Yeah! Goooood news. I look forward to seeing him on Wednesday's match.

cheryl> u see if rafa have tape on the knees or went w out it? lololol roig's 1st win in 20 years!!!

Cheryl, we would all LLLLLOOOOVVVVEEEE to know how well Rafa played. Your only comment was a little to sparce for true Nadal Fans! I hope he plays all his matches in his sleeveless attire, the shirts just don't work, its like when Sampson got a haircut. YEAH TEAM NADAL and WAY TO GO FRANCISCO :) !!!!!

cheryl disappeared w chucho acasuso again or what? :D :D :D GIVE RAFA FANS A REPORT BEFORE WE DIE FROM INSANITY plzzzzzzzzz!!!!!!

great news, rafa is back on court! all the best the rest of the way guys, in singles & doubles!

WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Good luck, Rafa!! I almost choked when I read the part where that says he was playing in sleeveless again.. *i died and went to heaven*

Rafanations loves you and misses seeing you on court terribly, Rafa!! Welcome back...

I wonder why Nike and him have chosen to go back to no sleeves though?
It seems that they want to start a clean slate - It's welcome if this helps him get over his loss of confidence. (but it's a bit strange though)

Fans complained when Nike put Rafa in sleeves, so let's not complain now that he is back in sleeveless.

Just great! Cheryl i read your Article last night on another site ! I bet cha Roig had the time of his life :)
Glad to see Rafa back to his old winning style and he looked happy and i just can't believe they won! Way to go Team Rafa :D

Congrats Rafa on returning to Competition Tennis! The bit of video I saw shows pretty good form and no tape around the knees.
As for the attire, Rafa's old sleveless was loose and with large openings on the sides. This one is tight and with small arm openings, so in effect it is a new look. That's the key for apparel manufacturers, to come up with a look that is new every season and for Rafa it will probably change back and forth with the sleeves, graphics and so forth.

If Nadal is REALLY playing like the Nadal "of old," then Montreal should just kick out every player not named Federer, Murray, Djokovic, Roddick, or DelPo. And only two (three, if I correctly remember Murray winning) of those guys has actually won a match against Nadal this year.

-Arvis

I'm going to write up a blog entry about it this morning, but for those of you who simply cannot wait? He looked...like the old Rafa to me. His movement was perfect, his forehand was vicious. The only thing he was going easy on was his serve. I think he took a little bit off it.

He looks healthy to me.

Trixxy - no tape on the knees.

No surprise there. (And no surprise he took down Djokovic. You look inside Novak's t-shirt and I think it reads: Property of Rafael Nadal.) I suspected the poor-mouthing and lowered expectations coming from the Rafa camp were a bit of gamesmanship going on. Dude skipped Wimbledon. He wouldn't be coming back if he weren't absolutely ready to roll. Foes will take it easy at their own peril. Looking forward to the next month of tennis. (Roddick-DelPo in Washington was a nice appetizer.)

cheryl, you have no idea how happy your comments made me :D. it's so good to have him back

i'm considering cancelling/cutting short my plans tomorrow to see him depending what time he's on. he's got a tough match tomorrow though i think

shireling, do you think rafa will go sleeveless in his singles matches? i hope so! sometimes, he's plays sleeveless in doubles, but not in singles!

rafa gettin the shaft again bc of the rain. andy m. already finished but rafa left out in the cold cuz of a fixed draw.

"he and Nadal?s win over Novak Djokovic and Dusan Vemic came as something of a surprise."
No it didn't. :-D

Who else thinks Rafa wins more when he plays sleeveless?
(He said himself he had more room to move. I'm all for that.)

Yeah I looove Rafa sleevless with the pirates too, its his signature look and seperates him from the rest, the likes of Del Potro, Monfils and Blake wear sleevless vests but don't look half as good as Rafa! He has an amazing physique and can pull of the tight polo's also. However, its his tennis I have missed most he brings so much to the game it hasn't been the same without him. Vamos Rafa indeed!

I actually prefer Rafa's new look, myself. It makes him look mature, instead of like a teenage punk.

-Arvis

All the others go unnoticed in sleevless, no one ever mentions it except with regards to Rafa, that part of the x-factor that he has in spades.

Hey carrie,

He played with sleeves against Ferrer and sleevless in doubles (lost the second match 10-8 in the last set) - weird huh?

Rafa is boring. What X-factor? More like B-factor.

Rafa is boring. What X-factor? More like B-factor.

torres9 , 8/13/09 2:30 PM


torres, your opinions don't count.

carrie, your opinions are negligible

rafa is playing beautifully right now. no problems with his movement AT ALL. first set to rafa.

Rafa was on form tonight, best of all he won in straight sets - 3 & 2.

torres,

Something happened and my post went through before I finished it.

torres, I think you are just a tinny winny bit jealous of Rafa, as a man yourself, Rafa has too much going for him, that you wish you had. Your denouncing of him is just not convincing.