Madrid -- Rafa vs. Ljubicic (Set 2) Sunday, October 23, 2005 So far, no real surprises. Rafa is getting outplayed by Ljubicic, who is serving extremely well. Hopefully Rafa can regroup, and keep fighting. He's not going to have a lot of chances against Ljubicic today, so if he gets some opportunities he'll have to take them. Vamos, Rafa!!!! Nadal to serve in second set. Great volleys by IL. 0-15. Fault. Return goes wide, thankfully 15-15. Rafa hits long. 15-30. Toni looks a bit worried. Dropshot winner by Rafa. 30-30. BH winner by IL. 30-40. Another BP for IL. Let. Come on, Rafa. IL into net. Rafa is happy with that. Deuce. Fault. Rafa UE into net. Another BP for IL. Rafa knows he's in a dogfight. AD IL. Great serve by Rafa. Deuce. IL returns into net. Ad Nadal. IL returns long. Game to Nadal. He sprints to the chair to take a drink. 1-0, Nadal. IL to serve. Unreturnable serve. 15-0. S&V. 30-0. Fault. 40-0. Not much Rafa can do. Let. Serve into body. Game IL. 1-1, on serve. Rafa to serve. 15-0. Rafa FH goes long. 15-15. FH winner by IL. 15-30. Dropshot winner by IL. Rafa is doing everything possible, but it isn't enough. 15-40. Two BP's. Fault. FH goes wide. He breaks. Crowd is silent. 1-2, Ljubicic. This is going to be a real learning experience for Rafa, I think. He's trying everything he can, but with IL serving so well, the pressure is all on Rafa's serve. The crowd is trying to get behind Rafa. Fault. FH winner by IL. 15-0. Fault. BH winner. 30-0. Rafa is not running down some things -- a question about his knees?? Ace. 40-0. IL hits long. Surprising error. 40-15. Volley winner. 1-3, Ljubicic. Rafa to serve. He needs to hold here. BH goes wide. 15-0. Volley winner by IL. 15-15. UE by IL. 30-15. FH winner by IL. 30-30. On the line. Finally, a volley winner by Rafa. A fist pump from him. 40-30. The crowd is going wild. Great serve. Game Rafa. 2-3, Ljubicic. IL to serve. Rafa is frustrated. 15-0. UE by IL. 15-15. The crowd is getting noisy. Fault. Easy put-away for IL. 30-15. Not much Rafa can do. But crowd is encouraging Rafa now. Rafa just missed. 40-15. Rafa's game is slightly off. Missed return. Game IL. 2-4, Ljubicic. Rafa to serve. Rafa can't handle dropshot. 0-15. Commentators are saying that Rafa doesn't seem to want to run as much today. Let. Fault. Another dropshot winner. 0-30. That couldn't have been good for his knee. UE by IL. 15-30. Another UE. 30-30. FH winner by IL. 30-40. Another BP. Come on, Rafa. Fault. IL hits long. Deuce. BH winner by IL. Ad Ljubicic. UE by Rafa. Game to Ljubicic. 2-5, Ljubicic. Commentators are saying Rafa is not 100%, and I think that's right. But even if he was 100%, he'd be having troubles with Ljubicic. New balls. Ace. 15-0. OH by Rafa. 15-15. Toni is clapping. Rafa hits great return. 15-30. Crowd is going wild. Fault. Rafa is fighting. 15-40. Two BP's for Rafa, after two FH errors by IL. Great serve. 30-40. S&V winner. Deuce. Ace. Ad Ljubicic. Set point. Another ace. 6-2, Ljubicic. posted by Susan @ 7:20 AM