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.

15 Mar 2010 | 17 Comments

#3 seeds? Team Cuteness says “HA!”

Like most of you, I missed out on seeing team cuteness take on the #3 seeds on doubles, Dlouhy and Paes*. But take them on they did. Rafa and Marc! made it through in 3 sets (well, 2 sets and a super tie break – it always feels like cheating calling that 3 sets): 6-4, 3-6, 10-6. Right now, Verdasco/F. Lopez are leading their match, so perhaps we will be blessed with the doubles match of super Spanish hotness…although most of us will not get to see it. *sigh*

Some doubles footage posted by BNPParibasOpen and passed on by Rafafan:

14 Mar 2010 | 26 Comments

Hello, IW with your windy and lip-scorching sun

Rafa worked his way through Schuettler and some horrid wind to win his first match at Indian Wells: 6-4 6-4. Not that I got to see it. I was in the desert taking pictures of old, abandoned and rusty things. Hey, the day was sold out and a girl has to keep herself entertained. For those who got to watch it, what do you think? How was he playing? Was the play good enough to out-weigh the horribleness of the shorts?

13 Mar 2010 | 92 Comments

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

26 Jan 2010 | 160 Comments

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

24 Jan 2010 | 48 Comments

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,

20 Jan 2010 | 58 Comments

Well, hello Australia

After the fun and good will of the Hit for Haiti, Rafa got the serious part of his Australian Open started by playing #70 Peter Luczak. This was their first meeting since a 2003 qualifying match (Hamburg) that Rafa won handily (6-2, 6-1). The first set of today’s match was pretty tight – tighter than I thought it would be – until the tiebreaker which Rafa wonn 7-0. After that, the steamroll was fully engaged and Rafa roared through set 2 to take it 6-1. Rafa broke in the first game of set 3, but Luczak did his best to

18 Jan 2010 | 61 Comments

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.

9 Jan 2010 | 230 Comments

Domination

Rafa took on #29 Viktor Troicki today in the Doha semi-finals. When I say “took on”, I mean “completely massacred.” A strong service game from Troicki started the match. He should have quit right there as it was the last game he would win until the end of the second set. Troicki stepped it up right at the end and Rafa dropped off a bit, but Rafa still managed to win 6-1, 6-3. He’ll play Davydenko in the final tomorrow.

8 Jan 2010 | 81 Comments

Wham, bam, thank you, ma’am

In what looked more like a first round match up than a quarterfinal, Rafa played qualifier and #122 Steve Darcis in Doha today. I didn’t get to see the match and, even if I did, it would probably be difficult to gauge Rafa’s level of play given the opponent, but the score suggests a slaughter. It took less than 30 minutes for Rafa to take the first set 6-1. Darcis retired early in the second set. Rafa is through to the semis where he’ll meet Troicki: 6-1, 2-0 R.

7 Jan 2010 | 20 Comments