Madrid - Second Round - Post-Match Analysis Wednesday, October 19, 2005 Nadal def. Victor Hanescu 7-6(5), 6-3 Rafa was cautious, and looking a bit rusty at the beginning of the match. But once he won the first set, his tennis went up a notch, and he played much better. In fact, he was playing very well at the end of the match. He was imposing his game more on Hanescu, who started making more errors to compensate, and that made things easier for Rafa. That's what he typically does on clay, but before then, Hanescu was holding fairly easily on his service games. But if you didn't know about Rafa's knee issues, and see the bands on his knees, you wouldn't really know he had tendonitis in his knees. His movement seemed very good; he was even running down Hanescu's dropshots (I couldn't figure out why he kept going to that shot.) Moya or Robredo will be much more of a test for Rafa, certainly. If he plays the way he did at the end of today's match, and if his knees aren't an issue, he has a shot. Oh, as for the piratas, the commentators were saying they thought he wasn't wearing them because of the knee bands, as they would get caught in the pants. They obviously hadn't heard that Nike had decided a while back that he was going to wear regular shorts for the rest of the year. My speculation is that there is a shortage of piratas available for supply (Tennis Warehouse can't get them), and that they are now using Rafa to market regular shorts now. I do hope he pulls out of Basel, though. (Sorry to any Swiss fans out there.) The knee tendonitis is still a concern. Vamos, Rafa! posted by Susan @ 10:34 AM  0 comments Madrid -- Nadal vs. Hanescu (Set 2) We'll start a new thread for the second set. Rafa did well to win that first set. Great fist pump when he won the first set. He's not jumping much, though. Go Rafa! Commentators expect Rafa to play better in second set, now that he has a set under his belt. Hanescu to serve. 15-0, Rafa into net. Rafa can't quite get to drop shot. 30-0. Rafa got to that dropshot. FH on thee line. 30-15. Hanescu wants to make Rafa run more, I think. 40-15. Let. VH really has been serving well. Ace. Game VH. 1-0, Hanescu. They have too many tennis balls, so are trying to straighten out that situation. The models are having to work now. ;-) Rafa to serve. Great serve, sets up volley. 15-0. Rafa hits BH long. 15-15. Rafa pounded several FH's, finally causing UE by VH. 30-15. S&V by Rafa. 40-15. Commentators again are saying he's moving well. He's just making a few uncharacteristic errors because of rust. Nice FH. Game Nadal. 1-1, on serve Trainer called -- by Hanescu!!! He's getting treatment on his legs, perhaps for cramping, in the left thigh. Commentators are saying they shouldn't allow injury time-outs. Rafa runs out to take his position. Great FH. 0-15. Unreturnable serve. 15-15. Fault. Rafa UE into net. 30-15. Fault. VH long. 30-30. Lopez smiling. Rafa was running everywhere in the point, after a great return. But FH had last word. 40-30. Unreturnable serve. Game VH. 2-1, Hanescu (on serve) Rafa to serve. 15-0. Two unreturnable serves. 30-0. VH hits long. 40-0. Serve into the body, VH can't handle. Game Nadal. 2-2, on serve VH to serve. FH pass by Rafa. 0-15. Amazing point by Rafa. VH plays half-volley through the legs. Rafa gets to it, and VH into net. 0-30. Fist pump. Fault. 15-30. Fault. BH goes wide. 30-30. Great FH, on the line. 30-40. Breakpoint for Rafa. Couldn't handle serve out wide. Deuce. Fault. FH into net. Ad Hanescu. Easy OH for Hanescu. Good serving by Hanescu causes Rafa problems. Game VH. 3-2, Hanescu (on serve) Rafa serving. VH dropshot doesn't work. Rafa gets to it, and has some help from the net cord. 15-0. FH goes wide. 30-0. 40-0. Ace. Game Nadal. 3-3, on serve Fault. Hanescu is driving me crazy with that serve out wide. Rafa got to it, and fortunately, VH hit UE. 0-15. And ditto again, this time into net. 0-30. Two FH errors by Hanescu. Nadal hits return into net. 15-30. VH has 18 errors and 2 winners in this set. Fault. FH goes long. Rafa pumps fist. 15-40. Two breakpoints. Toni encouraging Rafa. Come on, Rafa! Beautiful cross-court angle winner. HE BREAKS! 3-4, Nadal 30-0. Rafa is playing much better now. He seems a lot more confident. Fault. Too much pace on the Nadal FH. 40-0. Fault. Easy volley put away. Game Nadal. 3-5, Nadal VH to serve. Great BH passing winner by Rafa. 0-15. Double fault. 0-30. VH's level of play has gone down. Let. Ace. 15-30. His 9th ace. BH winner by Hanescu. 30-30. Right on the line. Muffed dropshot by VH. 30-40. Matchpoint for Rafa! UE by VH. 7-6, 6-3 HE WINS!!!!!! He signs the camera lens. Rafa played a lot better toward the end of the second set. 24 winners and 18 UE's for Rafa overall. He got 3 of 6 break opportunities. He will play either Moya or Robredo next. posted by Susan @ 8:16 AM  3 comments Madrid -- Nadal vs. Hanescu (Set 1) Rafa has confirmed he will play his match against Hanescu today. According to the doctors, he cannot further damage he knee by playing today. Stay tuned for live coverage, courtesy of VamosRafael.com. Rafa is warming up now. First, he gave a presentation to the widow of a tennis player who passed away. He's wearing white shorts, with black bands under both knees. An orange sleeveless shirt, and a yellow headband. Rafa to serve to start. Hanescu won the toss. Rafa was jumping around the way he normally does before the match, and sprinted to the back court. 0-30 -- He hit long on the second point. Fault. Seems a little rusty to start. 15-30. Hanescu hits wide. He's making Rafa run around. Rafa hits forehand long. 0-40. Two breakpoints. Fault. Lucky let cord for Hanescu. He breaks. Change side. 1-0, Hanescu. Hanescu serving. Hits long. 0-15. Mishit by Rafa. 15-15. Great FH down the line, hit on the run. 15-30. Rafa into net. Great serve by Hanescu. 40-30. Fault. BH long. Game Hanescu. 2-0, Hanescu. Rafa still isn't looking too comfortable out there. He's moving okay, though. Rafa to serve. Fault. 15-0. Fault. Hanescu hits long. 30-0. Unreturnable serve. 40-0. Much better service game by Rafa. Fault. Rafa hits FH wide. Uncharacteristic errors by Rafa. 40-15. Good serve. VH into net. Game Nadal. 2-1, Hanescu. Hanescu to serve. The commentators are wondering if Rafa will complete the match. VH volley into net. 0-15. Ace. 15-15. Fault. Rafa couldn't get to dropshot. 30-15. That couldn't have helped his knee any. 40-15. Rafa couldn't get to serve. Ace. Game Hanescu. 3-1, Hanescu. Rafa to serve. Good serve. 15-0. 30-0. Fault. Good FH by Rafa, forcing VH to mishit. 40-0. Great FH angle. Game Nadal. Good service game by Rafa. 3-2, Hanescu. VH to serve. Come on, Rafa. VH hits long. 0-15. Let. Great serve. But let cord didn't help VH this time. Ball out. 0-30. Rafa looking focused. S&V by VH. 15-30. Great passing shot by Rafa. 15-40, to set up two breakpoints. Rafa moved quite well in that point. Vamos! Fault. He breaks. Fist pump!!!! VH didn't play well in that game, and Rafa took advantage. 3-3, on serve 15-0, good serve by Rafa. VH hits long. Great FH's by Rafa. He's pounding the ball. Angle volley by Rafa. VH couldn't handle. 30-0. He's finding his range now. Fault. FH long by Rafa. 30-15. VH hits long. 40-15. Rafa tried to S&V, and he passed Rafa. 40-30. Another S&V, but this time worked. Game Nadal. 3-4, Nadal VH to serve. 15-0. Ace. 30-0. Fourth ace by VH. Rafa mishits, and yells at himself. 40-0. Rafa is hitting a few too many short balls. Let. Commentators are noting that Rafa seems to be moving well. VH hits out. 40-15. Fault. BH mishit by Rafa. Game VH. 4-4, on serve They are showing Carlos Costa and Toni Nadal. Rafa to serve. FH wide by Rafa. 0-15. Adjusts his pants. Fault. Return is long. 15-15. Replay confirms it was long. Fault. Beautiful down-the-line FH pass by Rafa. 30-15. Fist pump! Let. Great BH crosscourt angle by Rafa. 40-15. Right on the line! Fault. There are model ballgirls. They don't seem to be distracting Rafa. VH hits wide, after good Rafa FH. Game Nadal. 4-5, Rafa VH to serve. Unreturnable serve out wide. 15-0. VH is serving quite well. Fault. Great return by Rafa, but then he followed up with FH into net. He yelled at himself. Rafa has half as many winners as errors. Ace. 40-0. Fault. FH down the line winner by Rafa. 40-15. Towels off. VH hits wide. He's trying to go to Rafa's BH as much as possible. 40-30. Great pass by Rafa. 40-40. Well done by Rafa. Fault. Then great serve out wide, finished it off with volley. Ad VH. Then another great serve. Game VH. 5-5, on serve Rafa serving. OH by VH after long rally. 0-15. Fault. Great FH by Rafa. 15-15. Great FH angle. 30-15. Feliciano Lopez is watching match. FH winner by Rafa. 40-15. Fault. Double fault. 40-30. Commentators saying he's a bit rusty. Couple punishing forehands. Game Rafa. He runs to chair. 5-6, Nadal. Vamos, Rafa! VH to serve to take it to a tiebreak. Fams are holding up Nadal posters. Fault. Rafa mishits long. 15-0. Volley long by VH. 15-15. That was a bit surprising. Go Rafa! Let. Fault. Geat volley winner by Nadal, after getting to dropshot. 15-30. Fist pump by Rafa. Crowd into this. S&V, volley wide by VH. Unforced error. 15-40. Call was correct. Two set points for Rafa. Great serve by VH. Rafa's return into net. 30-40. One more set point. Come on, Rafa! Lob long by Rafa. It was close. Deuce. Toni looks nervous. Crowd is cheering for Rafa. Go Rafa! Return into net. Ad Hanescu. Rafa not happy. Winner FH by Hanescu. Game Hanescuu. 6-6, TIEBREAK 0-1, Hanescu. Rafa unforced error into net. 0-2, Hanescu. Return into net. 0-3, Hanescu. Rafa down a mini-break. Rafa to serve. 1-3, Hanescu. Great serve by Rafa. VH hits long. 2-3, Hanescu. Fault. VH long. VH to serve. 2-4, Hanescu. Winner by VH. Change ends. 3-4, Hanescu. Great return by Nadal, and then BH winner by Rafa. Rafa to serve. 4-4, On Serve. Ace by Rafa. Go Rafa! First Ace. 4-5, Nadal. VH hits wide. Rafa makes happy noise. Feliciano is smiling. 5-5, Hanescu. Nadal hit FH wide. One more serve by VH. 5-6, Nadal. UE by VH. Third set point for Rafa. He yelled Come on or Vamos! 5-7, Nadal, Return goes long. SET TO NADAL. posted by Susan @ 6:48 AM  3 comments