1st set Rafa.....................great serving! The kind of serving he needs on hard courts, hope he continues with it..................

Rafa's forehand leaking errors...............but that to me is not as bad the serve deserting him.............he always finds a way to tighten up the forehand..........so no worries so far.............

Nadal actually looks pretty good so far. Movement is good, court positioning is decent and his serve is working. He'll shore up the forehand.

and just as I say that, he gets broken serving for the match.

Well when I first heard of Nadal playing lefthanded, but actually not being a lefty I was astound. At what age did he turned to lefthanded play? ANd the switch would not have been easy I guess did he never rebel against it? Well if he was 2 years he would not of course but I know a certain 2/1/2 girl who would not be pushed around to make such a switch;-) So I feel he would havebeenolder, but then it would have been harder etc... I know I am not the greatest friend of the Nadaninos but maybe someone step over his/her shadow to explaine this one.

GSM, Nadal..............................

My take-outs from this match:
1. The serve was purring.................62% 1st serve in (can be higher), but crucially he won 85% of those;
2. The forehand was leaking heavily (accounted for the service break when serving for the match), but I am not worried about this....he will tighten it up;
3. Clutch serving needs to be tighter, he cannot afford to drop serve when serving for the match, that needs to go.
4. Attitude was spot on. I liked that he immediately broke back when he was broken.....that was focus and no-nonsense.

Overall, good match for Rafa......after Montreal he would have been super nervous, especially considering that Benneteau took him to 3 sets last year in Cincy and Rafa actually saved a match point in that match.

Vamos!!!!!!

The problem is that Rafa can't count on getting the break back against the top players. He has to close out matches. He was serving very well and then he just seemed to lose his concentration when he was serving for the match. He got away with it against Benneteau, but he has to know that he can't afford it against the best.

His serving was really the bright spot in this match. Nine aces! Way to go, Rafa! The forehand was off, but that's due to lack of match play. Rafa will get that under control. The backhand is almost awol, that's his confidence shot and he will need it. The ROS is not good at all now, needs to work on that big time.

For the moment, I am just happy to see Rafa get the win and move on!

second round down.. moving on to the third round... one POINTt at a time

hear, hear, raghav................................indeed, one point at a time, one game at a time, one match at a time......................

Rafa's been through the wars.............losing 5 straight finals to one guy, getting dumped out of the first match on the North American tours................bound to knock the stuffing out of even the very best. So, he is on a re-building mission here......the key to Rafa's game on hard court is his serve.......................and today it was working..................

Dropping games while serving for the match is a no-no and that's a mental issue, that needs tightening up. You could tell he realised his mistake (letting his concentration wander) by the way he immediately broke back..................that was great to see...

Vamos!!!!!!!!!

I was too nervous to comment during the match and breathed a sigh of relief when it was all over. He should be pleased with his performance because Benneteau played a good match.

I would like to believe that Rafa is gearing up to give his serve free reign as he did last summer...

I was trying to check out Rafa's first serve speed during the match. From what I could see, it appeared as though he was staying in the 117, 118 range, sometimes a bit lower. I think he was going for more first serves in and not trying to go for maximum speed. Nine aces is a great thing to see. I have a feeling that Rafa won't go for the big bombs, that he may be saving that for the USO.

There were a lot of forehand errors, but as Rafa said in his post-match presser, he needs to get his rhythm and timing back. I don't know if people here are aware of it, but I heard on a Rafa fan forum that he burned his fingers at a Japanese restaurant when he was handed a dish that was too hot. At the presser, you could see two of the fingers on his right hand heavily bandaged. Rafa said it hurts when he tries to hit the backhand. I rememeber Rafa missing a backhand when he was broken serving for the second set. Now I know why. I hope his poor fingers are okay!

Now it's on to Verdasco!

Call the ambulance! Verdasco just rolled over!

Yes I noticed the bandage on his right hand and couldn't work out whether it was just his usual taping or not. He should sue that restaurant.


Vamos Rafa!

oh, Native, thanks for the info...I wondered what was wrong with his fingers...that is really sad...what a bad luck...I can't believe our guy...I hope it is not so bad, but for sure his backhand was completely off today...

Call the ambulance! Verdasco just rolled over!
Sienna, 8/17/11 11:23 PM

That's hilarious. However I think even Verdasco has some pride and will try.

RE: Burning his hands at a Japanese restaurant. I thought Japanese ate most of their food raw. Just kidding. Don't sue the restaurant though. Like he needs the money.

Ha ha, Fed fans have no sense of humor. What is hilarious is their idea of a joke. Anyway, not surprising considering they are completely brainwashed into Fed-worship and hatred for Rafa. Maybe they have been promised some reward in heaven for attacking Rafa. What 100 virgins or something?
I guess they are trying to pretend they can laugh but what a pathetic joke. Anyway the Spanish are not like Roddick. So darling Sienna and broken serve can call the ambulance when Fed is playing. Earlier they had to call the ambulance for his opponents but soon they will have to call ambulance for Fed himself because he is getting old! Ha ha , good joke isn't it, Fed fans? ROFL!

Is it the camera angle, or is he really moonballing a lot?

wow finaly Nadal won someone hahaha

^^^^Misel, Rafa had beaten 51 out of 60 people this year before he met Benneteau yesterday, what are you sniggering at?

@rafaelite, 100 virgins? Knowing where that sentiment comes from, I'd say you are one of the millions of sheeple who can't think for themselves.

wow finaly Nadal won someone hahaha
Misel
, 8/18/11 9:58 AM

What kind of gruesome medieval shows do you watch/participate in, misel? Nadal "won someone"?

Mate, I watched Nadal PLAY someone yesterday and win a match, not someone.

Spare us the details of your gruesome habits..........................

Misel is an off course missile and could turn into a boomerang. Clearly Misel needs an ambulance to urgently rush him/her to a padded cell.