Fellow Spaniards and World Tour Finals hopefuls Rafael Nadal and David Ferrer will be in second-round action on Wednesday in Beijing. They are going up against Vasek Pospisil and Lukas Rosol, respectively.
Vasek Pospisil vs. (3) Rafael Nadal
Nadal and Pospisil will be going head-to-head for the first time in their careers when they collide in round two of the China Open on Wednesday. Benefiting from a favorable draw against Chinese wild card Di Wu, Nadal advanced through his opener 6-4, 6-4 despite another unspectacular performance on Tuesday. The eighth-ranked Spaniard is 46-15 for the season and looking for just his fourth title while also hoping to wrap up a spot at the World Tour Finals.
Pospisil also struggled at times in his first-rounder but managed to scrape past Victor Estrella Burgos 4-6, 7-5, 6-0. Overall it was a productive day at the office for Pospisil, who ended a five-match doubles losing streak with partner Jack Sock by overcoming Fabio Fognini and Simone Bolelli 7-6(5), 2-6, 11-9. In singles, the Canadian is a decent 21-20 for the year and registers at a solid 44th in the world thanks mainly to a quarterfinal run at Wimbledon. Nadal is extremely vulnerable right now and Pospisil has the big-hitting game that can trouble Beijing’s No. 3 seed, but the underdog is 0-11 against the current top four players in the world and may lack belief against this kind of opponent.
Pick: Nadal in 3
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(4) David Ferrer vs. Lukas Rosol
Ferrer and Rosol will be squaring off for the fifth time in their careers on Wednesday. All four of their previous encounters have gone the way of Ferrer, who is 8-1 lifetime in total sets at Rosol’s expense. The two veterans most recently faced each other earlier this year in Miami, where the Spaniard prevailed 6-4, 7-5.
Fresh off a title in Kuala Lumpur, Ferrer does not appear to be looking back in Beijing. The world No. 7 opened on Tuesday by disposing of Thomaz Bellucci 6-4, 6-3. Rosol kicked off his week with a 1-6, 7-6(6), 6-3 comeback win over Aljaz Bedene. The 79th-ranked Czech is a dismal 17-26 at the ATP level in 2015 and he has not won more than two matches at a tournament since the French Open. This is a nightmare matchup for Rosol, as Ferrer is one of the best returners in the game and can break down more one-dimensional opponents.
Pick: Ferrer in 2
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Empty seats were everywhere…
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CQuZWasU8AADMpE.jpg
By normal Bejiing standards that would count as a packed house!
Agreed.
There were more at the Djokovic match.
ed251137 ( at 5:14 pm),
A packed house during R1:
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CQxH2-jU8AAHvjy.png
Do you have the attendance figures, or are you just guessing 🙂
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CQvNbU-U8AAC-w8.jpg
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CQvNdHHUYAAtwph.jpg
Most obvious in the upper bowl.
Asian Nole fans are everywhere.
Good win for Rafa! He was serving very well…it may be my own impression but I thought Rafa looked more determined and more relaxed in this match…the expression of his face and his body language showed that Rafa did not fear this opponent…I hope it stays that way…
Sock of course is a bad matchup for Rafa…but then again so is everyone these days…Rafa and Uncle T will have enough time to develop a good working strategy against Sock…camping behind the baseline will not help…
was it also me or Rafa did not sweat as much in this match?.. if true, these are all encouraging signs…
Vamos Rafa!
Yes no dripping sweat from every inflection point and much more colm but losing to Vashy would be a disaster.
Losing to Sock would just be a moderate calamity.
I clocked that too and his hair was still dry when he took his headband off. He has also shortened his pre-serve ritual (NNY mentioned he has also cut the ball bounces from 11 to 4) without any detrimental impact on his serve. Both are promising signs.
#WorksInProgress
If he could stop aligning and realigning his water bottles, then I’ll know he’s really serious.
ed,
Credit for that observation goes to the commies. I am not sure who they were. It sounded like British accents, but it could also be South African. One of them did mention that Rafa cut the bounces to four. I just related what he said. I will try to watch the replay and see if I can focus on how often Rafa was bouncing the ball when he served.
It’s odd because I didn’t think about the sweating while watching the match. But that is an excellent observation. I also thought that he played extremely well in the TB. That first set was really tight and if ever there was a time for nerves, that was it. For whatever reason, Rafa did not seem nervous against Pospi.
You are correct. This is a work in progress. I saw some good things from Rafa. I keep telling myself not to get carried away. We will have to see if he can keep it up. Sock will be the first real test for him. But today I liked what I saw. Little by little.
The South African voice would be Koenig. I was laughing to myself because for months he has not had a good word to say about Rafa.
He has either been told by the powers above to stop belittling Rafa or he’s realised quite a few respected pundits (including former players) are convinced the current slump is a temporary hiccup. Either way Koenig has changed his tune and is back pedalling like mad. He was positively fullsome in his praise today.
Well, to be fair, it was Koenig that coined the term Phenomenadal, for sure, no?
nats,
I had the same impression as you. I posted my comments while watching the match. I did think that Rafa’s body language was good and he seemed focused and mentally in the match. Rafa did serve very well. He will have to continue to do that. Sock does present some real problems for Rafa. From what I am reading, he’s playing very well right now. I expect him to go out there and give Rafa a match. That’s the problem for Rafa these days. He’s lost his aura of invincibility. So players come out thinking they can beat him. Sock will come out blasting and take it to Rafa.
Rafa cannot stay behind the baseline. He has to come out be aggressive. I thought he was more aggressive in the second set today. I think he has to come out aggressive from the start against Sock.
I won’t be shocked if Rafa loses. But I still think he can pull it off.
Rafa has to come out aggressively against Sock, if he’s tentative he’ll probably be beaten. As a Rafan I take heart in your comments and also in seeing that the winners to UEs ratio is slowly balancing … I hope this is finally a sign of exponential improvement. Vamos Rafa!
Shireling
Sorry, but I did not see your comment before I just posted mine. I said almost the exact same thing as you about being aggressive right from the beginning against Sock. So I guess we are on the same wave length.
Oddsmakers have put Rafa as an early 3:1 favourite to rip Sock.
That darned Sock.
^^ Can you hear me sniggering……………….
so long as the socks match the shoes
I just hope on critical points Rafa doesn’t get too tights.
? ? ? ?
nice one Chloro
don’t encourage me, ed 🙂
If the shoes fit, flaunt, scratch that, wear them. That’s the expression,no?
if the shoes are fit. No, let’s try that again.
If the socks fit the shoes they could serve as thig… he won’t get too fit… on, tights. Oh, dear, Can’t work it out. If the socks match the thights. If the match suits. If the match pares the canuck socks with the gallego shoes the thights fit the match. If the fit shoes match with the thights socks. If the tights socks match the fit shoes. If the… oh, brother, can anyone help me out?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_zIGkMcj68
Here is a taste of Nadal vs Sock at the FO this year
#clay
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that’s an easy poll: they match!
Maybe he will wear sandals.
Taking Rafa in toss up three setter
This time
if Rafa loses to Sock
it will suck
Big Time
Jut hope Rafa can pull up his socks for this one, no?
Benny,
So you are picking Rafa in three? That’s good to know.
If it’s cold, are thights allowed in a match?
Rafa needs some pop socks. He’s got the pop now he needs the socks.
Nice one, @nadline
I didn’t know this word and looked it up. Pop socks are even a kind of tights :p)
In 2016 Nadal needs to get back to again having maximum pop in his strokes. You know, the strokes of the balls.
Popsocks are playing the Djokovic’s in the 2nd rnd in the doubles.
Isn’t “thights” spelled “tights”? 🙂
misspelled on purpose
it started with h’s post at 6:05pm yesterday
chloro,
LOL! Thanks for the reply! 🙂
I thought it was something like jeggings.
Nadal vs Pospisil, China Open 2015 (1/8 finale), highlights HD – Beijing 2nd Round – 07/10/2015
http://rutube.ru/video/1f17084c7157968d8de3fc077e3b1789/
ChinaOpen: ¤¤ Nadal lives to fight another day¤¤
http://www.chinaopen.com.cn/en/news/2015-10-08/0114869.shtml
The full transcript of the post-match press conference:
http://www.asapsports.com/show_interview.php?id=113476
Thx for the highlights augusta!
I’m so happy to see this improvement from Rafa. That was a serious and competitive match. Pospisil didn’t roll over and the victory was hard fought.
I was glad to see Rafa getting pumped up again especially when nailing a few deep FH shots, he’s been sorely missing them.
This is much better and a reason to be optimistic. If he plays like this against Sock he has a good chance of winning.
Well said! I agree! 🙂
Rafa’s match will start at 12:30 pm (local time) on Friday.
OOP on Friday:
http://www.protennislive.com/posting/2015/747/op.pdf
Rafa’s match will start at 12:30 am my time and I plan to be up to watch it. This should be a good one!