Nadal News 2.0

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clayqueen said:
If Rafa wasn’t playing the ATP Cup he would be practising so he might as well play proper matches. He used to play Doha in the 1st week in January.
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Yeah pretty much agree....On the one hand I feel like Rafa is arriving in better shape than ever for AO....In saying that he always does reasonably well there either way....
 
ATP Cup in Australia

January 1, 2020
Promotional event on Rottnest Island

On the way to the island:
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ENK1KHdXkAESbQ3

ENLh2drU8AAlQX4

Via ATP

https://twitter.com/x/status/1212272013126991877

https://twitter.com/x/status/1212217875768832002

https://twitter.com/x/status/1212228674138849280
Enlarged:
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https://twitter.com/x/status/1212300146437840897

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Via ATP

ENLrWXZX0AAJRef

Via ATP

https://twitter.com/x/status/1212268075048783872

They seemed to enjoy themselves. :)
 
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Pink and purple go well together, I think Rafa's AO uniform is a good idea :)
 
borg number one said:
For Nadal to somehow manage to win the 2020 AO would be so interesting. Given all the struggles he’s had there at the AO, the injuries and heartbreaking defeats, that would be a huge title for him. He’s playing extremely well so it’s quite possible.
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Given that he's made 4 Australian Open Finals since 2012 (and didn't even play 2013), he's extremely likely to make the Final.
So that's a major part of the equation pretty much taken care of, so it all comes down to one match.
And this time he won't be recovering from ankle surgery, so he'll have his wheels in the final this time :)
And for all people talk about Federer beating Rafa on hardcourts, they really only have 2017 as evidence, and that year Rafa was up a break in the 5th Set....
They didn't meet on hardcourt in 2018 and 2019, so nobody knows where that rivalry stands.
 
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Raphael Nadal said:
Given that he's made 4 Australian Open Finals since 2012 (and didn't even play 2013), he's extremely likely to make the Final.
So that's a major part of the equation pretty much taken care of, so it all comes down to one match.
And this time he won't be recovering from ankle surgery, so he'll have his wheels in the final this time :)
And for all people talk about Federer beating Rafa on hardcourts, they really only have 2017 as evidence, and that year Rafa was up a break in the 5th Set....
They didn't meet on hardcourt in 2018 and 2019, so nobody knows where that rivalry stands.
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I agree. Looking forward to seeing if his serve will give him plenty of quick points. He’s been playing very aggressive. That could be the difference maker.
 
borg number one said:
I agree. Looking forward to seeing if his serve will give him plenty of quick points. He’s been playing very aggressive. That could be the difference maker.
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And Rafa made the SF of almost every tournament he played in 2019; I think he only missed the SF of Acapulco and he scored 10 more points than Kyrgios in the loss.
So we're virtually at a stage where the question isn't about Rafa's performance at the AO, its more about his performance in the SF or more likely the Final.
He can serve great throughout this AO, and he can be up a break in the 5th Set of the Final (as he was in 2012 and 2017), but its all about how he plays in the last 20 minutes of the AO.
Its all mental now :)
 
octobrina10 said:
ATP Cup in Australia

January 1, 2020
Promotional event on Rottnest Island

On the way to the island:
81699922_2666619500069925_3754210422144630784_o.jpg

ENK1KHdXkAESbQ3

ENLh2drU8AAlQX4

Via ATP

https://twitter.com/x/status/1212272013126991877

https://twitter.com/x/status/1212217875768832002

https://twitter.com/x/status/1212228674138849280
Enlarged:
ENKziZtXYAA0Dtl


ENK1QarX0AA4BXj

ENLSLeOXUAEDX22


https://twitter.com/x/status/1212300146437840897

ENLLjVqUwAEBzEu

ENLklU0W4AAXxG-

Via ATP

ENLrWXZX0AAJRef

Via ATP

https://twitter.com/x/status/1212268075048783872

They seemed to enjoy themselves. :)
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The pictures are wild! Love them, thanks for posting!
 
Did Rafa know what he was letting himself in for?


The “world’s happiest animal” is not all sunshine and lollipops. You may not want to hear this, but it’s true. A quokka’s big feet are tipped with very sharp claws. Like much of Australia’s wildlife, the quokka will f*** you up if you give it the opportunity.

 
ATP Cup in Australia

January 2, 2020
Media Day

The full transcript of the Spanish team's press conference:

ASAP Sports Transcripts - Tennis - 2020 - ATP CUP - January 2 - Francisco Roig - Feliciano Lopez - Albert Ramos-Vinolas - Pablo Carreno Busta - Roberto Bautista Agut - Rafael Nadal

ASAPSports FastScripts, a system using state-of-the-art technology created to produce verbatim FastScripts of press conferences and player/team interviews at sporting events around the globe.
www.asapsports.com

The full press conference:
 
Spanish team is the strongest by far. All their guys are legit top 25 or so, talent-wise with Lopez, Bautista Agut and Busta rounding out the team. Wonder why Verdasco isn't there? They'll all be playing with a lot of fire and determination while representing their country. Easily the favourites to win the whole thing.
 
Mike Sams said:
Spanish team is the strongest by far. All their guys are legit top 25 or so, talent-wise with Lopez, Bautista Agut and Busta rounding out the team. Wonder why Verdasco isn't there? They'll all be playing with a lot of fire and determination while representing their country. Easily the favourites to win the whole thing.
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Verdasco's residence is Doha, Qatar. He'll play in his home tournament next week.
 
Very good performance by Rafa! Bar that minor blip that lasted 10 minutes. Basilashvili is the hardest match of his group, will be easy from now till QF.

But am hearing that he's about to enter the doubles now in a dead rubber... WHY? I'd have preferred it if he got some rest.

Edit: Good news, he pulled out of it and let Lopez take his place.
 
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No worries @beast of mallorca

Rafa played well, better than he normally does at this stage of the year. But that's because he's normally rusty from a long holiday, while this time he barely had a break.

I've seen some of the other matches, and Rafa looks the best so far out of the singles players. I think he'll win all his matches unless Spain play Serbia. Didn't watch Djokovic play today, but based on the score he couldn't have been playing that well to only edge past a rusty Anderson.
 
Amritia said:
No worries @beast of mallorca

Rafa played well, better than he normally does at this stage of the year. But that's because he's normally rusty from a long holiday, while this time he barely had a break.

I've seen some of the other matches, and Rafa looks the best so far out of the singles players. I think he'll win all his matches unless Spain play Serbia. Didn't watch Djokovic play today, but based on the score he couldn't have been playing that well to only edge past a rusty Anderson.
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Did I watch some other Rafa match today or something? Don’t get me wrong, I’m usually staying positive, but today his performance was below par. Being broken 3 times against Shpilivili is a lot. And yes, Djokovic looked better from what I saw.
 
Those 3 breaks he lost were odd though. First one was right at the start when he wasn't settled in, but then he immediately broke back. Then from 6-3 5-2 he got a bit complacent and lost his double break, but at 5-5 regained his composure and stepped it up.
Also Basilashvili isn't that bad, he won a set vs Nadal at the US Open a couple of years ago.

I didn't watch the Djokovic match, so I'll take your word for it that he played better. That's concerning heading into the Aus Open, because if Djokovic gets into good form he's practically impenetrable at Melbourne.
 
Yugram said:
Did I watch some other Rafa match today or something? Don’t get me wrong, I’m usually staying positive, but today his performance was below par. Being broken 3 times against Shpilivili is a lot. And yes, Djokovic looked better from what I saw.
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Rafa is hitting it quite short on a lot of points. Bashilashvili made a lot of simple errors in the 2nd set to go down 5-2. Worrying signs that Rafa gets tight on breakpoints and closing out the match, against Medvedev in the US Open final he almost got broken back twice when serving it out and now here. Will need to be more clutch against Fedovic. Add to that he's barely had any rest and its looking like Fed and Djoko will be fresher for the Australian Open

Sent from my SM-G920T using Tapatalk
 
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