Rafael Nadal (Photo from The New York Times)

Yesterday evening, The Observer trekked out to Flushing to see the US Open, a long an daunting journey but well worth it to see our favorite player, Rafa Nadal, show off his moves at center court.

Arriving at the Billy Jean King National Tennis Center in Queens, every possible variety of tennis lover was passing through, making their way to the stadium. Foreign visitors, country club families, diehard aficionados decked out in USTA gear and literally legions of bankers headed to their corporate suites all discussed the upcoming match as they walked down the ramp from the subway stop to the stadium.

We made our way through the crowded mini-city set up for the occasion. Countless souvenir stands hawked Open hats, shirts and windbreakers, while an army of food carts and restaurants catered to every possible tennis-induced craving.

Taking our seat, we prepared for the main event. Rafael Nadal played animated Kazakhstani Andrey Golubev in the first round match. Our neck bobbed back and forth for three sets, watching the two square off. While Golubev gave Rafa a run for his money, the defending champ was simply too good, defeating the young player.

At times throughout the evening, the European referees did little to hide their frustration with the rowdy American crowd. Don't they play Devo anthem "Whip It" between sets at Wimbledon?

Serena Williams was up next, playing nineteen-year-old Bojana Jovanovski. Although we expected something more outlandish than her plain blue Nike tennis dress, Serena didn't fail to make a statement: she played the entire match with giant chandelier diamond earrings dripping from her lobes. Poor Bojana was dwarfed by Serena both in stature and skill, and the veteran tennis star defeated her handily.

Leaving the stadium, a mad dash was made toward the  Manhattan bound 7 express. Noticeably tipsy guests crammed into the subway car and recounted the evening's highlights. It looks like we can expect much more from both Rafa and Serena this Open.

The king of them all, Rafael Nadal, made an appearance yesterday in New York. The Spaniard, who is working on a responsible drinking campaign with Bacardi, appeared at a Q&A session yesterday afternoon in Midtown, appropriately held at Bar Basque.

As select fans and media arrived, the bar was serving elaborate themed mocktails  including “Rafa’s Berry Smash,” “Pineapple Punch,” and “Apple Mojito” (perhaps they ran out of tennis puns?). Below the bar’s solarium lounge, swarms of fans gathered at FoodParc, eager to see the US Open's defending champion.

Although the shy tennis stud only joined Twitter three weeks ago, he has unsurprisingly developed a formidable following (324,755, to be precise). Rafa used the social networking site to promote yesterday’s press conference, which was projected via telecast to the loyal fans who turned out for the event.

“Because of the earthquakes you have in America, we’re running a little late,” the host said, as guests eagerly sipped their drinks, waiting for Rafa to arrive.

He soon appeared, however, waving to cheering fans below as he entered. Walking into the conference in a pair of tight Armani jeans (we forgive him, he’s European), a particularly tan-looking Rafa sat down and began to discuss, with quiet conviction, his preparations for the US Open.

Don’t expect to see Rafa out partying, responsibly or otherwise, in the next few days, however. The defending champion is all business, practicing his game and priming himself for the tournament next week. Well, not all business. “I think today I’m going to see the Mama Mia,” he said.

Moreover, Rafa’s eponymous memoir came out today, which details the first twenty-five years of the young star’s life. He discussed the book with an almost apathetic nonchalance. “I think it was the right moment,” he said of publishing his life experiences thus far.

After Rafa wrapped up the press conference he signed a few tennis balls and hit them (don’t worry, he didn’t show-off his killer serve) gently down into the crowd below. One of his shots didn’t quite clear the pool below, and immediately a gaggle of excited female fans were splashing in the water, grabbing at the bobbing ball.

The tournament begins next Monday, and we eagerly await what Rafa has to offer this year.

But to Rafa, this matters little.

Rafa blitzed his way through his draw and didn't lose a set until a couple of hours ago. His serve--somehow--topped 135mph during his Open run, and hit as high as 132mph today/tonight. Incredibly, he seemed to get better as the tournament progressed. For player who was once exclusively a clay court specialist, and then became a master of the Wimbledon grass, he has finally figured out the fast courts and the lighter balls of Queens. Potential: Unlimited.

"He has the capabilities already now to become the best player ever," said Novak Djokovic after tonight's match. "I think he's playing the best tennis that I ever seen him play on hardcourts. He has improved his serve drastically. The speed, the accuracy, and of course his baseline is as good as ever."

Rafa played a beautifully clean game of tennis tonight. He had 49 winners in the match versus 31 unforced errors and had 8 aces. At some point late in the third set, Novak looked absolutely spent, and began to do his best Week 17-Late-In-The-4th-Quarter Brett Favre impression. He went all for broke on his forehand and backhand which resulted in some pretty amazing screaming winners, and, mostly, a lot of unforced errors (he had 47 for the match). Rafa was only 6 of 26 for break point chances, which is a not-very-hot 23 percentage, but look at that stat again: He had 26 break point chances! Rafa's variety was breath-taking. Even though that slicing backhand was failing him at times, he went back to it over and over again; it began to work. Then, out of nowhere, he would be thrown to some far-reaching corner of the court where Brian Earley was probably standing, and would hit a line drive two-handed backhand winner down the line. It was pretty amazing to watch.

His play tonight, and his performance over the last two weeks is mostly a huge relief. Roger Federer was officially dethroned of his crown in Queens last year, and he would not return to the U.S. Open Final this year--the first time since 2003. We knew going in that we were on the brink of a changing of the guard, and we wanted our New Guy to be Rafa. But it's always been injuries (the knees! the "broken abdominal"), the mind (those damn Olympics!) or the courts that have held Rafa back. He said he didn't like playing late at night here. He certainly never seemed at home in New York.

This year that all vanished. By the second round, he was soaking up night matches. By the fourth round, he had his warm-up jacket zipped down momentarily for a post-match interview well past 1 in the morning. The crowd chanted cat calls. He smiled that adorable smile and loved it. During a changeover, he mouthed the words to Lady Gaga's Bad Romance. He was happy and playing better than ever.

Most significantly, he burned, and fought for every point. As Mary Carillo told me before the tournament, that's all you need to do to tickle us. That great tennis he has displayed in Paris, London and Melbourne? We finally go our own taste of it. Considering that this was his last Grand Slam to win, it almost made it all the better. There was nothing even remotely Na-Dull about this performance. If Roger Federer is truly entering the twilight of his career, we're happy to be right behind you, Rafa. This was a beautiful thing to watch.

But in a stunning move, CBS has decided to abandon its coverage of the Men's Final in order to maintain its primetime lineup, and the rest of the match will air on ESPN2.

Dollars and cents wise, this obviously makes sense for CBS. Monday night is a big ratings night for them, and to get it pushed back more than two hours would translate into a lot of angry advertisers. But the USTA should take this as a big hint that it needs to end its relationship with CBS as soon as possible.

Let's go through the problems.

1. Last night, the men's match was called off just after 6 p.m. It had technically only been in a delay for just over 90 minutes. That relatively quick decision came from a tournament whose leaders love--just love--night matches. Obviously, making the fans and players wait and wait for a rain delay has to be considered (not a kind thing to do!), but finishing the men's final on Sunday night would have been the best case scenario for all involved (maybe except Novak Djokovic). And guess what happened? The rain stopped in New York last night at 7:30 p.m. Yes, it would have been a three-hour delay in total, but it also would have given tennis an opportunity to play in primetime. CBS gave away its primetime lineup to the women's final on a Sunday night two years ago--which was also pushed back due to rain--and obviously the 3.3 Nielsen rating wasn't good enough to justify that action again (last year, when the women's final was also pushed to a Sunday night, CBS happily gave up the rights to ESPN2). So the USTA pulled the plug pretty early last night, and I'm sure CBS was a big part of that decision.

2. No doubt CBS played a heavy hand in deciding that there would be a 4 p.m. start-time today, too. It's late enough to draw halfway respectable ratings, but early enough so tennis wouldn't eat into their ratings block again. Nevertheless, as of very early this morning, there was forecast for rain late in the day today. And guess what? It hit us, and it's hitting us pretty good right now. Had this match started at noon or at 1 p.m., the tennis would have been completed.

3. And this one really takes the cake: After contributing to the early cancellation last night, and locking up the--evidently wet!--late afternoon start today, CBS is abandoning its coverage. They're finished. The rest of the match will air on ESPN2. When was the last time a broadcast network gave up its coverage in the middle of a major American sporting event? I have no idea, but I'm assuming this hasn't happened more than once or twice over the last several decades. This match probably won't resume--at the earliest--until 7:30. We're in the second set. All signs seemed to indicate we could be headed for a good long match. Rafa won the first set, and we're at 4-4 and 30-30 in the second set. This actually provides a lot of potential for the U.S. Open and men's tennis. At least the ratings tonight would be through the roof--a primetime audience for an excellent tennis match! But CBS wants no part of it. They're cutting it off, and ESPN2 is left to pick up the rest of the coverage. This is truly mind-boggling. How are fans supposed to even know where to find it? I know because a friend IMed me. But other than word-of-mouth? You're finished. And the ratings will surely be ugly.

It's great that the USTA has had a relationship with CBS for so long. They've broadcast the U.S. Open for 43 years. And nope, there's no roof here and there probably won't be for some time, and the USTA has to sleep in the bed it made for itself. But with CBS pulling the plug this should send a loud-and-clear message that they really shouldn't be the home for the tournament any longer. This is the showcase event for tennis in the United States and CBS won't bother finishing airing it. If the USTA wants a broadcast home, they should call up NBC, which already broadcasts the French Open and Wimbledon. Or just put the whole thing on ESPN anyway, since viewers hardly know the difference between cable and broadcast anymore. Either way, this is a bad moment for tennis, and for CBS.

UPDATE, 11:17 p.m.: The rest of the match was aired on ESPN2, but it's a good thing that Rafa won that last set 6-2. If the match had lasted any longer it would have been kicked over to--wait for it--ESPN Classic to make way for the NFL on ESPN2. Now, maybe this match would have been deserving of showing up on ESPN Classic some day, but wow. The men's final getting kicked off to that channel? Does anyone even know how to find that channel? Not a clue over here! In any event, they were able to finish the match, but in this rather hilarious video taken by Pat Kiernan, we can see how elegantly and smoothly ESPN2 cut away from Rafa's trophy celebration to go to the football game (thanks to reader Eric Kuo for pointing us to it).

Though the rest issue is really big for Novak, there might be a more valuable lesson to prep him for his match against Rafael Nadal: How he beat Roger.

He was the first to admit that he took some crazy risks on their Saturday afternoon match, especially with two big, booming forehands when he was down two match points. "Today, I kind of closed my eyes on the forehands in the match points and just went for shots. I was lucky," he said.

But why did he feel that confident? Because he said he wasn't that nervous.

"I got a little bit nervous end of the first and third set, and that's why I lose those sets," he said. "But anything except that, I think played overall a great game ... I just knew I have to be patient and not lose my emotions too much, because that was the case in the past where I was losing the momentum with him."

He made the point that in tennis matches — like NFL games where 50 percent of the time the winner of a game wins by less than 8 points — there isn't a lot that separates two opponents.

"I knew that before the match very few points will decide the winner," he said.

After Novak's fourth-round victory he explained that pressure actually — surprisingly — seems to mount the older you get. And he's finally figured that out and he's finding a way to handle that.

"At that time I was a 19-, 20-year-old kid who just didn't care much about pressure or anything and didn't know what's pressure and expectations," he said, when talking about his run to his other Open final in 2007. "Just hitting the ball, being very aggressive and open-minded and just playing great game. I think a lot of us wish to have this kind of attitude on the court and not thinking about some things, some side factors that can affect your game, which in this present moment is something I have to deal with. But on the other hand, the positives of me as a player today is that I have more experience, I'm stronger, I just played so many matches on the big stage. I still enjoy."

With his victory over Federer, he obviously learned something: You're going to get nervous no matter what. Deep breath, and play good tennis. And like Roger, Rafa is someone who preys on other players' weaknesses, especially when they get nervous.

Watch out for Novak today. He's learned a lot at this U.S. Open, it sounds like he's maturing by the second and there's a good chance he might play the role of spoiler twice in a row.

Rafa is playing, arguably, the best tennis of his life. He hasn't dropped a set. He's lost only one service game. This is all at a court he's never even liked. He is ready for a Final. He's gotten comfortable. His onetime ambivalence toward night matches has been wiped away. His discomfort for this court is wiped away. Yup, now he sings Lady Gaga songs during a changeover.

And with his triumph finally reached--getting to that elusive seventh match at the Open--he's showing a whole lot of love toward New York.

"You make me feel like home every day," he said after his match. "I arrive at the New York one week before the tournament and you make me feel unbelievable."

The crowd loved it. Rafa has given us his roar. He's given us his best tennis.

He's done everything we asked. Now it's up to Roger Federer to go one more step, and then we'll let those two settle out tomorrow afternoon.

Going into the match, Nadal had not lost a service game. Well, Verdasco broke Nadal very early in the first set, and that was literally the only break point he would see for the rest of the night. It was a dominating performance, and Rafa has yet to drop a set at the U.S. Open. It's the best he's ever looked, and Rafa admitted as much afterwards.

"I am fresher because I know how important is the US Open," he said.

Rafa will take on Mikhail Youzhny in the semifinal. If Rafa doesn't get past Youzhny it'll be a stunning Saturday result. Youzhny defeated Stanislas Wawrinka in a long, five-set match that was, admittedly, a little exhausting to watch. It had about all the excitement of a bronze medal match. It felt, frankly, like The Battle For Who Gets To Lose to Rafa.

This week in tennis has been disappointing when it comes to drama. Roger and Rafa have dominated, and Venus and Clijsters have had momentary scares, but all the favorites are here. Relatively boring tennis in the beginning of the second week only works if there's great tennis in the final few days. It begins Friday at 1:30 p.m. with the women's semifinals.

For starters, he's playing better than he ever has here. He's beginning to look like a favorite. He finished at 1:16 a.m. last night and didn't complain about late night Open tennis like he has in the past. And, apparently, he's even loving the music on the JumboTron.

Yup, that's Rafa, mouthing the words to Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance," during the last change over in his thrasing of Feliciano Lopez in the fourth round last night. The evidenece is even clearer from ESPN's broadcast last night. Either way, he's loving it, and I'm loving it too.

Nadal has never looked more comfortable at a U.S. Open. He has not lost a set. He has not lost a service game. He even uncorked one serve last night at 135mph. He said--like after his third round match--that he's getting better every day. He strolled up his to post-match on-court interview with Pam Shriver with his warm-up jacket zipped open, exposing his chest. He looked happy. His next test: He'll take on a pretty exhausted Fernando Verdasco in the quarterfinals.

Roger Federer has two rough tests over his next two matches--Robin Soderling tomorrow night, and potentially Novak Djokovic in the semis. If Nadal beats Verdasco then he's looking at either Wawrinka or Youzhny in the semis. All of these matches are eminently winnable, and, unbelievably, it's looking like Rafa has a better chance of getting to the Men's Final than Federer does. This is getting awfully exciting.

Spaniards Rafael Nadal, Fernando Verdasco, David Ferrer, Tommy Robredo and Feliciano Lopez are in the final group of 12 for the men's side, and what gets them this far? Let's ask Mardy Fish!

"They're in shape," he said, after his loss yesterday. "They're physically fit. You know, they can play on all surfaces."

Uh huh, yes, what else?

"You won't come across a, you know, a top 50 Spaniard who isn't afraid to take his shirt off in practice, you know, and looks good doing it, you know," he continued.

Now we're talking! Let's see if they'll draw in the fans that way and--more significantly, of course--they can produce good tennis over the next couple days.