32 winners in such a short clay match, giraldo must have been playing out of his mind

Giraldo did better against JCF than Nadal did. GIRALDO CAN BEAT NADAL!!!

-Arvis

LOL Arvis!! I know why you say that ;)

I watched Nadal whomp on Andy Roddick during Davis Cup 08 (I think). Roddick had no answers and was totally exasperated. That's exactly how JCF looked today throughout this match. Where did this kid come from? I've never heard of him. He's from Colombia, so maybe a friend of Shakira.... It's going to be interesting to see who bothers him. I can't believe a qualifier could make it all the way through to the semis. Has that ever happened?

Come on over to the Rafa side Clayking. (For this tournament at least).

HAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!! 'He's from Colombia, so maybe a friend of Shakira...'

That's utterly hilarious!

I saw Giraldo play twice in Miami.

He will get blown out next round.

Ricky,
What's your analysis of the match. Don't you agree JC was stunned. The ball came back at him so fast he had NO time to react or play his game at all. There's discussion about this new surface playing way faster than Madrid. If that's the case will the Spanish guys be at a disadvantage here? Why do they mess with traditional court surfaces? I've read that the grass on Wimbledon has been slowed down, and the clay at FO has been made to play faster. Is there any truth to this?

I watched the match and Giraldo was absolutely unbelievable, especially in the first set which lasted all of 17 minutes. In Ferrero's first two service games (in which he did not win a single point), i think Giraldo smacked five service return winners - four amazing backhands and a huge forehand down the line.

Pity for JCF, being as big a fan fave as he is. I wonder if he might have been slightly gassed, due to the amount of tennis he's played already. At 30, he's not as young as springtime anymore.

well it is really disappointing that ferrero lost to this guy..
but what is gonna be even more disappointing is that this guy will get thrashed by tsonga/de bakker, that is if he reaches third round.. that means the guy was just not upto a level where he could consistently defeat decent guys.. and yet he defeated ferrero.. really hurts..
i don't know about this surface being faster but if it is, it should be protested against.. clay is not supposed to be fast.. a madrid is enough.. it is supposed to be the surface that levels the playing field and allow counterpunchers to excel..if even clay becomes fast then this game will turn utterly boring.. after all clay is the place where you can see longer rallies more frequently.. but now the clay will also become haven for guys with powerful serve.. cannot let that happen.. i'm not worried for rafa.. he will still murder them all.. i am worried about the spanish and latin american breed.. you won't have talents like guga again if this continues..

as for now..
VAMOS RAFA!!

I agree with Ricky, that this Giraldo guy will be out in the next round or maybe the round following that. He won't get past Tsonga or De Bakker if both of them do not run out of steam.

This Giraldo guy whacked the ball hard, his serves were solid and his ground strokes flat and deep and come with pace. I remember him whacking a ball at 160 kph. However, he only stayed at the baseline and ran along there, once Ferrero brought him to the net, Ferrero would win the point. Giraldo couldn't buy a drop shot, twice he tried and he failed. He is rather one dimensional at this point in time, though he may improve in future. His major strength is his ability to take the ball early, standing inside the baseline to receive the ball.

Ferrero didn't help himself, with his serves lacking in variety and pace. He allowed Giraldo to read them well and returned them with interest. If Ferrero mixed his serves with some out-wide ones, Giraldo might not be so successful in returning them. Giraldo simply used his physical strength to overpower Ferrero. It didn't help that Ferrero had played many matches this season before arriving in Rome.