It's the 27th January, otherwise known as Day 9 of the Australian Open. Today, Rafa played Berdych in his quarterfinal match and he was defeated 6-2 6-0 7-6.
The first two sets were very bad from Rafa. DF's, countless errors, little depth and weak shots allowed Berdych to dominate. It wasn't the Rafa we knew whatsoever, and he was very frustrated with himself for playing so badly.
We knew it wouldn't be that easy for Tomas though, he is Rafa after all. In the 3rd set we saw sparks. By the end of the set, he was relatively back to normal. (Definitely not great, but a lot better than before) Unfortunately, it was too little, too late. He fought very hard, but Berdych held his nerve incredibly well, and didn't give any points away in the tiebreak.
It was a difficult and quite bizarre match to watch. We don't really have any answers to why it went like it did, but we don't have to. It's sport, and losing is just routine. Rafa said he had no physical problems in his presser afterwards.
I'm a little disappointed of course, you always want more for Rafa and have your eyes on the prize. I wanted this very badly but realistically, it was a big ask after a long absence.
If you asked me three weeks ago, 'Do you think Rafa will reach the quarterfinals?' I would have probably said no, so he's done incredibly well. He played some great matches, including that incredible comeback against Tim.
I'm very proud of him and I'm so excited to see what the rest of the season has to bring.
Rafa is travelling back to Mallorca on the 28th January, and will start his training on Monday, to prepare for the South American part of the season. He will play in Rio de Janeiro to defend his title and Buenos Aires. Both clay! Yipee!
I'm so excited to see him back in action again after a successful week in Melbourne.
Positive thoughts, people! This is only the beginning! The comeback 2015 has just begun!
Vamos.
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