Nadal is amazing

Yesterday I was fortunate enough to sneak out of work early and head to the US Open in Flushing, NY. I arrived in the second set of the Andy Murray-John Isner set, but I was really looking forward to seeing the match that followed: Rafa Nadal vs Andy Roddick.

Murray went up 2 sets to none, but Isner battled back with his big serve and power game. Murray is much more of a finess player, and ultimately he prevailed in four sets.

I was excited to see Nadal. I've never seen him in person. I've seen Roddick a few times but I'm not a fan, despite him being American. He whines and moans and the fact that he never really reached his potential bothers me. Now, Nadal may not be as sharp as he was a year or two ago, but I was still excited to see him and he didn't disappoint.

He came out and broke Roddick in the first game of the first set and cruised from there. He plays relentlessly. If Eric Byrnes were a tennis player, he'd be similar to Nadal. All hustle and flat out effort on every point. Power and accuracy. It was beautiful to watch, Roddick really stood no chance. He didn't play well, but even if he did, he would have been toast. Nadal was that good today.

I'm looking forward to the Nadal-Federer semifinal matchup, and I'll be pulling for the winner of that one to go on and claim the US Open title.