Madrid -- Nadal vs. Robredo (Set 2) Thursday, October 20, 2005 Getting ready for the second set, after Rafa took the first 6-2. It's apparent that Robredo has been a bit intimidated by Rafa. His strategy has been to hit hard, and if that doesn't work, hit harder. And it isn't working well at the moment. Vamos, Rafa! Commentators are talking about how carefully he places his water bottles under his chair. They are saying that Rafa probably had a tidy bedroom as a kid. Guess they haven't listened to his Mom. Tommy to serve. 15-0. That FH worked. 30-0. Ace. 40-0. Tommy is picking up his serving here. Fault. UE by Tommy. 40-15. FH winner. Game Robredo. 0-1, Robredo. Rafa to serve. Fault. Tommy hits FH long after rally. 15-0. Fault. BH down the line is just wide. Late call. 15-15. Let. Tommy hits BH long. Overhitting a bit by TR. 30-15. Great scrambling by Rafa to win that point. 40-15. Fault. Another FH UE. Game Nadal. 1-1, on serve. Rafa to change racquet. Tommy to serve. Tommy hits FH wide. 0-15. Rafa hits dropshot. Tommy gets to it, but hits wide. 0-30. Fault. Commentators think Tommy is trying too hard. Great scrambling by Rafa, and then he misses the easy one. 15-30. Good FH by Robredo. 30-30. Wonderful FH angle by Rafa. 30-40. BP for Rafa. Fault. Second serve. Bad UE by Tommy. Game Nadal. 2-1, Nadal. Great serve. 15-0. UE by Tommy. 30-0. Rafa FH long. 30-15. Second UE from Nadal in this set. TR has 7 in this set. BH UE by Robredo. 40-15. Rafa has won 28 baseline points, and lost 17. He's been in control of baseline. TR goes to net, forces Nadal error. 40-30. Return goes wide. Game Nadal. 3-1, Nadal. Sorry, had some technical problems. It is now breakpoint in Robredo's favor. 30-40 on Nadal's serve, after Robredo held. Robredo BROKE, with a passing shot. So back on serve. 3-3, on serve. Double fault. 0-15. Come on, Rafa! FH winner by Robredo, who seems to be playing better. 15-15. Volley FH winner by Robredo. 30-15. 9/14 at net for TR. Long rally, with BH mishit by Robredo 30-30. Great FH angle by TR. 40-30. Rafa hits BH wide. Game Robredo. 4-3, Robredo. Rafa seems to have let up a bit, and Tommy is taking advantage, becoming more aggressive. Hopefully Rafa will keep fighting, too. Vamos, Rafa!!! Rafa to serve. Rafa UE into net. 0-15. Return long. 15-15. Tommy runs into backboard, can't handle FH. 30-15. Ditto. 40-15. Let. Fault. FH winner by Tommy, right on the baseline. 40-30. Rafa's been hitting too many short balls. Let. Rafa hits FH out, forced error. Deuce. Come on, Rafa. Fight! Great serve and FH's; Tommy hits into net. Ad Rafa. Unreturnable serve. Game Nadal. 4-4, on serve Tommy changes racquet. New balls. TR to serve. Great serve, even better return, TR can't handle volley. 0-15. Fault. Tommy his FH long. 0-30. Shows Uncle Toni. Long rally. Tommy UE into net. 0-40. Three breakpoints. Fault. FH winner by TR. 15-40. Saved one breakpoint. Commentators note that TR has been inconsistent. Great BH by Rafa, and Tommy responds into net. Game Nadal. 5-4, Nadal. Rafa to serve for match. Rafa changes shirt. John Barrett says it probably isn't going to get very wet. He also notes that Rafa seems to be moving well, without much pain, if any. Fault. Double fault. Come on, Rafa! Barrett is saying "he is human after all." 29 UE's for Robredo. Just hit hit his 29th. 15-15. His 30th. 30-15. Tommy seems surprised that Rafa is able to return some of his FH's. Volley winner by Rafa. Fist pump. 40-15. Two matchpoints. Tommy hits FH long. MATCH TO NADAL, 6-2, 6-4. He acknowledges the crowd. Rafa 11 UE's, 11 winners Robredo 31, UE's, 17 winners Tommy only had 1 BP; Rafa converted 4 of 6. Great match for Rafa!!! Stepanek is next! posted by Susan @ 11:43 AM  2 comments Madrid -- Nadal vs. Robredo (Set 1) Rafa is playing Tommy Robredo in the third round of the Madrid Masters. We will be providing live play-by-play coverage as soon as the match starts -- at approximately 11 a.m. PT. Stay tuned . . . . Rafa and Tommy are on court, warming up. Rafa is wearing the same white shorts and orange shirt that he wore yesterday. Only difference is a white bandana, instead of a yellow one. Rafa is wearing the knee bands again. But he was jumping during the coin toss and sprinted to the baseline as usual. The arena is full. The commentators are saying this surface will favor Robredo, because he grew up on hardcourts. So this may be a tough one for Rafa. Vamos, Rafa!!!! Tommy to serve. Rafa hits return long. 15-0. Fault. Tremendous FH angle by Rafa. 15-15. That was a long rally. Fault; let. Great FH pass by Rafa. 15-30. Fault. Tommy hits long. They are blasting forehands at each other. 15-40. Two breakpoints for Rafa! FH winner down-the-line by Rafa. Game Nadal. 1-0, Nadal. Rafa to serve. Adjusts socks. Unreturnable serve. 15-0. Ditto. 30-0. Ditto again. Tommy hits return wide. 40-0. Shows Toni. Rafa hits FH long. 40-15. Fault. UE by Tommy. Game Nadal. 2-0, Nadal. Fernando Verdasco is watching the match. Tommy to serve. Fault. Double fault. 0-15. FH winner by TR after short return. 15-15. Unreturnable serve. 30-15. FH winner. 40-15. TR is playing better now, not as tentative. Fault. Mishit by Rafa. Game Robredo. 2-1, Nadal. Rafa to serve. Fault. Rafa hits BH just out after fending off a number of FH's. 0-15. Crowd is getting noisier. Unreturnable serve. 15-15. Let. Rafa hits FH long. 15-30. Great FH by Rafa; Tommy hits wide. 30-30. Rafa ran around his BH a couple times. Fault. Long FH slugfest. What a rally!!! Power and depth. Tommy into net. 40-30. Great point! Rafa is still breathing hard after that rally. Ace. Game Nadal. 3-1, Nadal. Tommy to serve. Fault. Double fault. 0-15. Tommy hits FH wide. 0-30. BH long by Rafa. 15-30. Fault. Return long. 30-30. Mishit by Tommy. 30-40. Breakpoint for Nadal. FH winner by Tommy. Deuce. Rafa hits return long. Nice volley by Robredo. Game Robredo. 3-2, Nadal. Rafa to serve. Drinks some water, properly places the bottle under his chair. Adjusts his pants and socks. ;-) Fault. Tommy FH into net. 15-0. Tommy is hitting as hard as he can. Shows Toni. Fault. Great forehand sets up volley put away. 30-0. Let. Fault. Return long. 40-0. Great BH by Nadal, Tommy couldn't handle. Gane Nadal. 4-2, Nadal. Ace by Tommy. 15-0. UE by Tommy. 15-15. Let. Fault. Another BH UE. 15-30. Crowd clapping. Fault. Rafa BH into net. 30-30. That was a long rally. Showing Toni again. Let. Bad FH mishit by Tommy. 30-40. Another BP for Rafa. Tommy hits FH long. Game Nadal. 5-2, Nadal. Rafa serving. FH volley by Rafa. 15-0. Fault. FH UE into net by TR. 30-0. Nadal only 6 UE's, 14 UE's for Robredo. Rafa misses BH. 30-15. Fault. FH goes long. 40-15. Two SET POINTS!!! Tommy into net. SET TO NADAL. 6-2, Nadal. To a new thread for second set. posted by Susan @ 10:24 AM  0 comments