Very nice play and score, I never doubted it will end this way.Feli is not a match for Rafa, sometimes he served well but Rafa dominated the match from very beginning to end. This time he has the biggest chance to win the USO I believe.

ROS was the big improvement today.

Nadal said that he is yet to reach his best level. Hope he is shows that level in the finals

Feli thought he was on a hiding to nothing and found it hard to motivate himself. He had bursts of brilliance, but that was quickly stamped on by Rafa who was in great form.

Not yet at his top notch super fine form, but that will come.

How many games has he played without dropping serve, I've lost count.


VAMOS!

61 nadline !

oh my oh my, rafa says ' i am playing really well but not at my highest level'

woahhh that sounds SCARY !

nadal is now 104-1 when he wins the first set in a major , SICCKKK !! this is one of the most astonishing stat i have ever seen, shows you how much awe is induced in the opponents' minds when they lost the set set against rafa ..

'nadal is now 104-1 when he wins the first set in a major'

What? Do tell vamosrafa, which was the one he didn't win - was it at Wimby?

nadline: what are you doing here at this hour? have you had any sleep at all?

ed-it was against ferrer at the 07 US open. Its the only match he has ever lost after winning the first set in a major.

ed, I thought I'd pace myself when the tournament started and not stay up for the early rounds, because I thought Rafa might all of his matches late and it would be foolish to stay up 3-4 nights in one week. Last night I was as fresh as a daisy, and didn't wink until the match ended.

I was in Dubai for Toronto and Cincy, and the timing was even worse, so I had a few late nights there. I watched the first 3 games of Nadal/Murray in Toronto, and something told me that Rafa would not win that match, so I went to sleep and wasn't really surprised that Murray had won, although I was surprised at the score; same with the Baghdatis match, I just thought he was so rusty. Nothing was working, his serve was off, too many UE, ROS iffy, that when he lost I thought it was to be expected coming back after lying on the beach and fishing for a month, he was not as match fit as the guys who didn't take a break. We all know what it's like when you go back to work after a holiday.

What I am trying to say is that his losses in Toronto and Cincy were not of any concern to me as far as the USO was concerned.

Despite loses in Toronto and Cincy, I believed then that Rafa will peak just in time for the US Open. Even at this stage, I still believe that his best is still to come. Hopefully, he will display it in all it's brilliance on Sunday, when he battles Nole in the finals. :-)

Yes I too think that his best is still to come. I hope Rafa/Verdasco will be a good match, competitive enough to make it interesting, and yet not too taxing physically. I hope Rafa can win in straight sets.

There is a pattern here. Like losing at Queen's and then blowing everybody off the court a week later. Also he started the year slowly - lost a few matches but Uncle Toni was smirking and I guessed then they were hatching something we were yet to see.

Wonder how they managed to keep the 'new serve' under wraps until USO? Perhaps they have a secret indoor court in Malljorca away from prying eyes - but I can see the day might come when top players pay an investigator for info on what their opponents are getting up to in training!

What puts Rafa in a class of his own is the way he never stops working to improve. Year on year his game evolves so even players who think they've cracked how to beat him are taken by surprise. And we his ardent fans wonder why we ever doubted him D:)

Nadal has been improving his serve steadily over the years. Furthermore, as explained by him in one of his interviews, he has changed the grip and reduced the spin on his serve which allows to hit flatter and faster serves. Nothing suspicious about it.

atr: Enough's enough. We know posting unpleasant comments is how you get your kicks. But your above effort is more than out of order. It's dispicable.

How Rafa improved his serve is a trade secret, why would he tell the world and his wife how he did it, so that other players can follow suit?

Rafa is not the only player to have improved some aspect of his game significantly over a relatively short space of time!! Ask Bjorg how he improved his serve.................all he did was change the position of his feet slightly and voila!!!!

ATR take your filth somewhere else...........its NOT welcomed here!!!!

VAMOS!!!

atr... there it is again, the stench emanating from your post reminds me of dirty diapers, of a crybaby full of envy who in his frustration all he can do is produce filth out of both ends. This is the last time I'm acknowledging your existence. So long!

If Rafa had retired, got married and had a family and returned to the tour 2 1/2 years later and immediately won a GS beating the Nos 1 & 2 players en route like Clijsters did last year, people would have questioned how he did it.

If you are prepared to apply yourself, you can achieve anything. After all, Dimentieva did not have a serve at all couple of years ago, now she has a great serve. Everyone knows that Rafa was working to change his game when he came back last year, so they must have analysed every aspect of his game to make him more efficient, and they have. His team should be praised not derided. Isn't this why players hire a coach and train for hours on end.

People must not judge others by their own standards.

This is propoganda at its best............................no body questioned how Fed was able to win 3 GSlams year after year after year for five or more consecutive years!!!! NO ONE!!!! How was he able to do it? Oh, I know.............simply bcos he is just a genius!!! A Magican!!! A Maestro!!!! A King!!!!...................and the acalades go on and on!!! But Rafa makes one positive adjustment to his game which seems to be is paying dividends and right away................suspicion!!!

Well from now on, I am going to question how Fed was able to win on avg 3 GSlams a year for YEARS!!!!..............ummmmmmmmmm!!!!..................perhaps its not greatness afterall, its DOPING!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ATR- TRY rafa smashing your head with his racket so you'ld feel HOW NATURAL the serve is!............. I think you're the ONE on drugs!

How can anyone play a 5 hour match without sweating, or losing breath, or getting injured year after year after year?

In an article about Nadal's match against Simon two days before yesterday's, Steve Tignor, who seems to know more things more deeply about tennis than most had this to say about Nadal's improved serve:

Start of quote:

Nadal has made it through three matches without losing his serve. What happened? He wasn?t hitting it well in Toronto or Cincy, but he turned the corner in practice last week. Worried that he wasn?t earning enough free points, he ?change little bit the grip? to keep his wrist firmer. Now he?s firing flat, 130-m.p.h bullets, consistently. It sounds a little like the story of how Bjorn Borg transformed his serve in the weeks between the French Open and Wimbledon in 1976. He turned his front foot a little, hit some buckets of serves, and voilà, he had the upgraded delivery that would win him the next five Wimbledons. Never underestimate what the world?s best athletes can pull off in no time at all.

So what would a big-serving Nadal look like and play like? Winning free points has been the one clear-cut advantage that his rivals have had on him, so it couldn?t hurt. Or could it? The only question may be whether serving bigger will change his usual rhythm from the baseline?will the ball come back faster and with more pace and throw him off? I'm guessing that Nadal is smart enough and accurate enough with whatever serve he uses to find the balance between flat and spin, to keep his opponent guessing, and to avoid overusing his new toy.

For example: Through the first set today, Nadal?s first-serve percentage dwindled even as he held on to his single-break advantage. At 5-4, he got nervous and went down 0-30. How did he get out of it? Service winner at 0-30, ace at 30-30, service winner at 40-30 to win the set. Two of those were slices, hit to slightly different spots, and one was the gunshot. Plenty of other guys carry that gun. The trick is getting it to go off at the right time, preferably when your opponent isn't expecting it. If history?or today?is any guide, that won?t be a problem for Rafa.

End of quote.

If it's not beyond the realms of human capabilities to serve at 135 why should anyone question it, it's just the technique used that makes the difference, and it's also probably due to twitching of his racquet. Almagro who is much smaller than Rafa can serve at that speed, so can Mahut who is as skinny as they come, even Ferrer can do it sometimes.

whats suspicious is that he hasnt given a proper explanation how he gained an extra 10mph in 1 week.

his maximum speed before the USO was 125mph. if he gave a simple explanation that would stop every rumour, but he has been dodging the question which makes it worse.

apparently spanish ESPN asked uncle toni about rafas faster serve speed and apparently toni got aggressive about it.

u cant get 10mph with a change in grip.

just watch his press conferences, he seems to dodge the question on his serve or offer a one sentence explanation that doesnt make sense.

why do u think people are asking how he got this extra speed, because they are also suspicious.
the more he doesnt offer an explanation, the more he is letting people get suspicious.

he is serving as fast as the biggest servers in the game. HOW?

go read this about his serve speed.

http://tennishasasteroidproblem.blogspot.com/2010/09/nadals- serve.html

Atr, I am not sure what are you implying? That Rafa Nadal somehow got hold of a performace enhancing drug which is specially designed to improve his serve and just his serve? Maybe Team Toni has manipulated his DNA? Or maybe this is not even Nadal, but a clone who serves better than the original?

crap blog link atr......you are a disgrace...your posts are outrageously stupid like always

So no one should improve their game ever.

Have they ever monitored any other player's serve speed progression?

Envy will get people nowhere.

im not the only one saying this, everyone is suspicious.

is he superhuman to increase his speed by 10mph in 1 week?

soon experts and commentators will start talking about this openly because this kind of rapid improvement in unheard of.

i hope to god that this astonishing improvement is legal and is a result of hard work and not substance abuse. because if he is doing something illegal, then rafas reputation and legacy will be ruined forever.
tennis will also be in tatters.

WAIT A MINUTE?

WHAT'S THE FUZZ? I THOUGHT THE IMPROVED SERVE WAS ALL STARTED AT WIMBLEDON? YOU ARE ALL SHORT MEMORY, YOU ATTENTION FOCUSED MAINLY AT THE PRESENT, WHEREIN THAT IMPROVED SERVE WAS NOTICED DURING WIMBLEDON.

Unfortunately I couldn't watch full live coverage, it was just too late for work the next day. Still Rafa was as consistent as ever and whilst Verdasco will be more competitive, Rafa should still push through. Fernando is not as good as Australia 2009 and is too erratic, good one set, poor the next. Even though I think atr is being mischevious, it's still disappointing to hear negative comments on Rafa's serving. Why isn't it genuine for a top sportsman to look to improve parts of his game??? We need to think about this logically. At 6'1 he is a natural physical height to serve big. As nadline mentioned, if almagro, davydenko even rohcus can do it, then so can he. If you have a powerful forehand, then you can have a powerful serve. The inability to serve big has always been his biggest weakness so it was only a matter of time before his coaches looked to improve it. We all know the US Open is his goal, so it's common sense to make the serve stronger if it's one of your weaker shots. It's just ridiculous to think that this is just suddenly happening. The intention has always been there but he's probaly held back to avoid injury, such as the abdominal issues last year. For me the strong serve is just an obvious part of evolving his game, god help everyone when he starts looking to enhance his net play...

Why should Rafa have to explain in detail how he improved his serve? All pple need to know is that he worked hard at improvimg his serve and thats all!!!!!!!! No one asks the other players, like Sod and Andy, for example how exactly did they improve their games..........they just took it for granted!!!! Why must Rafa owe ANYONE an explanation! IF anyone think its drug related..............prove it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Im glad that all the detractors who were so happy to espouse that Rafa could NEVER win the US Open are now squirming from the bitter taste of their foot in their BIG mouths!!!

Keep proving them wrong, Rafa!!!!

VAMOS!!!!!

Actually, by engaging in this dialogue trying to defend Rafa we are giving ATR more fuel to insult him. Let's treat him with the contempt that he deserves, he'll soon go away.

@attackingtennisrulez , 9/8/10 7:44 PM
---everyone is suspicious---

Not everyone, because not everyone is bitter Fedfan.
Maybe You should better ask these "everyone" what has made it possible that the recent World #1 - who has had chronic back-problems at least for seven years - has won 16 GS tournaments ?

nadal is not winning this title anyway, so his serve will be forgotten.

I think hereafter we should completely ignore atr.

Augustina08: the bizarre thing is that atr professes to be a supporter of Nadal. Work that out if you can!