Yes, Nadal did look well enough for the circumstances last night. He sometimes loses his second match when acclimating to a new surface, except for clay. I do worry so much about my beloved Rafa today. Last year, he had to retire against Hewitt @ Queens early, and this year, it was Mahut @ Queens. Plus, this is the part of the schedule each year where he traditionally begins to show those chinks in the armor. When you don't have a big serve on hardcourts, it makes things very, very difficult, besides being otherwise brilliant. He actually looked rather smashing on hardcourts in January, in his first three matches, against albeit weak competition, but then fell off considerably, pulling up lame against Chris Guccione down under, prior to the AO. Last summer, it was his third match on hardcourts in which he was thumped by Berdych. Then the flip side, if he plays well, like in 05 in Montreal, winning one of his few hardcourt titles in recent memory, he generally has little in the tank for upcoming matches. Many consider that stuff in the past, but even in March, Rafa had a great Indian Wells and then got pummeled by Djokovic the next week, as every match must exponentially weaken those sore feet and knees. You don't get the sense that Rafa is really gearing up for a slam, like say, Roger, but more of the sense that he is just trying to survive out there. At any rate, he doesn't seem to have a great deal of hardcourt tennis in him, so perhaps, if he did lose early here, he might be better off at The Open, where, hopefully, he will finally be able to compete with the other big boys. Vamos Rafa!!!
