Fantastic stuff by both the guys. I cant believe how Stan could hold off Rafa especially when Rafa was playing so fiery and relentless.

Rafa all those break points? goodness me.

I think DC was good for stan; to be the anchor and to play so well.

LOL Pspace abt the cookie!

He does look like it..

I hope this goes to a TB...it deserves a TB finish..

I've said it before and I'll say it again: The linespeople have really sucked tonight.

I know that some people we would prefer that we never talk about Nadal since he is a robotron no talent wall who has no skills- but let me say that he seems to bring out the best in his opponents. Stan tonight as an example Nadal may be the horrible end of the tennis anti-Christ who has no abilities and is the death of all that is good in the sport to some- but gosh darn it he has been involved in some great matches.

I really think Rafa and Stan should call their own lines. The line calling has been pathetic.

And thanks for jinxing Rafa there Doug -- right after saying Nadal rarely misses a backhand when he goes for it, what happens? The ball clips the net and goes out.

Stan brought the Rafa in that point for 30-all

Actually Stan Deserves this set.

Come ON, Stan. Break here!

jb, sleep is overrated. :)

Ok, not converting on a match point was one thing. But getting broken right after is not a good plan.

that was a waste, Stan.

how the hail are these guys still on their feets? foots? feet? obviously I've ceased to make sense... :)

Rafa- please win....I mean seriously- perhaps the worst day that I have had in the last 10 years....come on. A win would be good. :( Even if you are a no talent Wall with no fans and no skills. I still lurves ya.

Of course Nadal is an amazing player, one you think will never lose.
And of course he always brings the best out in his opponent. That's what happens when you are #1, or even #2, as he was for so long. Players will put their everything into beating you.

phew, Stan; costly mistake.

Unbelievable! Out of 12 break points, Rafa has just won ONE!

Okay Stan..please hold...this deserves a TB atleast..

even if it is a TB finish..

hey 'lock!

but i have to go out to play tomorrow, and i'm short on sleep as it is. sigh, and crap. i just remembered i scheduled a 9 am meeting tomorrow. eesh. 6 people all with very different ideas of how something should be run. crap.

like herding cats, with no purring. sigh. i'm going to have to go to bed. soon....yeah, soon...

I hope tomorrow is a rest day? Rafa won't have much left if he has to play again tomorrow. I can sense this thing going to 3 sets. The momentum is with Wawrinka. Rafa seems unable to go for the kill.

imjimmy: the winner of this match does not play tomorrow.

The winner gets a day off before his QF.

imjimmy...the winner of this match has to play DelPotro tomorrow.

top half won't play until thursday... bottom half does the double today/tomorrow.

semis will be on friday. sat off, final on sunday. i have NO recollection of the men's semis being on friday before.

Sigh AND crap, jb? This is serious. LOL. :)

Early morning meetings are a horrible thing. Hopefully Nadal will do you a favor and wrap this up soon. :)

oops...sorry...i thought the OOP said...my mistake!

OMG - 1 for 12 on BP. Atrocious! But some great serving from Stan on many of those points.
Geez - who has the mental edge for the TB here.

ok, Stan, come on, win the TB!

Of course, by now "tomorrow" is Thursday.

evie- haven't you heard? Rafa only wins because his opponents have unforced errors and he is lucky. No skill involved on either side! ;) I am being slightly tongue in cheek against the usual mantra.

I have only been able to watch the last few games- but kudos to Stan. Showing why he was in the 10. Rafa has been showing why he is so hard to beat.

Vamos Rafa in the tiebreak!

Well if any Rafa fan thinks this is acceptable tennis from him,well I am someone elses mother,aunt whatever.

Break point stat is horrible for starters.Uncle Toni no doubt will point that out first thing.

Rafa's reverted back to the defensive play. Gosh! he's standing way back. It's exhausting watching him labor in these rallies.

I need sleep so badly - it's after 5 a.m. here. The US late night matches are the worst of all.

mhm sherlock - i'm ok with stan staying out there another hour if that's what it takes for him to win this thing! :))

and yeah - 9 am NOT my fav time, my boss was VERY surprised I scheduled it, as i typically don't quite get there for 9. thank goodness i'm all set for it. though it would be VERY helpful if I wasn't all cranky and sleepy stoopid, y'know?

ok - let's see if stan plays a better tie breaker than the first one. oof - bad miss off that great backhand of his. that could be all it takes. sigh.

Stan got too impatient there. Tut, tut.

oh, heartbreaker, Stan.

I hate it when Rafa has horrible break point conversion rates- he loses those matches more often than not.

jb - when you refer to "top half" or "bottom half" I still cannot get used to Rafa being top half, so your email totally confused me!
3-1 Rafa

Pretty pretty net play.

Rosangel,

Thanks for the overflow posts! It wouldn't be the same watching these sort of kinfe-edge matches without TW!

What a backhand, and close it off with the volley. Nicely done.

Jb, lol. I figured so. :)

Did Rafa win?

Well if you're Rafa fan - matches like these are agonizing. It's just sheet physical and mental application. How long can Rafa keep this up? It's bound to catchup with him. I don't remember Federer having to struggle so when he used to be No 1.

Rafa seems to Come Alive in t/breaks

imjimmy- R

lol jenn - well, we'll see if fed can set that back t'other way, shall we?! :)

Ros - oh no! 5 a.m. Glad you are still here with us. Hope no third set, particularly for your sake.
And with that, Rafa gives back the mini break. Donation to the Stan the Man 3rd set fund.

>>""I need sleep so badly - it's after 5 a.m. here. "">>

Rosangel: If it's any consolation, I was up in the Rafa Nalbandian match till 5:30 AM EST.

oh, my god Stan, what a miss. so sorry.

What a point to end on a forehand miss by Stan. He did an excellent job to get the point back to neutral too.

Rosangel, you are a true diehard. :)

imjimmy: yes, I always said (to those who were so negative about the possible state of his body in a few years time) that it might well be the mental toughness that would prove the hardest to sustain in the end. As Rafa might say, we gonna see.

Please I am still getting over Wimbledon 08!

3 MP's for Rafa. Please close it now. Surely, Warwinka won't be able to come back from this. Surely?

Opps= meant imjimmy- Rafa is not Roger. Roger is a beautiful player of course , and perhaps the best ever. But Rafa since 2004 stated capture my heart. The match that solidified my fandom heart was the 2005 final against Coria. He fights, he scraps. Some may bemoan that he has no talent and is only a wall- but I have seen a fighter with increasing skills. It may not be easy. It is not a sweet ballet but rather an dramatic telenovela - but gosh darn- I love the ride.

Hey, I stayed up for the Nalby match too. And, I don't even like either guy ;-). But, yeah, it looks like this one should be over shortly, and there it is. Great match from both guys.

Great anticipation by Nadal to get the winner on the awful smash by Wawrinka to win the match.

its not over till the fat lady sings no?

Well done Stan- wow!. Standing ovation. Fun match.

Aw, Stan. Sad it had to end on a shanked overhead like that.

Rafa seems to be edgy. Wish he'd just lose and go relax before clay. :)

Nice of him to clap for Stan.

Great great effort by Stan to get to 2 Tiebreaks in this match!!! Absolutely superb tennis by Wawrinka!

Well - what a match! That was a fun one. Ros and jb, time for bed!
Nice of Rafa to applaud Stan's exit from the court. Stay definitely won some additional fans tonight.

Ummm, why is Rafa putting a warmup jacket on with nothing under it (but his sweaty bare chest of course...). is he out of clean shirts?

Cute shot of the girl so happy she got a shot of shirtless Nadal. :)

I have no choice but to stay up - there will be no full replay of the match on TV later.

At last, time to catch a little sleep. Glad I'm working at home today.

Good Lord, if i had any hair on my head, there would be none left!

Well done Stan the Man, good fight!!

Vamos Rafa, glad you have the day off tomorrow!

How ironic that Rafa won this match with a backhand winner. The shot has that has been so shambolic throughout this match. imjimmy great points about why this might be so. it really was a low % shot.

Ah, it looked like Stan was going to put away that last point. Good fight from him, some spectacular volley's in there.

Rafa's a sweetheart, applauding Stan.

Rosangel many thanks for the Over Flow,you can get some sleep now.

and that's done it i think. NOT to give up, but I think that's too hard to recover from.

imjimmy, fed usually struggled(s) in the early part of tourneys.

Stan's playing very very well, rafa has been misfiring at times, but has stepped it up when it has counted the most.

and while that was a great shot by rafa for the match, that was also very poor shot selection from stan. sigh.

congrats guys - well deserved win; Rafa totally stepped it up i the TB's. (not to mention in breaking back 2nd set.)

*hugs stan* good match, hopefully he'll play well on the clay.

and in the interest of my remaining gainfully employed, I'm hitting the hay. 'nite all!

Nice match!

Wish i had seen more of it...

But great match from Stan. What a great strategy of putting balls high to the Nadal backhand in the corner of the deuce court. Someone remind me why this doesn't bother Rafa more?

Aw...Stan. :( At least you fought a good fight. Loved that.

As usual, it's great to come here and frazzle. Better than frazzling alone.

Congrats to Nadal fans.

LOL Neil!!! Please let nature take its own course re your hair!

I don't imagine that JMDP will pose the same kind of challenge - that one really *ought* to be a straightforward straight-setter.

Congratulations Rafa fans you're guy came through as he always does.

Stan fans, just a few points 'here and there'as a certain other Swiss fellowmight say; but kudos to Stan for making a great run at it. Nearly, but not quite enough.

I'm wondering if this is the beginning, a sunbeam of light under the door, of some of the guys starting to understand how to play Nadal? Except for the certain Swiss, of course.

Neil You and me both,the hair I meean lol!

I haven't seen Rafa this animated throughout a game in a while. He celebrated more here than in his win against Nalby. Vamos Rafa!!!

fun match, and fun watching it with you guys.

Good stuff. Fun match. Didn't see all of it, but good scrap. Nadal wins 97/89, or 52% to 48%. Tight match. Again, Wawrinka takes one of the big dogs to two TBs, but can't get over the finish line in any of them. A third set might have been interesting.

Nice gesture by Nadal at the finish, applauding Wawrinka on his way off court - reminded me of Federer applauding Nadal off after the Shanghai 2006 YEC SF match. I doubt that we'll see Wawrinka fly so high in three years time, but I've been wrong before.

Commiserations to Wawrinka fans, congratulations to Nadal fans. Del Potro up next - I venture to suggest that Nadal is favorite going into that one.

>>"yes, I always said (to those who were so negative about the possible state of his body in a few years time) that it might well be the mental toughness that would prove the hardest to sustain in the end">>

I agree. It's impossible to be able to concentrate ever point, every match -day in day out. It just takes that 1% drop in focus to make that difference between victory and defeat. The good thing is Rafa is still young. My feeling is that he needs to win as much as he can in 2009 and 2010 before the intensity fades.

>>"but gosh darn- I love the ride.">>
Carrie: Well said. So do I and a lot of other people.

Congratulations to Rafa fans!!!! Who's going to play next?

'Night, jb. :)

Condolences to Stan fans. He fought beautifully.

LOL Ren, nature began her course years ago, i just shave the rest to keep it even!! Great shots by both guys at times. Gold star for entertainment/frazzle value.

Syd, you mentioned tactics before. What was Stan doing that was so special tactically? I didn't really notice anything. The biggest thing against Rafa is to _just_ hold serve, and he'll spot you a break every once in a while. That's pretty much what Stan did, no?

Verdasco, Nalbandian and now Wawrinka - one extremely tough match before each tournament win - I hope this test means Rafa takes the win in Miami.... not bad for a player who's only good on one surface...unlike Murray who is really much better on all surfaces (if you believe JG's commentating).

Congrats Stan you really did deserve a set there.

Great clutch style serve when needed.You are totally cool under pressure.

great anticipation at the net,gee being Gold Medal Doulbes player really helped you out.

Rafa get some rest.

Typepad can rest a little....

Pspace: I agree. I saw more tactics from Gil. Stan just executed well at times when Rafa executed badly, that's sometimes all you need. If he had served first serves more consistently we might have gone to a third. but that's all.

Also, he misses a LOT of DTL backhands wayyyy wide.

I miss Kohli's backhand...

imjimmy at 12:15 am: you jest, surely? In 2006, there were all kinds of tight matches. Haas, AO R16; Federer-Almagro, Federer-Nalbandian Rome Q/S; Toronto, Gasquet F (plus Gonzalez, Malisse, Tursunov earlier in the tournament); Suzuki, Tokyo R16 (I think); Soderling, Madrid; Shrichiphan Basel SF; Roddick, Shanghai RR; Nadal, Shanghai SF.

Oh Neil...very funny!!!! That is why I don't like to lose the "funny-ness" of posters like you!!! It just relaxes everyone after an exciting match!!!!

Is Venus about to play or she's scheduled tomorrow?

fabulous match. vamos heavenly creature. commiserations to stan the man fans. he played great. really tested the spaniard tonight.

Now Tennis Channel is doing top 5 upsets....

Start #5 with Muller defeats Roddick at 2005 USO. I remember that match and GM played beautiful that day....threading the needle.

BTW, before I go to bed, I hate, loathe and detest the Swiss tactic of running backwards on second serves. Both Federer and Wawrinka do it; it cost Wawrinka tonight at 30-40, 5-5 second set, when he flipped a BH return wide. Why run backwards on a second serve? Ugh.

Syd, I think there are a lot of players on tour who theoretically know how to play Rafa, but execution becomes the real issue, as well as stamina (particularly mental) in the face of the pressure on the other side.

He's still young, but I always recall that like Borg he really has been a prodigy - far ahead of most of his age group, and that, for his own reasons, Borg left the game while he was still young. So yes, I think Rafa needs to maximise his chances as much as possible over the next couple of years. I don't want to compare him too closely to Borg (the player who inspired me most to become a fan of the game) - both are unique players. But for many years, Borg displayed incredible mental toughness - not getting down on himself, and playing a lot of very physical matches. Some commentators thought that Borg's body might not hold out, but in the end it was all about his mind, and very likely his tumultuous life offcourt as well wasn't helping. On the later point, Rafa seems to have that under control. Very good for him that he seems so secure in his private life.

Neil theres no way jose I am shaving my head to follow suit I can assure you.lol!

Ren: he plays del potro next, on thursday. tomorrow no match for rafa. rest day.

Ren, Venus will be on the stadium court not before 1p.m.. Ugh, i'm so sweaty i feel like i played that match.

Pspace,

I thought that Stan's plan was to try to push Nadal back into the deuce corner,while moving forward to find the open court for the put away. Least that's what I saw. He was also serving extremely well (some don't think so), but I thought he was, for the most part, although crucially, not at the most important moments. I'm sure there were other tactics he was trying to execute, that I do not have the expertise to pick up on.

c1, yeah, he should have put that DTL backhand in the bag early. Or at least not tried to use it as a point ending shot. Anyways, I think he did try to play it safer at some point, but Rafa killed him with his bh. *shrug* Sometimes it feels like Rafa has two fhs rather than a fh and a bh like other people.