quote:

Originally posted by chimera66 nadal wasn't serving so great last night and surprisingly had problems. not saying he didn't play well but tonight's match against novak should be exciting to watch because he won't let so many chances slip by. let's not kid ourselves maria hasn't been playing so well this year. she wouldn't have won the olympics. she regained her #1 ranking because henin retired before the french then quickly lost the position to ivanovic. if rooting for a russian dinara safina has been by far the most improved player on the wta tour this year and the best russian player by far this year male or female. her victory last week in carson city against jankovic was a nice match to watch and i think she's just getting better.

To be honest, I don't keep up to speed with WTA Tour as much as the ATP, and Sharapova may not have won gold but I'm sure the semi's and at least a bronze were well within her reach if she performed. I guess we'll never now know

Nadal created a few problems for himself in that first set against Lapentti, but looked reasonably comfortable closing out the match. Should be a cracker tonight if both perform. Either way, it'll be a fascinting final to watch tomorrow.