Due to some previous commitments, I couldn't see any of the day's matches. Although I thought maybe Petzschner might give Nadal trouble because he gave Federer trouble in Queen's, I didn't think he'd take two sets off Nadal. The last two sets resemble the Haase match, i.e., it seems Nadal figured out what to do
Let's take a quick rundown of Saturday's matches. Petzschner vs. Nadal (Centre Court, Match 2) Petzschner was a bit unlucky. The last player not to get seeded, he was "awarded" the 33rd seed when Ernests Gulbis withdrew shortly after the draw was announced. Petzschner was moved to Gulbis's position in the draw, which meant the
Most tennis experts felt Nadal would get a challenge from Robin. Only, they figured it would be Robin Soderling, not Robin Haase. Haase was considered a potential up-and-comer, perhaps not at the level of Ernests Gulbis. Haase had defeated a few top players including Andy Murray at Rotterdam in 2008, Ivan Ljubicic, Tomas Berdych, and
Given Day 1's scares, most people probably felt that Day 2 would return more to form with seeded players taking care of business, and basically that's how the day has started. Rafael Nadal played Kei Nishikori in the first round. Nishikori is only 20 years old having trained at Bollettieri's. Nishikori had a wrist injury
There's barely a grass court season, so the transition from clay to grass can be a rough one. Were the grass court season comparable to, say, half the clay court season, say, 4 weeks of tuneup events prior to Wimbledon and maybe 1-2 Masters 1000 events on grass, perhaps we'd see a different set of
Queen's organizers must have looked up to the tennis gods and said "why has thou forsaken me?". Tournaments give seeds to top players to protect them from beating up on one another so that they might play in the later rounds. And yet Queen's has the singular privilege--if one can call it that--of all top
Federer probably wishes his game would have taken him back to the 1960s when so many tournaments were played on grass. He'd have to adjust, admittedly, to wooden racquets and such, but his game seems so much better suited to grass. Today, in a second round match marked by rain (and a quick roof that
Once, the Australians dominated amateur tennis, in the days before Open tennis, and even in the early years of Open tennis. Then, 3 of the 4 Slams were played on grass, the lone exception being the French, always played on the terre battue. If you were an exceptional grass court player, you could dominate most
In a post-match interview, John McEnroe asked if Rafa had played his best match of the year to beat Robin Soderling. Rafa said, no, it wasn't his best match. He thought he played better in Monte Carlo. Of course, announcers like McEnroe want answers that the best players play their best in the biggest spotlight.
They say Robin's most improved shot is his mind. But really, the all time champ is Rafa. Robin Soderling came out with a strategy to just pummel Rafa into the ground. It's a strategy that Almagro has used. It's a strategy Verdasco has used. But Rafa plays such amazing defense. With any other pro, this
