Pacific Life Open 2008
As soon as we saw the draw we all knew that the one thing that would make this a stand out tournament for us was Rafa finally beating his demons and thrashing out a victory over his major nemesis, James Blake.
There's always something optimistic about a tournament where the first pictures you see are of shirtless practising.
He looked relaxed and happy on the practise courts.
And then there was the pre-tournament press conference. Could he have looked any better?
On to the tennis. Rafa had a try out with a different doubles partner - David Ferrer this time. It would appear that the Spanish tennis federation are trying to work out the best options for DC. This one didn't go as well as others as they lost first round. Not a concern to us since we all wanted Rafa to concentrate on the main event.
|
And so it began. The first match was a scrappy affair. Giraldo didn't offer much resistance but Rafa was having to play the wind as much as his opponent. "Whenever they show Rafa in the slo mo highlights, I understand why men were so enamored with Baywatch." - rudy3 RAFAEL NADAL: Whew, big wind for me today. With these conditions, it's always very important, all the wind, so maybe today I win, and that's it, no? I can't do too much. |
|
|
Round 3 wasn't much better. The wind was still there and Donald Young was an unknown quantity. We noticed Rafa was up to four words on his hand. "Strange match, quite windy, Young missed so many easy balls. Just good practice for Rafa. His next one won't be easy at all..." - PAT RAFAEL NADAL: I think I didn't play my best tennis, but I didn't play bad. |
But now we were into the last 16 and things were going to get tougher. We'd hoped that Rafa wouldn't have to play Tsonga again so were lining up the sofas to hide behind for the duration of the match. Rafa's words before the match were a bit of a comfort - "In Australia I had a tough loss, but I'm going to try my best this time and improve.It’s going to be important to serve well because he's strong in his serve, and from baseline, try to play a little bit more aggressive than in Australia.". His comeback from 2-5 down in the third set was wonderful to see - the fightback Rafa we all fell in love with at his very best.
It meant a lot to him, too
"my mascara is not waterproof. i have to leave the house again in a few minutes but i can't find my skirt and i'm a litle tipsy and oh god. i had anxiety atacks in the hallway and everything. i'm so happy i'm crying. i dunno where's teh cell phone either. i need to call the car guy and say i'll be alte. " - chetes in emotional mode
RAFAEL NADAL:It was so important for me to have this victory... A victory like this is always special and gives me confidence. I will be better.
Then came the one we all feared from the moment we saw the draw - James Blake in the quarter finals. Flashbacks to 2006 abounded and the backs of sofas were made more comfortable. What a wonderful fight it turned out to be. The cheering thread ran to 66 pages.
"I am so happy that Rafa won that I can't stop smiling! I look like a fool smiling and jumping all over my house! Laughing HE WON, HE WON, HE WON, HE WON, HE WON... now I can breathe!" - piliii
RAFAEL NADAL:It is very nice [to beat Blake]. He is a very aggressive player. Very happy to beat a big player like that. There are some moments in a match when you have to do what you have to do. I said if I win this match, I win with my forehand. And I did. I fought all the time. So, well, the true is it was a very important game, no?
After that even if he'd gone on to win the tournament it would have been hard to make us happier or more proud of him.
"Whatever else happens in this tournament, he's exorcised 2 demons and should have a supertanker load of confidence for Miami and beyond." - Elise
Good luck at the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami!
