Nadal News

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MichaelNadal

Bionic Poster
I'm snitching this from Nadal News. http://www.nadalnews.com/2014/02/03/mundo-deportivo-award-gala-interviews/#.UvG5U7SGfqc

Rafa won two awards, Sporting Excellence and Best Sportsman of 2013, at the Mundo Deportivo award ceremony last night.

BflshT6IIAAtTMT.jpg


Couple of quotes from interviews he gave:



He is such a lovely man. :)



Awwww, worst hour and a half he's ever spent on a tennis court. Poor baby.

Thanks for posting, this is awesome!
 

reversef

Hall of Fame
I'm snitching this from Nadal News. http://www.nadalnews.com/2014/02/03/mundo-deportivo-award-gala-interviews/#.UvG5U7SGfqc

Rafa won two awards, Sporting Excellence and Best Sportsman of 2013, at the Mundo Deportivo award ceremony last night.

Thanks for this. Some interesting article linked there:
http://news.asiaone.com/news/sports/win-obsessed-world-nadal-offered-education-defeat?page=0,0

In win-obsessed world, Nadal offered education in defeat

Rohit Brijnath
The Straits Times
Tuesday, Feb 04, 2014

Joan Solsona is painting a competitive picture. Rafael Nadal, he beckons me to imagine, is skipping stones across the water. A friend is winning this idle competition, so Nadal cannot stop. His compulsion is to be the better man.

"He has to be a winner," says Solsona, "otherwise it's like he cannot sleep. If he doesn't win, everyone must keep playing. In golf, it is the same. These are his hobbies, imagine what he is like in tennis, his professional life."

My conversation with Solsona - a Spanish journalist who has known Nadal since he was 12 - occurs an hour before the Australian Open final last Sunday as I try to comprehend Nadal's urge to win. If his appetite for victory suggests a primitive stone-age man with a club, it also makes him a more evolved competitor than his peers. Yet this idea is transplanted after the final by a even more baffling consideration. If winning is so essential to his being, how does he lose so well?

That Nadal fought on against Stanislas Wawrinka was an answering to the coding of his DNA. Expected you might think, yet fellow athletes, who understand effort better than us, swooned. Joel Selwood, an Australian Rules football captain, from a physically brutal sport, tweeted: "Would love #Nadal as a team-mate!" But if Nadal had quit, this might have been understandable. Accosted again by injury he was agonised by it, but never let it win. This victory he didn't allow.

He played on for he answered another code, a worthy, unwritten one, that demands you complete a match. To finish is to not hand the other man an amputated victory and in effect you are honouring the man who is destroying you. But if Nadal said he did this for Wawrinka, and the fans, he also did it "for me". To finish is to practise not giving up, it is to give yourself a chance - Wawrinka might have collapsed - and it is later a reflection of who he is: the man who gave everything. Or else is nothing.

Sainthood is not on offer in athletic arenas for to expect it is to strip sport of its different complexions and to misunderstand its madness. If we are hostile in the stands, imagine the middle. Imagine the fury, the exhaustion, the want. The athlete is immersed, even lost, often deaf, in this reactive, instinctive world of no respite. That he can think clearly is staggering, that he might hurl an unsavoury epithet at himself or a toss a racket is human.

Yet as much as we relish the mercurial man, we must marvel at how Nadal kept a hold of himself while his world fell apart. There is unkind chatter over his medical time-out as a calculated ploy - a tennis version of football's diver - but if he returned immediately to 195kmh serves and unaffected sprints then a case might be made. But no, he was hurt, it was evident, and the issue instead was his ability to reach into a decency when the moment was uniquely indecent to him.

The endurance of Nadal lies not in miles run but conversely in days of sitting idle as the instrument that is his body was being repaired. He endured pain in the knees, he endured frustration as other men rose while he had fallen, he endured even as his stationary life reversed the very idea of his existence.

Everything must be rebuilt, over months, first body, then movement, then precision, then hope, and then another body part, this time the back, mutinies. You want to smash every racket at this bullying by life - why me, why again - yet after the match, with no time for calmness to settle, Nadal says: "Just a tough day. But lot of people in the world have a lot of very tough days. I am not this kind of person, so I feel very lucky."

Nadal's uncle forbade the throwing of a racket for it was disrespectful to an instrument many kids ache to own. Such tutoring by family to distinguish between athletic disappointment and real suffering has kept him from an excessively self-centred view of life. Taught by the example of Roger Federer, he has found the balance between sport and life. Educated by the brutality of his sport - "You're out there alone. You really are. It's the ultimate one-on-one sport," said Pete Sampras - it has bred a particular respect: you are alone, but you understand so is the next man.

Nadal did not skip his press conference, for tennis demands the athlete must confront rival, crowd and then interrogation. This is his job, yet here also lay his mettle. On the third question on his injured back, he responded: "It is not the moment, as I said after the first question. This is not the moment to talk a lot about the back."

To a query on the briefly petulant crowd, he noted: "You never will hear me talk badly about the crowd here."

Winning tells grand stories as it did about Wawrinka's urge to improve in athletic middle-age, but the champion is not enough in sport. To decode sport, we need the defeated man. For everyone is defeated and only in the emotional, public whirlpool of loss can we appreciate the core of the athlete. We see them wear masks, resort to cliche, show defiance - and why not, they are hurt - but also lift. Such athletes reveal to us not mythical hero, but fine human player.

And, if we can - and must - look past this tribalistic and mundane view of tennis, where to elevate Federer we must diminish Nadal, and vice versa, we will find a grateful education. For by being weepy yet never whiny, Nadal defeated self-pity. Like a stone thrown over water, he, the competitor, skipped over sports' demons and found grace on the other shore. This is victory in itself.
 
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vernonbc

Legend
That article is good except for the "Taught by the example of Roger Federer, he has found the balance between sport and life." What nonsense. The two of them are nothing alike and I'm very very very glad that Rafa hasn't looked to Roger for any such advice and instead has been influenced by his own family and culture.
 

reversef

Hall of Fame
That article is good except for the "Taught by the example of Roger Federer, he has found the balance between sport and life." What nonsense. The two of them are nothing alike and I'm very very very glad that Rafa hasn't looked to Roger for any such advice and instead has been influenced by his own family and culture.
No mention of Mr Conceited at all? No way. :)
 

NADALRECORD

Banned
That article is good except for the "Taught by the example of Roger Federer, he has found the balance between sport and life." What nonsense. The two of them are nothing alike and I'm very very very glad that Rafa hasn't looked to Roger for any such advice and instead has been influenced by his own family and culture.

You and me both.

I often wonder whether it will be good or bad when Federer retires. At first I think it will be bad, because its fun to watch Nadal beating Federer. But then I think its good for Federer to retire because we won't have to put up with his oddball devotees (or we will at first, but after a few months the honorary articles will fade away).
 
You and me both.

I often wonder whether it will be good or bad when Federer retires. At first I think it will be bad, because its fun to watch Nadal beating Federer. But then I think its good for Federer to retire because we won't have to put up with his oddball devotees (or we will at first, but after a few months the honorary articles will fade away).

And best yet, all Fed posts should go into retired/pro section :)
 

Fiji

Legend
RAFA IS NOT A GOD, HE IS NOT THE MOST PERFECT, BEST HUMAN TO EVER WALK THE EARTH.

I concur. He is not even a GOAT candidate. You can't be in the GOAT discussion when you lose a slam final to a non-elite player like Wawrinka. :lol:
 

vernonbc

Legend
Rafa is leaving for Rio tomorrow. He started practicing a couple of days ago and I guess his back is good enough for him to go. Woohoo!!!!!
 

clayqueen

Talk Tennis Guru
The campaign for RG #9 has begun. Lucky he didn't win the AO, because we know what happened last time Nadal won the AO....

Yes I'd rather Rafa won his 9th RG than his 2nd AO. The consolation is that Novak didn't win the AO either, nor did Federer or Murray.
 

NADALRECORD

Banned
Yes I'd rather Rafa won his 9th RG than his 2nd AO. The consolation is that Novak didn't win the AO either, nor did Federer or Murray.

I agree the AO semi-final felt more important than the AO final.

Nadal only has one goal at the AO - to win his 2nd AO title.

Whereas at Roland Garros, Nadal has 2 goals:
Win a 9th Roland Garros title.
Win a 10th Roland Garros title.

So yes I'd rather get started on the Roland Garros goals.

The real tennis season is about to begin. Once Miami is over, no more artificial tennis courts until August :D
 

NADALRECORD

Banned
I am confident Nadal will be playing for The Rafa Slam next January, but I stress the importance of Roland Garros above all, because I cannot imagine a bigger body blow for Nadal than losing Roland Garros. 2009 is the worst thing I've ever seen in sport. Nadal lost a lot of confidence after losing Roland Garros. So I don't want to go down that road again. Sure he reclaimed the confidence in 2010, but 2009 US Open and 2009 World Tour Finals is the worst form of Nadal's career (he was also hammered by Murray at 2010 AO). In the pursuit of 17+ slam titles, I don't think Nadal can afford to lose Roland Garros at this stage of his career (if it costs him 6 months of confidence/success).
 

RafaIsBack

Professional
Hi all, this is probably the best Rafa tribute I have ever seen. It shows Rafa's story in the Australian Open ...

Rafael Nadal, still Worth fighting for ...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYLMt6Tuw-w





And here is another great tribute made by my friend King Nadal ...

Rafael Nadal, a real fighter 2014
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4hOtYLDUtY





I'm making a very special tribute myself, with some special effects :cool:, that I will post after the Rio Open next week. I hope he wins it otherwise I'd have to edit it heavily ;)
 
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clayqueen

Talk Tennis Guru
I am confident Nadal will be playing for The Rafa Slam next January, but I stress the importance of Roland Garros above all, because I cannot imagine a bigger body blow for Nadal than losing Roland Garros. 2009 is the worst thing I've ever seen in sport. Nadal lost a lot of confidence after losing Roland Garros. So I don't want to go down that road again. Sure he reclaimed the confidence in 2010, but 2009 US Open and 2009 World Tour Finals is the worst form of Nadal's career (he was also hammered by Murray at 2010 AO). In the pursuit of 17+ slam titles, I don't think Nadal can afford to lose Roland Garros at this stage of his career (if it costs him 6 months of confidence/success).

Spot on.

In 2011, Rafa played very badly at RG. Even Pablo Andujar gave him grief but I'm sure that winning that title gave him heart to cope with all the losses he suffered at the hands of Novak. RG is the corner stone on which his confidence is built.
 
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NADALRECORD

Banned
Spot on.

In 2011, Rafa played very badly at RG. Even Pablo Andujar gave him grief but I'm sure that winning that title gave him heart to cope with all the losses he suffered at the hands of Novak. RG is the corner stone on which his success is built.

I agree. When Nadal loses AO or Wimbledon or USO I don't think anything of it other than "Nadal didn't win this one but I like his chances of winning the next". Whereas when Nadal lost Roland Garros in 2009, that's the worst thing I've ever experienced as a fan of sport. Just the thought of Nadal losing Roland Garros in 2017 is an awful thought.
 

MichaelNadal

Bionic Poster
I agree. When Nadal loses AO or Wimbledon or USO I don't think anything of it other than "Nadal didn't win this one but I like his chances of winning the next". Whereas when Nadal lost Roland Garros in 2009, that's the worst thing I've ever experienced as a fan of sport. Just the thought of Nadal losing Roland Garros in 2017 is an awful thought.

:lol: You should get out more.
 

Fiji

Legend
forget RG......he will be winning his third wimbledon and third us open this year......

Hilarious. He's never defended a slam or any title won outside of clay so he is not defending the USO. Nobody has defended the USO since Federer did it in 2008... Forget about it. Not happening. As for Wimbledon, he can't even make it pass r1 o r2 these days. Expect another early loss. Grass is his worst surface now. His only chance will be on the dirt of RG.
 

NADALRECORD

Banned
Strange post Fiji.....Considering Nadal just said that the stem-cell therapy he had in December 2013 made his knees feel better than they've felt in years. The odds are he is about to enter the 2nd week of Wimbledon for the first time since 2011. And every time Nadal enters the 2nd week of Wimbledon, he makes the final at worst.
 
Hi all, this is probably the best Rafa tribute I have ever seen. It shows Rafa's story in the Australian Open ...

Rafael Nadal, still Worth fighting for ...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYLMt6Tuw-w





And here is another great tribute made by my friend King Nadal ...

Rafael Nadal, a real fighter 2014
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4hOtYLDUtY





I'm making a very special tribute myself, with some special effects :cool:, that I will post after the Rio Open next week. I hope he wins it otherwise I'd have to edit it heavily ;)



great stuff. don't forget to post it at that other place as well.

thanks in advance.
 

NADALRECORD

Banned
^ Those adult ball girls have great outfits and decent thigh-crosses. I prefer blondes way more, but I approve the concept.

Nadal is in much better form this week than he was in the South American events last year. Specifically Nadal's knees/movement is FAR better now than last year's clay season. I don't think Nadal will lose a match this year on clay. And that means he's going to have a better 2014 than 2013, because the Australian Open proved (along with last year's American hardcourt swing) that Nadal is at the very top of his hardcourt form. Also, I rate Andujar performance among the best in the history of Nadal's clay opponents. Andujar probably won't ever play this well again (just as Soderling never played that well again). Nadal hit 40 winners and still was stretched to the limit. Andujar deserves all the credit.
 

RafaIsBack

Professional
Andujar played great, but Rafa made it easy for him because he made a lot of unforced errors on easy balls and was playing short for most of the match. However Andujar was extremely aggressive on Rafa's 2nd serves and took every opportunity to make winners from any part of the court, so we can give him credit for that. In the tie-breaker, he didn't hesitate to go to net, which he didn't do for most of the match, and that was successful like that impossible retro drop-volley at 13:59 against the best passer in the world.

On clay Nadal almost always ends up winning because even when he's not in a good day and makes a lot of unforced errors, he can still run on everyball because of the slowness of the surface and drain his opponent physically or make him take always more risks to make a winner. Let's hope he beats Dolgopolov. Somehow this match against Andujar was a good warmup because Dolgo is also a big hitter (but less accurate).
 

TheTruth

G.O.A.T.
^ Those adult ball girls have great outfits and decent thigh-crosses. I prefer blondes way more, but I approve the concept.

Nadal is in much better form this week than he was in the South American events last year. Specifically Nadal's knees/movement is FAR better now than last year's clay season. I don't think Nadal will lose a match this year on clay. And that means he's going to have a better 2014 than 2013, because the Australian Open proved (along with last year's American hardcourt swing) that Nadal is at the very top of his hardcourt form. Also, I rate Andujar performance among the best in the history of Nadal's clay opponents. Andujar probably won't ever play this well again (just as Soderling never played that well again). Nadal hit 40 winners and still was stretched to the limit. Andujar deserves all the credit.

Great post. Andujar played fabulous. #Exciting match!
 

TheTruth

G.O.A.T.
Andujar played great, but Rafa made it easy for him because he made a lot of unforced errors on easy balls and was playing short for most of the match. However Andujar was extremely aggressive on Rafa's 2nd serves and took every opportunity to make winners from any part of the court, so we can give him credit for that. In the tie-breaker, he didn't hesitate to go to net, which he didn't do for most of the match, and that was successful like that impossible retro drop-volley at 13:59 against the best passer in the world.

On clay Nadal almost always ends up winning because even when he's not in a good day and makes a lot of unforced errors, he can still run on everyball because of the slowness of the surface and drain his opponent physically or make him take always more risks to make a winner. Let's hope he beats Dolgopolov. Somehow this match against Andujar was a good warmup because Dolgo is also a big hitter (but less accurate).

Good stuff, too, RafaIsBest, and enjoyed the highlights...as usual.
 

NADALRECORD

Banned
I think the commentators (and most of the world's tennis fans) completely misunderstood the Andujar match. Andujar is able to hit the ball very hard over and over and over again. He hit the ball hard into Nadal's hitting zone. That's what caused Nadal to give some weak replies, and then Andujar stepped in and put it away. Also, a lot of Nadal's 33 unforced errors were because of the heaviness of Andujar's groundstrokes. So in other words, a lot of them weren't really unforced errors. When we watch Federer and Djokovic play Nadal, they rarely hit the ball as hard as Andujar, and when they do its actually aimed away from Nadal (not in his hitting zone). But when Djokovic did hit hard into Nadal's hitting zone, it caused trouble for Nadal (and Nadal countered that in 2012/2013 by bossing Djokovic around). That's what Andujar did in Rio.
215473_381429_dsc_6771_web_.jpg
 
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RafaIsBack

Professional
Eurosport France website asked what Rafa was thinking on this photo :mrgreen:
http://lebuzz.eurosport.fr/article/...sive-voici-aquoipensenadal-selon-vous_a1828/1

BhJp43kCYAA1mrW.jpg


Funny replies :

@xavfedererfan : "She's almost perfect but she's not always at the same place unlike my bottles"

@spidey_81 : "Be haughty, my serve and volley will calm you down in a minute"

@bernabesebastie : "Which washing powder is she using ? Her tee-shirt is really clean"

Well as you can see they censored any reference to her boobs :rolleyes:
 
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vernonbc

Legend
Haha, Chris Oddo has noted a few things that have happened in tennis and the world since Rafa last lost a clay semi-final in 2003. What an amazing record. :)

http://www.tennisnow.com/News/10-Things-That-Have-Happened-Since-Rafa-Last-Lost.aspx

1. The Olympic games were played in Greece, Italy, China, Canada, Great Britain and Russia.

2. Facebook (2004) and Twitter (2006) were founded.

3. An American male won a Grand Slam and held the No. 1 ranking. Seriously.

4. Kim Clijsters retired, had a baby, came back, won three more Grand Slams, then retired and had another baby.

5. Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal won a combined 29 Grand Slams.

6. Rafa turned 18. Rafa switched out of the pirate pants and the sleeveless tops. Rafa turned 21. Rafa won the career Grand Slam. Rafa did a video with Shakira. Rafa won Wimbledon for the first time. Rafa won Wimbledon for the second time. Novak Djokovic owned Rafa then Rafa owned Djokovic back. Rafa turned 27. Rafa won Roland Garros for the eighth time.

7. Wimbledon's Centre Court got a roof over it.

8. Justin Bieber turned 10.

9. A new leopard species was discovered in Borneo.

10. Osama Bin Laden was killed.
 

clayqueen

Talk Tennis Guru
Nadal to rake in £600k a night in new tournament
ESPN staff
February 25, 2014«


Rafael Nadal is believed to have committed to the controversial new International Premier Tennis League - the sport's answer to cricket's money-spinning Indian Premier League.

The Daily Telegraph reports that the world No.1 will become the highest-profile player involved in the launch of the competition at an auction among teams in Dubai this weekend.

As one of the marquee names in the scheme, developed by Indian doubles player Mahesh Bhupati, Nadal is believed to be earning $1 million (£600,000) a night for his contribution.

Andy Murray is understood to still be in discussions with Bhupathi, who worked on Murray's commercial team last year.

One ground rule of the competition, which takes place between November 28 and December 20, is that grand slam winners and players who have reached the No.1 spot in the rankings can nominate which matches they play and which players they avoid.

Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Mumbai, Singapore and Hong Kong will all host matches.

On the women's side, two-time Australian Open winner Victoria Azarenka, former world No.1 Caroline Wozniacki and Polish No.1 Agnieszka Radwanska are also believed to have signed up to the project.


Read more at http://www.espn.co.uk/tennis/sport/story/286501.html#EzwGFQR6Bg1v8sx2.99
 

clayqueen

Talk Tennis Guru
"One ground rule of the competition, which takes place between November 28 and December 20, is that grand slam winners and players who have reached the No.1 spot in the rankings can nominate which matches they play and which players they avoid."

In which case, will Rafa ever get to play anyone, because all the players would want to avoid him.
 

vernonbc

Legend
"One ground rule of the competition, which takes place between November 28 and December 20, is that grand slam winners and players who have reached the No.1 spot in the rankings can nominate which matches they play and which players they avoid."

In which case, will Rafa ever get to play anyone, because all the players would want to avoid him.

It sounds to me like it's Rafa who has the option to avoid anyone he wants, not the other players being able to avoid him.

Still, the whole thing sounds like a bad idea to me. Surely to goodness he doesn't need the money, and rest and rehab would be a much better option for his off season than playing more tennis.
 
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