Rafa took a right, royal spanking at the hands of Marin Cilic in his semi-final at the Beijing Open. He was 0-5 down before he could even draw breath and Cilic was playing some lights out tennis. The first set ended 1-6 with Rafa just about escaping an embarrassing bagel. Cilic had points to be 3-0 up in the second before Rafa rescued the third game from being 0-40 down. He even broke Cilic when he was serving for the match at 5-2, but then promptly lost his own to go down to a 1-6, 3-6 scoreline.
And what of Rafa? ...
“I can do it much better next time, I must do it,” said the six-times grand slam winner after being outplayed 6-1, 6-3 in his first career meeting with Croatian Cilic. “I am playing well but to play these big matches, you need more confidence. This year has been difficult for me. When I am happy, I am arriving at the semi-finals every week. When I am there, I need a little more confidence to pass this test. I must play better next time.”
“I hope that if I can really play a few weeks in row, I can continue to improve at this level and then I’m going to close one of these tough tests. When I have closed one of these tough tests, I know from experience, it is easier the next time.”
“I’m going to continue working, just try to be there every week and, when you are there every week, finally you get your goal. “I don’t know if it will be in Shanghai, in Paris, in London or next year. The important thing is to be happy playing, be healthy ... and you will, for sure, have more chances to play more finals.”
As someone said yesterday ... loss of form is temporary, class is permanent. Exactly ... Vamos!!!
A clip with a minimal amount of action from the horror show (and some Davis Cup news with a young Rafa at the end carrying the Spanish flag ... bless)
Rafa's press conference ...
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