May 29, 2009

Rafa had a relatively busy day yesterday. After his usual one-hour training session, the world No.1 spent the afternoon at a promotional event for the Balearic Islands (who he represents) as part of a campaign that invites people to travel to their 4 beautiful destinations.

Now it’s back to business for Rafa as he takes on former World No.1 Lleyton Hewitt in round three at the French Open tomorrow.

“Always, it's a very tough match to play against Lleyton. I have to play well to have chances to win, so that's what I want (to) try," said Rafa after his second-round victory.

"I like [him] a lot as a person. I have had the chance to know him these years I have been playing and he has always been very nice to me, and I am very thankful. Maybe the only exception is when we played golf last year in Miami and he literally killed me... Since them we haven't played again and I am really looking forward to that. But seriously now, tomorrow it will be a great match, I am sure, and I am really excited about this one," concluded on his blog .

Rafa respects and admires Lleyton Hewitt  It goes back to the Davis Cup final between Australia and Spain in 2000. Inside a seething arena called Palau Sant Jordi, Hewitt scrapped and clawed his way through two thunderous singles matches on clay while a 14-year-old kid, having carried the Spanish flag into the opening ceremony, sat courtside with his jaw to the floor in awe. The kid was Rafa.

Hewitt has no recollection of Rafa being there, but the current world No. 1 watched every point as Hewitt (19 then) fought his way past Albert Costa in five sets on day one.

It’s been 9 years since that day and now, the Australian former world number one is one of the few players on tour without a negative record against Rafa. The pair are locked at 4-4 in their head-to-heads encounters, although all three meetings on clay have resulted in wins for Rafa, including a fourth-round clash at Roland Garros in 2007.

"Over five sets it probably makes it a bit tougher than beating him in a best-of-three-set match on this surface. But I've still got to go out there and worry about my game and not his," said Lleyton at a press conference. "I'll go out there and play my game and hopefully I can have one of my best matches.”

"He's obviously an unbelievable athlete and he always believed in himself, and I think that's why he's been able to have great success at a young age," said Hewitt.

ORDER OF PLAY

11am

Aravane Rezai vs Michelle Larcher De Brito

Followed by

Fernando Gonzalez vs  Josselin Ouanna

Followed by

Rafael Nadal vs Lleyton Hewitt

Vamos Rafa!