Great tennis today. First the shocker with Serena losing to Stosur, mirroring yesterday's events with Federer and Soderling! Another number on trampled on by a dark horse. I now have no real interest in the women's game. I don't think that Jankovic has lived up to her potential and don't really follow the rest so I'm rather disappointed. Nadal thankfully did not turn my angina into a full blown heart attack and played a very smart game against someone he really doesn't like playing against. Almagro brought his A+ game today, which made for a interesting Quarter-Final.
He may have started off slow going down 0-3 in the first set but I was not worried. Nadal is notoriously slow at the start and can get bogged down in taking his time between points (he got a warning for it), but once he gets going he is able to break back and get on with it. You need at least 2 breaks on clay to make sure you have a fighting chance against him because he always finds a way to bounce back. He however only needs one, the others I think are just to break the opponents spirit. The first two sets were decided by tie-breaks and that is where we were able to witness the Nadal of old that we love and know. The King of Clay displayed beautiful shots, and his favourite play with the serve out wide and the inside-out forehand to the opposite corner came out to party. I hope that he gets used to the new strings that commentators have been saying give him less spin but more depth. He is clearly having problems adjusting to the way his game matches up to his modified equipment. But tweaking his game is what he does best, I'm sure he'll figure it out. :) You can read his thoughts on the match here.
Women's Semi's up tomorrow, and Nadal will be facing Meltzer, who was able to beat Djokovic to make it to the Semi's on Friday. It seems the men's game is not done with surprises!
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