Nadal News 2.0

octobrina10

octobrina10

Talk Tennis Guru
Barcelona Open, ATP-500

April 23, 2021
QF, Rafa vs Cameron Norrie

Through to SFs!

Match point:

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1385624638064103429

Vaaaamoooos Rafa!!!!
t31066.gif
 
D

Deleted member 770948

Guest
Nadal may as well give his heart and soul to Barcelona this week, because no tennis next week.
And of course when the court is named after you, losing is not an option anyway.
 
MichaelNadal

MichaelNadal

Bionic Poster
terribleIVAN

terribleIVAN

Hall of Fame
He let go today a few banana forehands that were out of this world.

On the other hand, we need a concerted global effort to allow him to keep his hair for a few more months.
 
octobrina10

octobrina10

Talk Tennis Guru
JustMy2Cents said:
See Neymar’s son's reaction on receiving a video message from Rafa Nadal. :love:
https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1385740414590885888
Click to expand...
@Amritia

Neymar, who played for FC Barcelona, watched Rafa's R2 match at the 2015 Barcelona Open and they met after the match:

rafaelnadalfans.com

PHOTOS: Rafael Nadal meets Neymar in Barcelona

After beating Nicolas Almagro in his opener at the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell on Wednesday, Rafael Nadal met Brazilian football star Neymar, who was accompanied by teammates Sergi Roberto and Ped…
rafaelnadalfans.com rafaelnadalfans.com
 
Amritia

Amritia

Hall of Fame
octobrina10

octobrina10

Talk Tennis Guru
Barcelona Open, ATP-500

April 24, 2021
SF, Rafa vs Pablo Carreno-Busta

A few pictures:

Into his 12th Barcelona final:

178349575_3918469421551587_3620404433084363140_n.jpg

Via RNKOTFB

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1386009203110731779


In action:

177745876_3918470194884843_4275724650277290032_n.jpg

Via RNKOTFB

177945060_3918471498218046_7282446740196941656_n.jpg

Via RNKOTFB

177522959_3918472311551298_9153808949523538359_n.jpg

Via RNKOTFB

177824400_3918472984884564_6610362413431998135_n.jpg

Via RNKOTFB

177814512_3918473851551144_4951584543644598876_n.jpg

Via RNKOTFB

175174791_3918474611551068_7772160790352931436_n.jpg

Via RNKOTFB


The Rafa team is satisfied with the result:
177996295_3918476461550883_6782267705108552839_n.jpg

Screenshot via Genny

Maria Francisca is wearing a t-shirt with embroidered text reading "With love" :):
177849947_3918475341550995_2284082804885186379_n.jpg

Via RNKOTFB

Vamos Rafa!!!!
 
ElChivoEspañol

ElChivoEspañol

Hall of Fame
Winning tomorrow can be the confidence booster Rafa needs as he goes into RG, defeating the inform player on tour right now as he is playing some of his worse tennis since 2015.

He looks out of sorts, like he does not have the self believe, he needs a that win bad.

Vamos!
 
D

Deleted member 770948

Guest
Its going to be a lot tougher for Tsitsipas than it is for Nadal, that is for certain.
Let's face it, Tsitsipas has never solved Nadal.....and even his win this year at the AO was the most unconvincing win of all-time, down 2 sets to 0 and did not win a point on Nadal's serve in the 3rd Set until the 12th game. And the 4th and 5th Sets could have gone either way, especially the 5th which was shaky all the way to the end.
Nadal has beaten Tsitsipas in straight sets FOUR times, while Tsitsipas has never done it once.
Tsitsipas is always at Nadal's mercy.....and Nadal doesn't appear to be in a merciful mood.

BTW I don't think Nadal is lacking confidence.....because he's hitting very hard and taking risks.....whereas in 2015 he was hitting softly and safely.
The reason for him losing to Rublev was a combination of rust (7 double-faults and the backhand was error-prone) and the fact that Rublev is a lot younger and athletic enough to run all day with Nadal.
And in Barcelona, Nadal's serve is improving and almost fully back to normal, and his backhand is still error-prone, but I don't see it as a confidence issue.....because Nadal's forehand looks perfectly confident.....and Nadal's forehand has always been the barometer for his confidence.
 
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ADuck

ADuck

Legend
NADALalot said:
Its going to be a lot tougher for Tsitsipas than it is for Nadal, that is for certain.
Let's face it, Tsitsipas has never solved Nadal.....and even his win this year at the AO was the most unconvincing win of all-time, down 2 sets to 0 and did not win a point on Nadal's serve in the 3rd Set until the 12th game. And the 4th and 5th Sets could have gone either way, especially the 5th which was shaky all the way to the end.
Nadal has beaten Tsitsipas in straight sets FOUR times, while Tsitsipas has never done it once.
Tsitsipas is always at Nadal's mercy.....and Nadal doesn't appear to be in a merciful mood.

BTW I don't think Nadal is lacking confidence.....because he's hitting very hard and taking risks.....whereas in 2015 he was hitting softly and safely.
The reason for him losing to Rublev was a combination of rust (7 double-fualts and the backhand was error-prone) and the fact that Rublev is a lot younger and athletic enough to run all day with Nadal.
And in Barcelona, his serve is improving and almost fully back to normal, and his backhand is still error-prone, but I don't see it as a confidence issue.....because Nadal's forehand looks perfectly confident.....and Nadal's forehand has always been the barometer for his confidence.
Click to expand...
I think Tsitsipas is a bit overrated right now, and ordinarily Nadal would smash him, but Nadal is still not close to his top form yet so I'm hesitant to predict who will win.
 
clayqueen

clayqueen

Talk Tennis Guru
NADALalot said:
BTW I don't think Nadal is lacking confidence.....because he's hitting very hard and taking risks.....whereas in 2015 he was hitting softly and safely.
The reason for him losing to Rublev was a combination of rust (7 double-fualts and the backhand was error-prone) and the fact that Rublev is a lot younger and athletic enough to run all day with Nadal.
Click to expand...
Totally agree.

Let's not forget that Rafa was compromised for most of the AO so when he met Tsitsipas he was on pain killers for his back and his movement must have been restrained, especially on the serve, not to aggravate his back. That said, he needs to take Tsitsipas seriously. One double fault or one stray shot could hand Tsits a break and this is only a BO3 sets match.

Sinner played better yesterday, in my opinion, but he beat himself with making errors when he had the upper hand.
 
weakera

weakera

Talk Tennis Guru
Would love to see him kill Tsitsipas but certainly not going to be worried no matter the result. He just needs competitive matches right now, this should be a good one for him and stress-free as he knows when he needs to peak.
 
clayqueen

clayqueen

Talk Tennis Guru
weakera said:
Would love to see him kill Tsitsipas but certainly not going to be worried no matter the result. He just needs competitive matches right now, this should be a good one for him and stress-free as he knows when he needs to peak.
Click to expand...
I would be gutted if Tsitsipas won that would mean winning two clay titles in a row and the narrative would be that he is the new King of Clay. Hope that doesn't happen.
 
K-H

K-H

Hall of Fame
Surprised people talking about confidence and 2015 etc.

This is simply just lack of match play and rustiness.
I remember in 2019 when he started off bad, I wasn't worried one bit cos its not 2015 anymore.

Same now tbh, even if he loses today, doesn't mean much, I think Rome is where his game will fully be better
 
weakera

weakera

Talk Tennis Guru
clayqueen said:
I would be gutted if Tsitsipas won that would mean winning two clay titles in a row and the narrative would be that he is the new King of Clay. Hope that doesn't happen.
Click to expand...

Well Thiem beat Rafa on clay every year from 2017-2019 and it never mattered when they got to Roland Garros. So I would put about as much stock in a Tsitsipas victory today. And with that being said I do believe Rafa will win, just saying that even if he doesn't, Rafa has time yet to 'level up.'
 
clayqueen

clayqueen

Talk Tennis Guru
smash hit said:
For anyone other than Rafa to be called King if Clay they would have to have won 14 RG titles plus all the other clay titles + 1 for each title won by Rafa. It's not happening.
Click to expand...
That's what you'd think but they were poised to do before the final of RG 2020 crowning you know who.
 
Yugram

Yugram

Legend
clayqueen said:
I would be gutted if Tsitsipas won that would mean winning two clay titles in a row and the narrative would be that he is the new King of Clay. Hope that doesn't happen.
Click to expand...
I think it’s time to make these mortal titles vacant, Nadal is well into God of clay territory. :cool:
 
ElChivoEspañol

ElChivoEspañol

Hall of Fame
K-H said:
Surprised people talking about confidence and 2015 etc.

This is simply just lack of match play and rustiness.
I remember in 2019 when he started off bad, I wasn't worried one bit cos its not 2015 anymore.

Same now tbh, even if he loses today, doesn't mean much, I think Rome is where his game will fully be better
Click to expand...

where do you think confidence comes from?

matches and winning. So to say he just needs more matches and wins to get his confidence back is exactly what I’m saying lol.

He has actually taken a step or two backwards from how he performed in MC up until the QFs. He was going for the FHTL with a lot of confidence and precision, now if you actually watch his matches in Barcelona he’s very very hesitant to try to open up the court and stretch his opponent, another obvious observation is his BH, he is not ripping it like he has been since 2017, very passive from that wing.
 
Nadal's Universe

Nadal's Universe

Rookie
A win in Barca will definitely boost his confidence. Since there is 2 weeks from Rome to RG, Rafa can still fine tune his game and does not need to hold back during Madrid and Rome.
 
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