After a day’s rest and a ‘full-on training session’, Rafa will return to his beloved French Open clay courts today in the last match of the day. The World No.1 will face Russia’s Teimuraz Gabashvili in the second round of the tournament, in front of hundreds of fans who will be waiting for him at the Suzanne Lenglen stadium.Yesterday afternoon, Rafa trained for a couple of hours under a dull Paris sky, and prepared himself for his second meeting against the Russian. The pair met for the first time at the beginning of the season at the Miami Masters Series event, which Rafa won in straight sets: 6-2, 6-2.
Against Gabashvili, Rafa expects to play better than he did in the first round because he felt “he was standing around more than usual, and that extra hundredth-of-a-second [wasted] could change things [drastically],” said Rafa, “I’ve played short, without a real game plan and without consistency. I have to [make sure] I play more inside the court and that my shots hurt more.”
“I trust and hope [my presence at] the tournament is long, so that I can adapt, get better and have a better feeling,” concluded Rafael.
Now, let’s not forget that today is also a very exciting day for soccer fans, who like Rafa, will be following closely tonight’s Champion’s League final between Manchester United and Barcelona.
Rafa of course, is very excited about it and as he shared with his fans yesterday on his blog, he hopes he can watch it “on-site after my match,” depending what time he finishes. Otherwise he will watch it “at my hotel with my team and other players staying there as well”.
And for those who are wondering, Rafa will be supporting Barcelona. “I like ManU a lot and I always play with them at Play Station but Barcelona is Spain so I will cheer for them.”
0 comments
Publicar un comentario