A fatigued Rafael Nadal fell to the always dangerous Mikhail Youzhny 6-0, 6-1 in the singles final of the Chennai Open on Sunday.
Mikhail conceded that he won the match only because Rafa couldn’t move well (uhm, negative mental state for the Russian?) and Rafa agreed; the Spaniard brushed off any talks of his chronic injuries affecting play. Instead, Rafa chalked up the poor performance to the marathon semifinal he played against compatriot Carlos Moya; that 6-7 (3), 7-6 (8), 7-6 (1) match lasted almost four hours. Okay, so we’re not worrying about Nadal’s foot and knees. Now we’re just worried about his conditioning.
More: A rare sight (i.e., Rafa in a polo shirt!) plus the doubles winners after the cut…
GASP is Nadal wearing a polo?! Nike, it’s definitely time to add this to his repertoire. It looks good…
And in the doubles final, the Thai team of Sanchai Ratiwatana (left)) and Sonchai Ratiwatana beat Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus and Marc Gicquel 6-4,7-5.
(photos by Getty Images)
Tags: chennai open
tennis served fresh 
January 6, 2008 at 6:54 pm |
i’m not a big fan of nadal, but he looks pretty hot in a polo.
January 7, 2008 at 5:36 am |
The pictures above are great. I live in Chennai, and was there for both the semis and finals. Nadal doesnt look so outsized in real life, as the TV makes him out to be.
Have written a personal account of the experiences of the tournament. If anyone’s interested, do check it out:
http://blog.360.yahoo.com/blog-nPEwPDYwdqR9qc0RCXCNVHjbadw-?cq=1