Shanghai, October 15, 2009

Rafa Nadal prevailed 6-2, 6-7, 6-4, against America's James Blake last night, (a score almost identical to when they played at the China Open in Beijing a couple of weeks ago) and will now play Tommy Robredo (his compatriot), in the third round of the Shanghai Masters Series Tournament on Thursday night, not before 8:00pm (local time).

"If it [my form] is like this and I continue with this motivation, maybe not this year but next year, I am going to come back to play my best tennis," Rafa said. "I am happy with how I am playing and right now I have to play my best tennis in the big matches. I lost a few important matches after I came back from the injury and that's normal, because you need confidence to play against the best players. Victories like today's give me extra confidence, and playing like this I hope to have chances to win tournaments."

 "This end of the season is tough for everyone except for me this year," Rafa said. "When you put the body all the time at the limit, it is difficult. It's the same as Formula 1. They have the best cars in the world, but at the same time these cars are broken more than your car. That's the reason, because the car is always at the limit. So we are the same."

Rafa has a 4-0 lifetime head-to-head record against Robredo and has not lost a set in those four matches. The pair have not played since the 2006 Shanghai Tennis Masters Cup.

Vamos Rafa!