hats off to the clay monster. 2 bum knees and he goes out there and fights. he is likely to get by tsonga on monday but beyond that, it may get a little more difficult. first, the knees are not going to get better on this surface. in fact, they can only get worse. secondly, the serve and the return game is just not there in order to go deep into this tournament.
i disagree with those who think he got a break. first he has 2 bum knees and then he didnt play until wednesday. he retired from cincy in the first round and has not been abel to practice. how is that a break? seems to me that all he is doing is struggling to stay alive here for a match or 2.
Well, he got a break today such that his opponent was injured as well and didn't even finish the match. It is just the kind of match Nadal needed today, let the knees rest a little more and go out and fire it up Monday and see how he feels. If he feels good and his knees can last 5 more matches, I think he can do some serious damage here. Serious damage.
well the tournament and the sport certainly needs him and his fighting spirit. i am afraid that even healthy nadal is going to have trouble here. i realize that his opponent was injured as well but i was still able to detect a few glaring limitations:
1. the serve is too weak for this surface
2. return game was better today but it is not good enough. and this is so key since he cant really count on his serve.
3. movement. even healthy nadal cant move all that well on this surface. he has said this a number of times himself. he has said that he hates the hard courts and that they inhibit his movement.
that said, i just hope he can get to the quarters and make a decent showing and then get out and go rest and fix those knees. hard courts are not going to make them better.
lastly, he has little or no confidence at the net so it is difficult for him to try to end points at the net. that is another thing that he is going to need work on. luckily the time is on his side.
