After playing just 7 games of his 2nd round match, recently returned world No. 2 Rafael Nadal will take on Philipp Petzschner of Germany.

World No. 2 Rafael Nadal made his singles debut in Montreal under the lights on Wednesday night. The Spaniard was forced to take a 2 month break from tennis to heal tendinitis in his knees. His second round match against fellow Spaniard David Ferrer was cut short when Ferrer retired due to his own bout with tendinitis.

Nadal has a win over Philipp Petzschner – he beat the German back in 2003 when he was 17 years old and ranked 75 in the world. The fact that the world No. 2 has won more matches in 2009 than Petzschner has in his entire career does not bode well for the German. Nadal is 44-5 for the year, Petzschner has a lifetime record of 24-32.

Despite the convincing nature of Nadal’s statistics going into Thursday’s match, there is still the undeniable fact that his knees remain a looming question mark. The 7 games he played against Ferrer on Wednesday night were not enough to assess the health of his knees. Petzschner has a big game when he is playing well, which he is right now.

Nadal will most likely win this third round match. Even if he isn’t at 100% yet, the Spaniard has bales of experience and he knows how to win. Expect one tight set and one blowout with Nadal advancing to the quarterfinals.

(the match is 3rd up on Central after Roddick v Verdasco)

Vamos Rafa

courtesy of www.montrealgazette.com