reading the results one thought it was an impressive win, but for Nadal to get broken straight back like that from such a lower ranked player doesn't bode well for me and shows his confidence issues at the moment and to make matters worse he has Nalby up next! I know he has had tooth pain etc but the ole Rafa wouldn't have let his serve go like that! C'mon Rafa get your act together! tennis needs you!

Dent hit 4 winners in the game he broke.

afrodite,

We can't expect Rafa to never again get broken in matches. The important thing is how he handles it. It would appear that he managed quite well, since he won. According to Ricky, Dent stepped it up and hit four winners, so he earned it. If I started panicking every time Rafa breaks and then gets broken right back, then I will never be able to watch any of his matches again. It's best to take them one at a time. Of course, if you want to start worrying now, then you can think about Rafa's next opponent - Nalbandian.

I don't think the fact that Rafa got broken is a worry in itself, but recently he seems to hand a break right back partly because his opponents up their anti, and probably because Rafa relaxes and is taken on awares. I can remember the days when once Rafa had a break you knew the set was his.He has to stop these lapses in concentration.

I was so pleased when I woke up this morning to see that he won in straight sets, because Dent may be a low ranked player but he's got a big serve and very good ground strokes, so for Rafa to beat him so convincingly is very reassuring. One game at a time as Native said, he's given away too many matches lately, so he has to keep focussed.

VAMOS RAFA!

clinical result. what get the job done
now he has the motive Djoko is out in a very surprising fashion so getting two steps in the ranking seems so possible right now if Nadal wins this he is only 10 points behind djoko which is mean back to number 2 is only a matter of time so i think he is going to take all his chances with djoko out no reason why he shouldnt be in the final
good day for Rafa fans, lets pary for classico in the finals........................

afrodite7: getting broken is the kinda thing old rafa used to do. he broke back immediately, so i don't see what the problem is

Quite right, Sib69. Nothing at all unusual in this. I concede that 2008-9 Rafa cut down significantly on handing the break right back, but in an opening match it's nothing to worry about at all.

Results elsewhere provide extra incentive, too.

VAMOS!!!!!!

Actually, the fact that Rafa broke Dent twice in one set is even more impressive, because Dent does have a big serve.

nadline - but Nadal breaking twice in a set is not surprising. Nadal getting broken at all (by Dent) IS surprising.

But like I said, there was nothing Nadal could do that game.

Never mind the break of serve, I'm more concerned about the DFs in Rafa's case. Did he have any in this match?

I've only seen Dent play a couple of times so I don't really know his game, but Rafa does seem to drop his serve too often and unnecssarily these days. I hope he cuts that out, it would improve his chances of being unbeatable once more by all comers.

Zooni: no double faults, 2 aces and 67% first serve in. won 76% of first serve points and 63% of second serve points

Thanks for the stats Sib. Those are good stats and I'm encouraged he didn't have any double faults. He's had too many of those for my tastes lately. Not a bad first serve percentage too, all things considered.