Good luck Rafa against Youzhny today - hope you have a good match and win in straight sets.

Vamos Rafa

How long is it going to take to overhaul Rafa's official website???

Vamos RAFA...:)

Rafa is moving well...and looks confident...:)

youzhny has brought his best too...hitting that one hander well..

1st set rafa...16 winners...nice and aggressive...

youzhny playing as well as i have seen him play...

Nice one Rafa. Fantastic match.


Vaaaaaaammmmooooooossss!

VAMOS RAFAA....

31 winners...now that's a stat...:D

Had to record the match so I will enjoy it now especially as you say it was a fantastic match Nadline - so happy Rafa won and that he played well. Youzhny is no pushover and I like the way he plays, so well done our Rafa!

vrael..which channel in India are u watching it? Neither star sports or ESPN or Ten sports are showing it (:- Theya re showing Hopman and Indian Open

vrael/nadline : how did Rafa play? Anything positive and what didnt work/ Youzhny is tricky for him and has beaten him I guess earlier..Was there a lapse in second set? I saw he was 4-1 up and then he was struggling to close the match

Bravo Rafa!!! What a match! I just love the way he plays, the way he moves, the way he fights for every point hitting winners all ove the place...his game is improving so much every single day...with this pace Rafa will be more than ready for the AO...Youzhny played well but nothing he could do against this Rafa...Such a treat for our eyes...

VAMOS RAFA!!!

sanju...i saw it on a live stream...on the internet.

rafa was good...he was moving very well...was very aggressive off both wings...youzhny was outstanding and rafa had a slight lapse in the 2nd set...but he was 2 breaks up and managed to win in the end........he said he was slightly nervous...and always is during the first week of the year....he was happy with his performance over all...

natashao..u see ur dream coming true?

two stellar sets

Great match! Nice to see Youzhny playing so well ... and Rafa was just brutal.

If everyone is saying Rafa was brutual, good, solid and scoreline says 6-4, 6-4..it means it was a war out there and Youzhny really played well too.

vrael : both forehand and backhand good today?

To be honest, Rafa outclassed Youzhny to a large extent but Youzhny has weapons too and played some great shots but Rafa would have won much easier if he hadn't had a few lapses is concentration and made a couple of silly UEs also not shortening the points enough giving Youzhny the chance to attack.

I feel Rafa's first match was the most challenging against Kohls.

sanju

fh...good with some extra sting...bh much more flatter and deeper...improvements on both sides,YES

vrael,

Great to see you posting again! Thanks for the info about Rafa's game. I recorded the first two quarterfinal matches, but didn't see Rafa. I am so frustrated. But at least the tennis channel will replay them later on, so I will finally get to see Rafa for myself.

The comments here are music to my ears! From what I have seen of highlights from his first two matches, Rafa is looking very good.

I am not taking any chances with the semifinal matches. I will record both of them.

NNY, Rafa is on 2nd tomorrow after Roger v Tsonga which starts at 4.30 local Qatar time.

nadline,

Thanks so much for the info!

For those who didn't see the match, here is a great match report:

http://blogs.tennis.com/racquet_reaction/2012/01/doha-nadal -d-youzhny.html

yes, sanju, if Rafa continues to improve like this my dream will come true...I am already so happy to see him play better than the whole 2011 season and believe me, I am not exaggerating...his mental lapses are still there but will eventually go away...I remember Rafa's recent interview where he was talking about his last season saying how he felt he did not have that little something he needed in order to win the crucial matches...he felt like he did not give it all...today he was so determined to win in two sets and he proved it by being aggressive and serving well at key moments...to be honest, we did not see much of it in 2011...if it was only for that, 2012 already looks promising :)

Just keep improving, enjoy your new racquet and keep fighting, our Spanish Hero!!!

VAMOS RAFA!!!

NNY :-)

Both played well and it's a high quality match. I'm so glad Rafa gets all these good workouts here at Doha. It's a strong field here, imagine he got Kohl in the first round and Kohl was the one who got a set off him. Rafa is getting better by the day, he's hitting so many winners off both wings and I like his backhand this tournament. Still, I think it'll help further if he can shorten the points. He finished his straight set match in 1 hr 49 mins; Fed finished his three set match in 1 hr 32 mins. Of course opponent wise Youzhny was a tougher opponent but I really wish to see Rafa shortened the points more. He was still standing far behind the baseline at times, unless he decided to attack at the net. He won 8 out of 9 points at the net so he's very efficient while at the net, so I hope he comes forward more and wins points there and so shortens the rallies. Almost all parts of his game are functioning very well though he needs to control his nerves especially when approaching the finish line.

Next opponent, Monfils, was also playing well and moved so well all night. He'll be a tough opponent for Rafa. Rafa lost to Monfils bizarrely at the same tournament in 2009 when I felt Rafa was playing so well then and was kicking everyone's butt before facing Monfils. I still remember Santoro was playing against Rafa for the first time and was beatened badly by Rafa; he commented that he pitied Fed who had to play Rafa so many times, mentioning that the balls from Rafa were so heavy! Monfils was playing extremely well then, his forehand was on fire and Rafa seemed indecisive when returning Monfils shots and lost in straights 6-4, 6-4. Monfils lost to Roddick in the next round!

To me, Rafa was playing well in early 2009 and that's why he won the AO that year. I hope Rafa can get the better of Monfils this time at Doha and at least reaches the final here. Fed had a back injury so Tsonga may get the better of Fed this time to reach the final. The matches here in Doha are certainly not easy for Rafa.