Nadal News 2.0

octobrina10

octobrina10

Talk Tennis Guru
ATP World No.1

The ATP staff confirms:

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1195094820185952259

Vaaaaamooooos Rafa!!!!!
cheering-clapping-smiley-emoticon.gif
 
octobrina10

octobrina10

Talk Tennis Guru
ATP World No.1

Some statistics.
On November 14, Rafa secured the year-end no. 1 ranking, and in doing so, he set a few records:
- At the age of 33, he became the oldest person to finish as year-end no. 1 player.
- He became the first player in history, male or female, to be World No.1 in three different decades.
- He became the first player to finish as the year-end no. 1 five times in non-consecutive years.
- He became the first player to hold, lose and regain the year-end no. 1 ranking on four occasions.
- The eleven-year gap between his first year-end no. 1 season (2008) and his last (2019) is also a record.
[Source: Wikipedia & others]

Vamos Rafa!
 
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D

Deleted member 763691

Guest
Amritia said:
Of course! So proud of the amazing year for Rafa

But Roger did do him a favour last night, so let’s be happy for that too :X3:
Click to expand...
Except Roger did it for Roger 100%, not for Rafa.
Rafa did himself a favor by winning Rome, Roland Garros, Montreal and US Open, and reaching all the SFs along the way....
Plus Djokovic would still need to win the SF and F (which he hasn't won since 2015).
And Roger would give anything to eliminate Rafa should they meet in the SF, so I'm not "happy for" Federer.....I'm looking for Federer's demise :)
 
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Amritia

Amritia

Hall of Fame
@Raphael Nadal
You’re just stating the obvious. Or course Nadal earnt it with his results, that’s why he’s sitting at the top of the tree.
Nor is anyone denying that Federer tried to win for himself and would try and beat Rafa in the semis... he is a professional tennis player.

Given that the number 1 ranking was not in Nadals hands yesterday, he was dependent on either Med winning this evening or someone else beating Djokovic, Fed has delivered at the best time!
 
Amritia

Amritia

Hall of Fame
Well done, good arithmetic.

Maybe you can stretch yourself by counting the number of posts you’ve made making sly sarcastic digs at Rafa while pretending to be a Nadal fan with a troll misspelt username.
 
D

Deleted member 763691

Guest
Amritia said:
Well done, good arithmetic.

Maybe you can stretch yourself by counting the number of posts you’ve made making sly sarcastic digs at Rafa while pretending to be a Nadal fan with a troll misspelt username.
Click to expand...
When I registered at Talk Tennis, I chose "Rafael Nadal" but was rejected and told that I couldn't have the name of a professional tennis player, so I chose "Raphael Nadal" instead.
Do a member search, and you'll see there is nobody in this forum named "Rafael Nadal" or "Rafa Nadal".

Sarcastic? I'm one of the most fact-based posters here, and I post results and stats more than anyone.
You just don't like me because I support Rafa a lot more than you'd ever want to :)
 
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D

Deleted member 763691

Guest
Imagine if someone had never seen Rafa play and they saw his last 2 matches, they'd become a fan instantly.
I don't think anyone has gained more fans this week than Rafa :)
 
D

Deleted member 763691

Guest
Zverev looked so timid in that Tsitsipas match, so I guess there is a decent chance Medvedev will win.....if he wants to :)
 
DSH

DSH

Talk Tennis Guru
Nadal is the oldest year end number 1 with more than 33 years and 6 months.
He is the sixth tennis player to reach and surpass the 200 weeks a number 1.
He is the fifht player to reach the year end number 1 at least five times (Sampras hold the record with 6)
And he has finished the season as the best tennis player of the year in a span of 11 years, between his first and now, his fifth trophy as number 1 (2008 - 2019), a record in the open era.
Unreal, Matador!
:love:(y)
 
MichaelNadal

MichaelNadal

Bionic Poster
Kinda scary lol, still a lot to be done
Raphael Nadal said:
Imagine if someone had never seen Rafa play and they saw his last 2 matches, they'd become a fan instantly.
I don't think anyone has gained more fans this week than Rafa :)
Click to expand...

He's always done that, that's how we all got hooked. Damnit Rafa we were just flipping channels :p
 
TennisFan3

TennisFan3

Talk Tennis Guru
Beautiful article by Tignor on Tennis.com

https://www.tennis.com/pro-game/201...as-nitto-atp-finals-round-robin-london/85989/

IT WASN’T RAFAEL NADAL'S BODY THAT WE UNDERESTIMATED—IT WAS HIS MIND
Years after many of us thought he would be retired, Rafa is the oldest year-end No. 1 in ATP history for a second time.
By Steve Tignor

“He’s writing checks that his body can’t cash,” Andre Agassi said of a 19-year-old Rafael Nadal back in 2005.

The GOAT race and the trivalry aside, I was struck by something Nadal said after his win over Daniil Medvedev on Wednesday. Rafa had come back from 1-5 down in the third set to steal that one, and he was asked afterward if his performance was a message to young players that they “should never quit, should fight until the last point.”

“Accepting that you are not that good.” Those words fly in the face of every rah-rah halftime pep talk ever given. Most athletes are taught from Day 1 that we need to believe that we are that good, and that we can and should defeat our opponents. We hear all the time about a “champion’s arrogance,” and how the greats can will themselves into invincibility.

Nadal offers a different, more realistic, but just as effective way. Rather than block out the idea of losing, he acknowledges it, even welcomes it. Rather than seeing himself as superior to the regular run of humanity, he sees himself as normal—i.e., someone who can lose.

This stoical philosophy doesn’t work to his benefit every time. Nadal has let his doubts and nerves get the better of him in matches that he could have won. But in the long term, it’s a big part of why he is still at the top of the sport. It has helped him bounce back from two fifth-set losses in Australian Open finals; from a two-year Slam drought in 2015 and 2016 when he regularly snatched defeat from the jaws of victory; from long losing streaks to Djokovic; from years of early-round losses at Wimbledon; from months on the sidelines with injuries.

Agassi wasn’t the only person who thought Nadal’s career would be short-lived in 2005; most of the tennis world wondered how long he could withstand the pounding he puts himself through every time he walks on court. Fourteen years later, Rafa is No. 1 in the world. Did we underestimate his body? No, we underestimated his mind.
 
octobrina10

octobrina10

Talk Tennis Guru
ATP World No.1

November 15, 2019
After the trophy ceremony

Rafa celebrated ending the year as World No.1 with his team and family.

Carlos Moya & Rafa:
77271384_2562272493837960_4094964571834417152_o.jpg

Via ATP website

The extended Rafa team (from left): Carlos Moya (coach), Dr. Angel Ruiz Cotorro, Jordi Robert (Rafa's assistent at Nike), Rafa, Benito Pérez-Barbadillo (PR Manager), Rafael Maymo (physio), Carlos Costa (agent), father:
75424718_2562274557171087_4533883231321194496_o.jpg

Via ATP website

The extended family (from left): Rafa's cousin, mother, Rafa, sister, father, uncle (father's brother), cousin:
76902983_2562275550504321_2503309361917460480_o.jpg

Via ATP website

Vamos the Rafa team & family!
 
haqq777

haqq777

Legend
octobrina10 said:
ATP Finals

November 15, 2019
RR3

Rafa's post-RR3 press conference:



Vaaamooos Rafa!
fist-pump-smiley-emoticon.gif
Click to expand...
I saw the whole presser and at 6:25 Ubaldo asks him a question. Rafa answered pretty seriously, and explained his answer in depth. Much respect to Rafa, because if we recall, this is the same idiotic journalist who asked Rafa that dumb marriage-affecting-his-match question. I would have just passed on his question and moved on to the next person in line ready to ask questions.
 
Azure

Azure

G.O.A.T.
haqq777 said:
I saw the whole presser and at 6:25 Ubaldo asks him a question. Rafa answered pretty seriously, and explained his answer in depth. Much respect to Rafa, because if we recall, this is the same idiotic journalist who asked Rafa that dumb marriage-affecting-his-match question. I would have just passed on his question and moved on to the next person in line ready to ask questions.
Click to expand...
Rafa is a gem.
 
vernonbc

vernonbc

Legend
It wasn’t Rafael Nadal's body that we underestimated—it was his mind

Years after many of us thought he would be retired, Rafa is the oldest year-end No. 1 in ATP history for a second time.

By Steve Tignor | November 15, 2019

“He’s writing checks that his body can’t cash,” Andre Agassi said of a 19-year-old Rafael Nadal back in 2005.

It has been a decade and a half since Agassi spoke those not-so-prescient words, but during that time Nadal has done everything he could to make sure they’re never forgotten. With each successful season, he proves the American a little more wrong.

Agassi’s words were trotted out in 2013, when Nadal returned from a six-month layoff to win two Grand Slams and finish No. 1. We heard them again in 2017 when Nadal became, at 31, the oldest year-end No. 1 in ATP history. And I’m quoting them one more time today, because Rafa just broke his own record by finishing this season at No. 1, at age 33; it’s the fifth time he’s earned that honor, the same number as Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic. In short, Nadal is still cashing those checks, still lifting those Slam trophies—19 of them so far—and still showing no signs of slowing down. He’s won 12 titles at Roland Garros, and it’s not a stretch to imagine him ending up with 15 or more there.

To be fair to Andre, Nadal’s body has seemed to be on the verge of declaring bankruptcy numerous times. Knees, foot, wrist, adductor, abdominals, elbow: Rafa has injured them all. As he has pointed out, he’s missed more time and more majors over the years than Federer or Djokovic. Earlier this season at Indian Wells, when a flare-up of his knee tendinitis forced him to withdraw from a highly anticipated semifinal against Federer, Nadal sounded as if he might not want to continue playing, if he had to keep dealing with these types of setbacks.

But Nadal does continue. He has long played a minimalist, mostly mandatory tournament schedule. This week’s ATP Finals was his 17th event of 2019; his opponent on Friday, 21-year-old Stefanos Tsitsipas, was playing his 28th. Over the years, Rafa has done what he can to play shorter points, and he doesn’t indulge in as many leaping celebrations as he did as a teenager.

Yet he still plays essentially the same, highly physical game, with the same exuberance and point-for-point intensity he always has. Against Tsitsipas, Rafa didn’t hold back on the fist-pumps or the boxer-style shuffle steps after he won a point. In the end, it was the 33-year-old Nadal, rather than his younger opponent, who had a surge of energy that pushed him across the finish line.

At the beginning of the week, after his one-sided loss to Alexander Zverev, Nadal looked as if he would be lucky to win a set in London, and lucky to keep his top ranking from a fast-closing Djokovic. By Friday, Rafa had two wins, he had clinched No. 1, he had a chance to reach the semifinals, and he had the crowd on its feet. He was back, again.

What keeps Rafa going? The three-way Grand Slam title race between himself, Djokovic and Federer has motivated all of them over the last few years; together, they’ve won the last 12 major titles. Yet no matter how much any of them wins, their competition only gets tighter. All three of them have finished five seasons at No. 1, and when you add up their titles at the majors, Masters 1000s and year-end championships, their race stands at 55 for Djokovic, and 54 each for Federer and Nadal.

The GOAT race and the trivalry aside, I was struck by something Nadal said after his win over Daniil Medvedev on Wednesday. Rafa had come back from 1-5 down in the third set to steal that one, and he was asked afterward if his performance was a message to young players that they “should never quit, should fight until the last point.”

Nadal’s response was honest: He said that he was lucky to win, and that at 5-1 he expected to lose. He also admitted what every player who makes a miraculous comeback secretly knows: He didn’t start playing better because he maintained his intensity; he started playing better because, believing that the match was basically over, he relaxed and loosened up. For Rafa, the more important message was that he accepted the possibility, the inevitability, of defeat.

“Examples are not for one day,” Nadal said. “Examples are every day. And in my opinion, the example is not the comeback, because the comeback is—of course you need to be there and you need to keep fighting, but the example, in my opinion, is not break a racquet when you are 5-1 in the third or not be out of your self-control when the things are not going the right way.

“Just staying positive, staying on court, accepting that the opponent is playing a little bit better than you and accepting that you are not that good. That’s the only example, no? Because sometimes the frustration comes when you consider yourself too good, and you don’t accept the mistakes that you are doing.

“For me, that’s the only example I can try to tell the guys. Don’t consider themselves too good. Accept the mistakes, because everybody have mistakes and you need to keep going after the mistakes. That’s the only way.”

“Accepting that you are not that good.” Those words fly in the face of every rah-rah halftime pep talk ever given. Most athletes are taught from Day 1 that we need to believe that we are that good, and that we can and should defeat our opponents. We hear all the time about a “champion’s arrogance,” and how the greats can will themselves into invincibility.

Nadal offers a different, more realistic, but just as effective way. Rather than block out the idea of losing, he acknowledges it, even welcomes it. Rather than seeing himself as superior to the regular run of humanity, he sees himself as normal—i.e., someone who can lose.

This stoical philosophy doesn’t work to his benefit every time. Nadal has let his doubts and nerves get the better of him in matches that he could have won. But in the long term, it’s a big part of why he is still at the top of the sport. It has helped him bounce back from two fifth-set losses in Australian Open finals; from a two-year Slam drought in 2015 and 2016 when he regularly snatched defeat from the jaws of victory; from long losing streaks to Djokovic; from years of early-round losses at Wimbledon; from months on the sidelines with injuries.

Agassi wasn’t the only person who thought Nadal’s career would be short-lived in 2005; most of the tennis world wondered how long he could withstand the pounding he puts himself through every time he walks on court. Fourteen years later, Rafa is No. 1 in the world. Did we underestimate his body? No, we underestimated his mind.

https://www.tennis.com/pro-game/2019/11 ... don/85989/
.
 
Mike Sams

Mike Sams

G.O.A.T.
One good thing to see is that the likes of Zverev, Tsitsipas, Thiem and Medvedev are all pushing the big 3 to their limits. We haven't had a group of young players manage to do this in years. Only question now is if these young guys can finally mount a real challenge in the Slams. Both Thiem and Medvedev made 2 Slam finals this season. Medvedev came the closest of anyone thus far in the nextgen. 2020 will be interesting.
 
octobrina10

octobrina10

Talk Tennis Guru
Mike Sams said:
One good thing to see is that the likes of Zverev, Tsitsipas, Thiem and Medvedev are all pushing the big 3 to their limits. We haven't had a group of young players manage to do this in years. Only question now is if these young guys can finally mount a real challenge in the Slams. Both Thiem and Medvedev made 2 Slam finals this season. Medvedev came the closest of anyone thus far in the nextgen. 2020 will be interesting.
Click to expand...
You posted in a wrong thread.
 
octobrina10

octobrina10

Talk Tennis Guru
haqq777 said:
I saw the whole presser and at 6:25 Ubaldo asks him a question. Rafa answered pretty seriously, and explained his answer in depth. Much respect to Rafa, because if we recall, this is the same idiotic journalist who asked Rafa that dumb marriage-affecting-his-match question. I would have just passed on his question and moved on to the next person in line ready to ask questions.
Click to expand...

Rafa and Ubaldo Scanagatta shook hands on Friday (Nov.15):
:)
 
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Sport

Sport

G.O.A.T.
TennisFan3 said:
Beautiful article by Tignor on Tennis.com

https://www.tennis.com/pro-game/201...as-nitto-atp-finals-round-robin-london/85989/

IT WASN’T RAFAEL NADAL'S BODY THAT WE UNDERESTIMATED—IT WAS HIS MIND
Years after many of us thought he would be retired, Rafa is the oldest year-end No. 1 in ATP history for a second time.
By Steve Tignor

“He’s writing checks that his body can’t cash,” Andre Agassi said of a 19-year-old Rafael Nadal back in 2005.

The GOAT race and the trivalry aside, I was struck by something Nadal said after his win over Daniil Medvedev on Wednesday. Rafa had come back from 1-5 down in the third set to steal that one, and he was asked afterward if his performance was a message to young players that they “should never quit, should fight until the last point.”

“Accepting that you are not that good.” Those words fly in the face of every rah-rah halftime pep talk ever given. Most athletes are taught from Day 1 that we need to believe that we are that good, and that we can and should defeat our opponents. We hear all the time about a “champion’s arrogance,” and how the greats can will themselves into invincibility.

Nadal offers a different, more realistic, but just as effective way. Rather than block out the idea of losing, he acknowledges it, even welcomes it. Rather than seeing himself as superior to the regular run of humanity, he sees himself as normal—i.e., someone who can lose.

This stoical philosophy doesn’t work to his benefit every time. Nadal has let his doubts and nerves get the better of him in matches that he could have won. But in the long term, it’s a big part of why he is still at the top of the sport. It has helped him bounce back from two fifth-set losses in Australian Open finals; from a two-year Slam drought in 2015 and 2016 when he regularly snatched defeat from the jaws of victory; from long losing streaks to Djokovic; from years of early-round losses at Wimbledon; from months on the sidelines with injuries.

Agassi wasn’t the only person who thought Nadal’s career would be short-lived in 2005; most of the tennis world wondered how long he could withstand the pounding he puts himself through every time he walks on court. Fourteen years later, Rafa is No. 1 in the world. Did we underestimate his body? No, we underestimated his mind.
Click to expand...
Brilliant article. I enjoyed every word of it. Thanks for sharing.
 
octobrina10

octobrina10

Talk Tennis Guru
ATP Finals

November 15, 2019
RR3

A few belated action pictures:

78044020_2565530636845479_1098257188087922688_o.jpg

Photo by Justin Setterfield

75627505_2565531363512073_5605222923062214656_o.jpg

Photo by Justin Setterfield

74492764_2565532233511986_239459656706031616_o.jpg

Photo by Justin Setterfield

73381182_2565532893511920_5078149136407068672_o.jpg

Photo by Naomi Baker

75456913_2565533800178496_7238148855978524672_o.jpg

Photo by Justin Setterfield

76618317_2565534620178414_722148413805690880_o.jpg

Photos by Justin Setterfield and Naomi Baker

Vamos Rafa!
fist-pump-smiley-emoticon.gif
 
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