Rafael Nadal of Spain returns a volley to Teymuraz Gabashvili of Russia during their first round match at the U.S. Open tennis tournament in New York, August 31, 2010. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton

Nadal Impresses in 2010 US Open Debut

by Parsa Samii, GEM Tennis (parsa@gemtennis.com)

After a ton of great action at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on day 2, the final men’s match of the day featured world #1 Rafael Nadal versus Russian Teymuraz Gabashvili. Nadal defeated Gabashvili in three tough sets in just under 3 hours. There were a few moments out on the court that gave you many answers. At certain times, the vulnerabilities of Rafa on the faster court surface at Flushing Meadows were apparent. However, after following much of Rafa’s north american hard court swing in person, I can tell you that he’s improving. He returned much better tonight. He seemed to find his range on his backhand even more and most importantly he served big. In the match he lost in Cincinnati against Baghdatis in the 3 sets, Rafa showed some good serving in certain games, but nothing as consistent as he was tonight.

The serve can carry him a long way on the quick hard court and it can also get him to the more crucial points in sets in which Nadal is the best ‘big’ point player in the world. If there is anyone that is reliable on big points to give it his best, it would be Rafa, no question. If he can continue to improve and work his way into the tournament this event could end favorably for Nadal. He still may be a year or two away from being a heavy favorite, but you can never count out Rafa and the x factor. Rafa is a competitive animal and if he see an opportunity he’ll jump on it. With a little help who knows what Rafa can achieve.

Next up for Nadal is Denis Istomin from Uzbekistan. Istomin has been playing very well on the hard courts this summer. He’ll pose a significant risk to Rafa, but if Nadal can get him to those big points it’ll be Rafa’s match to lose. Stay tuned to GEMTennis.com for the latest coverage of the US Open!