First Set -- Nadal vs. Blake Saturday, September 03, 2005 We are waiting for the guys to come on court. CBS is showing the second set tiebreak between Ljubicic and Gasquet. 6-6 in TB. Richard just saved set point. Now Richard has a set point. 7-6. Great passing shot by Richard, who takes the set. They are 1-1. Now they should go to Ashe for Nadal and Blake. Vamos, Rafa! They have a nice video promo of Nadal and Blake. Lots of fist-pumps and Vamoses. They are warming up right now. Rafa is in the blue-and-white outfit. Tight blue shirt, and white capris. Short interview with Rafa before match. He's jumping around. Reporter says good luck to him, and he admits it's going to be a tough match. John McEnroe says Nadal isn't playing with a lot of confidence, and Blake is playing the best he's ever seen him play, so McEnroe thinks James can win. Rafa to serve, as he sprints into position. 15-0, UE by JB. Rafa is going to Blake's BH. UE by Rafa. 15-15. Commentators saying the conditions today are better for Rafa than the Scoville match. 30-15. Unreturnable serve. Fault. 40-15. James overhits return. Fault. DF. 40-30. Come on, Rafa. Deuce. Great FH by Blake. Rafa into net. Great serve. Ad Nadal. UE by Blake. Game Rafa. 1-0, RN. JB to serve. 0-15. Great serve, 15-15. Fault. Crowd is quiet right now. UE by Rafa. 30-15. But the J-Block can be heard. JB is 10-0 against lefties. FH winner. 40-15. Another fh winner. Game, JB. 1-1. Rafa to serve. 0-15, Rafa hits wide. 15-15. JB hits lob long. 15-30. Great FH by Blake. Rafa taking his time. Great serve. 30-30. Another great serve. 40-30. Ditto. Game Nadal. 2-1, RN. James is playing very well, but Rafa is hanging in there right now. JB to serve. 0-15. 15-15. Rafa hits BH just wide. He knew it when he hit it. Great scrambling by Rafa, but James puts volley away. 30-15. Bh wide. 40-15. UE by Blake into net. 40-30. Return goes long. 2-2, Rafa to serve. 15-0. FH winner. 30-0. Great serve. 40-0. Let. Return long. Easy hold. Good serving by Rafa. 3-2, RN. Breaking JB will be tough. J-Block are making noise. Fault, let. DF. 0-15. Wild FH by JB. 0-30. 15-30, after S&V. Fault. BH mishit by Rafa. 30-30. Return into net. 40-30. Blake misses FH. Deuce. Beautiful pass by Rafa. Ad Nadal. Breakpoint for Rafa! Deuce #2. As Rafa goes into net. UE by Blake. Second BP for Nadal. Ad Rafa. Vamos, Rafa! OH winner by Blake. Great point. Deuce #3. Blake S&V. Ad Blake. Let. Fault. Return into net. Too bad Rafa missed those chances, but he is putting pressure on. 3-3. Rafa to serve. Fault. Rafa FH wide. 0-15 Stay focused, Rafa. Fault. Blake missed FH after long rally. 15-15. Blake hits long. 30-15. FH winner. Blake says "yup." 40-15. Fault. DF. 40-30. Come on, Rafa! Wind is picking up. Rafa missed fh, just wide. Deuce. Great rally. Ad Nadal. James hits wide. Game Rafa. 4-3. JB to serve. Rafa is giving 100%, even though you can tell things aren't going just the way he would like. Vamos! Ace. 15-0. 30-0. Unret serve into body. Long rally with FH winner by Rafa. 30-15. Fault. Beautiful pass by Rafa after defensive shots. 30-30. FH winner by Blake. 40-30. Fault. Another FH winner. Game JB. 4-4. Rafa to serve. Vamos! 15-0, return into net. Rafa his FH long. 15-15. Fault. Come on, Rafa. OH by James, after long rally. Lots of hard hitting in this match. 15-30. 15-40. JB has two breakpoints. Come on, Rafa. Rafa hits fh long. Gets the break. :-( 4-5, JB. Rafa is making some uncharacteristic errors, but James is forcing them. Vamos, Rafa! JB to serve for the set. Rafa adjusts his socks. JB FH wide. 0-15. Just showing his parents, and Carlos Costa, and sister. Ace. 15-15. Unreturn serve. 30-15. Rafa winner after very strange point. 30-30. Blake S&V. 40-30. Set point. Fault. Winner by Rafa after favorable let cord. Deuce. Exciting stuff. Ace. Ad Blake. Another set point. Rafa keeps fighting. Deuce #2. Let. Rafa hit a lob. He thought it was good, but it was called out. Ad Blake. Rafa complained, but no good. Rafa his return wide. Set to Blake. 6-4. Crowd going wild. Will need to start a new thread. Rafa is not happy at all. He looks disgusted with himself, but he's not playing badly. James is playing better right now. Let's see if he can turn it around. Vamos, Rafa!! posted by Susan @ 9:43 AM