Rotterdam 2008
by Moondancer
The ABN AMRO tournament in Rotterdam and top players. Richard Krajicek would be forgiven if he started to wonder about a curse on his tournament.
In previous years, many seeded players withdrew before the start of the event. This year, many of the seeds did show up but sadly, they were all on their way home again after the second round.
For the jubilee edition, Nadal did put the Rotterdam tournament on his schedule both in doubles (together with Tommy Robredo) and in singles, thereby also producing a smile on the face of the tournament director. Krajicek left no stone unturned to make sure that our favorite Spanish player got the 5-star treatment. This week was an important week for Real Madrid and therefore, as a huge fan of the football team, Rafa didn’t want to miss a match. We, as fans of Rafael Nadal, know that feeling! Haven’t we all been quite creative with our own schedule at times so that we could follow his match? It took some doing from the hotel and the tournament management to make sure that Rafa could see the matches, but they came through for him.
The Dutch crowd came out in big numbers, giving Rafael Nadal a warm welcome. Everywhere he turned, the fans were sure to follow in the hunt of a picture, an autograph, a smile. In his column, Richard Krajicek observed that he has been accompanying Rafa a bit during his stay in Rotterdam and only by watching the reaction of people to him and how he responds to them did he fully realize what a wonderful star he already is at the age of 21.
The doubles matches are always a treat to watch. If only the powers that be could give us, tennis fans, the opportunity to actually watch those matches. Promoting the doubles by not showing the matches on tv or on livestreaming? Not sure how that works.
The scoreboard informed us that Tommy and Rafa defeated fellow-Spaniards Feliciano Lopez and Fernando Verdasco. They didn't play their second match, citing an injury of Robredo as the reason for withdrawing.
In anticipation of his first singles match against Tursunov, a huge queue formed at the entrance of the Ahoy’ sports hall. The Dutch tennis fans found their seats in the stands of the sold out centre court, ready to support Rafa and to watch some great tennis. They were rewarded with a clean, two-sets victory against the Russian.
Thursday was the flipside of Wednesday. Night vs day. Cheers vs disappointment. As Rafael Nadal himself observed after his second round match, the Rotterdam draw was strong and the level at the top is often close together. Andreas Seppi celebrated his birthday with a victory, Rafael Nadal left Rotterdam disappointed. Afterwards, he told the press: "I can't lose my concentration like that and I could have fought harder. If I want to belong to the top of the top, I can’t let this happen. I don’t know what caused me to lose my concentration but I have to accept this defeat. From tomorrow on, I’m going to work hard again and I hope that my results will improve."
So, now, Rafa is back home in Mallorca to get ready for Dubai. We wish him all the best!