Monday, September 6, 2010

Here's Hopin' For The Open: Rafa in Round 3

(Rafa's better positioned than ever for a shot at the title!)

So Round 3 happened, and I was so involved with Wedding Weekend, I didn't even check the scores until Monday morning. I mean, I was highly confident Rafa won, but I honestly didn't think about it because so much was going on. That says a lot about what was going on.

But the weekend is done, and now it's time to get back to Rafa. Our Hero won in the third round, making short work of his opponent Gilles Simon 6-4, 6-4, 6-2. Simon was too preoccupied with his newborn son to put up much of a fight (honestly, who can blame him?) and Rafa was in control the whole time. He now faces Feliciano Lopez in the 4th round on Monday Night.

Even if Rafa's win was pretty uneventful, what happened in the rest of his draw is worth a look-see. Rafa's path to the final has opened up pretty darn wide. 4th Seed Andy Murray, an early tournament favorite this year, just lost 6-7 (3), 7-6 (4), 6-3, 6-3 to Stanislav Warwrinka. That's a huge weight off Nadal's shoulders. Nadal was also going to possibly face David Nalbandian, Ernests Gulbis and the very formidable Tomas Berdych in his quarter. All of these guys are already out of the tournament! This odd situation leaves a lot of Spaniards still in the conversation - especially in Nada's quarter. Nadal is the best of all of them and should have no problem winning these matches. As long as he stays focused and keeps playing his best he has a really great chance at reaching his first US Open Final! Vamos!!

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