There are lots of images/GIFS in ‘The Racquet’ so it may take a while to load depending on your wifi/4g. I promise it’s worth it 😅.

RESULTS 🎾

💥 = Beatdown \\ 🤕 = Injury \\ ‼️ = Upset \\ 🤯 = Epic

Featured Matches

Nadal d Fognini: 2-6, 6-1, 6-2

TL;DW: Nadal held a BP in Fognini’s first service game, but missed it with a backhand unforced error, and, from then on, the first set was the Fabio Fognini show. Nadal was spraying errors, especially off the backhand, and Fognini was taking whatever balls Nadal could land in the court, and dispatching them for effortless, yet brilliant, winners. The 2nd and 3rd sets were pretty much carbon copy’s of one another, with Nadal going up an immediate break with significantly better tennis than we’d seen from him in the opening set, before fending off Fognini comeback attempts with some very bold serve and volley’s. Fognini also increasingly struggled with an ankle issue. Let’s talk about a couple of keys: Fognini’s backhand, and the point of the tournament so far: — This ludicrous point, featuring a Nadal tweener into a Fognini backhand smash, also included a nice example of why Fognini has historically played Nadal hard. Rafa hits a huge backhand down the line & yet Fognini was able to (just like Djokovic) redirect the ball back, with pace, into Nadal's FH corner, coaxing a short ball. Fognini’s 'offensive backhand defence’. So, so good. Nadal’s serve and volley. Down break (back) point in each the 2nd (3*-1) and 3rd (4*-1) sets, Nadal pulled off some excellent serve and volleying, closing down the net like lightning, and diffusing any potential Fognini comeback. Awesome change-up. Nadal’s return performance. Fognini usually struggles vs Nadal on a hard court (Fog now 6 losses to 1 win vs Nadal n HC) because of how lightweight the Italian’s serve is. In set 1 Nadal returned quite poorly by his standards, but put so many more balls in play in sets 2 and 3: 📊 Nadal returns made by set: Set 1: 74% off 1st serve, 78% off 2nd serve.

Set 2: 83% off 1st serve, 100% off 2nd serve.

Set 3: 73% off 1st serve, 100% off 2nd serve

What’s next for Nadal? Monfils/RBA tomorrow evening (semi-final).

Medvedev d Thiem: 6-3, 6-1 💥

TL;DW: A complete non-contest, thanks to a Thiem who had clearly run out of energy. The Austrian, who derives so much of his barnstorming power from the spring in his legs, had almost zero lower body strength throughout todays match. As a result, Medvedev, who was playing brilliantly regardless of Thiem’s condition, romped to the easiest of wins in less than an hour (Med never faced a BP, or even deuce, on serve). Thiem left the court grimacing, with Medvedev looking slightly confused at the handshake. Hopefully the Austrian just needs a rest (after playing Wimbledon, Hamburg and Kitzbühel before Montreal), or has a temporary bug.

What’s next for Medvedev? Plays Khachanov tomorrow.

Khachanov d Zverev: 6-3, 6-3 💥

TL;DW: An awfully flat performance from Zverev. Khachanov was solid today, serving well and crushing forehands off Zverev’s generally underpowered groundstrokes. But in truth, the Russian didn’t really have to do anything special against a self-destructing opponent. Zverev committed a very ropey 29 UE’s, 8 of which were double faults (compared to Khachanov’s tidy 17 winners to just 10 UE’s). And the German’s 2nd serve (when it landed in) offered Khachanov all sorts of opportunities to attack (Zverev won just 6/19 2nd serve points). Khachanov’s only loose game came as he was serving for the match at 5*-4 in the 2nd set, offering up two break back points for his opponent. That Zverev did the following👇, on the 2nd BP, sums up his current mindset and performance:

— Of all the shots for Zverev to miss, when BP up… it’s the backhand. Normally the reliable rock of his game, and it ends up landing well below the tape. His confidence is clearly shot to pieces at the moment. (TennisTV)

What’s next for Khachanov? Plays Medvedev tomorrow.

Also:

Monfils vs Bautista Agut. ⛈ Rain Delayed and postponed until tomorrow.

SHOTS OF THE DAY 😮

— Medvedev coming up with a great lob. Meddy was on fire today, even if Thiem was never at the races. (TennisTV)

— POV of what it’s like to face Khachanov’s forehand. Few better players on tour at generating pace like this off slow, nothing balls. So much pace on the ball, and yet both forehands have pretty high net clearance. (TennisTV)

— Nadal with a trademark pass. (TennisTV)

— Fognini slapping a forehand. (TennisTV)

— The Fog drilling a 80-90mph forehand with minimal footwork/intensity required. The usual then. (TennisTV)

— Point of the tournament so far. Great tweener lob from Nadal and a brilliant backhand smash from Fog.

— Full point:

— Nadal opening his shoulders to start set 3 and absolutely crushing a forehand down the line. This is the backhand from Fognini (and Novak) that can hurt Nadal. That is until Rafa pulls out this change up. 🔥

INTERVIEW/PRESSER BEST BITS🎤

Nadal on him and Fognini having a chat at the net post-match:

“Well, I asked about what's going on in his foot because I saw him asking for treatment. Yeah, he was telling me what's going on. Something that I experienced before. I just tried to tell him my experience.”

(*Nadal was almost certainly referring to the bone spur he had removed from his ankle at the end of last year)

Nadal on the difference between 2005 Rafa and 2019 Rafa:

“If I could have the knowledge of the sport I have now, but the legs I had then, I would be a very, very good player (lols). That's impossible.”

And whether he’s playing better than ever:

“No, I am not better than ever before. I am how I am today. I'm having a good season more or less, being competitive almost in every single event that I have been playing. Of course, I had some physical issues the first three, four months of the season.”

On Murray’s return:

“Good news for the sport. Especially great news for him. That means that he's healthy. That's going to be a big, big moment for him. After all the retirement that he predicted in Australia, was this year - yeah? - six months later seems like he's back again, healthy, competing well. That's going to be a big thing for him. Happy.”

Khachanov post win: (thanks to @omarcanuck for asking these questions):

Thiem post-match:

Medvedev on Tsitsipas:

“We don't have a relationship. We are not enemies but we are definitely not friends.”

On the new Kyrgios habit of asking members of the crowd for serve placement on match point:

On whether anyone could challenge him for backhand consistency (thanks to @omarcanuck for asking this question for me):

ORDER OF PLAY FOR SATURDAY (SF) 📅

COURT CENTRAL

— 1pm Montreal (ET), 6pm UK —

🇪🇸 Bautista Agut vs Monfils 🇫🇷 (Postponed Quarter-Final)

— — — — — — — — — — — — —

— NB 3pm Montreal (ET), 9pm UK —

🇷🇺 Khachanov vs Medvedev 🇷🇺 (H2H: 1-0) (Hard H2H: 1-0)

Prediction: Medvedev in 3

— NB 8pm Montreal, 1am UK —

🇪🇸 Nadal vs Monfils/Bautista Agut

EXTRAS 🔍📊🎤

Andy Murray will return to singles action in Cincinnati. He had hip resurfacing surgery 6-7 months ago.

Cincinnati Wild Cards:

— MAIN DRAW: A.Murray, Londero, Querrey, Opelka

— QUALIES: Korda, Wolf, J.McNally, Sock

The Racquet Cincinnati Draw Preview & Predictions

— Rafa wrapping up his match just as a thunderstorm rolls in.

— Tomorrow will feature the first all-Russian Masters 1000 semi-final.

NEW BALLS PLEASE 👀

— In Russia fist pumping never stops.

GAME, SET, MATCH 👋

— The Racquet is created, and written, by Matt.

— You can find me on Twitter here.

See you tomorrow for the Montreal Semi-Finals!