Rafael Nadal beat Australian Marinko Matosevic 6-2, 6-4 in 1 hour 19 minutes at the quarterfinals of the Rogers Cup in Montreal on Friday. He will face Novak Djokovic in the semifinal on Saturday.
Both sets were fairly routine, with some great forehand winners from Rafa and some good shots from Matosevic as well. Besides the pleasure of seeing Rafa on court, the standout points of the match may just have been the heartfelt image Rafa trying to rescue a bug on the court (alas, it was the victim of a ball boy’s tread), and seeing him carefully and neatly fold his bandanna and tie it around his head.
It’s the calm before the storm. We can expect fireworks tomorrow.
Photos: Getty Images and Reuters