REUTERS/Shaun Best (UNITED STATES SPORT TENNIS) via Daylife

I missed most of Sunday’s Rafael Nadal vs. Nicolas Almagro match due to air travel, but my mom gave me the update when I landed: Rafael Nadal took his shirt off and the crowd went wild! And he blushed and said he was “shy” when Mary Joe Fernandez asked him about it afterwards. Oh, and he won the match, too!

Okay. . .that’s not the entire story. The scoreline was more straightforward (7-5, 6-4, 6-4) than the stat sheet. The match was scrappy – each player had 13 chances to break, with Almagro converting 5 and Nadal converting 8 of those opportunities. Almagro hit nine double faults and a total of 52 unforced errors. Rafa’s winners/unforced ratio was 20/25. Both players called for the trainer in the third set – Rafa for an abdominal injury that he’s been nursing at least since Cincinnati.

Julian Finney/Getty Images via Daylife

Rafa said he was not happy with his serve, which Almagro could attack, or with his level of play in general:

Q. So outside of the serve, where did you feel your level was today?
RAFAEL NADAL: Up and down a little bit, yeah. Almagro played really aggressive. I played a little bit short. I have to play more aggressive for next round, for sure. I gonna do.

But when asked about the abdominal injury, which required about ten minutes of on-court treatment, Rafael Nadal pulled a Venus:

Q. What did the doctor say about your injury? Are you worried for the next matches?
RAFAEL NADAL: No, I don’t want to talk about injuries. Sorry. No, no, I am a little bit tired to talk about injuries. I am here to try my best every day. I won the match in three sets, so happy for that. I’m going to try my best next round. That’s all.

Q. You said you didn’t want to talk about injuries. Was that your knee or the abdominal situation?
RAFAEL NADAL: I said I don’t want to talk about injuries (laughter).

Q. We are used to see you much more cheerful, especially after a win. Today you answer as if you’re not happy.
RAFAEL NADAL: No, but I know I came here and I know everybody want to talk about the injury. I really don’t want to talk about that. That’s the thing.

You know what they say about a picture’s worth. . .

Grimacing Rafa by TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP/Getty Images via Daylife.

But let’s end this on a happy note:

Rafael Nadal plays Gael Monfils in the Round of 16.

Spaniards Rafael Nadal, Fernando Verdasco and Tommy Robredo all won their third round match ups Thursday at the Barcelona Open. Take a look at the highlights, above.

All four of the top seeds will advance, with Friday’s quarterfinals as follows:

Nikolay Davydenko (3) vs. Radek Stepanek (Czech leads head-to-head 4-3), David Ferrer (4) vs. Tommy Robredo (Ferrer leads 3-2), and Fernando Verdasco (2) vs. Fernando Gonzalez (tied 2-2 with last meeting 3 years ago). Rafa advances automatically to the semis, since David Nalbandian withdrew from the tournament due to a hip injury after beating Nicolas Almagro in the third round. So sad we won’t be getting that Nalby/Nadal match.

It is fun seeing the Spanish guys succeed on thier home turf. Vamos!

Click here to visit the Barcelona Open website.

Venus Williams, Nicolas Almagro and Mardy Fish joined Dubai champ Novak Djokovic in the winners’ circle this weekend.

Mardy Fish won his third career title today in Delray Beach over qualifier Evgeny “Kournikova’s cousin” Korolev, who was in his first ATP final. This was a MUST win title for Mardy, considering the inexperience of his opponent and the fact that Fish had a dismal 2-10 win record in ATP finals. Good for Mardy – I hope he can build off of this win.

Venus has no problem collecting trophies (or rocking a sombrero), winning her second title in two weeks on Saturday. She destroyed the capable clay courter Flavia Pennetta 6-1, 6-2 in the Abierto Mexicano TELCEL in Acapulco. Nothing like saving the best for last – Venus was pushed to three sets in three other matches this week. She must have been in a hurry to get to New York for tomorrow’s Billy Jean King Cup exhibition.

Nicolas Almagro defended his Acapulco title on Saturday night with a solid two-set win over Frenchman Gael Monfils. I gotta say, I was frustrated by Monfils’s play – he just wasn’t fighting out there. This talented Frenchman has the flash, but does he have the fire to win big?

Here are the highlights from the men’s final - check out the end when the crowd throws their seat covers on the court in celebration. Some day I have to get to this tournament – it has a great atmosphere.

Next up for the men: Davis Cup and for the women: the Monterrey Open in Mexico.

Photo: ALFREDO ESTRELLA/AFP/Getty Image