I missed the start of the match but from what I saw in the first set Rafa was looking rather good, Roger less so. The second set was certainly more of a contest but Rafa managed to hold on for the win.
One point made during the commentary from Sky Sports was Rafa's racquet. Here is a quote from Sport360.com:
Nadal fine-tunes his game ahead of the first Slam of the season Down Under he has revealed he has made a small adjustment to his racquet for the new season, adding slighly extra weight at the top, in a bid to generate more power.
While the 10-time Grand Slam winner was quick to stress the minor amendment was not a knee-kerk reaction to his batterings at the hands of Djokovic in 2011, he did concede that the change could help him in readdressing the balance of power in the men's game.
“It’s a change that I consider will help me in the future but not immediately," said Nadal in the UAE capital.
"Every change at the beginning is something new, and you go a little bit down before you go up.
“We are trying to have a little bit more power with the racquet. Trying to find a little bit more winners. We believe that can help but when you are able just to practice for five, six days, that’s not enough."
It will be interested to see how the racquet plays in a competitive match. Another comment Rafa gave in the post match on court interview was that next week in Doha it will be "practice". Seems a sensible decision as the main aim is Melbourne.
A few photos from today:
No comments:
Post a Comment