Although, it eventually went to Rafa in straights, the 1st set was a bit tight with each player holding his service games. But it ended at last when Rafa managed to claim the break at his lonely break-point of the set leading 7-5, also having the advantage of serving 1st in the 2nd set.
The 2nd set was relatively fair, somehow, Rafa got the break he needed and held his service games. Not only to spot his point in Tokyo's quarter-finals, but also being a step closer from defending his title. The whole match lasted about 1 hour and 30 minutes, pretty much like Rafa's 1st match in Japan, 2 days ago.
Rafa's quarter-final match will be against world no. 53, the Colombian, Santiago Giraldo. Santiago has already had quite a good run in the tournament. So far, he has reached the quarter-finals beating the Russian Dmitry Tursunov in straights. Until now, the Colombian hasn't dropped a set in the tournament. Nevertheless, I am sure he knows pretty well, that playing Rafa is definitely something else! So, let's just wait and see what's going to happen.
The match will be played just after the Fish-Tomic match, which will be played 1st on Centre Court at 12 noon (local time, it's GMT +9 in case you're lost).
Vamos Rafa!
