Rafa is really struggling at the mo, I don't know whats bothering him, but I wish what ever it is, he can solve it and get back to the Rafa we know, watching him nowadays is so nerve wrecking I just cannot bear it!

i miss rafa's fist-pumping for every fantastic point.

Nadal is lucky he was playing one of his spanish "girlfriends". Had he played any other reasonable player he would have lost.
Maybe Fish can do the job.

Not true, it depends on who is his opponent actually. When Rafa is not playing well, he's vulnerable to big hitters, the likes of Berdych, Gonzo, Sod, Delpo and now Verdasco. He can somehow find a way to win if his opponent can't blow him off the court( of course there are exceptions like Davy, Nalby, Nole).

This slugging and scrapping through a badly played match may actually help him where his confidence is concerned. Like he said, winning matches when he wasn't playing well is even better in boosting his confidence than playing well and win. Of course he should know what are the areas he needs to improve in order to have better chances of winning his coming matches.

lucky: I posted a comment earlier in the week about how Nadal underperformed last year at both Montreal and Cincy. I'm pinning my hopes that he will erupt again this year when he gets to Flushing Meadow.

The only time Rafa has been vulnerable to Verdasco was at the AO in 2009 and maybe Queens in 2006, and yesterday. The 9 other times Rafa has beaten him easily. Just wanted to make that clear, even though I agree with the main thrust of what you say luckystar, that if he is not on top form big hitters can trouble him.

The one thing yesterday's match proves is that the spaniards do not hand matches to Rafa which is what some people like to think. Verdasco would dearly have loved to have even just 1 tick against Rafa like Ferrer, Feli, Ferrero & Garcia-Lopez who have beaten Rafa at least once.

Yes ed, I was also thinking about that. Its a bit strange that sometimes Rafa can serve so well, as in the Benneteau match but come the next day against Verdasco, he served relatively poorly. I was thinking maybe Rafa was trying to protect his shoulders so that he won't get them injured.

He served well too in the first set of that Dodig match, maybe during first match in each tourament, he's eager to get a win quickly and calm his own nerve and gives himself confidence. I could see from Rafas facial expressions that he's nervous. Also, while waiting to receive serves, he keeps taking all these little side steps left and right, back and forth and to me, it feels like he's not calm out there.

I think the way Verdasco played yesterday caught him by surprised and he was too defensive yesterday and allowed Verdasco to pushed him further back from the baseline. He had reverted to his defensive mode once he's not confident and not playing well. However, I do feel that come the USO, his competitive self will appear again and he'll fight all the way to defend his title. To me, the most important thing is that Rafa need not worry about his injury problems and play freely. As good as Nole was during the Wimbledon final, I feel that Rafa couldn't play freely then as he couldn't put much weight on his left foot and that affected his forehand shots. He also let his nerve overcome him and made those uncharacteristic errors while serving to stay in the set.

I hope for more wins here at Cincy, maybe some difficult ones too so that he can convince himself that he can win, playing well or playing badly.

If Verdi had concentrated more on what was needed to win the match, rather than being obsessed with the prospect of beating Rafa, he might well have pulled out the win yesterday. As it was he allowed frustration to get the better of him resulting in some unseemly displays of bad temper which ultimately was his undoing.

His snub of Rafa at the net will have cost him the respect of a lot of his countrymen - not to mention that of tennis fans like myself. I dont care how much a player is hurting from the loss, they should honour the courtesy handshake at the end of the match.

ed, he behaved really badly, reminders of Safin at his worst, and I suspect that cost him the match. His dad was watching him again and don't suppose anyone will comment on that....whereas poor Judy....sexism is alive and kicking isn't it?
Of course I've never been too keen since he beat Andy in one of the Slams ;) AO?

Not only was Nando's dad watching he was talking to him all the time at least Judy never gets involved with Andy whilst he is playing. This is the thing, fathers can watch their children ad infinitum but mothers are not allowed. It's the same way they used to go on about Dimentieva always looking to her mum for direction during a match.

Judy started coaching Andy as a little boy, she knows about tennis and more to the point, she know a lot about his tennis so it can only help him that his Mum is there for him and at least when the official coach has gone home, they can still talk about his game.

@deuce, Safin's ire was never directed at anyone else, maybe the umpires and line-umpires - but even then he has never crossed borders where he was blatantly disrespectful. He was always a good loser, was Marat. Verdasco was like a petulant child that day, and yes he should have beaten the handicapped Rafa. But Rafa's aura is still prevalent and it helped him.

Wow,
I don't think I've ever been so engrossed in such a poor quality match as this one...ever!
Some flashes of brilliance from both.
More of the opposite however, much more.
Poor Verdasco, he just can?t see beyond Puss N Boots can he?
Even when he hands himself to him on a silver platter.

Wow,
I don't think I've ever been so engrossed in such a poor quality match as this one...ever!
Sosueme , 8/19/11 1:10 PM

So why were you engrossed??? You couldn't take your eyes off the charismatic Rafa Nadal, I'm sure.

I was engrossed by the tension & drama of the event from BOTH players Nadline my sweet.
Hate to disappoint, but I don't share your infatuation with Puss n B.
ha-ha-ha!

^^^Not that you'll admit to it. I bet you are a closet fan.

Sos, you are contradicting yourself. If the tension and drama from both players were engrossing, how on earth could you describe the match as lacking in quality? I am baffled, truly baffled.

Sos, I think I get it. You were disappointed that Rafa didn't play his scintillating tennis yesterday. I regretted that also.

Nadline Honey,
I've always said I'm a fan of Rafa's
&Roger's
&Delpo's
&Novie's
& etc
But there's really only 1 that takes the Fan out of Fanaticism for me.
MUZZY BEAR!

Nadline,
Did we actuallly watch the same match?
It was right down to the wire!
Neither of them could close it out!
Sometimes it was Rafa's, other times Verdasco's, some great shots but a Mountain of DF.
No Rafa was not near his best & probably should have lost but then so should have Verdasco who blew maybe his only chance to get a W.
Sometimes drama can replace quality in a sporting event (esp non team) and this was one example.
Put it this way, I wouldn't want to see a match like that too often.
As I'm sure you would agree...

If I wasn't a fan of either of them I would have enjoyed it immensely but I couldn't relax and enjoy it because I cared about who won in the end, but there is no way I would say it was lacking in quality. I am actually watching the recording right now, and Rafa was surely not playing as well as he can, but Verdasco was playing above his usual level.

I just Rafa's match with Verdasco, did he do what I thought he did at the end of the match, just after Rafa's match-winning smash...........spit on the floor?

I never liked Verdasco but I did not dislike him either before...................but if he did what i thought i saw him do.............then that puts him firmly in my doghouse.............what a prick..

Yes ritb, I noticed that too when watching the recording. I think he must have thrown his racquet as well because he didn't have it when he spat on the court. All I can say is, this puts paid to the lie that the spaniards hand matches to Rafa wrapped up as a gift.