Can somebody give more details on his performance today? how was his backhand and forehand? was it the same aggresive Nadal that we saw at Australian Open?

The wind wreaked havoc with everything he was trying to do. He served some wind-aided double faults. His defence was good as usual and he was hitting the ball 6 feet inside the lines as usual and not going for any winners really. He was playing not to lose and it was good enough against an older guy with his best far behind him. He will have to play better against Ancic.

The wind made things really tough for both of them. Nadal did what he had to do in a first round match. Groundies were fine- he made 22 errors, but it's too early to tell though. He looked strong enough, but someone like Schuettler isn't going to be that great of an indicator. Outside of that hiccup serving at 5-2 in the first, he seemed okay. He seemed okay after beating Hewitt at RG also... we'll see.

as mentioned above, the wind was a momentum disruptor for both players. nadal was ready to attack short balls but did not take many chances which are needed to win such events. however, he was willing to hit hard cross court bakhand whenever given the opportunity, he needs to build momentum with these early rounds and start attacking more.

atul, I wouldn't call it one of Rafa's best, because the wind hampered both players to a degree that at the begining of the match, it was so bad that I'm sure Rafa asked the umpire to stop the match.

Thanks carrie for the insight. If wind was such a factor, then am sure the match wasent really a good indicator of Rafa's level of play.

Yeah the conditions were awful. But I think it was a good win for Rafa and he ended the match strongly. He was a little rusty but that's to be expected after being out for so long. And physically he looked very strong and fit. Hopefully his knee issues have been properly addressed and are now a thing of the past.

We sent you the skeleton of you playing. We sent it to Spain with one of your coaches. But in the research center, we show that you were putting 5Gs on your legs when you made a sudden turn on the back foot. That's an awful lot of force. Our predictions are you're going to be injured again. Maybe we're wrong. We're hoping that we're wrong. But 5Gs is an awful lot of to put on your ankles and knees. I'm wondering what your thoughts are about that, because Djokovic disagrees. He says it's just from playing a lot from the baseline. (Translation.)
RAFAEL NADAL: No, no answer for this, because I don't know. Sorry. Well, I don't know. You might know more than me. (laughter.)

This is the excerpt from Rafa's interview on Saturday before Hit for Haiti...I wonder why there is mentioned an opinon of Djokovic?! Why does he need to comment, funny, he likes giving opinions even when it has nothing to do with him...anyway, I am discouraged with this research...I hope they prove wrong..

I'm surprised that no one has commented on Rafa's outfit, I have to admit that I'm not at all keen on the combination, there is far too much going on.

Carrie, given the situation, we are all more concerned about his performance and his health...to be honest I myself hated the outfit, but then again, Rafa looks good in whatever he wears so no big deal...I am adding one more excerpt from the interview that I believe you would like to know about:

On a much lighter note, the video you did with Shakira was sort of an Internet sensation. Have you gotten any feedback on that or what's the response been?
RAFAEL NADAL: You like it?
Q. I enjoyed it very much.
RAFAEL NADAL: I am happy for that. Yeah, it was it was a new experience for me. A different experience from what I did normally. I just like Shakira. It was special for me, and very good experience. Thanks very much to Shakira to think to do this with me. For me it was a pleasure. She's a very, very nice person.
Q. Did you like the video when you first saw it? Did you say, I can't believe I did that?
RAFAEL NADAL: No, I believe, because I did. (laughter.)
But, yes, well, I like it, yeah. Last few seconds. A little bit short, but, I enjoy it.
Q. Did Shakira like it? Did she talk to you afterward?
RAFAEL NADAL: I hope so.
Did he just say that he was sorry the kiss did not last longer? It is hard to know from his English expressions :)

Hard to judge Rafa's form by the prevailing weather conditions last night. But elsewhere, Ancic was pegged back from 5-0 to 5-6, second set, before taking it on a tie-break and eventually the match in three. And as for Novak-Mardy's ding-dong... well, beside all that, Rafa's was a clear case of "job done".

It's looking good, frankly.

Vamos!

carrie,
I thought he came out in his boxers by mistake. Somebody is playing a trick on him with those shorts. On a serious note, he asked for the match to be stopped? What are the criteria for stopping a match with regards to wind? Is there a certain mph/kmph or is it just up to the umpire?

nastashao, thanks for the transcript of Rafa's interview, it seems like the Shakira thing is all above board, and good on Rafa.

chr18, I think players can ask to stop play because of rain, but I'm not sure if they can request it because of other weather conditions, like excessive heat or wind.

This time I think the fashion police defintely have a case to impose a fine, but Rafa carried it off well, I would say that, wouldn't I. If it brings him luck, then it can only be a good thing.

carrie I don't think anyone asked for the match to be stopped ... the conditions were not easy ... but that is tennis outdoors.
gorafago , I agree it was a 'job done' kind of match ...
I love the shorts, keep wearing just what you want Rafa.

Rafa's serve was disturbed by people constantly walking around taking their seats...that is why Rafa complained to the umpire and asked him to try to influence it...at least that is what I understood and what commentator here interpreted as well...I do not think players could do anything about the wind, nor complain about it...remember the finals last year: Murray and Rafa had to fight with the wind and Rafa did much better job and seemed to have won that match so easily...

I couldn't hear what Rafa said to the umpire whilst he was walking past his chair very early on in the match, but I heard the umpire say 'I can't stop it' in reply.

yeah, the umpire actually said: I don't think we can stop it...

"Did he just say that he was sorry the kiss did not last longer? It is hard to know from his English expressions :) "

- That's what it comes across as to me. Though you're right, his english expressions make it hard to really tell. That said I'm sure there's a longer version of that kiss sitting in some editor's desk somewhere...

"it seems like the Shakira thing is all above board, and good on Rafa".

- Not sure I understand, all above board? I don't get it.


And yeah there seemed to have been some movement in the stands that was throwing Rafa off at some point. The commentators suggested it was the doors slamming due to the wind. Whatever it was, it was ticking him off big time. That and his bottles being tipped over as well.

Zooni, by all above board, I meant that they were only doing a video - acting, there is no relationship going on.

Carrie, you KNOW Rafa's outfit is going in my blog this week. The unfortunate thing is that we're so used to the horrible concoctions, we hardly notice anymore.

Rafa was complaining about the noise of the doors in the stadium rattling from the wind. He asked the umpire if they could do something about it and that's when he said I don't think we can stop it.

Btw I would love to see the doubles match he's playing now..but it's not shown on TV in Australia - we've got the Seppi/Murray match now they are both playing pretty badly...

Nadal and Lopez have beaten Paes and Dloughy - 2 : 1.

Cheryl,
This is the first of Rafa's kit that I haven't liked wholeheartedly. Whoever thought of the combination has missed their niche in life. It's a mess, nothing matches anything, and the shoes have far too many different colours in them. Do you think it's a ploy to put the opponent off?

OK, as an ardent Rafa fan, I would settle for the fact that they want to prove that Rafa looks good in anything, and that even when he is half asleep, in his pyjamas, he can still win.

Vamos!

I'm glad they won the doubles match..I just wish I could have seen it. Regarding the shorts one of the commentators said that Nadal has his "hurt locker" shorts on, given they have a kind of army fatigue pattern on them. One of the guys said a couple of times "I think Nadal has plenty of tools left in his hurt locker" or something to that effect.

i think rafa should take his shorts off. this is not just me airing my general views (much :P) but he should take THOSE shorts off. ewww

Dear, are you daft or ill?