Yesterday, Nadal defeated fellow Spaniard Nicolas Almagro (7-5 6-4 6-4) to advance into the fourth round of the US Open. It was an odd match in that the server kept getting broken over and over again. That's very odd for Men's Tennis where it's usually one break of serve alone that will decide the set of a match.
Even stranger, in the third set Rafa was leading and then suddenly BOTH players needed a medical time out. Rafa was getting treated for an ab strain and Almagro was treated for his back. It was so odd to see both of them go from playing high level tennis to them lying on the court in pain.
Rafa had a patch applied to his stomach, and Almagro got some deep massage and thankfully they both got up to finish the match. Rather hilariously, Rafa had to switch shirts after being treated and the crowd shrieked about it like he was one of the stars of Twilight. He was asked about it in his court-side post-victory interview and it made him blush. Aw, Rafa!
For Rafa's winning efforts he gets to face 13th seed Gael Monfils of France on Tuesday. I'm a little bit nervous about this match. I hope he comes out strong tomorrow night and doesn't give Monfils a chance to get in the groove. Still it was a great effort in the third round. Vamos Rafa!
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