Yay! Rafa won his second title in as many weeks. His form wasn't great, but he got through. I was concerned with him having to play two weeks in a row, but he had just enough to get past Kei. Kei didn't play well, IMO, but he didn't play terrible. Another week in the books and onwards to RG! A little rest for Rafa and hopefully more confidence building in Madrid and Rome.
absolute must wins for Rafa. he had to have the monte carlo and Barcelona titles to show that he means business.
now on to the bigger business:
he can take it easy in Madrid and bail but he has to take the rome title. they will all be there.
rafa needs the rome title and a win over djokovic.
Agreed. He has the passion back and that's what was missing. He's doing so much better. I hope he takes one of those tournaments off to further work on his game, though. If he does, he should be ready for the French. What I've noticed the most is how he's using the geometry of the courts again and working the dog's mess out of his opponents. It's so good to see him engaged him.