Super Bowl Update

Greetings all! I am currently enjoying the Labor Day weekend celebrating the wedding of good friends LMM and V and we are staying at a very lovely establishment that does not have TV's in the hotel rooms. So I can only watch round 2 and round 3 highlights on my computer when I have internet access in the main building. S'alright. Rafa can wait while we dance and eat and drink until our fancy clothes no longer fit us when it comes time for the actual ceremony. There's a lovely pool here too. Finally swimming - right before the summer ends!

But here's what's happening for Rafa back in the city: our hero won an impressively strong battle against Denis Istomin from Russia. He took him out in three tough sets, winning 6-2, 7-6, 7-5.

This was a really strong match in which Rafa saved 7 of 7 possible break points. It looked especially dire in the second set when Rafa had been down 5-1 in the tie breaker. Istomin hit an amazing point when he sprinted to hit a return off a drop shot from Rafa that landed inside for a winner. Rafa immediately responded by winning the next six points to take the set. The two men then played a tight third set until Rafa finally broke Istomin's serve in the last game.

Rafa next plays Gilles Simon, a man who just missed the birth of his child who was born a few weeks early. I'm not saying Simon is gonna throw the match or anything, but if he lost I think he'd be just fine to hop on a plane and head home. Hopefully Rafa will win quickly and send Simon back to his brand new baby. Vamos!

Note: Tomorrow evening I will be going to the US Open! Taking the GF with me. Very excited. The last two years I was lucky and got to see Rafa while I was there, but it doesn't seem to be in the cards this year. The US Open is a great experience nonetheless and I look forward to seeing who will be listed on the Night Schedule. Good times!