Chennai R1: Nadal def Montcourt 6-2, 6-4

For a straight sets win, that was way more stressful than it should have been. Maybe not stressful, just pesky.

That first set could have been 6-0. Rafa just had a teeny tiny problem with his serve in the first set: mainly, he couldn't hold it to save his life. Got control of it more in the second set (that isn't saying much).

His returning game, however, was very good. He was attacking on some points, and painting the lines some (including the baseline a few times). He did his best when he was hitting it deeper. It was nice watching him do that a bit more. Montcourt hit some great shots, though. And got some winners he had no business getting. Props to him. There were some really good rallies in the match, being won by both players. Not always ending on UE's, either.

He played so much more aggressive on the return. It was odd. And how many MP's did he waste? He'd better cut that out immediately.

First match rust is normal, so it wasn't anything too bad. Just has to work some of the kinks out. And all those wacky unforced errors (mainly on his own serve) were definitely kinks. Now if he keeps playing that way, he's going to be leaving Chennai shortly.