Rafa was taken to a tie-breaker in each of his first two sets against Gabashvilli in his opening match, as Gabs played some pretty effective and typical hardcourt tennis that can hurt Rafa. But not enough, thankfully ... and he took the third set 6-4.
Two stand outs in the match for me. Firstly, the Rafaserve is much improved and he was hitting some high numbers with it ... 131 mph. Wow Rafa! The other was his inability to put away his break points. But ... its his first round match of a gruelling 7 match major with all the other influences that come into play. Steady as you were Rafa ... Denis Istomin is up next.
Another welcome addition to the Rafacrew this year is Xisca. I don't recall her being at the US Open before, and certainly not as visible at the start of a tournament as she has been here. Perhaps they are both growing in confidence.
Way to go, girl!!
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