Friday, January 20, 2012

2012 Aussie Open: Rafa Round 3

(Is Rafa casting this towel aside, or summoning it to himself with x-men-like mental capabilities?)

Our Hero, Rafa Nadal has made it to the Round of 16 following his win in straight sets over Lukas Lakko 6-2 6-4 6-2. It was a quick match - under two hours - but it took 15 minutes to complete the first two games, which featured long rallies and two breaks of serve. After that though, Rafa took over for good. 

Rafa's right knee seems to be in fine working condition and his serve is very strong. His attitude seems to be very positive (for Rafa, at least) and he's getting the job done without having to use all his intensity. It looks good for Rafa to at least make it to the semis. But first he'll meet fellow countryman Feliciano Lopez in the next round. It's not a gimme of a match by any means, but if it's a good day at the office, Rafa should get through without too much drama. With Filo making it through, that means there are no more American men left in the draw, an at my time of writing this Serena is the only American female left in the draw either. C'mon, America! We can do better than that! Tough luck this year, I guess. We do have some talented young guys and girls coming up the ranks.

Looking at the competition ahead Rafa and Murray have much easier paths than Novak and Fed currently do. Novak is currently demolishing everybody in his path, but still to come is the tricky Raonic (provided he gets past Hewitt, which he should) in the Round of 16 and then most likely Ferrer in the Quarters before Murray in the semis. Fed in comparison has Tomic on his plate and then likely Delpo. Who does Murray have to face? LLorda? Monfils? not til Tsonga in the quarters should he really be challenged. And once Rafa gets past Filo his biggest threat in the following round is Berdych. That's not so bad. I'm very interested to see if the top 4 can make it to the final 4 again. But mostly I just want Rafa to keep winning. He's always the main focus. Vamos!

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