World No. 2 Rafael Nadal continues his Australian Open campaign on Saturday as he takes on Great Britain’s Cameron Norrie, who will be playing a third-round match at a Grand Slam for just the second time in his career. It will be the pair’s first meeting.
Date: February 13, 2021
Match time: Rafa is second night match on Rod Laver. 9 PM local time / 5 AM EST – New York, Montreal / 10 AM GMT – United Kingdom / 11 AM CET – Spain, France, Germany, Italy. To convert to your local time, use this website.
Rafa has never faced the fellow left-handed Brit, and is wary after Norrie dispatched last week’s Murray River Open champion Dan Evans in the first round.
“He came to the tournament winning the week before, so Norrie was able to beat him. Lefty. Good player. He has experience on the tour already. Gonna be the toughest test, without a doubt. I need to be playing at high level if I want to keep having chances to be through. And I am looking forward to try to make that happen.”
Norrie on playing Rafa:
“I have watched Rafa so much over the years and I think he’s obviously not really got many weaknesses. It’s going to be an unbelievable experience. He’s such a legend of the game, but on Saturday night, he’s just another player. He’s a human being. Just go out there and give it to him and see what happens. I can’t wait to go out there and show him what I have got. It’s not gonna be easy.”
The Victorian Government announced overnight that the new measures will come into effect at 11.59pm local time.
An Australian Open statement said: “We are notifying ticket holders, players and staff that there will be no fans onsite at the AO for five days, commencing from Saturday 13 February.”
It means there will be crowds in Melbourne Park for Rafa’s match with the British No.3 player.
GOOD LUCK & VAMOS RAFA!
First set 75 Rafa, vamoooosssss!!!
Hope you do well rafa and stay safe you and your family vamos rafa xxx
Good luck for the next one Rafa!!.
With you!. Vamosssssss!! 💪🏻💪🏻💥🌊🌠🔥
I have some concerns about the abusive spectator in Rafa’s match.
Actually I believe it’s more serious than a simple case of drunkenness.
She had the gall to call a radio show and while wishy washy about it, accuse him of doping like lance armstrong. I believe she should not be allowed back to any of his matches and his team should tell her about what happened to Bachelot. Enough of this.
Good luck Rafa 🍀❤️🤞🙏
Djokovic said he has a torn muscle and doesn’t know if he will play his next match.
“Well, I know it’s a tear definitely of the muscle so I don’t know if I’ll manage to recover from that in less than two days. I don’t know. I don’t know if I’m going to step out on the court or not. I just I am very proud of this achievement tonight, let’s see what happens tomorrow.”
I hope he gets better but not too quickly.
😉
Is that a wink I see? LOL
Wishing Rafa all the bestinb round 3 i will be awake by 4h30 SA time
Scoreboard lists Rafa’s match as 2:30 am est, but I think that could be wrong. 5:00 am est is probably correct. I wonder how Rafa’s back will be?
The first night match starts at 8am UK time, so 3am EST, and Rafa’s is the second night match, so I think they’ve got a bit muddled there! 5am EST sounds more like it.
Margo, you were right not to call a Fritz victory. Novak Djokovic, aka Harry Houdini, escaped the loss. Let’s wait and see what shape he’s in when he plays again. I’m sure the locker room will be very interested.
Fritz faded in the decider losing 2-6. Disappointing.
Nole is struggling thiem is struggling. Hopefully nadal stays healthy
Thiem is not injured. He was 2 sets down until he took control and got rid of Kyrgios.
Pure drama on day 5. With Djokovic sustaining an abdominal injury, it opens the door for Fritz. Sad to see any player injured, but, it’s now up to Fritz to play smart for the rest of the match.
There are reports that Djokovic has an intercostal injury which is causing him pain and probable breathing problems. If true, his 18th Slam trophy will have to wait. I will believe he is injured if and when a formal announcement is made or if he loses to Taylor Fritz. I don’t trust Djokovic.
Good luck and Vamos Rafa. Go for it.
Two Canadians have made it to the 4th round: FAA and Raonic.
I thought Thiem was done for when he dropped the first 2 sets against Kyrgios but he came alive and won 3 sets in a row to win the match. Wheew
Diego was upset by Karatsev 6-3, 6-3, 6-3. Sorry to see him go.
Halep, Serena and Naomi are still in contention, among others, for the trophy.
Margo,
On the women’s side, the trophy belongs to one person: Iga Swiatek.
In the men’s side,a totally new champion will emerge.
But as always, wego day by day……..cheers
Maria, no, you can’t have it both ways. First you make predictions and then go on to say “we go day by day.” I’m not having that from you this tournament, or any other tournament that Rafa is playing.
My choice is Rafa if he can get rid of his back problem. I hope he wins.
And yes, I’m in a grumpy mood, but…
RAFA ROCKS
Rafa did not practice today. Instead, he went to see a medical specialist in an effort to find a remedy for his back problem. That’s worrying.
Lorna, maybe he is looking for something to add to his treatments or just to see how he is healing. I hope it’s not because he is feeling worse. I don’t want to think about that. Hopefully we will get a positive update.
Or maybe, just maybe, Rafa is waiting for you know who to drop out first……. OK, OK, bad joke.
🤞🤞
LOL……
He is scheduled to practice today (Saturday) at 5pm local on court 6.
Good luck to Diego the rest of the season!
Rafa good luck stay safe this last year and this is so bad with the pandemic I will see you on TV vamosssssss champ all the best your fans for ever 🎾😘👍🎾❤️
Sad news that it’s going to have to be behind closed doors – obviously safety comes first, and it’s a relief that the tournament isn’t being stopped completely, but couldn’t the horrible virus just have let us have this fortnight?!
Rafa’s match with Norrie will be played without fans. Thirteen people tested positive at a Holiday Inn in Melbourne and so the government of Victoria is imposing a five day “snap” lockdown. Tennis players are considered “essential workers” and the AO will continue but without fans. The lockdown goes into effect at 1159 p.m. Friday.
So far 2021 seems a lot like 2020. Go Rafa!
The only way to contain this virus is to CONTAIN it. No tennis match is worth people’s lives! I’m 81 so I take this thing very seriously. (Got my first vaccination yesterday! So I’m pumped about that.)
Best of luck to Rafa and his sore back! Even if Djokovic goes down – and I won’t be surprised either way – there’s plenty of competition left. Medvedev is very strong, and Rublev and Thiem, of course.