server costs.
Sign up for Tennis TV via this link and the site will earn a 20% commission.
