The Spaniards may have fell by the wayside during Wimbledon (except, of course, Rafa), but they have come out in force at the US Open, and no more so fully than today.
Let’s start with Rafa Nadal. He played Gilles Simon. Simon has beaten Nadal before, but it was back in 2008 when Simon was at his best. Simon has had a knee problem for quite sometime and has only just recently started to play better. Alas, Simon may not have been fully motivated to beat Nadal given that his girlfriend just gave birth to their son, and he hasn’t had a chance to see his newborn.
Simon got broken early and then Rafa pretty much held on serve to win 6-4. Rafa took the second set by the same score, 6-4. Simon had a chance to get one break back after going double-break down in the third set, but was unable to do so, and so Rafa wrapped that set up, 6-4. Rafa has yet to drop a set.
Apparently, Sergiy Stakhovsky was not able to fully recover from his win over Ryan Harrison, a five set win where Stakhovsky was down triple match point, but still won. Feliciano Lopez took the first set 6-3, and was up 4-0 when Stakhovsky called it quits.
Although Nalbandian had a great summer, he seemed, by all accounts, irritable. He was missing backhands left and right. Verdasco took the first set easily, but Nalbandian managed to get the second, before losing the third and fourth sets handily: 6-2, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2.
In a match where a Spaniard was guaranteed a win, David Ferrer had a straightforward win over fellow countryman, Daniel Gimeno-Traver: 7-6 (2), 6-2, 6-2.
Not every Spaniard fared well. Nicolas Almagro succumbed in straight sets to Sam Querrey: 6-3, 6-4, 6-4.
Tommy Robredo and Michael Llodra split sets, but Robredo is up a break. Llodra looks a bit lackadaisical and doesn’t seem to moving that well or hitting with much intensity. The commentators say that he may be suffering from migraines, which is not a good thing for an athlete.
There are two matches that do not feature Spaniards. This evening, John Isner takes on Russian, Mikhail Youzhny.
Andy Murray is having his hands full playing Stanislas Wawrinka. Murray was down a break in the first set, but broke and took the first set in a tiebreak. He got up an early break, but Wawa broke back. He then broke again, but Wawa broke back again. Wawa the took the second set in a tiebreak. Wawrinka is up a break in the third set, and if Murray holds, Wawa will get a chance to serve out the second set.
Murray has looked a bit indifferent in his match, not showing his newfound aggression, while Wawa seems the fresher and more aggressive of the two. Wawrinka had an issue with his leg, which he sought a trainer’s help, but seems like he is over that.
Wawrinka pushed Murray to five sets at Wimbledon in 2009. He may need to go five to win this. Murray may be having some issue with his leg.
