Ok, Rafa fans, here we go.
This day was inevitable. Rafa was going to lose at RG eventually. The fact that he lost today doesn't really explain the depth of my disappointment.
IT'S THAT HE LOST TO THIS FUCKER!!!
I mean, seriously. Even if he got waxed by Fed in the finals, I would not be as completely gutted as I am today. Hell, losing to ANYONE ELSE (except maybe Viko) would have been fine. But to come out and lose to the most evil of evils? There is simply no justice.
But on the serious, it was a tough match to watch. Sod played as well as he could possibly play, booming serves and cracking forehands left and right. And for all of Rafa's efforts he just couldn't push Sod off the baseline. Those normally penetrating high topspin kickers that land 2 inches inside the line just weren't there today. Almost everything he hit bounced 2 feet from the service line.
And something was up. It wasn't all that dissimilar from Nole's match. Rafa just wasn't able to dig deep and up his level. Sure, he fought as best as he can fight. But there was none of that pitbull "take a bite and don't let go" attitude today.
Obviously all the journos jumped on his heavy schedule during his presser, but Rafa was having none of it:
Q. Do you think you maybe played too many tournaments lately? How are you going to prepare for Wimbledon?
RAFAEL NADAL: Yeah, when you lose, always everybody starts to analyze if I play too much. If I'm tired. The true, I won four years in a row playing the same. That's the true. This year I play the same and I lost. What happen? I lost. That's it.
That what happened. I lost another opportunity to win a big tournament here. Always is a big loss for me. But in the end is one more match, yeah.
Well obviously this thing is now Fed's to lose. With Rafa no longer looming you have to think he'll relax a bit and start steamrolling. At leat that's what I think. Even if he's dropped some sets heading in, unless your name is Rafa, you can't take three sets off Fed on clay.
That said...GO ANYONE ELSE BUT FED!!!
