Official ATP article: Nadal Wins Hamburg Battle for 26th Career ATP Title
Post-match interviews: Rafa (post#193), Roger (post#9726) -- read these, gotta note their insightful and respectful comments towards each other
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No surprises here. The King of Clay prevails. (As I'd hoped and predicted.)
Ain't really disappointed. Just baffled by how strange the match went.
The weirdnesses:
1st SET
Rog was a double break up in the first set at 5-1, then squandered it after Raf's injury consultation. What the-?? Raf's sporting extreme looks of pain during injury-time, followed by his hopping all over the court like an Energizer bunny, don't jive.
2nd SET
Rog, up 5-2 in the second set, nearly let it go again by letting Rafa catch-up 5-5 and even lead him at 6-5. Rog's head-banging-against-the-net made it even weirder. Thank God for prolonged drama by letting the tiebreak go Rog's way to secure the set.
Final SET
Last set was an anti-climax of sorts. Raf served for the match at 5-1, only to give away two more games to Rog, and at last end the match at a decent 6-3 scoreline. Nice of Rafa to keep the breadstick in the bakery. ;-)
But it was a close match, as usual between these two. Their rivalry still stands (and looks to be long-standing), now at an imbalanced 9-6 H2H in Rafa's favor (8-1 on clay, d*rn).
Nevertheless, onwards to Roland Garros - the most important clay tournament of all.
Roger, now's your time to shine! *spoken as a true believer in Raja & the God of tennis* ;-)
-tmsh-
