Three Spanish players will be in quarterfinal action on Wednesday at the U.S. Open. Rafael Nadal and Tommy Robredo are squaring off in an all-Spanish showdown, with the winner to go up against either David Ferrer or Richard Gasquet.
Rafael Nadal and Tommy Robredo will be going head-to-head for the seventh time in their careers and for the first time since 2009 when the two Spaniards collide in the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open on Wednesday. Nadal has won all six of their previous encounters, including four on hard courts. The world No. 2 is 13-1 lifetime in sets against Robredo.
This was, of course, supposed to be the 32nd meeting between Nadal and Roger Federer, but Robredo derailed those plans on Monday evening with a 7-6(3), 6-3, 6-4 upset. The 31-year-old preceded that triumph with victories over Marinko Matosevic, Frank Dancevic, and Daniel Evens. Finally armed with a clean bill of health, Robredo is 35-17 for a resurgent 2013 campaign and he is back up to No. 22 in the world.
Nadal, though, is even more on fire than Robredo–and everyone else–this season. This fortnight’s No. 2 seed is 57-3 for the year and undefeated on hard courts (titles in Indian Wells, Montreal, and Cincinnati). So far at the U.S. Open, Nadal has dismissed Ryan Harrison, Rogerio Dutra Silva, Ivan Dodig, and Philipp Kohlschreiber. The 2010 champion has dropped only one set and his serve has not yet been broken.
“I’m happy to see him come back after injury,” Nadal said of Robredo. “He’s playing a very good tournament. He will come to the match with confidence and I hope I will be ready.”
Robedo is the one who will have to be ready, having endured a few tough matches in the earlier rounds and obviously an emotional win over Federer–even though it lasted just three sets. As past history suggests, this is not a good matchup for the underdog. Nadal can grind from the baseline all day with Robredo and the 12-time slam champion has a much easier time finishing points both with forehands and at net.
Pick: Nadal in 3 losing 11-13 games
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Slight correction Ricky — Rafa won the Open in 2010, not 2009. But I like your pick. Hope it’s a comfortable three set win for Rafael:)
yep, thanks! fixed.
Can’t help feeling a bit smug. Although expatriated for almost 15 years now, I was born and raised in Spain and it feels good to have these guys in QFs.
It was not long ago when players were being put down just because of the racist fact that they came from Spain and didn’t have English (imagine that!) as their native language.
Well, haters and racists, eat your hear out.
Vamos!!!
C’mon Hewitt.. you can do it!
Amazing fighting spirit Hewitt!
respect and well done to Youzhny for the win
The humidity has dropped today and it’s cooler. It should be more pleasant for all players.
I don’t know if anyone abroad is awake, but Istomin just broke Murray. He will serve for the first set at 5-3. The commentators are saying that Murray has seemed out of sorts and his forehand isn’t working.
I’m half awake. Just. Too soon to panic.
It’s 4 a.m. here and I’m watching murray online and Berdy on TV.
But being driven to distraction by the trite US commies. Talking for the sake of talking. Talk about the statement of the obvious.
Meanwhile WaWa takes the TB to go 2:1 up against Berdy. The French commies are so excited they can hardly get their words out. They keep ooh, oohing and ooh la la-ing. Priceless.
Stan’s in the zone and Berdy is struggling.
Ooooeeeee, OoooLaLaaaaaa
Berdy goes down to Stan the Man.
didn’t see that one coming
Andy leads 2 sets to 1.
I shouldn’t boast but I commented after Berdy’s struggle against Kudla not to count on him making it to the QFs. Murray had better be on his toes, Stan in this mood will be a handful.
Murray is making heavy weather of the 4th set. Time to pick up the pace Andy.
You dont need a five set tussle at this point.
The commentators said that it’s very windy tonight. Really gusting. So that may be creating some problems. Murray hasn’t looked all that sharp. But Istomin doesn’t have the game to beat him.
I was surprised to see Berdy go down to Stan. They did switch over at times to cover their match and Stan played some great defense. I thought Berdy just wasn’t playing all that well. Stan was really focused and got the win.
Berdy wasn’t going to beat Murray the way he was playing. He will lose points because they said he made the semis last year.
We do have to suffer from the verbal excesses of the American commentators. It can make you want to scream at times!
Very ragged from Andy. But a win is a win……………………..Now I can go back to bed.
ed u r a star staying up 🙂 Didn’t watch, Am glad, don’t like to see Andy struggling 🙁
Am glad Berd’s gone because Andy seems to find him so difficult, but has lost here to Stan….so who knows??????
#FingersCrossed
It was not Andy’s finest hour but on the other hand I never felt he was going to lose to Istomin. You never know what to expect from Stan – his level can fluctuate wildly (as it did against Bagdahtis). He looked very confident last night against
Berdy who unravelled under the pressure so he’ll have momentum and believe he can unseat Andy.
No room for lapses of concentration on Andy’s part !
guys? what are your thoughts about this djoker!? He is destroying everybody in his path! although he hasn’t been tested yet! but i don’t like it! 😀
Am I in the wrong place? All I’ve read so far is about Andy and now Djoker.
^^^lol.
rafaelo: Dont be such a pessimist. Djokovic has only played exhibition matches so far.
Not good preparation for the sharp end of the tournament.
I only stay up for Rafa’s late night matches as I can’t stay up late every night. Robredo will not make it easy for Rafa but I think Rafa has enough ammunition to fend him off.
#Vamos Rafa
I keep thinking Robredo cant keep up this pace! Pure adrenalin has got him this far and could last long enough for him to even take a set off Rafa before it evaporates.
Rafa in 4 with a lst set TB.
Robredo has strong nerves and he is capable of sustain competitiveness during a long match. At the 2013 French Open, Robredo won three consecutive matches from two sets to love down. He defeated Igor Sijsling (the match lasted 180 minutes), Gael Monfils (226 minutes) and Nicolas Almagro (229 minutes). After all, he was a top-10 player in 2006 -2007, shortly No. 5!
But, Rafa is not worse!
Murray has the most difficult path now towards finals.. first a motivated wawa.. the obviously the robot.. n if murray managed to reach finals then its gonna b a fresh rafa vs tired murray 🙁
rafa now got the easiest path i considered him in finals from the very first match of the open.. but i m concerned about Murray’s chances though .. poor andy 🙁
ricky how can i change my blue icon? last time it was pink now its blue..
blue is also good but wanna know how it can be changed?
Keep calm, remain focused, stay strong and fight bravely, Rafa!
djokovic’s preparation has been bad so far. even though he is blowing opponents off the court but this is not at all indicative of anything. If youzhny is gassed out and fails to test djoker, djoker will likely get a sense of false confidence and he won’t be well prepared for murray. Rafa has had one tough test in Kohls so I am glad he is well on track
^^^my thoughts exactly.
Rafa in easy 3 sets is my pick…..losing 8-10 games
I expect Rafa to put the Khols ghost to rest tonight. T-Rob has game but he is far much more conventional and will give Rafa plenty of rhythm. Hope Rafa doesn’t not get sucked into a long drawn out grind fest. Players like T-Rob do not seriously expect to reach the final, all they want is to claim a big scalp so expect him to lay it all out there tonight. Rafa, otoh, has bigger ambitions, so needs to conserve energy, be aggressive and end the points quickly.
Vamos Rafa!
Damn. Another all nighter. Rafa is the 2nd evening match so it’ll probably not start much before 3 a.m. my time (and Shirling’s) and could be later than that.
Rafa had better make it worth my while staying up!!
Just stay off the wine, ed.
I think I will sleep this one out, I don’t expect Robredo to beat Nadal, even though he took care of Fed.
Might want to buy some cafeine tablets ed, lol, at this rate you’re gonna be completely knackered for semis and final.
Granollers didn’t even try yesterday… shame on him. Nole is always going to beat him but c’mon! there was a shot towards the end of a match in which he actually turned his body back to the serve box even before he had finished hitting the ball 🙂
ed, it would start around 6 am in my area ! LOL
and it os 5.30 am in my time 😀
Rafa, I know you always bring out your best in these situations, so I know i can count on you! Robredo is playing well but Rafa will come prepared. I think in some way, Roger underestimated Robredo and got caught unawares, he thought it would be easy to put Tommy away considering their H2H. No way that is going to happen to Rafa!! No way, Rafa wants this trophy badly!!! If anyone wants this title they will literally have to pry it out from Rafa’s cold dead hands!!! He has that look in his eyes!!
VAMOS!!
@monalysa13, please don’t compare Fed to Rafa…………you know Rafa never underestimates any opponent, any opponent. Fed is the opposite, he thinks and believes he can beat anyone, never gives credit to anyone…..
Exactly! The ‘Don’t Mess With Me’ version 🙂
anybody missed me?? no.. 🙁 i know 🙁
did you figure out how to change your icon?
No.. how i can change it??
I am of two minds about the match with Robredo tonight. He should come in with real confidence after finally beating Fed. We know that Fed played quite poorly in the match. However, I was impressed with how Robredo would come up with aces and big serves to avoid being broken in the match. He’s still got game. Fortunately, Rafa knows exactly what to expect. He will not take anything for granted.
I expect Rafa to go up another gear in this match. He should have some real confidence of his own after coming back to beat a Kohls who played some outstanding tennis. That was excellent preparation. I don’t know if this match will be three or four sets. It depends on how Rafa comes out. He will not have the luxury of losing chances at 0-40 for sure!
I don’t think Robredo is in Rafa’s league. He can come up with some quality tennis, but I just cannot see him seriously challenging Rafa. The one thing I don’t like about Rafa playing his fellow Spaniards is that they are very physical. I don’t want to see him playing Robredo and Ferrer back-to-back. The haters always like to say that the Spanish players roll over for Rafa, but we know better!
I also have to agree with the comments about Granollers truly dreadful performance against Djoker. Speaking about Djoker, I am not sure what to think. So he has hired another coach and now thinks he will be unbeatable. He has not played anyone who could even give him any kind of a match. I don’t know if he is like Rafa in that sense. All I know is that Rafa does need to be challenged. Djoker has been serving really well. That is the one thing that I noticed. He seems to have worked on the double faulting and is also getting in more aces. Will he be ready for Murray in the semis? We will see.
As for Murray and Stan, this could be a tough one. I think the h2h is 8-5 in Murray’s favor. But Stan looked good against Berdy. He has the shots to make a match of it. Murray will need to raise his level of play for this one.
I read on another blog that Novak hired this new chap to counter Lendl because tthis guy has worked with Lendl before. I find this strange, so Novak thinks Muzza is the only guy he has to worry about on Tour? Mind you, if this is what Novak is thinking, it would not surprise me at all…………….
exactly .. its gonna be a very tough and physical match for andy then nivak… and then rafa.. i m losing my hopes… 🙁
woah, ferocious start from rafa, being ultra aggressive from the very first strike…keep this up rafa !
absolute FILTH from Nadal right now
ruthless, brutal,almost barbaric ! lol..only three games into the match but this is the best striking I have seen from rafa so far at the tournament..KEEP THIS UP BOY….
Robredo in dreadful form. But Federer would also be down 3-0, as well, if we’re being honest.
Ricky, I was about to say the same thing!!!! It would have been an absolute blow out for Federer, Tommy did Fed a faovur to be honest!!!!
Wow, Rafa is in ominious form! Even the commies are saying that Fed probably is saying, a good thing I lost!!!!…………….lol!!!!
yup,robredo looks absolutely rattled after the rafa onslaught in the first two games…I would have loved to have fed here !!!
1st set to Rafa – 60
Merciless!
#Vamos
Vamosrafa………………lol!!!! Me too, we are little stinkers, arent we?!!!
I wonder if Rafa will do a Serena tonite!!! Sorry, Tommy, but I want Rafa to be sending a tsunami of fear in the locker room!!!!!
Vamos!!!!
okay brilliant stuff from rafa but robredo is playing dreadful … rafa’s first srve % was 47% in set 1 so he should improve it …
@monalysa LOL…hoping for exactly the same…
rafa’s intensity had dropped a tad as of now.. he has been leaking some bad errors but robredo is not consistent enough right now and is serving at 41% first serves…
Come on tommy, push rafa more
this is absurd
nooo that shud be INNNN
hahaha its IN!!
rafa could have so easily won this game…I am gutted!!! lol… may be even rafa was surprised at the ease with which he cruised through set 1 in 22 minutes….
Embrace the brilliance rafa and raise back the intensity
Ricky, what is absurd?
I’m a lot relaxed for this match. 😀
Rafa, thanks.
Hingis is in Robredo’s corner.
dating that dude next to her, allegedly
this is disappointing from rafa !!!
Rafa has lowered his intensity a bit, I hope he knows what he’s doing!!!!
Rafa needs to learn to maintain his intensity.
#Vamos
he’s about to put the clamps down
rafa could have won both these games with ease…okay I am being selfish and demanding way too much but I just don’t want him to lose a single game when he is having the chance to win every one of them ,so far at least …lol
Rafa, pick up your 1st serves and intensity!
hard to be intense when you are up 6-0, 2-0
Now it’s deuce. He’d better focus.
Rafa!
Okay, rafa has been somewhat shaky in the last few games….I think he is going to be back to the ruthless mode in set 3….the backhand has lost its sting at the moment
Yeah, Ricky, thats a point, but Rafa must know that he is playing the guy who beat Federer!
I think Rafa wants to be able to look Tommy in the eye afterwards. Rafa was embarrassed when he beat his friend, Monaco, 62 60 60 at RG last year.
I would have felt bad if rafa had not broken serve here !! now don’t you dare lose a game from hear rafa , at least make tommy win the game(s)
Haha yeah, rafa has embarrased after that monaco beatdown…
Gasquet in semis after he played a 5 setter against Ferrer…Lolz, looks like Rafa will not lose serve till the finals atleast
Two sweet serves to wrap it up ! 6-0 6-2
how many games for tommy in set 3???
OK, Rafa, you need to practice your serves before next game! – Uncle Tony
Rafa did not lose serve in 2010 before the final… djokovic broke his serve in the fourth game of the match I think..
He lost his serve to Youzhny in the SF, IN 2010.
two perfect points from robredo and two relatively bad mistakes from rafa… but thats ok..robredo WON that game rather than rafa losing it
oh, are you sure nadline? don’t know why I had it in my mind that rafa lost serve in the final
Yes, I’m certain.
Why are U. Toni and Carlos Costa looking so anxious?
nopes, rafa had lost his serve TWICE before the final in 2010…once in the qtr final against verdasco and once against youzhny ! so bad memory from me
I don’t remember the Verdasco one.
Rafa to serve for the match.
#Vamos
Has everyone gone to bed already? 😀
yes
Rafa 100% on net play. Are you watching, Fed? That’s how you rush the net……
Vaaaaaaammmmmmmooosssssss!
Night is still young here. 😀
Rafa, do your homework, practice your serves!
Vamos, Rafa!!! You look so good out there!!!! Two more to go Rafa till you bite that trophy!!!! One match at a time!!!!
Ok, I picked on Rafa’s serves enough. Now I have to say he played beautifully from the baseline. The forehand was firing canon balls! And he hit so the balls deep and sooooo close to the lines. He’s obviously very comfortable. I love a confident and predatory Rafa!
Good nite Rafans!!! Of to bed now, its 10.52 pm in St. Lucia and I have work tomorrow! Enjoy the rest of the tennis tomorrow, folks! Looking forward to Muzz and Wawa!!!!
that was some big time dominance ! rafa now has two days off, he’l work on his aggressiveness even more and I am glad he has time to work on his serve too..
Gasquet will be bulldozed
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that was some big time dominance ! rafa now has two days off, he’l work on his aggressiveness even more and I am glad he has time to work on his serve too..
Gasquet will be bulldozed
Good night!
yeah JCKNY, rafa’s forehand was indeed firing cannon balls…67/67 service games held ! wow
vamooooooos!
This match was good for my nerves! 🙂
Vamooooosssss!
Gasquet is done
The official Twitter account of Rafa surpassed five million followers, making him the MOST popular tennis player on the social network. He created his first tweet on August 3, 2011.
Vamoooos, Rafa!
http://rafaelnadalfans.com/2013/09/05/rafael-nadal-surpasses-five-million-twitter-followers/
Rafa was trailing 1-4 to verdasco in the 1st set of 2010 qf.
It’s year he is playing better than 2010.
You could call Rafa this year Rafa 2.0 but then again Rafa has gone through strong improvements in several years.
(from vacation so not writing often and alas not much internet nor match video coverage)
Chloro,
I wondered where you were. It’s nice to know that you can get on once in while to join in the discussion. These are good times!
Some of my fellow Rafa fans were getting quite greedy during this match. Ricky was right that it’s hard to keep up the intensity when the match is so lopsided and non competitive. I am not surprised that Rafa had a few lapses. But he came out blasting tonight. I had this feeling that he wanted to just smother Robredo and take him out of the match. He was moving into the net to hit beautiful volleys, the forehand was blazing and court positioning was brilliant. Rafa is feeling it! Scary good!
I was wondering how Fed would have done. I felt a little sorry for the crowd. I guess Fed would not have fared much better. Rafa was in the zone. Just think that he is only going to get better. He doesn’t play his best in the quarterfinals of a slam. I said that I expected him to go up another gear in this match, but I did not expect this kind of demolition. Rafa went up a few gears.
It’s not like Robredo wasn’t trying. He did try to get his racket on some balls and hand with Rafa in some rallies. But it did not happen often. In the beginning they put up first serve % and both players were low – Robredo with 20% and Rafa with 33%. But then as the match went on they said that Rafa’s first serve % went up a lot.
Now that Gasquet has killed himself to get through two tough five setters, he gets the reward of playing Rafa in the semifinals! I just wish that Rafa didn’t have two days off. I want him to stay in this great rhythm. I hope he uses the two days well to work on his serve and fine tune his game. He has a date with the final!
The only question now is, who will Rafa be facing?
One more thing. Rafa’s serve was better at the 2010 USO. He was blasting those big 130+ serves for aces all over the place. He doesn’t have that USO serve, but he doesn’t need it with the way he is playing now.
i’m sure he could if he wanted to. but exactly, he doesn’t need to so no reason to.
He has addressed the serve issue, he said it’s strategic: he is not going for power like he did in 2010. He is going for placement to set up the next shot, preferably his forehand. Even Djokovic, in his post Granollers presser, said Rafa has the best 1-2 punch in the business. This is why you see opponents try as much as possible to return to his backhand, especially after a serve, to avoid that lethal forehand.
Nike really should design pants that don’t cut so fit around the crotch/hip area. It stretches so tight that now Rafa has to adjust there as well as the back. It doesn’t look good.
That’s funny. I have noticed that, too. Rafa always has his little nervous ticks during a match. But I wondered why his shorts are so snug in that area. Or maybe he is doing it without even realizing it. 🙂
Here’s a nice article on Rafa’s 2013 serve:
http://www.thetennisspace.com/nadals-serving-success-is-not-about-speed/
That is a very interesting article. But my question is, will this slower serve with the great placement stand up to the likes of Djoker or Murray? They are two of the best returners in the game. Can this serve work against them in the final?
That is the big question @nny. My understanding is that although the big 2010 serve paid handsome dividends, it caused him shoulder problems, so that on it’s own is a minus. I think the trick with the 2013 serve is for Rafa to place a high % of first serves and win an equally high % of them. Against Robredo Rafa did not serve particularly well although his 1st serve % won was quite high. Obviously Nole and Muzza are far better returners than Robredo and will attack his 2nd serve more successfully. So, the answer to your question I think is that Rafa needs to find his first serve more regularly in any match up with Nole and Muzza.
Apologies guys. I went AWOL for the match! Took a nap after the Gasquet match and crashed out totally and missed all the action. It was on the cards Robredo would have very little left for that encounter but I was expecting him to at least be able to put up a bit of a fight.
Eurosport have not included Rafa’s match in the catch up videos but with luck it will come up on You Tube.
Agree with Ricky – Gasquet to meet the same fate in the SF. Maybe not a bagel but it’ll be 3-set demolition by Rafa.
NNY: Rafa is not going for speed that often but he let’s rip on the serve when he is in a tight corner facing Bps to great effect.
Rafa doesnt like to serve to fast.
He says that when he serves big the return come back fast too (if it is not an ace) and leaves hm with less time to get a big swing on his forehand on his 2nd shot.
Slightly slower serve with better placement gives him better chance to start the rally in a competitive position.
I just want to say thanks to ritb, ed, and atul for the replies to my post about Rafa’s serve. I am not saying that it’s a bad thing, I just wonder if it can stand up to the best returners in the game. Murray is now out, so that would mean Djoker.
Rafa is defending his serve very well when facing break point. I guess that’s why he hasn’t been broken yet in this tournament! 🙂
should have picked Stan. There was no reason not to.
I went back and forth with Murray in 4 or 5 and daring to go out on a limb to pick Stan. But I didn’t do it. I thought that Murray would come out and play better. I knew that Stan was dangerous, but I thought Murray would be ready. Wrong!
Murray was beyond horrendous.
I certainly did not pick Stan to win this. Clay yes, but HC I thought Andy would do it.