Well Rafa’s journey at Montreal ended last night when he was defeated by 20 year old Juan Martin del Potro  7-6, 6-1. 

Rafa seemed like he was returning to his usual playing form which we have all become accoustumedto over the last few years, however Del Potro was just too strong but in saying this Rafa did have his chances.  The first set went to a tie breaker where Rafa had a

5-2 lead but then lost five consecutive points leading to the first set heading Del Potro’s way.  However even though with Rafa going out this early and his No.2 ranking at risk if Murray wins the tournament, he was very positive about it all and the most important thing the knees are they Ok, “The knees are very good, so that’s very good. Yeah, I must be very happy about this tournament, yeah.” said Rafa in his press conference.  He continued to say that he found it difficult to concentrate sometimes but possibly with a few more hours court time that could be rectifyed.

Rafa and his team will now travel to Cincinnati tomarrow to continue his hard court preperation ahead of the US Open.  Rafa’s draw sees him with a first round bye but will meet the winner of Seppi v Qualifier match in the second round.  The other names on his side of the draw are Gael Monfils, Novak Djokovic, Karlovic, Paul-Henri Mathieu, Jo-Wilfred Tsonga, and Gilles Simon.

Courtesy of www.rafaelnadal.com