Saturday: Rafa vs. Blake (Set 2)
It was a great first set, but Rafa came up a bit short. Blake is playing very well, and Rafa is scrapping right now. Hopefully he'll continue to do that in the second set. I'm going to take a short break in a bit. Vamos, Rafael!!!!
Game 1: Blake to serve. I want to see how Rafa responds to losing the first set. Vamos!! Volley winner by Rafa. As he jumps and pumps his fist. 0-15. Fault. Rafa isn't giving up, folks. Winner by Blake. 15-15. FH miss by Rafa, after great rally. 30-15. Rafa misses pass. He's making some errors now. Wind is calming down, though. 40-15. Return goes long. Game Blake. 1-0, JP.
Game 2: Rafa to serve. This will tell us a lot. Come on, Rafa!!! Fault. He is going for his serves. JB misses FH. 15-0. Fault. Rafa misses easy BH. 15-15. He needs to keep fighting and not press. But I guess he feels he needs to be aggressive. Winner by Rafa. He yells Vamos! 30-15. OH by Rafa. 40-15. Great point. Fans are starting to support Rafa more as they want to continue to see a good match. Great serve. Game RN. 1-1. BRB
It's now 2-2, as they each held their service games, and I went to the ladies room.
Game 5: Blake to serve. 15-0. It's not too cold now, and the wind isn't as gusty. Fault. FH winner by Rafa. James says "too good." 15-15. Rafa acts like he won the match. Fault. He is still fighting, folks. Winner lob by Rafa. 15-30. Fist pump. James couldn't believe it. Screaming BH winner by Rafa. He is pumpped. 15-40. Two breakpoints. Crowd is going nuts. Rafa misses easy shot. Not happy with himself. 30-40. He is pressing. Ace. Deuce. Darn it. Return into net. Ad Blake. S&V. Game Blake. Rafa will be disappointed by missing those chances, but Blake stepped up. 3-2, JB.
Game 6: Rafa to serve. Rafa hasn't been able to impose his game on Blake, and I think he's trying to make adjustments. He may lose the match, but he's fighting on. Vamos!!! Great FH by Rafa. 15-0. Fault. Rafa hits FH wide. 15-15. He knows he's in a dogfight here. Come on, Rafa!! FH winner by Rafa. 30-15. Fist pump. Great serve and FH winner. 40-15. Fault. DF. 40-30. Come on, Rafa. This is where we know he feels he is under pressure. Go Rafa!!! Adjusts pants. Fault. Rafa hits out. Deuce. He is upset. This is a crucial point in this match. Come on, Rafa! Forces James to hit out. Ad Rafa. Come on!!! James hits out. Game Nadal. He yells "Come on" 3-3.
Game 7: Blake to serve. DF. 0-15. Rafa sprints to the other side. Fault. Great point. Blake wins it, but Rafa scrambles all around. 15-15. At least Blake knows Rafa isn't giving up. Blake overhits. 15-30. Come on!!! Let. Return goes wide. 30-30. I have to say Blake is playing very well. 40-30. But Rafa had to make a few fans with that point, as he dove for the ball. More people yelling Vamos Rafa. Return goes long. Game Blake. 4-3, JB.
Game 8: Rafa to serve. He has to hold here. The media around here think it's a great match and very close. It's too close for my comfort. BH into net. 15-0. Fault. DF. Again, he is pressing. 15-15. Come on, Rafa!!! Great volley pass by Blake, Nothing Rafa could do. 15-30. Go Rafa! This is a key game. Amazing point. Rafa had it won, but Blake came back. 15-40. This may be the end, folks. It was too good. Great stuff. The blogger went out for a bit. Ad Blake. As Rafa got unlucky let cord. Vamos! Great stuff by these guys. Fault. Angry first serve. Rafa is frustrated. Game Blake, as Rafa misses lob. He did it all, and it wasn't enough.
Game 9: Blake to serve. Crowd is going wild. Blake overhits. 0-15. OH winner by Blake. Rafa is hanging in there, but it's tough. 15-15. Beautiful winner lob by Rafa. Fist pump. 15-30. Great serve by confident Blake. 30-30. Great OH by Blake. Marchpoint. 40-30. Matchpoint. Rafa is still fighting, though. Return into net. Game Blake, 7-5, 6-3. I'll go to Rafa's press conference. Don't worry -- although he lost, he played well and fought. He's walking off court now. He does acknoweldge the crowd. And he is clapping. And he is stopping to sign autographs -- the sign of a true champion, although he has to be disappointed. On to Miami for our baby bull. :D
Game 1: Blake to serve. I want to see how Rafa responds to losing the first set. Vamos!! Volley winner by Rafa. As he jumps and pumps his fist. 0-15. Fault. Rafa isn't giving up, folks. Winner by Blake. 15-15. FH miss by Rafa, after great rally. 30-15. Rafa misses pass. He's making some errors now. Wind is calming down, though. 40-15. Return goes long. Game Blake. 1-0, JP.
Game 2: Rafa to serve. This will tell us a lot. Come on, Rafa!!! Fault. He is going for his serves. JB misses FH. 15-0. Fault. Rafa misses easy BH. 15-15. He needs to keep fighting and not press. But I guess he feels he needs to be aggressive. Winner by Rafa. He yells Vamos! 30-15. OH by Rafa. 40-15. Great point. Fans are starting to support Rafa more as they want to continue to see a good match. Great serve. Game RN. 1-1. BRB
It's now 2-2, as they each held their service games, and I went to the ladies room.
Game 5: Blake to serve. 15-0. It's not too cold now, and the wind isn't as gusty. Fault. FH winner by Rafa. James says "too good." 15-15. Rafa acts like he won the match. Fault. He is still fighting, folks. Winner lob by Rafa. 15-30. Fist pump. James couldn't believe it. Screaming BH winner by Rafa. He is pumpped. 15-40. Two breakpoints. Crowd is going nuts. Rafa misses easy shot. Not happy with himself. 30-40. He is pressing. Ace. Deuce. Darn it. Return into net. Ad Blake. S&V. Game Blake. Rafa will be disappointed by missing those chances, but Blake stepped up. 3-2, JB.
Game 6: Rafa to serve. Rafa hasn't been able to impose his game on Blake, and I think he's trying to make adjustments. He may lose the match, but he's fighting on. Vamos!!! Great FH by Rafa. 15-0. Fault. Rafa hits FH wide. 15-15. He knows he's in a dogfight here. Come on, Rafa!! FH winner by Rafa. 30-15. Fist pump. Great serve and FH winner. 40-15. Fault. DF. 40-30. Come on, Rafa. This is where we know he feels he is under pressure. Go Rafa!!! Adjusts pants. Fault. Rafa hits out. Deuce. He is upset. This is a crucial point in this match. Come on, Rafa! Forces James to hit out. Ad Rafa. Come on!!! James hits out. Game Nadal. He yells "Come on" 3-3.
Game 7: Blake to serve. DF. 0-15. Rafa sprints to the other side. Fault. Great point. Blake wins it, but Rafa scrambles all around. 15-15. At least Blake knows Rafa isn't giving up. Blake overhits. 15-30. Come on!!! Let. Return goes wide. 30-30. I have to say Blake is playing very well. 40-30. But Rafa had to make a few fans with that point, as he dove for the ball. More people yelling Vamos Rafa. Return goes long. Game Blake. 4-3, JB.
Game 8: Rafa to serve. He has to hold here. The media around here think it's a great match and very close. It's too close for my comfort. BH into net. 15-0. Fault. DF. Again, he is pressing. 15-15. Come on, Rafa!!! Great volley pass by Blake, Nothing Rafa could do. 15-30. Go Rafa! This is a key game. Amazing point. Rafa had it won, but Blake came back. 15-40. This may be the end, folks. It was too good. Great stuff. The blogger went out for a bit. Ad Blake. As Rafa got unlucky let cord. Vamos! Great stuff by these guys. Fault. Angry first serve. Rafa is frustrated. Game Blake, as Rafa misses lob. He did it all, and it wasn't enough.
Game 9: Blake to serve. Crowd is going wild. Blake overhits. 0-15. OH winner by Blake. Rafa is hanging in there, but it's tough. 15-15. Beautiful winner lob by Rafa. Fist pump. 15-30. Great serve by confident Blake. 30-30. Great OH by Blake. Marchpoint. 40-30. Matchpoint. Rafa is still fighting, though. Return into net. Game Blake, 7-5, 6-3. I'll go to Rafa's press conference. Don't worry -- although he lost, he played well and fought. He's walking off court now. He does acknoweldge the crowd. And he is clapping. And he is stopping to sign autographs -- the sign of a true champion, although he has to be disappointed. On to Miami for our baby bull. :D
posted by Susan at 5:33 PM
13 Comments:
How is Rafi's movement looking?
Jayne
Hehe I read this blog and I look the scoreboard on the pacific open website..... It is very late in Belgium..... 2h33 on the night....But I support Rafa and I hope that he win the second set !!!!!
I am with Rafa in my mind.....
Vanina, Brussels, Belgium.....
Thats to bad that he lost....Blake is playing very well these days.
thanks susan. this was a tough game to sit and just read about. Give us a detailed description of the press conference please! thank you! and great work through out this tournament! much love.
Sofia
Thanks Susan!
I'm a big Blake fan and I was glad to be reading your insightful commentary as we didn't get to see the match live..
Too bad for Rafa, but I'm sure he'll come back and win many more tournaments. He's such a great player, so fun to watch, such a boon to tennis, I love him!
Well fought Rafa!
Hard luck Blake was playing really well. Thanks a lot, Susan, for your blogging. I'll read about what he says at the press conference in the morning as I'm going back to bed now!
Buenas horas Susan. Have a safe journey home.
Shame he lost, but it's good that he's behaving like a true champ.
I'm not happy one bit but it's naught to be bummed out about - 2 semi's and Dubai title.
Go Roger!!!!!!!!
Hi Susan,
I'm so sad Rafa lost ! he didn't deserve it !
Please tell us all he said during his press conf ! i hope he's not too sad
I don't understand why he can't beat that Blake who is not better than many players he beats regularly. Is it sthg psychological ?
RAFA WE STILL LOVE YOU SO !
VAMOS !
Lucie
Rafa was awesome. I'm sad that he lost but he was a real fighter! Susan tell him he's amazing-although he should already know that!
OMG WE LOVE U RAFA!!!!!
Nothing psychological about it - it's Blake's game - when he's playing as well as he was here and in the US Open - that doesn't let him take control of the match and 'run away with' it - Rafa's new vocab learned at IW!! - in the way he likes.
Thanks Susan for keeping us so well informed.
Susan wrote --
"15-40. This may be the end, folks. It was too good. Great stuff. The blogger went out for a bit."
I bailed at the same time and watched the Food Network. About an hour later I was brave enough to attempt to see the score on the scroll at ESPNEWS. Of course it popped right up. Then it took another hour to get me back here. Thank goodness Rafa's made of much tougher stuff than I.
Rafa is a great Champion and will conquer Blake and anyone else who stands in his way of being Number One! Oh, and Wimbledon Champion, too!
And he will always make me proud to be a fan.
VAMOS RAFAEL!!!!!!!!!!
Nice to hear that Rafa played well Susan - he can't win them all after all and he knows that :)
I'm taping the match later so I can watch it through the week - looking forward to seeing how the match went compared to the USO...
Lovely of him to sign autographs aswell - what a guy! :)
G x
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