Expected though !!!!!!!! well done Rafa !!!!!!!!!!!

great job, rafa! as always, i'm rooting for you!

Thanks for the analysis Cheryl.

While Nadal had an easy win today, I don't think it says much about his form. Nadal's win was more due to the 'number 1 aura' than to what he did on court. Berrer( who is no mug: recall Djokovic vs Berrer on grass) seemed to be petrified everytime the ball went to Rafa's forehand. Nadal had a mediocre serving day. He had a low first serve percentage compared to his usual standards. He made a number of Unforced Errors on the backhand. Nadal also seemed to be standing way back behind the baseline to pick Berrer's not-so-awesome serve, leading to some very short returns. Berrer, ofcourse was not good enough to make Rafa pay.

All that said, Nadal did enough to win and it was not all bad. His forehand seemed to be in the groove. But a deeper examination of his game would come against a more capable opponent.

imjimmy.."But a deeper examination of his game would come against a more capable opponent." thats a good statement.But when u say "While Nadal had an easy win today, I don't think it says much about his form. Nadal's win was more due to the 'number 1 aura' than to what he did on court"..i diagreee here slightly.....mate luk..the way rafa plays rite now like cheryl mentioned so agressive...luk at the match pnt.he is standing on the baseline and taking those bakhands almost on the rise until berrer made an error...he is striking the ball alot harder in comparison to last year...the use of sliced bakhand ws xcellent...on 2 ocassions he outfoxd berrer bt hitting sliced bakhand passing shots DOWN THE LINE ..that shows he has more options and greater vareity.He now has the abilit to flatten out his bakhand quite often and even the forehand when needed....rafa has learned xtremely well to play wid controlled agression!!!!

A very telling stat ws that in last years first match nadal's first serve average speed ws 108 mph..it ws 114 mph yesterday!!6mph injection of pace is quite alot ..again this shows he is improving so rapidly.

U r rite to say that he didnt have a good serving say....1st serve % ws low...unusual...no aces..unusual...bt u have to xcuse this becoz it ws his first match!!! 2.5 ratio of winner/u.errors is fantastic in a rnd 2 mtch...luk how rusty the other top 3 were in their matches!!! keep up the good work rafa...u have a solid chance of winning here!!by far the most impressive of the top 4!!

Well, all that said, Berrer was a QUALIFIER and Nadal was the only player of the top 4 to face a qualifier in the 1st match. So I am not putting alot of emphasis on this performance - Berrer was clearly terrified from the onset.

Yes, Berrer is a qualifier, but he's not "just" a so so player. He took Stepanek to 4 sets in the AO, and Moya to 2 tie breaks in Vienna. Nadal's game with him wasn,t even on its high level and he took only 3 games showed the quality of Rafa's improvement.

Oh Yes - the play of the 112th player in the world vs the #1 was a testament to Nadal's superiority on HC's. LOL As a Rafa fan (& an avid player) I find this sort of drivel insulting. Let's see how he plays against higher ranked player before assess his improvements.

Did anybody said SUPERIORITY on HC? Winning the AO, a GRAND slam tournament (IF YOU ARE AN avid PLAYER and a REAL Rafa fan?) is reason enough for you to BELIEVE that he has IMPROVED... or there is another "meaning of improvement" in the dictionary?