Madrid Final -- Rafa vs. Ljubicic (Set 1) Saturday, October 22, 2005 Stay tuned for live play-by-play when Rafa takes on Croat Ivan Ljubicic in the Madrid Masters final. Ljubicic will be going for his first Masters Series title, while Rafa will be going for his fourth Masters title of the year. Join us here at 3:30 p.m. Madrid time, and at 6:30 a.m. PT and 9:30 a.m. ET in the USA. Vamos, Rafa!!!! They have finished the warm up. Rafa is wearing the same outfit, white shorts, orange shirt, white bandana. Ljubicic to serve. 15-0. BH winner by IL. 30-0. UE into net by IL. 30-15. Commentators note that Rafa's FH goes to IL's BH, which is his strength. IL uses a dropshot, but Rafa gets to it, and IL into net. 30-30. IL hits wide. 30-40. BP to Nadal. The replay shows it's a bad call. Fault. Winner by Nadal. So Rafa breaks. Good result for Rafa, but he did get the advantage from a bad call. 1-0, Nadal. Rafa to serve. UE by IL, into net. 15-0. Rafa hits BH down the line wide. 15-15. Shows Toni. Return long. 30-15. Ace. 40-15. Fault. UE by IL. Game Rafa. 2-0, Nadal. They are still talking about the bad call that IL got. Rafa into net. 15-0. Commentators note that Rafa seems to be moving well. Let. Ace. 30-0. 40-0, after good serve. Game IL. Very easy service game for him. 2-1, Nadal. Rafa to serve. Great serve. 15-0. BH winner by IL. 15-15. Let. Great serve by Rafa, but Rafa couldn't handle volley. 15-30. Rafa hits wide. 15-40. Bad error by Rafa. Two BP's. Fault. Winner by IL. Gane to IL. 2-2, on serve. IL to serve. The break was a shame, because I don't think Rafa is going to get that many chances on IL's serve. 15-15. Ace. 30-15. Ace. 40-15. 4 aces for IL. FH passing winner down the line for Rafa. 40-30. Return goes wide. Game to IL. 2-3, Ljubicic. Rafa to serve. The stadium is packed. Crowd is for Rafa. Adjusts his socks. Fault. FH into net by IL. 15-0. Dozens of photographers. Fault. We should have many photos from the final. IL BH goes out. 30-0. Great serve by Rafa; IL hits wide again. 40-0. Ace. Game to Nadal. Much better service game by Rafa. 3-3, on serve. 15-0, IL serving. 30-0. It's going to hard to break him again. Fault. Double fault. 30-15. Fault. Rafa into net. 40-15. Fault. Ace. Game to IL. 3-4, Ljubicic. Rafa to serve. New balls. 0-15. Long rally, great BH by Ljubicic forces error by Rafa. Great serve by Rafa. 15-15. Fault. Double fault. 15-30. Trouble for Rafa. Come on, Rafa. Crowd is supporting him. Return goes long. 30-30. Short points for the most part so far. Fault. Great return, and Rafa goes into net. 30-40. BP for IL. This is a virtual set point. Come on, Rafa. UE by Rafa. Into net. Game to IL. 3-5, Ljubicic. IL serving for set. Great passing shot by Rafa. 0-15. Good serve. 15-15. Another passing shot winner by Rafa. 15-30. Return goes long. 30-30. Rafa not happy about that. Fault. Winner by Ljubicic. Set point to IL. 40-30. Ace. Set to IL. posted by Susan @ 8:29 PM