Wednesday: Rafa vs. Grosjean (Set 2)
Rafa's had his left foot taped, as he twisted his ankle. Hopefully it won't affect his movement too much.
Game 1: Seb to serve. Easy service game. 1-0, SG.
Game 2: Rafa to serve. Fault. You have to think the potential problem to his foot is affecting him mentally. BH into net. 0-15. Another bad miss by Rafa. 0-30. This is NOT good. Fault. Let. Misses drop shot badly. 0-40. There is something wrong. 15-40, after great serve. Screaming FH winner. 30-40. Fist pump. Unreturnable serve. Deuce. He's continuing to fight. Vamos! Fault. Mishit by Rafa. Ad SG. Come on, Rafa!! FH into net. Game SG. Poor Rafa. He's struggling now. Keep fighting!!! I think he has had a mental lapse since the injury.
Game 3: Seb to serve. Crowd getting behind Rafa. Although lots of Allez's. Seb hits long. Lots of cheering for Rafa. 0-15. Rafa seemed a little better in that point. Seb into net. 0-30. Seb hits FH long. 0-40. Here's his chance. Fault. Great return. Game, Nadal. Back on serve. 2-1, SG, on serve.
Game 4: Rafa to serve. Great serve. 15-0. Again. 30-0. Rafa seems a bit less tentative now. Ace. 40-0. Unreturnable serve. Game Rafa. 2-2, on serve.
Game 5: Seb to serve. 0-15, as Rafa becomes aggressive again. Starting to get dark. Seb hits long. 0-30. Fault. FH goes wide. 15-30. Great point, demonstrating how hard it is to beat Rafa from the baseline. 15-40. BP. Vamos! FH long. 30-40. One more BP. Come on!!! Fault. DF. Rafa wins game. 3-2, RN.
Game 6: Rafa to serve. Adjusts socks and pants. Fault. Misses FH. 0-15. Go Rafa!!! Great FH. 15-15. Fault. Crowd is very subdued. SG his FH into net. 30-15. Great serve. 40-15. Misses FH down the line, and yells at himself. 40-30. Great BH down the line winner. Game Nadal. 4-2, RN. New balls.
Game 7: Seb to serve. 15-0, after great scrambling by Rafa. He seems to be moving okay now. Fault. Rafa FH forces SG to overhit. 15-15. 15-30. Rafa seems to be overpowering Seb at crucial times. FH causes set to overhit again. 15-40. Two BP's. Vamos! Rafa breaks as SG can't handle Rafa BH. 5-2, RN.
Game 8: Rafa to serve for the matdch. Winner passing shot by Grosjean. Fault. I think Rafa thought it was an ace. Screaming FH winner by Rafa, down the line. 15-15. Fist pump. Fault. Another screaming FH winner. 30-15. SG could only watch it go by. Rafa misses it this time. 30-30. Go Rafa!!! Fault. UE by Seb. 40-30. MP. This lady in the next suite loves Nadal. She's yelling for an ace. He wins, as he forces SG to hit long. 6-4, 6-2.
Well done to our baby bull. :D He played so well -- with just a hiccup there as he dealt with the foot matter.
Rafa is signing 3 balls to hit in the crowd. And signing the camera. He seems happy. Both he and Roger played a lot better today.
Game 1: Seb to serve. Easy service game. 1-0, SG.
Game 2: Rafa to serve. Fault. You have to think the potential problem to his foot is affecting him mentally. BH into net. 0-15. Another bad miss by Rafa. 0-30. This is NOT good. Fault. Let. Misses drop shot badly. 0-40. There is something wrong. 15-40, after great serve. Screaming FH winner. 30-40. Fist pump. Unreturnable serve. Deuce. He's continuing to fight. Vamos! Fault. Mishit by Rafa. Ad SG. Come on, Rafa!! FH into net. Game SG. Poor Rafa. He's struggling now. Keep fighting!!! I think he has had a mental lapse since the injury.
Game 3: Seb to serve. Crowd getting behind Rafa. Although lots of Allez's. Seb hits long. Lots of cheering for Rafa. 0-15. Rafa seemed a little better in that point. Seb into net. 0-30. Seb hits FH long. 0-40. Here's his chance. Fault. Great return. Game, Nadal. Back on serve. 2-1, SG, on serve.
Game 4: Rafa to serve. Great serve. 15-0. Again. 30-0. Rafa seems a bit less tentative now. Ace. 40-0. Unreturnable serve. Game Rafa. 2-2, on serve.
Game 5: Seb to serve. 0-15, as Rafa becomes aggressive again. Starting to get dark. Seb hits long. 0-30. Fault. FH goes wide. 15-30. Great point, demonstrating how hard it is to beat Rafa from the baseline. 15-40. BP. Vamos! FH long. 30-40. One more BP. Come on!!! Fault. DF. Rafa wins game. 3-2, RN.
Game 6: Rafa to serve. Adjusts socks and pants. Fault. Misses FH. 0-15. Go Rafa!!! Great FH. 15-15. Fault. Crowd is very subdued. SG his FH into net. 30-15. Great serve. 40-15. Misses FH down the line, and yells at himself. 40-30. Great BH down the line winner. Game Nadal. 4-2, RN. New balls.
Game 7: Seb to serve. 15-0, after great scrambling by Rafa. He seems to be moving okay now. Fault. Rafa FH forces SG to overhit. 15-15. 15-30. Rafa seems to be overpowering Seb at crucial times. FH causes set to overhit again. 15-40. Two BP's. Vamos! Rafa breaks as SG can't handle Rafa BH. 5-2, RN.
Game 8: Rafa to serve for the matdch. Winner passing shot by Grosjean. Fault. I think Rafa thought it was an ace. Screaming FH winner by Rafa, down the line. 15-15. Fist pump. Fault. Another screaming FH winner. 30-15. SG could only watch it go by. Rafa misses it this time. 30-30. Go Rafa!!! Fault. UE by Seb. 40-30. MP. This lady in the next suite loves Nadal. She's yelling for an ace. He wins, as he forces SG to hit long. 6-4, 6-2.
Well done to our baby bull. :D He played so well -- with just a hiccup there as he dealt with the foot matter.
Rafa is signing 3 balls to hit in the crowd. And signing the camera. He seems happy. Both he and Roger played a lot better today.
posted by Susan at 5:51 PM
16 Comments:
Is it packed there? How is the atmosphere? Lots of spanish flags?
I don't see any Spanish flags. It's not very packed right now. The day people are getting ready to leave, and the night session people will be coming in soon. Vamos!
Congrats to Rafa and Susan. Thanks for the great coverage, and thanks for the great play Rafa. Keep it going, and get as far as possible in this tourney.
I'll go to the press conferences and try to find out if Rafa will play doubles. He may not want to chance that ankle.
Great report, Susan!!! Thanks a lot!!! Congrats to RAFA and YOU!!!!
Natalie
I'll to the press conferences and see what I can discover.
Thanks Susan! Great job.
shame about the ankle. rafa was really serving well in the first set.. until he broke rafa when he was serving for the first set at 5-2, grosjean had only won 1 point receiving on rafa's serve...
I doubt if he'll risk the doubles. I think gasquet and grosjean will get a w.o. enabling them to continue in the tournament in spite of their singles losses today.
Now I'm off to bed... it's almost 3am here!
Hope you meet up with Lopy later to compare notes.
Great blogging Susan!!!
I SO HOPE he does not
play doubles. Hope he
calls Toni and gets the
WORD!!!
I agree, much better playing today, more
rhythm and beauty.
WOO HOO!
Can't wait for the
next installment!!!
xoxoMary Walsh
What is the deal with the attendance at the matches? The stadium hasn't been full at either of Rafa's matches. That is disappointing.
The good news is that only the two quarter finals from the top half of draw are being played tomorrow, Thursday! Rafa will have a day free for his ankle to get better .. if he doesn't play the doubles.
VAMOS!
Thanks susanfor the fab blog again. so happy that Rafa won again and that improving his game each day. I'm still looking for a Federer-Nadal final. Hopefully he easily thrash Baggy's butt.
However Susan he will need the loud cheers ever !!!!! hey bring a Spanish flaglet while you cheer for him (suggestion . . .).
But is he going to be okay with that taped ankle. Just really worried !!!!!
Hope its fine. . .
Vamos Susan . . . Vamos Rafael !!!
May
I agree with others: a couple of Spanish flags in full sight would be great for the Baghdatis match.
i want the balls he threw into the crowd! lol. i'm sure rafa's ankle isn't bothering him is it? great that he pulled out of doubles, would be good for his singles.
Susan, thanks so much for doing point by point, the match wasn't broadcast here so this blog is the only way I can find out about how the match went.
God, it's so frustrating that he should injure his ankle again!
Please please please let it not be anything serious. :-(
Love
mallorn
Hi Susan,
Thanks for your great reports again ! I watched Rafa's first set on TV in France (2.30 am!) and found he played fantastic, great serve, returns, FH and passing shots !!
Hope his ankle is not too bad ??
Lucie
What ankle again?
His 3 month+ lay-off was due to arthritis in his LEFT instep, not ankle. He went over slightly on his RIGHT ankle in this match (not left as Susan mistakenly put, though she got it right when she first mentioned he'd called for a trainer.)
Happily there's no connection whatsoever.*lol*
Thanks for the point by point blog, Susan.
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