RAFAEL NADAL PLAYS CHRISTOPHE ROCHUS IN MELBOURNE JAN 20, 09

Rafael Nadal practicing down under.
Photo credits are Getty and unknown
Apologies to any photographer who is not credited.

RAFA PLAYS FOR THE FIRST TIME IN MELBOURNE TUESDAY - JANUARY 20
THAT'S RIGHT THE OBAMA INAUGURATION DAY
But due to the time difference Rafa will play before Barack Obama is the new President of the United States of America.

THE TIME FOR MELBOURNE IS ON MY SIDEBAR.

Melbourne is 16 hours ahead of the USA EST.

The time listed below for Rafa's first match ~ is Melboune, Australia time. The women's match begins Tuesday, January 20, 2009 at 7:30 p.m. in Melbourne and Rafael and Christophe's match will follow the women's match listed here. I just checked the completed match times of women's, which is the best of 3 sets or two winning sets. Some sets have lasted under a half hour and some around an hour. So that means Rafa could begin approximately one to two hours after the women's start time of 7:30 p.m. in Melbourne. So I believe that would mean Rafa could begin to play as early as 4:30 a.m. but probably around 5:00 a.m. or later USA EST.

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Rod Laver Arena

19:30 Start

Women's Singles - 1st Round Samantha Stosur(AUS) vs. Klara Zakopalova(CZE) Men's Singles - 1st Round Rafael Nadal(ESP)[1] vs. Christophe Rochus(BEL)

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TV VIEWING OF RAFA....

Tuesday, January 20, 2009 ESPN2 3:30 a.m. - 8:00 a.m. ET (LIVE)
Tennis Channel 8:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. ET (LIVE)
ESPN2 3:00 p.m. - 7.00 p.m. ET (Highlights)
Tennis Channel 7:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m. ET (LIVE)
ESPN2 10:00 p.m. - 2:00 a.m. ET (LIVE)
Source: TV Scheudle at www.tennis-x.com

Rafael Nadal's Official Website:

www.rafaelnadal.com
There is a Forum for fans at Rafa's site that is very informative and helpful.

News from Rafa's website

A Fan Website for Rafa:
www.vamosbrigade.com

Australian Open draws

Tennis Talk's Live Score
and
Link to Live AO '09 Radio Play by Play

Australian Open AO radio

Schedule of play is released each evening and will be posted on the website as soon as it is made available. This schedule is correct at time of publishing and is subject to change.

Remember Australia is a day ahead of the USA. There is no live streaming for the USA from the AO '09 website.

Schedule of Play

Australian Open Preview - Nadal's Quarter

Scoring in different forms - Live, Completed Matches - Event Statistics, etc:
www.australianopen.com Real Time

Another link to check out:
Scoreboard of Australian Open

My previous post that has important links and
ESPN2 TV schedule is at
Tennis on Now Australian Open 09

These three photos: Wire Image

Feliciano Lopez, Carlos Moya and Rafael Nadal