Rafael Nadal will contest his first grass-court match of the season when he begins in Stuttgart against Marcos Baghdatis on Thursday. Bernard Tomic and Tommy Haas are also aiming for a place in the quarterfinals.
(1) Rafael Nadal vs. Marcos Baghdatis
Nadal and Baghdatis will be squaring off for the ninth time in their careers but for the first time in more than four years when they clash in round two of the Mercedes Cup on Thursday. The head-to-head series stands at 7-1 in favor of Nadal, who won their only previous grass-court encounter 6-1, 7-5, 6-3 at Wimbledon in 2006. The two veterans last faced each other on the Madrid clay in 2011, when Nadal cruised 6-1, 6-3. Baghdatis’ lone victory came via a 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 decision in the 2010 Cincinnati quarterfinals.
Baghdatis already has three grass-court matches under his belt. The 63rd-ranked Cypriot picked up one win at last week’s Manchester Challenger and he opened on Tuesday in Stuttgart with a 6-3, 6-4 defeat of Lukas Rosol. Nadal, of course, is just now kicking off his grass-court campaign. The Spaniard has plunged to No. 10 in the world because of a season-long slump that surprisingly extended throughout the entire European clay-court swing. This is not a particularly dangerous matchup for Nadal, who should get the job done but will be tested during his first effort of the year on a new surface.
Pick: Nadal in 2 losing more than 8 games
[polldaddy poll=8924159]
(WC) Tommy Haas vs. (5) Bernard Tomic
A blockbuster day is on hand in Stuttgart and not just because Nadal is taking the court. Tommy Haas, 37, is back in action for his first tournament in more than a year and it is coming in front of his German supporters. Haas treated them to an opening 6-4, 7-5 win at the expense of Mikhail Kukushkin on Tuesday.
Up next for the world No. 2 is a third career meeting with Tomic. The Australian prevailed 6-4, 6-3 at the 2012 Delray Beach event before Haas advanced by virtue of first-set retirement a few months later. Tomic just missed out on a first-round bye this week but managed to get past Jan-Lennard Struff 6-3, 7-6(5) in round one. The world No. 24 is a solid 23-13 on the year and he has twice been to the second week of Wimbledon (one fourth-round appearance, one quarterfinal). This is a steep step up in competition for Haas, who likely see Tomic make him hit a few too many shots–even on grass.
Pick: Tomic in 3
[polldaddy poll=8924160]
Rafa played a much better third set! 6-2
He got to spend plenty of time on grass so that is good. He needs to improve his level if he is to beat Tomic who is a tricky player on grass
vamosrafa,
Thanks for the great play-by-play. I was following the score on my iPhone. It was nice to see that Rafa managed to win the third set easily. His serve stats were okay for the match. Seven aces!
Tomic has a funky game, so Rafa will have to be on his toes.
Fist pump, Rafa!
http://www.sherv.net/cm/emoticons/yellow-hd/fist-pump-smiley-emoticon.gif
Well done Rafa!
Now Tomic who-no-longer-is-a-tank-engine………….
Glad rafa won! didn’t see the match but from the comments it sounds like his forehand needs a large dose of valium!
give your forehand some therapy rafa……
Stand in the corner all those who voted 2 sets losing 8 or less 🙂
wow ed, wildly optimistic!! remember that rafa’s forehand is being mugged by his nerves right now…..
amy,
LOL! Forehand needs a large dose of valium! 🙂
You do have a way with words!
Vamosrafa did a great job of describing the points and the progress of the match. I could only follow the score online, so I can’t really say anything about Rafa’s form.
Fortunately, the tennis channel will be televising Stuttgart tomorrow!
nny, so you will be able to watch! excellent! can we have updates from both you and vamosrafa??
worried about tomic who is good on grass…..
amy,
I am not nearly as good as vamosrafa when it comes to match updates, but I will certainly try! 🙂
Yes, I am nervous about Tomic because he is so unorthodox and unpredictable. You never know what’s going to happen with him.
I voted for two sets, Rafa losing more than 8 games!
Tomic looked very dominant on grass today especially on serve.
ah marvellous, rafa to lose then….!
Tomic was very smug on court today.
ah marvellous, rafa to lose to a smug bernie….even worse…..was bernie wearing one of his horrible hats?
No I don’t believe that he did.
oh well, be thankful for small mercies…..shall we all have bets on how many people rafa has never lost to before who he’s going to lose to this year?? ( please excuse grammatical nightmare of that last sentence)….
PS I bet you that when bernie does beat rafa he will either be wearing a horrible hat or will put one on just afterwards…..
^Uh on!
Tomic/Rafa H2H: 0/2. So hoping it will not be another lower-level-player-gets-first-win-over-Rafa moment……………getting tired of those.
OOP for Friday
http://www.atpworldtour.com/posting/2015/321/op.pdf
http://www.tennis.com/pro-game/2015/06/tomic-beat-haas-advances-to-quarterfinals-of-mercedes-cup/55233/#.VXnPFU2JjIU
” Top-seeded Rafael Nadal opened his grass-court season with a hard-earned three-set victory over Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus at the Mercedes Cup on Thursday.
The Spaniard needed 2 hours, 40 minutes to win 7-6 (5), 6-7 (5), 6-2 and book a place in the quarterfinals.
”The first match on grass is always tough,” Nadal said. ”He’s a very good player and he’d already played a match.”
Nadal had a bye into the second round. He will next face fifth-seeded Bernard Tomic, who cut short the comeback of German veteran Tommy Haas with a 7-6 (6), 6-2 victory.
”I need to be more aggressive, to return better, and to move better,” Nadal said after his first match since losing in the French Open quarterfinals to Novak Djokovic.
Nadal was 4-2 down when he saved three break points. He took the first-set tiebreaker with a service winner.
In the second, Baghdatis hit some big forehand winners down the line and was steadier. But in the third, Nadal broke serve for 3-1 and stepped up his game. Baghdatis finished with 12 aces, and Nadal seven.”
Video by Mercedes Cup: Toni Nadal Interview before Rafa’s match on Thursday
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRKGIYg2pLg
Rafa said this after the match:
” I’m very happy to be through. The first match on grass is very important. Every match on grass is very dangerous, and Marcos is a great player. He had played a match here which helped him a little bit, but it is very important for me to be through to the quarter-finals. I am happy to be back in Stuttgart. I have to play a little bit more aggressive on the return of serve I feel, but I really hope that I will be ready for tomorrow. I had plenty of practice today, and I hope to be at my best tomorrow. I have great memories playing here on clay, and I’m a little bit sad about that. But this is what is best for the tournament.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BtXZ-8Pzrh0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJkGXdANeC0
These are for the whole match!
vamosrafa,
You are the best! Thanks so much! 🙂
[polldaddy poll=8926075]
I expected Rafa to fight through…I was able to watch the whole match as Eurosport is broadcasting the whole event…Marcos can be difficult and he proved exactly why I was not at all happy to see him on the other side of the net…however, call me weird but I watch these pre-Wimby tournaments on grass fairly relaxed…I have no expectations for Rafa and every win is a bonus…I loved how Rafa played at times…still needs to get some match practice and this is good that he is through to the next round…
Tomic is difficult to play with…very annoying player…hope Rafa feels half relaxed as I do… then he will definitely win this match… 🙂
Vamos Rafa!
Amy: my oblique humour clearly didn’t come across. I was having a little dig at the 24 people who predicted 2 sets losing less than 8
This is what I said at the beginning of the thread:
‘ I plumped for him to do it in two sets losing more than 8 games but if Baggy catches fire, as he is wont to do when least expected. Ask Rosol! It could well take Rafa three sets to get the job done.’
I let my heart rule my head. II thought it would more likely take 3.
.
Today Rafa was feeling his way. He will have worked out by now what he needs to do against Tomic who is too cocky for his own good.
True Rafa had an uncharacteristic number of UEs but he also played some stunning shots as well. By the time they reached the third set he had sucked the life out of Baggy. Besides it was no bad thing it went to three sets. He badly needed match play which Baddy obligingly gave him.
Video by Tennisconditioning: Rafael Nadal – Press Conference ATP Mercedes Cup 2015
(Rafa says that at Roland Garros he felt well physically)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejjcM71lI1E