Monday: Doubles Drama

What a day. Sorry I didn't have time to post earlier, but I worked last night on a project from work, and all morning, too. I was nearly finished the project, when I had to check out of the hotel. So I came to the tennis center to finish the project, and to hopefully see Rafa's doubles match, as he and Youzhny take on Israel's Jonathan Erlich and Andy Ram -- the No. 7 seeds. All went according to plan -- sort of.

The project came together and was finished just about the time that Rafa and Mikhail took the court. For once, Nicholas Kiefer didn't let me down. He lost the first set, and seemed to be ready to lose the second set, when he rallied and won it. So it went to a third set. Mathieu ended up winning, but it gave me the time I needed.

So I hurried over there to watch it. What was I thinking? Stadium 2 was packed, with people wanting to watch Nadal and also Federer in the subsequent match. No one was about to leave, and the volunteers were doing their best to handle the mobs of people trying to get in. I figured that someone would feel sorry for Rafa's webmaster, but alas, no. A media credential and $1.75 would get you a cup of coffee at Starbucks at that point. Lopy had tried to save me a seat, but that wasn't possible given the supply and demand problem. But this all has a happy ending!

After being told I had to get a ticket, I went to the media office and got the "ticket" from Matt -- the media coordinator and our Knight in Shining Armor. I went back to the stadium, and was told that a ticket wouldn't work because there are no seats available. So back I went to Matt, and he went down and handled it personally. There is reserved media seating, and I was able to get a spot on the bench, thanks to his hard work.

And who says doubles are dead? This was the hottest ticket in town. And the ATP had this right -- people love watching singles players play doubles!!!!

But here's the irony. Guess who was sitting to my left: Francis and Juan. I couldn't believe it. There wasn't a seat in the house, and guess which one I did end up getting? Guess they could have placed me next to Rafa and Mikhail, but this was the next best thing.

When I went to sit down, I was so flustered from all the running around just to get a seat, that I nearly dropped everything as I sat down. Juan grabbed my stuff, and asked if I needed any help. Little did he know....

But I had with me two Vamos Rafael wristbands, and I gave them to them. They looked at them, and asked who I was. I explained, and they told me they also are working with Rafa. It was very cute. They put on the wristbands right away, and complied when I asked for a photo of them. I said, "Gracias for foto," and
Francis said "de nada. I'll put it up shortly. It is really nice.

It was interesting to sit down beside them. At that point, Rafa and Mikhail weren't doing too well. They were down a couple breaks, got one back, but went on to lose the set, 6-3.

Now, Juan and Francis were watching me do my notes. Originally I wrote down 6-4 as the first set score, and they corrected. They said, "No, no, 6-3." I said, "Okay, tres." :-)

So off they went to the second set. When Rafa came out, he looked at Juan and Francis, and they tried to pump him up. They also said things to him (in Spanish, of course), and he responded to them. Something was bothering him. I have no idea what -- my Spanish is definitely not good enough for that! But I can recognize coaching when I hear it -- but I think things are more relaxed in doubles.

Once he got back to business, Francis and Juan started talking to each other. Indeed, they talked during the whole match, except for the few times they yelled Vamos and Venga to Rafa. I have no idea what they were saying, but I think they could give Brad Gilbert some competition for talking during matches.

My favorite part was when a fan behind us dropped her cell phone and an usher went down and picked it up, as it fell to the ground below. The usher brought it back in parts, and Juan was intrigued by what had happened. There was a whole discussion about that, with the key word being "cell phone."

I asked Juan if he spoke English, and he said "a little." I asked him if why Rafa decided to play doubles with Youzhny. And he didn't really have an answer. He said it just worked out, or something to that effect. But I did ask. I have a feeling that if I understood Spanish, I would have some really good things to report. Nathalia, you are going to have to come to IW next year. *lol*

They major key is that Rafa was not serving very well. I think that was frustrating him. Before I begin, I have to note this is the first doubles match I've seen with no ad scoring. What happens is that if it gets to deuce, the team that wins the next point wins the game. Also, there's only two sets, and if it's even, the winner is chosen by a 10-point tiebreak, which is what happened here. A hint of the ending??

The second set started out the same way as the first set -- with Rafa having trouble on his serve. He was down 15-40, but he and Mikhail saved two breakpoints, to get it to deuce. And then they won the next point, so game, Nadal/Youzhny.

Rafa and Mikhail had a BP in the next game, with Erlich serving, but Erlich/Ram rallied, and won the next point after deuce. So 1-1.

Youzhny then had an easy service game, and his serving was a big plus to the Nadal/Youzhny combo. So 2-1, R & Y.

Then the guys broke Ram at 15-40, to go up 3-1. Then Rafa had to serve. At 0-40 on Rafa's serve, things were not looking good, but they got it to 30-40. But even Rafa couldn't chase down the E&R shot, even though Rafa ended up in the stands as he tried to do so. So the break was lost. 3-2.

The set remained on serve after that. Juan and Francis tried to keep Rafa pumped up. At one point, I said, somewhat softly, "Come on, Rafa." And then Francis yelled, "VAMOS!!"

Rafa had a much better service game at 4-4. In fact, he held at love. Well done, Rafa!! :D

They had a set point on Erlich's serve at 5-4, but couldn't convert. So onto the tiebreak. And Juan and Francis still kept talking. ;-)

Tiebreak summary:

1-0, MY hits great serve.

2-0, winner by Rafa

2-1, MY misses return.

2-2, RN hits backhand long.

3-2, Erlich misses volley.

4-2, MY wins point.

4-3, E & R win point.

5-3, Great serve and Rafa hits overhead winner.

6-3, ace.

6-4, return goes long.

6-5, MY misses return.

6-6, MY hits out.

7-6, Great serve by Rafa.

7-7, Rafa misses shot.

8-7, overhit by Ram -- bad miss.

9-7, Youzhny to serve, and he gets matchpoint.

And Youzhny serves them out of trouble, to win the match.

It was very exciting, and I liked both the no-ad scoring and the exciting tiebreak after the second set. If this will get more players to play doubles, it would be great, especially since Erlich and Ram are top doubles players, and yet Rafa and Mikhail, who have never played as a team before, were able to win the match.

I can't wait for the next match against Grosjean and Gasquet. I watched a great deal of Federer/Allegro vs. Grosjean/Gasquet, and it was interesting. I think if Fed wants to succeed in doubles (as if he needs to), he needs to get another partner. I've seen Fed/Allegro play 3 times live, and each time they lost. The first time I saw them lose was at IW 2004 where they were defeated by Rafa and Tommy Robredo.

It's too bad in some ways that Fed/Allegro didn't win, because a doubles contest featuring Nadal and Federer on opposite sides would have fans and media swooning. And it certainly would be held in the stadium court.

As for Rafa and Mikhail, it's an interesting pairing. They seemed a bit more serious that I've seen Rafa in prior doubles matches. But they seemed to communicate well -- but you didn't see the same comraderie that you see when he plays with Tommy and Feli. I can't really say who was the dominant player on the team. Mikhail definitely served better, but Rafa's volleying was better at times. Now that they have played a match, it will be interesting to see how they handle Gasquet and Grosjean.

For other news here, I'm following the Agassi/Haas match now. Tommy took the first set, and fans are really rallying around Andre. They love him here at IW.

I also ran over to the Hyatt to check in, and I'm all set there. I took the shuttle bus back over, and I met Anna and some other Nadal fans who visit our site. It was SO funny because they were talking about players taking the shuttle over, and how when the players get on the bus, it's usually Mirnyi or Davydenko, and not Rafa Nadal. So I asked, "Do you like Rafa?" Well, they love him, and as we talked more, they started mentioning a woman in California who runs a site for Rafa. Guess who that person iS? So I have a couple fans, it seems. We are going to try to meet up later. I want to speak with them more. It's always lovely to meet Rafa fans.

Speaking of which, I haven't seen Lopy since yesterday morning. We've spoken on the phone, but I've been busy and so has he. I know he's loving the experience here.

Looking at the Order of Play, Rafa is scheduled to play Fish late tomorrow, not before 8:30 p.m. So I can get some sleep before coming over here in the morning.

BTW, I'm no longer sitting next to Peter. :-( But he knows how to find me. Actually, we've had some nice conversations. It's so different when you speak with someone face to face. I've enjoyed our discussions so far, and I'm sure I'll be bothering him again very soon.

But it may not be good for his reputation for us to let folks know that he really is a very nice guy. :D