Rafael Nadal [Archive]

mgb

11th June 2009, 11:30 AM

[tscii:56c2beabfd]Some interesting facts about Nadal

In preparation for an event, tennis great Pat Cash played a clay-court match against the then fourteen year-old Nadal. Cash was reluctant to play against Nadal and took this arranged match as an offence. In the end, he was surprised to find himself losing by a close margin

Although Nadal plays left-handed, he is naturally right-handed. When he was younger, his uncle and coach, Toni Nadal, decided that his two-handed backhand would benefit from a strong right arm, so he taught Rafael to play with his left.

After the 2006 French Open final against Federer, Nadal started by praising Federer in his speech. The translator mistranslated the speech, leading the public to think he was praising himself. Nadal was thus booed and whistled at throughout the speech.

When Nadal beat Federer by 6-1, 6-3, 6-0 and won the French Open title last year, that was the quickest French Open finals since 1980.

It is common for Nadal to spend as much as 38 seconds, 18 over the limit, between points on his service game. The rules of tennis state that a maximum of 20 seconds is allowed between the time at which the last point is finished to the time at which the next serve is delivered. Nadal has picked up numerous time violations for this breach of the rules and has received a number of warnings from tennis authorities

Nadal is the nephew of former Spanish footballer Miguel Ángel Nadal, one of Spain's most capped players. Miguel's brother Toni is the coach of Rafael

In 2006, Nadal and Roger Federer became the only two male players in the open era to reach the Wimbledon final after having both played in the French Open final just a month prior. There have been several men to reach the Wimbledon final after making the French Open final, but never had the same two men accomplished such a feat at the same time

Nadal has "Vamos Rafa" ("Let's go Rafa") written on his shoes, a common exhortation by his fans

He can curl 30kg with his left hand and 25kg with his right[/tscii:56c2beabfd]

ajithfederer

11th June 2009, 11:35 AM

Read in Toni Nadal's wiki page

He actually makes Rafa to gut his own tennis strings.

He actually made him practice in bad balls and not so good courts so that he should get acclimatized to all conditions. Toni makes Rafa to do his own laundry.

Toni Nadal believes more in practice and that is why you see Rafa stretching limits of tennis.

Rafa is indeed a rare breed in Tennis :clap:

At 23, he should reap more laurels.

ajithfederer

11th June 2009, 11:39 AM

Rafael Nadal has either equaled or set various records in tennis history.

1. Longest single-surface winning streak (clay): 81 matches (2005-May 21, 2007)
2. Winning the French Open at the first attempt. Tied with Mats Wilander (1982)
3. Only the third teenager in history (since 1973) to reach world no. 2
4. Most clay-court titles in a single year (eight in 2005)
5. Most consecutive clay court winning streak: 81
6. Most consecutive French Open titles: 4 tied with Björn Borg
7. Winning French Open and Wimbledon in the same year. Tied-two others in Open Era history.
8. Only male player to have won French Open, Wimbledon, and Olympic gold medal in the same year (2008)
9. Won most titles as a teenager: 16 tied with Björn Borg
10. Won 24 consecutive matches, the longest winning streak of any teenager in the open era in 2005
11. Only male player to have held Grand Slam titles on three different surfaces simultaneously: French Open 2008 (clay), Wimbledon 2008 (grass), Australian Open 2009 (hard)
12. Nadal and Federer are the only No. 1 and 2 pair to play French Open and Wimbledon finals, three consecutive years
13. Nadal and Federer are the only No. 1 and 2 pair who have won at least 11 consecutive Grand Slam singles tournaments between them, starting from the 2005 French Open through the 2007 US Open
14. Federer and Nadal are the only two men who have played each other in the final of the same Grand Slam three consecutive years (French Open and Wimbledon)
15. Nadal and Federer are the only pair of men during the open era who had reached the Wimbledon final after having just played each other in the French Open final (2006, 2007, 2008)
16. Most consecutive French Open finals in the Open Era: 4 (tied with Borg, Lendl, and Federer)

:clap: Rafa[tscii:d19e57eee5][/tscii:d19e57eee5]

ajithfederer

11th June 2009, 11:52 AM

And not to forget the fact that Rafa has 15 Masters Titles, he is tied with federer and they both are short of agassi who is at 17.

ajithfederer

11th June 2009, 08:58 PM

Rafa's interview with John McEnroe after wimbledon 2008 finals (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAc2p69IzgM)

ajithfederer

11th June 2009, 11:12 PM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnp9VEb3Vbc&feature=related

Robin Soderling vs Rafael Nadal from Wimbledon 2007

ajithfederer

13th June 2009, 12:26 AM

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/sports_blog/2009/06/rafael-nadals-knees-showing-wear-and-tear-of-his-clay-court-dominance.html

Rafael Nadal's knees showing wear and tear of his clay-court dominance
11:39 AM, June 11, 2009

Nadal Rafael Nadal was the man of the moment just a few months ago, from Australia to Paris. It appeared as if the tennis gods had blessed him with everything he could ever want.

But was everything so heavenly? In and out, back-to-back, he played on and on and on. Sometimes, he was masterfully striking. Sometimes, he made his body slog for his accomplishments.

He played, he won, he conquered.

And then came the clay season -- the time when Rafa turns master, his dominance of the surface so emphatic that he offers no leeway to any rival. Even the mighty Roger Federer couldn't stop him.

Rafa was invincible.

And this is where the dream started to flicker. The number of clay court tournaments Rafa packed into his schedule not even a recently turned pro could have managed to accommodate.

Monte Carlo, Barcelona, Rome and Madrid -- four tournaments as preparation for the "grand" Roland Garros.

It was unnecessary. His knees were still reeling from a lot of strain and there he was playing in all these tournaments, which meant two months of continuous, strenuous pressure, even though it was on his beloved surface.

As much as his knees were tortured, he tortured them even the more by winning three out of the four tournaments, finishing as a finalist in the fourth.

Who makes these decisions for him is unknown. But even common knowledge would tell you that playing four clay events for a person who is undoubtedly the best clay courter at the moment is blatantly foolish.

And what purpose did it serve? He lost in Paris and his overwrought knees have ended up getting inflamed again. His website quotes him as saying that he played most of the past months in complete agony and pain.

What was Rafa thinking?

-- Rohini Iyer

ajithfederer

13th June 2009, 12:29 AM

MAY 28 | 2009
BACK TO THE PAST?

May 28, 2009

Rafa, first of all I’d like to thank for the joy you bring [into our lives] every Sunday when you play. You are our pride and I have a question for you: If you could go back to the past and play the final of Roland Garros against a past winner, who would you like to face (and of course beat)? Borg, Wilander, Bruguera, Agassi, Kuerten, Moya, Agassi, Costa, or Ferrero...?

I wish you the best of luck at Roland Garros...

RN: Thank you very much. In regards to your question, I’ve always said that given that it is not possible to go back to the past, [you have to be] realistic and [for the record] I’ve actually faced a lot of the players you already mentioned. (Moya, Agassi, Ferrero and Costa).

Rafa, I would like for you to answer [this question] with total honestly: Have you read any of the statements made recently by your opponents in relation to the tactics they need to use in order to beat you? (Eg: Higueras, a former coach of Federer said that "just like he did in Madrid, Federer needs to shorten the points in order to avoid Rafa getting his rhythm back and therefore, take away his confidence”).

Is this something that Toni and you analyse and use as a pre-match strategy, or do you just focus only on what you have to do our there? I hope you answer me.

RN: First of all, I always answer honestly. I often read the newspapers but at the same time, I try not to pay attention to the kind of statements you just mentioned. I imagine that when the players make such statements it makes sense to them what they say, and nothing happens.

It is also clear to me that other players analyse me and the way I play, just like I can analyse them. It’s normal. But in the end, when we are out on the court, we have to run around and play and that is what we also analyse before matches. The best way to play.

Hola Rafa: You're one of the most loved personalities in Spain based on a survey published by ‘El Mundo’ in July 2008. Do you think people like you for your game, your success or for the way you are?

RN: Thank you very much. I do not know. I imagine that people [like me because they] know and see the way I always fight till the end and I try to give my everything every time I step out on a tennis court.

Hola Rafa, congratulations on your great achievements. I was wondering if you’ve ever played mixed doubles? And if not, who would you like to play with?

RN: No, I have not played mixed-doubles at a 'Grand Slam' (which is only tournament where you can play it). These tournaments involve a lot of pressure and intensity and playing other competitions, like the men's doubles or mixed can lead to complications later on, especially when it comes to my schedule.

Hello Rafael! Congratulations on your career. I just wanted to know how you are planning on spending your future once you retire from professional tennis?

RN: Thank you very much. The truth of the matter is that I haven’t really thought about it yet, It’s true.

I just want to know if you or your team have discussed the possibility of sacrificing a clay court tournament or a Master Series event (like Cincinnati or Canada) in the lead up to the US Open, in order to save up more energy and arrive better there?

RN: It’s very difficult to sacrifice a clay court tournament, as there are hardly any of them around. As to Cincinnati or Montreal, I do not think it’s possible because it is compulsory to play them. This year will be better without the Olympic Games, and therefore we should arrive [In New York] less tired. We will see how the season goes anyways. You should always go one tournament and match at a time.

http://www.rafaelnadal.com/nadal/en/blog/entry/back-to-the-past[tscii:346c8c2df7][/tscii:346c8c2df7]

ajithfederer

13th June 2009, 10:36 PM

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/06/12/RVO1183QJ0.DTL

Strokes of Genius
Federer, Nadal, and the Greatest Match Ever Played---------------

By L. Jon Wertheim

On a spring morning in Paris last year, Sports Illustrated writer L. Jon Wertheim was hoping to write a book about an incredible tennis match. Amazingly enough, one was served up for him a month later at the 2008 Wimbledon men's singles final - a five-set epic between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal that justifiably was dubbed an instant classic.

"Strokes of Genius" details the drama of this match in lively detail. Wertheim's grasp of tennis is informed not just by the many players and events he's written about for more than a decade, but also by a keen sense of its essential grammar. "They're out there alone, cordoned off from outside influence," Wertheim writes of tennis players. "Unlike golf, the competition is simultaneous. ...Tennis is the most gladiatorial sport going."

As naturally occurs in any competitive battle, the contrasts are most obvious. There's the right-handed Federer, the dominant, cucumber-cool, elegant Swiss who had won five straight titles on Wimbledon's velveteen grass. "This isn't Everyman," writes Wertheim. "It's Superman ... moving gracefully to deifying, classical music." There's Nadal, the contender, at once visceral and humble, out to win his first major title on a surface other than the rough-and-tumble clay where he had rapidly become a legend.

Wertheim's easily accessible match detail is richly supplemented with biographical portraits, covering such topics as Federer's youthful temper, Nadal's athletic family and, as each rose up the ranks, their similarities. As Wertheim writes, Federer and Nadal shared "a similar sports code, a shared sense of how a top athlete ought to comport himself."

Along the way, Wertheim deftly touches on all the defining factors of contemporary tennis. But most of all, it's the incredible match that's the centerpiece.

ajithfederer

14th June 2009, 10:17 PM

Why the 2009 Wimbledon Crown Will Be Rafael Nadal's

The Dream. The Vision. The Hope. The Desire. The Passion. The Conviction. It is this fire within that drives the best from oneself.

Few believed him when he said "I want to win Wimbledon."

Just a mere clay-court specialist, how could he?

The Tennis World laughed it off back then, when hardly anyone expected him to reach a Wimbledon final, let alone repeat it again, come even closer and finally, attain the glorious crown.

But yes, he did. “I would hate to lose knowing that I hadn’t given my all,” says the warrior who fights till the last drop of sweat.

July 6, 2008 bore witness to a magnum opus wielded by two tennis titans, who have carved their own niche, and etched their own significant place in tennis history.

And on a day the Tennis World shall never forget, a match that has been lauded the greatest ever, with a virtuosic display of patience and precision, dexterity and prowess, it was the Mallorcan who hung on in optimism, and emerged the victor, the deserving champion.

Indeed, it was a realization of years of perseverance and hard work.

He never dreamt too far ahead, he could not put all his thoughts into coherent articulation, but his actions spoke volumes for him, as dreams undreamt evolved into reality as he achieved the phenomenal, to rewrite for himself the annals of tennis, with the foundations laid on clay.

He was a man who built his game on precision, focus, and tenacity tinted with originality.

Rafael Nadal’s shock loss at Roland Garros 2009, the problem of a persistent knee injury and the possibility of a small but lingering mental setback, some seem to be fairly convinced to expect a below-par performance by the Spaniard.

And meanwhile, on the other side of the coin, the pressure is off and the Swiss Maestro is as ecstatic as his astronomical number of fans. Blissful in his demeanour and play. And so, Wimbledon 2009 shall be Roger’s, they say.

Fans, media and tennis pundits call clay ‘a favourite surface’ for Nadal, but his own words are put carefully as ‘a surface on which I achieved great success which I’m very happy for.’

But this formidable Spanish conqueror has also emphatically expressed his love for Wimbledon. His dream and desire to win it. And the journey and joy of the achievement, which he still reminisces with elation and bliss.

He may not like to compare grand slams—the French and Australian too have their own significance for him—but Wimbledon will may always have meant a trifle more than the rest.

As his first grand slam outside la terre battue. At the world’s beloved tournament, perhaps because of its uniqueness as the only grand slam on grass, tradition, audience or the name, whatever it maybe, one always considered the most prestigious. The consummation of a long toilsome race.

He gave his best. He chased each ball. He fought every game. He lingered till the end with a never-say-die attitude.

He lived to strive, he lived to fight, he did not assume, and so he continues on the trail of his quest to improve.

And despite all odds, the virile, vivacious Spaniard from Mallorca, who captured hearts round the world, shall emerge the winner once more, I say, because the will power and desire burning in his veins shall drive him there.

To relive that moment. Exhilarating but serene. Intangible yet lucid. Ephemeral yet everlasting.

Otra Vez.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/198394-why-the-2009-wimb-crown-is-nadals[tscii:12c6e45e26][/tscii:12c6e45e26]

ajithfederer

15th June 2009, 12:11 AM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJId40MvAX8

An thrilling semi final between Nadal and Djokovic in Mutua Madrilena Masters this year.

:clap:

ajithfederer

19th June 2009, 08:36 PM

June 19, 2009

Rafa played an exhibition match yesterday afternnon against Lleyton Hewitt at the Hurlingham Club where he lost 6-4 6-3 and will play against Stanislas Wawrinka today at around 2:30pm (local time).

"I love to play at the Hurlingham Club. Today's match was a real test, as close to reality as it could get. I will come back and play again and then make my decision about playing at Wimbledon or not," said Rafa after the match.

After the encounter, Rafa will hold a press conference.

Many thanks.

http://www.rafaelnadal.com/nadal/en/home

ajithfederer

20th June 2009, 06:50 AM

Nadal withdraws from Wimbledon

Friday, 19 June 2009

Written by Byron Vale

Rafael Nadal has announced he will not defend his Wimbledon title.

The world number one and top seed had said after the French Open that he would not play Wimbledon if he was not 100% and so it has come to pass.

"I’m here and I'm just not 100%. I'm better than what I was a couple of weeks ago but I don’t feel right," Nadal told a packed press conference on Friday evening at the All England Club.

"To not play Wimbledon is one of the toughest decisions of my career."

After suffering a shock defeat in the French Open to Robin Soderling, Nadal received treatment on his knees in Barcelona and skipped the traditional Wimbledon warm-up at Queen’s in an effort to be fit for The Championships. He was diagnosed with tendinitis in both quadriceps tendons as well as a small amount of fluid on the kneecaps.

"I tried everything. I didn't feel terrible but also not close to my best. When I enter a tournament my goal is winning and my feeling right now is I'm not ready to win.

"It's very painful for me but I can't play at the tournament this year. It's tough but it is what it is."

Nadal's absence will cause a reshuffle in the men’s singles draw. Number five seed Juan Martin Del Potro replaces Nadal at the top of the draw. The 17th seed James Blake moves to line 65 to take Del Potro's position. Nicolas Kiefer moves to line 56 to take Blake's position and lucky loser Thiago Alves takes Kiefer's position on line 61.

Nadal revealed that he had been playing with considerable pain and he didn't know how long he would be out of tennis. But he said he expected to fully recover from his knee problems and that he would have a "long career".

"I played with some problems on the knee for the last few months. I've been making efforts to play week after week. The truth is that sportsmen always play with pain and don't know where the limit is, where you can get to. I think I reached that limit now.

"I will work very hard to comeback as soon as possible. One of the problems is I’m thinking more about the knees than what is happening on court and it’s very difficult to play like that."

When Nadal was asked about his many fans and how disappointed they would be that he was not appearing at Wimbledon, the 23-year-old replied: "no more than me".

Nadal also said he was not concerned that his absence would open the door for Roger Federer to reclaim the number one world ranking. "If I lose the number one ranking I’m going to accept it like the four years I was number two and work hard to improve and recover."

http://www.wimbledon.org/en_GB/news/articles/2009-06-19/200906191245395523523.html[tscii:6f500891b3][/tscii:6f500891b3]

ajithfederer

29th June 2009, 12:00 AM

Federer vs Nadal MS Rome 2006 Final (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b77lZf1TKoc)

Nadal def. Federer: 6-7, 7-6, 6-4, 2-6,7-6
Nadal had established himself as the King of Clay by winning his first French Open the year prior to this match, where he beat Federer in the semis. Two weeks before this Rome final Federer had lost to Nadal at the Masters series in Monaco in a somewhat lack-luster final. All the pressure was on Federer to show that he could beat Nadal on clay before the French Open.
Federer gets an early break in the 1st set but is unable to hold on to it. Nonetheless, it is clearly Federer who is in control of most rallies and he wins the 1st set in a flawlessly played tie-break.

However, Nadal raises the level of his game in the 2nd set and Federer's level drops slightly. With no breaks, the 2nd set goes to a tie-break, but Nadal is in the ascendancy now and takes it. In the 3rd set Nadal is dominating Federer in the rallies and Federer is missing some crucial forehands.

But just as one might expect that Federer is out the match, he returns to his better play from the 1st set. He breaks Nadal twice and takes the 4th set 6-2. He then goes on to get an early break in the 5th set, but just like the 1st set, he can't hold on to it. As things tighten up towards the end of the 5th set, both men have chances, but none greater than Federer, who holds two match points on Nadals serve at 6-5. Nadal survives to send the set to a deciding tiebreak. Federer again is up in the breaker on two occasions but can't hold on - and Nadal wins it 7-5 on his first match point.

This is no doubt the best ATP match played in 2006 and is in many ways the great French Open final between the two that we never had. The level of play is sky-high, Federer is attacking the net with great success and Nadal hits topspin forehands like no one but Nadal does. It makes for a nice contrast in playing style. My only criticism is perhaps that the match is a little monotonous with many of the points following similar patterns, and that the slow clay doesn't allow Federer to hit as many miraculous winners as you see on faster surfaces. Nonetheless, this match is likely to go down as the best match the two ever played, and it is highly recommended.

Stat of the match: Federer won 64 of 84 points when he came to the net (76%).

ajithfederer

30th June 2009, 09:14 PM

[tscii:c13f19dd69]PLAYERS

Making History in a Hurry
Finals 2008
by Joel Drucker
| 07.11.2008

Getty Images
Rafael Nadal had legions of fans even before becoming No. 1.

It has been known for some time that Rafael Nadal will be regarded as one of the best clay court players the game has ever seen. But after one of the finest seasons of the Open Era, can there be any doubt that Rafa is destined to become an all-time great?

"Actually I walked up to Rafael Nadal. And he is probably my favorite tennis player to watch and I walked up to him and I was like, 'I just want to meet you and don't take a picture or anything, I just want to meet you.' And I told him, 'I watch you all the time when you play tennis and I love watching you play tennis.' I told him good luck."
— swimmer Michael Phelps, winner of eight Olympic gold medals in Beijing

Demonstrating the same tidal wave force with which he overwhelms his opponents, Rafael Nadal has sprinted his way into history. At 15, he won his first ATP match. At 17, he became the youngest man since Boris Becker to reach the third round of Wimbledon. At 19, he became the first man in more than 20 years to win the Roland Garros title on his main draw debut.

His pace accelerated in 2008. Amazingly, Nadal did not win his first tournament of the year until April 27. Capturing his fourth straight Masters Series Monte Carlo title that day with a win over Roger Federer, Nadal commenced a tri-continental performance that will leave tennis aficionados dazzled for years to come. In just under four months, he won eight tournaments, wracking up a 48-2 record and a 32-match winning streak highlighted by victories at the French Open and Wimbledon. Just prior to the US Open, Nadal took over the World No. 1 ranking from Federer.

It was a year that changed everything in shaping Nadal's mark on history, elevating him to pre-eminence as more than a clay-court specialist but perhaps placing him on a path towards becoming an all-time great.

What's interesting, though, is that once again 22-year-old Nadal has sprinted his way into the conversation. Over the last five years, talk of history, legacy and all-time greatness has been largely confined to Federer, all for good reason given the Swiss' massive achievements. Yet as much as Nadal continued to enhance his game, not until that final point at Wimbledon did it become clear that Nadal too could end up a tennis titan.

There were good reasons for this. A year ago, Nadal held three Grand Slam titles earned only at Roland Garros and a pair of runner-up efforts at Wimbledon. That's a superb, Hall of Fame-worthy resume, but as is the case with Gustavo Kuerten and Patrick Rafter, earning multiple Slams at one venue leaves a player perceived more as an occasional titlist than a champion for the ages.

By proving himself a man for all surfaces – besides Wimbledon, Nadal in 2008 reached the semis for the first time at the Australian and the US Open – Nadal has significantly upgraded his place in tennis history. In nearly doubling his Slam output to five, Nadal vaulted past the likes of Kuerten, Jim Courier, Guillermo Vilas and now stands but one Slam title away from such multi-venue champions Becker and Stefan Edberg.

While it's quite likely he'll earn his sixth Slam soon enough, as the 22-year-old Nadal nears his mid-20s, it's easy to imagine Nadal earning more Slams – figures that take him into the realm of such all-time top tenners as McEnroe (seven) and eight-Slammers Agassi, Connors, Ivan Lendl and Ken Rosewall. Start hitting doubles digits, and among Open era champions you enter the rarified air occupied only by Borg, Laver, Federer and Pete Sampras.

It's easy to forget this, but early in 2008 there were times when Nadal looked weary, most notably when he lost in the Indian Wells semifinals to Novak Djokovic and the final of the Sony Ericsson Open to Nikolay Davydenko. As recently as Masters Series Hamburg in May, he stood one set away from dropping to No. 3 in the world.

But in Paris, Nadal's tremendous sense of urgency and competitive fury was brilliant. His fourth straight French Open was his most dominant of all, the Spaniard failing to yield a set (a feat last attained at Roland Garros by Borg in 1980). At Wimbledon, he beat Federer in the greatest match in tennis history, 9-7 in the fifth. Again following in Borg's footsteps, Nadal that day became the first man since the Swede in 1980 to win Roland Garros and Wimbledon in the same year.

Nadal's other six 2008 titles included an Olympic gold medal in Beijing, as well as three ATP Masters Series events (Monte Carlo, Hamburg, Toronto). During this run, he'd snapped up multiple titles on clay, grass and hard courts.

"I know how tough it is to be No. 1," Nadal said during the US Open. "And I know for sure I can go back to No. 2 or No. 3 in next months, no? So you have to be ready for everything and try to enjoy this moment and accept everything."

How does Nadal's 2008 rank among the greatest years in Open era history? The pinnacle is Rod Laver's unmatched 1969 calendar-year sweep of all four Slams. Five years later, Jimmy Connors won 99 out of 103 matches and every Slam he entered, the only gap resulting when Connors' participation in World Team Tennis led to his banishment from Roland Garros (another mitigating factor: the extreme shallowness in those years of the Australian Open field). In 1988, Mats Wilander also won three Slams, losing in the quarterfinals of Wimbledon.

In a three-decade span from 1969 to 1999, there were 20 different years when a man earned two Slams in a calendar year, led by Pete Sampras accomplishing this on four occasions between 1993 and '97.

Federer has topped everyone but Laver, notching a trio of three-Slam years in 2004, 2006 and 2007.

So while certainly Nadal's 2008 has been spectacular, it joins a long list of other notable tennis seasons. But perhaps the most engaging part of Nadal's success is his youth – and the way everything from his success to his demeanor gives evidence of even more great things to come.

If Nadal's sprint up the mountain hasn't been quite as fast as Borg's, it's pretty darn close. The Swede is the youngest man in tennis history to have earned a fifth Slam, reaching that figure the week he turned 22 at the 1978 French Open. Nadal's fifth Slam, at Wimbledon, came a month after his 22nd birthday.

The two also share a stylistic affinity. Like Nadal, Borg burst on the scene as a precocious, understated prodigy graced with an alluring mystique, the hair of a rock star and an iron will. Having built a cult as tennis' "Teen Angel," Borg earned his first of six French Open titles in 1974, 10 days after he turned 18. As is the case currently with Nadal, Borg on clay was a human backboard, able to cover the court for hours on end with scarcely an unforced error. But just like Nadal, early in his career, Borg's dominance on clay threatened to overshadow his overall excellence.

Like Nadal, Borg at first was considered too much of a defensive baseliner to make an impact on the grass of Wimbledon. Everything from his grips to his volley skills was considered unworkable at the All England Club.

Soon enough, though, the Swede and Spaniard proved the world wrong. In the quest to win Wimbledon, Borg and Nadal each dramatically improved his serve, slightly adjusted his court positioning closer to the baseline and, perhaps most telling of all, displayed a willingness to shed innate defense in favor of selective offense.

"What's so impressive about Nadal is his increased understanding of how to play on grass," nine-time Wimbledon champion Martina Navratilova said on the lawns of the All England Club. "He's hitting his backhand earlier, he's slicing it intelligently and his movement is just incredible."

But in a less quantifiable, more emotional sense, Nadal and Borg part ways. Though Borg was unquestionably an all-time great by his early 20s, he'd also grown increasingly world-weary. The pressures of turning back such ravenous competitors as Connors, McEnroe and an ascending Ivan Lendl, the monk-like rituals he followed in practice, the demands of fame and, perhaps most painfully, the limitations of his attrition-based playing style – all of it made Borg more of a reluctant ruler than an ambitious, blood-thirsty warrior.

Nadal, of course, is just the opposite. There's nothing jaded or bored in Nadal's attitude, no sense as Borg displayed that the life of a tennis pro is a drain on one's soul. There came a point in Borg's career, for example, when the smaller events meant far less to him than the majors, a pragmatism that perhaps in some ways hindered his growth as a player – and certainly revealed his competitive fatigue.

"It's not a question of opting for quantity or quality," Nadal says about his active playing schedule. "You go for what there is, you play what you can play. There is no alternative but to play. Nothing more, nothing less."

In that sense, while Nadal's grinding game has its ancestral roots in Borg (and even more closely, another clay-court maestro, left-handed Argentine Vilas), his battle-hungry temperament is more like Connors. This is a man who loves to compete, day in and day out. Not content to merely peak for the majors, Nadal has already won 12 ATP Masters Series titles, third all-time behind Andre Agassi's 17 and Federer's 14.

How large a legacy Rafael Nadal will leave is one of the great questions of contemporary tennis. In large part it's a question that's been under a rock for many years but is now, much like Nadal, staring the entire sport – and Roger Federer most of all – right in the face. He faces many more battles. But while Borg waved his white flag and surrendered at the age 25, Nadal wouldn't have it any other way.

"I only want to progress," says Nadal. "That's what you have to do if you are No. 1 and want to stay there. I want to stay there and I will fight to do that."

http://www.atpworldtour.com/News/DEUCE-Tennis/DEUCE-Finals-2008/Nadal-Hurries-to-History.aspx[/tscii:c13f19dd69]

ajithfederer

30th June 2009, 09:46 PM

Voted for Nadal in ESPY's best Tennis Male Athlete award for 2008.

15 ATP Master's 1000 series Titles @ 22.
8 ATP Titles in 2008
Snatched the world number one ranking after 160 weeks.
Won Wimbledon and Australian Open.
Olympic Gold Medal. Poor Guy will be dropping 800 points for that next month.
Has 3 ATP Master's 1000 series titles this year. Actually he has won 5 Monte Carlo 1000 series from 2005-09. And he won in Barcelona also.
Actually he will emulate Agassi's record(Not Roger's record of Career Grandslam) if he wins an US Open Title this year or may be next year or in the future until 2012. Since both Agassi and Nadal have Olympics Singles Titles and Roger has a Doubles Title.

:clap:

P.S: Anybody interested in voting go here

http://promo.espn.go.com/espn/specialsection/espys2009/#/home/
:D.

ajithfederer

6th July 2009, 11:41 PM

[tscii:b6996febf9]Nadal Targets Montreal Return
Player News
by ATP Staff
| 06.07.2009

Reigning ATP World Tour Champion Rafael Nadal is targeting his return to tennis at ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Montreal, beginning 10 August. The Spaniard is the defending champion at the Rogers Cup, having defeated Nicolas Kiefer in the final last year. He also triumphed in Montreal in 2005 with victory over Andre Agassi.

The 22 year old was not able to defend his grass-court titles at The Queen’s Club or Wimbledon due to knee tendinitis. At the time, the Mallorcan said: “To not play Wimbledon is one of the toughest decisions of my career. I have some time now to recover and will work very hard to return as soon as possible.”

Speaking to Matt Dickson of The Daily Mail though, Nadal’s spokesman Benito Perez Barbadillo confirmed that the Spaniard is expected back on the practice courts within the next few weeks. He is currently doing pure fitness work, while having treatment on the tendinitis in his knee.

“The plan is still very much that he plays in the Montreal Masters beginning on August 10. He is entered into it and that is what will happen if things go as we think they will,” said Perez-Barbadillo.

With his return to the court, Nadal will also look to win back the No. 1 spot in the South African Airways 2009 Rankings. The Spaniard’s 46-week reign atop the Rankings came to an end on Monday as Roger Federer reclaimed the No. 1 position after clinching his 15th Grand Slam title at Wimbledon.

http://www.atpworldtour.com/News/Tennis/2009/07/Nadal-Targets-Montreal-Return.aspx[/tscii:b6996febf9]

ajithfederer

15th July 2009, 08:59 PM

Update on Rafa
RAFA UNDERWENT MED EXAMS TODAY. WILL RESUME PRACTICE ON MONDAY AND WILL PLAY MONTREAL
.
Manacor, Balearic Islands - Spain, July 14th, 2009
Rafa Nadal underwent further medical tests today in Barcelona. He is slowly recovering from his injury and will resume practice next Monday July 20th. He will back in action in Montreal where he is defending champion.
Rafa travelled to Barcelona yesterday and underwent medical exams to see the evolution of the insertion tendinitis of both Quadricipitals Tendons through an MRI and radiography under the supervision of his doctor Angel Ruiz-Cotorro.
"The evolution of his injury is positive and the player will continue with his physiotherapy and muscular work and will resume his tennis activity in a progressive way starting next Monday July 20th, estimating his return to competition on August 8th at the Montreal event" says Angel Ruiz-Cotorro, Rafa's doctor.
Rafa will travel back today to Manacor to continue with his recovery plan and will resume his tennis practice next Monday.
Rafa Nadal: "I am happy with the way the tests went and of the positive evolution of the injury as the doctors are saying. I am really looking forward to practice again and to do again what I most like: to play tennis. The event in Montreal is important and I expect to be there fit to play. Until then I need to continue to work on my recovery and practice well."
.
http://www.rafaelnadal.com/nadal/en/home

Plum

15th July 2009, 09:05 PM

stomach is churning already...vandhuttAnya vandhuttAnya!

ajithfederer

15th July 2009, 09:07 PM

Vaaamoss Rafaa :lol: :P

Plum/Others, FEI - Spain singam is the defending champion in Cincinatti.

ajithfederer

21st July 2009, 08:49 PM

http://www.rafaelnadal.com/nadal/en/news/article/rafa-is-back

JULY 21 | 2009
RAFA IS BACK!

Manacor, Balearic Islands, Spain

20th of July, 2009

Rafa is finally back training! It was the moment we’ve all been waiting for, especially Rafa and his team.

In what was a very light session lasting an hour and 15mins, the champion had a hit with his uncle and coach Toni Nadal. “It was just a quick training session, with no pressure to get a better idea of how he feels and on top of everything, make sure there is no pain,” said Toni.

“I’m very happy to be back training, get to touch a racket again and do what I love doing the most. At the same time, it was just a very light session, without putting too much pressure; just enough to see how I am".

“I still have to be very careful and I think within the next week and a half we will know more. Nevertheless, I’m still very happy,” said Rafa after the training session.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8XyjY0bItk&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Erafaelnadal%2Ecom%2Fnadal% 2Fen%2Fnews%2Farticle%2Frafa%2Dis%2Dback&feature=player_embedded
[tscii:e9ff263254][/tscii:e9ff263254]

ajithfederer

1st August 2009, 11:21 PM

[tscii:e3f68c58ab]JULY 29 | 2009
TVE: EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH RAFA NADAL
July 29th, 2009

Lorenzo Mila and Rosana Romero from TVE (the leading news channel in Spain) interviewed Rafa Nadal yesterday at his summer house in Porto Cristo.

During the show, Rafa spoke about his days away from the tennis courts, about his recovery, his return to the tennis circuit, but most importantly, how he is...

So how is Rafa Nadal?

“Good, the truth is that I feel good. But also, I have to wait and see how I continue to recover because I’ve only been back training for a week and a half and you always feel a bit better anemically. You start with lots of hope, but again, the real test would be to see how I go when I really push my knees and I think that is likely to happen in the upcoming days. So I hope it’s all good,” said Rafa.

What happened?

“What happened was that I was in a lot of pain for a while, when I came back from Miami and I was training in Manacor, I started to feel a strong pain, especially in my right knee. It was a different kind of pain [to what I’ve experienced before], so I took off the bandages in my knees,” he explained…”and everyone thought that it was because I felt great, but the problem was that it didn’t hurt there anymore, now it hurt in the superior end of the knee cap. And well, the bandages weren’t helping me at all and that’s when it all started to get worse, little by little.”

Video: Courtesy of TVE.

PART 1: (Below)

PART 2

Click in the header to read the full report!

Rafa said that he should have rested after Rome to play at his best in Roland Garros, but he wanted to play the Masters Series Tournament in Madrid, which turned out to be a big mistake. At the same time, he admitted that he had “been playing almost every day with an anti-inflammatory and I had too much pain to play well at both tournaments that were important for me, Roland Garros and Wimbledon."

"I decided it was best to stop and recover," because "you lose the drive to go back to train and compete, because you are not with the same energy, little by little it destroys you," he explained.

According to Rafa, it is "knowing how to overcome difficult situations or face them with a positive mindset and learn to enjoy suffering," that has kept him going. "It is a virtue that I’ve always had, I like to suffer, I have learned to enjoy suffering and I believe that is what helps me."

At the same time, the support and love he has received from his fans and family has been the one highlight out of this painful experience. “Without doubt, the best memory in the last two months has been the support I have received from everyone. From my website, where they’ve sent me tons of messages. I have nothing but gratitude for their gesture”.

So what has Rafa been doing in the last two months?

"I have spent more hours on the couch these past two months than in the past four years", he confessed.

This time away from competition has also allowed Rafa to follow other aspects of the sport today, politically and economically, "I've been able to follow many things, to see how colleagues have won some very important things, such as Contador at the Tour of France, or Pau Gasol in the NBA when he won 'the ring'. Of course I'm interested in the [economic] crisis and also in politics, but I never like to talk about those things".

The four-time Roland Garros champion said that his "dream" is to return to the ATP for the August 9 start of the Montreal Masters Series event, "I would like to come back in Montreal in a week and a half. I [will] have to force the knees and just see how far I can go."

"My main objective is not to regain the number one ranking. My main goal is to be well and happy to be playing tennis," Rafa said.

"I’m mentally ready to return now!"

Vamos Rafa!

Part 1 : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ym7-2skp7Ek&eurl=http://www.rafaelnadal.com/nadal/en/home&feature=player_embedded
.
Part 2 : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPKGiwd7R0M

http://www.rafaelnadal.com/nadal/en/news/article/rafa-interview-on-tve[/tscii:e3f68c58ab]

Balaspike

2nd August 2009, 08:58 AM

"Singam kalam yerungidutchu" :cheer:

Rafaels back may trouble fed-ex for the remaining season

wrap07

29th August 2009, 11:00 AM

It is quite unfortunate that Rafa is beset with knee issues when he was appearing to dominate the circuit. He should get back to form and make matches more interesting. it is good that he is taking things slowly and not pushing himself too much. For a player who used to cover the court and reach for his shots at will, he seem to be going through his routine carefully.

ajithfederer

14th September 2009, 12:16 AM

Nadal has to wait another year to achieve Career slam. It's fair to say that Del potro absolutely dominated Nadal. Good luck next year Rafa.

wrap07

16th September 2009, 10:24 AM

Another repeat year for nadal at US open. quite an onesided match with del porto all the way.

ajithfederer

15th February 2010, 01:22 AM

his uncle toni said: "he was brought up to realize: our problems are small compared to those suffering in africa or other parts of the world...to have a bad face if you lose in tennis is not allowed..you are not so good that you can do that...it is not as if you discovered a miracle medical cure to help people like albert schweitzer"

nadal's uncle toni said: "Rafa is very easy to work with..whatever i say..he bows his head and listens quietly and without complaint he works..i have never see him throw his racquet in frustration..he takes care of his things carefully because he knows there are others that can not even afford a pair of shoes..it is a joy to work with him".

about crying: his uncle toni said: "the only time he cried in a loss was in the locker room in wimbledon: I told him to stop, it was only a game..and he said: "but Tio Toni,,it might have been my ONLY chance to win wimbledon"....

Nadal: I talk with (coach) Toni before the match and he told me: 'You have to be there. You have to be there. Believe on the victory for the whole time. Repeat to yourself the whole time the same - you have to win, you have to win'."

"I love to win," he said.

"I love the competition. Not only in tennis, I love the competition in all aspects of life.

"When I compete, I love to be there and fight for win. Maybe I love more the fight to win, than (to) win."

"If you lose your illusion to improve, you are over, no? If one day I lose the illusion to improve, I'm going to go back home and have a boat and fish," he said.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iK3y7gpX2kQ&feature=related

From the best Tennis match ever :notworthy:.

tamizharasan

16th February 2010, 08:52 PM

Nadal is a great fighter and great tennis player. I hope he comes back with his best tennis. He once told in his site, if he has to retire today, still he would be happy, because he did several things which others did not have chance to do in Tennis. Great way of living life.

ajithfederer

1st March 2010, 12:05 AM

Practice going well. I'll be back in Indian Wells for sure | Van bien los entrenos. Estare seguro en Indian Wells

http://www.facebook.com/#!/Nadal?ref=ts

Plum

1st March 2010, 12:08 AM

Nadal, nI pazhaya panneerselvamA thirumbi varaNum!

Plum

1st March 2010, 12:08 AM

Nadal, nI pazhaya panneerselvamA thirumbi varaNum!

ajithfederer

8th March 2010, 05:27 AM

[tscii:879b4e48c6]Viajo mañana para Indian Wells / I am traveling tomorrow to Indian Wells. [/tscii:879b4e48c6]

tamizharasan

9th March 2010, 10:18 PM

[tscii:f69b778402]Viajo mañana para Indian Wells / I am traveling tomorrow to Indian Wells. [/tscii:f69b778402]

To watch tennis?

ajithfederer

9th March 2010, 10:22 PM

:lol:

Velayadaradhukkungaa!!!

[tscii:fcc7a2c8fb]Viajo mañana para Indian Wells / I am traveling tomorrow to Indian Wells. [/tscii:fcc7a2c8fb]

To watch tennis?

tamizharasan

10th March 2010, 03:28 AM

:lol:

Velayadaradhukkungaa!!!

[tscii:079da6904a]Viajo mañana para Indian Wells / I am traveling tomorrow to Indian Wells. [/tscii:079da6904a]

To watch tennis?

I was curious because I know you live in Philly. Are you travelling all the way to Indian wells to watch tennis? You are such a die-hard fan of tennis?

ajithfederer

10th March 2010, 04:06 AM

TA, I must have been clear in my earlier posts. See the first post's subject. That message "travellin 2 indian wells ..." was posted by nadal in his facebook acct. Refer the subj of that post.

tamizharasan

10th March 2010, 09:31 PM

TA, I must have been clear in my earlier posts. See the first post's subject. That message "travellin 2 indian wells ..." was posted by nadal in his facebook acct. Refer the subj of that post.

Ok. I got it . Sorry for the confusion.

Aalavanthan

18th March 2010, 04:10 AM

http://i39.tinypic.com/5becyf.jpg

Master.. Pls enable this .. I took this during Chennai Open 2008 I think when he played that marathon match with Carlos Moya that lasted for almost 4 hours in which Nadal won and eventually lost to Mikhail Youzhny in the finals due to injury

ajithfederer

19th April 2010, 01:34 AM

Rafaaaa :clap: :clap: :clap: :bow: :bow:

Claims the 6th consecutive Monte Carlo Master's 1000 title today with a crushing 6-0 6-1 win over Verdasco.

Roger and other guys in the clay tour. Watchout.

omega

19th April 2010, 05:29 AM

After about 11 months the title drought ends for Nadal.
Looks like he is back, expecially the way he crushed his opponents both in SF (Ferrer) & F (Verdasco). Lots of points to grab & defend.

ajithfederer

28th April 2010, 12:14 AM

http://www.rafaelnadal.com/

An all new website. Thambi opening boto-vae pinkkk kalaru sattai pottirukku :oops:

ajithfederer

30th April 2010, 08:55 PM

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/photo.php?pid=4073962&id=64822581025

With Totti. A great player. I was really happy to meet him yesterday. He came with other Roma players to watch my match against Hanescu. Many thanks

ajithfederer

17th May 2010, 07:58 PM

Rafa has won 18 Masters 1000 Title. A new world record never before reached in Men's Tennis History.

Rafa has now won all the three Masters 1000 events in clay this year.

Rafa is now the World Number 2 ranked player.

:clap:

VinodKumar's

17th May 2010, 08:06 PM

AF,

Ippo recent ah nadantha match la Fed out ah :huh:

ajithfederer

17th May 2010, 08:06 PM

Yes he lost to rafa on clay again yesterday.

VinodKumar's

17th May 2010, 08:08 PM

Yes he lost to rafa on clay again yesterday.

:cry:

// Neenga enga papinga intha match lam ? TV or Online ?

ajithfederer

17th May 2010, 08:09 PM

Online.

www.channelsurfing.net

VinodKumar's

17th May 2010, 08:11 PM

Online.

www.channelsurfing.net

:ty:

Plum

17th May 2010, 08:21 PM

ArambichuttAnyA ArambichuttAnyA!

indha varusham Fed kOttai thagarka padum. I thought Fed will beat Nadal in atleast one FO final and make amends for Wim 08. adhu nadakkadhu nadakkadhu :(

ajithfederer

17th May 2010, 08:40 PM

http://www.atpworldtour.com/News/DEUCE-Tennis/Nadal-Masters-1000.aspx

Nadal fans enjoy. There is a special page of tribute in atp website to celebrate Nadal's achievements.

Rocky89

18th May 2010, 09:36 AM

:clap: :notworthy:

Prabo

18th May 2010, 05:46 PM

http://www.atpworldtour.com/News/DEUCE-Tennis/Nadal-Masters-1000.aspx

Nadal fans enjoy. There is a special page of tribute in atp website to celebrate Nadal's achievements.

:2thumbsup:

Spain singam is now back to form

MADDY

18th May 2010, 05:59 PM

:clap: :notworthy:

:2thumbsup:

Spain singam is now back to form

oh i have company then :D

Feddy(HUB) thanks for updates :bow:

Yuvi

18th May 2010, 09:11 PM

:clap: :notworthy:

:2thumbsup:

Spain singam is now back to form

oh i have company then :D

Feddy(HUB) thanks for updates :bow:

+1

MADDY

19th May 2010, 05:19 PM

super yuvi :clap:

i want Nadal to win french open and wimbledon - come on rafa..........his injury was scary but he has come out of it :D

Plum

19th May 2010, 05:27 PM

me also kamaan Rafael kamaan Rafael :-)

ajithfederer

19th May 2010, 08:49 PM

Enjoy folks (http://i45.tinypic.com/15dgzk.jpg)

LM, Pleas upload .

littlemaster1982

19th May 2010, 08:50 PM

[html:177f4ed1cd]http://i45.tinypic.com/15dgzk.jpg[/html:177f4ed1cd]

ajithfederer

19th May 2010, 08:59 PM

Thanks LM.

MADDY

20th May 2010, 03:01 PM

thanks Feddy and LM :clap:

thanks Plum for your support :)

kid-glove

20th May 2010, 03:12 PM

me also kamaan Rafael kamaan Rafael :-)

I thought Fed will beat Nadal in atleast one FO final and make amends for Wim 08. adhu nadakkadhu nadakkadhu :(

MADDY

20th May 2010, 06:35 PM

me also kamaan Rafael kamaan Rafael :-)

I thought Fed will beat Nadal in atleast one FO final and make amends for Wim 08. adhu nadakkadhu nadakkadhu :(

ellam yemanukku theriyum :P

omega

20th May 2010, 07:25 PM

ajithfederer

20th May 2010, 10:00 PM

Del Potrokku wrist injurynnu nenaikuren omega. He may not play French and even wimbly.

tamizharasan

20th May 2010, 10:19 PM

tamizharasan

20th May 2010, 10:20 PM

Del Potrokku wrist injurynnu nenaikuren omega. He may not play French and even wimbly.
even us open.
http://www.wimbledon.org/tennisnews/article_N0015071274298996353A.html

omega

21st May 2010, 03:54 AM

Del Potrokku wrist injurynnu nenaikuren omega. He may not play French and even wimbly.

I know. Thats what I meant, literally guys who gained immense form during last year end & early this year in the likes of DelP, DavyD & Murray all are not in the picture (either due to injury in case of the former two & lack of confidence in the case of later). These 3 could have posed a big challenge for both Nadal & Roger at this time. It looks like a comfortable ride for Nadal atleast (Ohm Soderlingaaya namahaa). In the case of Roger, he is a different animal when it comes to 5 setter tournaments (aka GS).

leosimha

24th May 2010, 04:09 PM

Nadal lost to Soderling last year french open as his knee injury aggravated...

but Nadal has to go past Lyeton Hewitt (last 16 I guess) as he is a good clay court player...but it will be a cakewalk for Nadal....

leosimha

24th May 2010, 04:12 PM

So another Nadal vs Federer match in the Finals? :)

Plum

24th May 2010, 04:36 PM

ArambichuttAnyA ArambichuttAnyA!

indha varusham Fed kOttai thagarka padum. I thought Fed will beat Nadal in atleast one FO final and make amends for Wim 08. adhu nadakkadhu nadakkadhu :(

It may be the other way around. Nadal could wrest both FO (given)
& Wimbledon to go 2 up. It could be close to 2008 for Nadal (replacing AO by USO would be tough though). Amazing to see how there is literally no competition for Nadal (barring Soderling). With the form they gained by last year end, I thought Murray, Davydenko & DelP should have a very good chance in dirt season. Now we could appreciate the consistency of both Roger & Rafa (if not for his knee problem) more than ever.

Del Petro would have been bigger threat to nadal than Federer because of the match up on clay. Unfortunately del petro won't defend his us Open. He is out until after us open.

Not sure. Roger is Rafa's greatest threat and even he hasnt been good enough against Nadal. I think Nadal's injury beat him as much as Soderling last year.

To be frank, I thought that the injury was inevitable given Nadal's gruelling game and that he will never be the same force again after injury but looks like he has come back stronger than before. I wont be surprised if he goes on from here to dislodge Federer from every record that Fed holds.

leosimha

26th May 2010, 02:10 PM

Roger being Rafa's greatest THREAT on CLAY COURT!!! Now that is shocking and surprising for anyone.....

Nadal is in good shape right now...but he bit of struggled to win the 1st round against minnow MINA.....

but hope NADAL picks up his game.....

ajithfederer

30th May 2010, 11:40 PM

Roger's still better, says Nadal
AFP, May 30, 2010, 02.04am IST

PARIS: Four-time champion Rafael Nadal swept into the French Open fourth round on Saturday but insists he still has a long way to go before he can be compared to world number one Roger Federer.

The Swiss maestro completed his Grand Slam trophy collection by winning at Roland Garros last summer and Nadal says his own achievements simply do not match up.

"If someone says I'm better than Roger, I think they know nothing about tennis," Nadal said after beating former world number one Lleyton Hewitt 6-3, 6-4, 6-3 to join Federer in the fourth round. :clap: :clap:

"You see his titles, you see my titles. There's no comparison.

"It's difficult to compare Roger with me right now. He has 16 Grand Slams, I have six. Roger's records might be impossible to beat."

Despite Federer's more tightly-packed trophy cabinet, Nadal has a 14-7 head-to-head record against his rival and has won six of their last seven encounters.

The 24-year-old Mallorca man, however, believes that is indicative of nothing more than the Spaniard's famed ability on clay.

"I am number two in the world for five years now," he said.

"I think I am a good number two. Sure, I can beat him, number two can beat number one. I can beat him, but I beat him a lot of times on clay. I've played with him more times on clay than on the rest of the surfaces." :yes: :exactly:

In a quirk of fate, Spain and Switzerland have been drawn in the same group at this summer's football World Cup in South Africa.

The sides kick off their Group H campaigns against each other on June 16 and Nadal is certain the match in Durban will allow him to get one over on his old rival.

"Here we are better," he joked when asked for a match prediction. "There's no comparison."

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/events-tournaments/2010-french-open/top-stories/Rogers-still-better-says-Nadal/articleshow/5989846.cms

[tscii:f67b7a1893][/tscii:f67b7a1893]

leosimha

2nd June 2010, 03:30 PM

Nadal vs Almagro...will be a real treat today....

Plum

2nd June 2010, 04:21 PM

2010 French Open Champion Rafael Nadal-nu thread peyarai mAthalAmE.
(Maddy, this is not a prediction. This is resigned acceptance of fact :( )

leosimha

3rd June 2010, 01:31 PM

Nadal demolishes Almagro in 3 setter... 7-6, 7-6. 6-4

Nadal hasn't lost a set till now...

lets see how the semi-finals and .....finals..... go on for him....

come on nadal....

Yuvi

3rd June 2010, 04:43 PM

just had sometime to say

Go Nadal Gooooo..

:yes:

ajithfederer

3rd June 2010, 07:59 PM

:lol2:.

2010 French Open Champion Rafael Nadal-nu thread peyarai mAthalAmE.
(Maddy, this is not a prediction. This is resigned acceptance of fact :( )

ajithfederer

3rd June 2010, 08:53 PM

Birthday wishes to Rafael Nadal. :D. He turns 24 now.

leosimha

4th June 2010, 01:05 PM

Many Many Happy Returns of the Day to Rafa Nadal....The Spaniard.... :)

Rocky89

4th June 2010, 01:07 PM

Happy Birthday Rafa :D :thumbsup:

shajith1994

5th June 2010, 06:44 PM

Good luck to Nadal in the French Open final :thumbsup:

Plum

5th June 2010, 08:16 PM

Congrats to Nadal for winning the french open final. Ipdi sollaNum. Good lucklaam thiramai illaadavangalukku dhaan thevai. Nadaru paduthu kondE jeyipparu

Sanjeevi

6th June 2010, 12:37 AM

Congrats to Nadal for winning the french open final. Ipdi sollaNum. Good lucklaam thiramai illaadavangalukku dhaan thevai. Nadaru paduthu kondE jeyipparu

ethukkum quote panni vachukiduren

ajithfederer

6th June 2010, 09:54 PM

Congrats Rafa Nadal for winning the french open for the 5th time and becoming the world number 1 player again.

MADDY

6th June 2010, 10:40 PM

Rafa :bow: :bluejump: :bluejump: :bluejump: :bluejump: :bluejump: :bluejump: :bluejump: :bluejump: :bluejump: :bluejump: :bluejump: :bluejump: :bluejump: :bluejump:

world no.1 8-) .......

MADDY

6th June 2010, 10:55 PM

2010 French Open Champion Rafael Nadal-nu thread peyarai mAthalAmE.
(Maddy, this is not a prediction. This is resigned acceptance of fact :( )

2010 champion mattum illa saar - roland garros emperor-e enga aalu dhaan.........kettavan sir indha payyan.......btw, resignation accepted - u neednt give any notice period :P

Sanjeevi

6th June 2010, 10:56 PM

Nadal :clap: the undisputed clay court king :notworthy:

Plum

6th June 2010, 11:06 PM

Just one more year before he passes Borg for # of French Opens, right?

MADDY

6th June 2010, 11:06 PM

yeah and he is just 24 8-)

ajithfederer

6th June 2010, 11:08 PM

Borg is at 6 and Nadal will only equalize him next year(if he wins). To go past it will take 2012 atleast.

MADDY

6th June 2010, 11:10 PM

Nadal :clap: the undisputed clay court king :notworthy:

plus GS winner in all surfaces

Sanjeevi

6th June 2010, 11:19 PM

Nadal :clap: the undisputed clay court king :notworthy:

plus GS winner in all surfaces

angE 'undisputed' varAthu illa :P

MADDY

6th June 2010, 11:36 PM

Nadal :clap: the undisputed clay court king :notworthy:

plus GS winner in all surfaces

angE 'undisputed' varAthu illa :P

and we are not insecure abt it :P

Prabo

7th June 2010, 01:05 AM

:clap: :clap: :clap:

leosimha

7th June 2010, 08:05 AM

Nadal :clap: the undisputed clay court king :notworthy:

plus GS winner in all surfaces

:roll: he didn't win US Open still....then we can say that he has won on all surfaces.... :)

leosimha

7th June 2010, 08:06 AM

Rafael Nadal....the New World No. 1 in Tennis.... Nadal pola varumaa...

leosimha

7th June 2010, 08:07 AM

Congrats to Nadal for winning the french open final. Ipdi sollaNum. Good lucklaam thiramai illaadavangalukku dhaan thevai. Nadaru paduthu kondE jeyipparu

:shock: u predicted nadal will win French Open much before the finals happened..... Nadal mela avvalavu nambikkai....great Plum sir.... :clap:

MADDY

7th June 2010, 10:06 AM

http://i45.tinypic.com/1em2s.jpg

wrap07

7th June 2010, 11:09 AM

Nadal :D :notworthy: :notworthy: :clap:

Brilliant display. winning championship without losing a set.
Great comeback from what he was last year.
Unbelievable retrievals. Happy to see him back to his best. As he said, Nadal played his best in the finals and it was a treat to watch.

World No1 again :clap:

steveaustin

7th June 2010, 11:12 AM

Soderling no match for Five star Nadal.

Borg is at 6 and Nadal will only equalize him next year(if he wins). To go past it will take 2012 atleast.

If he concentrates on to equal Bjorn Borg, then he can't win the FO next year or even after that. If anyone can stop Nadal in clay, most probably it will be another spaniard. :|

Plum

7th June 2010, 11:21 AM

He is only 24! With atleast another 3
years of dominance looking imminent, mind boggles at what he can achieve. The first step to that would be to win wimbledon next month. Two years back, one would have sat back smugly and laughed at that thought. But, one must say Nadal should be #1 seed and favourite for Wimbledon now, although the conservative W committee is likely to install Fed as #1.

Maddy said Pete can breathe easy for the # of weeks record - for now. I think when Nadal knocks the door for that record, Pete will have no choice but to open it, for, otherwise, the persistent Spaniard will break it open.

This man can ally become the greatest tennis player ever, and what's more, if a statistical benchmark is thrown at him to prove otherwise, bet your pants that he'll hunt it down. Two years back, you would have caught me clutching my stomach in laughter if anyone said that. Not any more.

MADDY

7th June 2010, 02:27 PM

Maddy said Pete can breathe easy for the # of weeks record - for now. I think when Nadal knocks the door for that record, Pete will have no choice but to open it, for, otherwise, the persistent Spaniard will break it open

and to me, Nadal is the perfect candidate to beat pete's records though Pete himself feels otehrwise..........ive always felt Pete, andre were not just great tennis players but great men with heart of a warrior - each of them with one or other weakness and not as complete as roger yet achieved what they could...........IMO, Nadal is the only one in this generation with such a audacious will power......

to me, Nadal has severely dented the "greatest ever" claims for some time to come......

Plum

7th June 2010, 02:58 PM

Yes, he has sure dented the claim. Still, that's the charm of sport - everyone has their achilles' heel. The scary thought is Nadal doesnt look like having or acquiring one, yet!

leosimha

7th June 2010, 04:13 PM

if you look at Nadal's GS won... it is 7 ( 5 FO + 1 WIM + 1 AO)...so he will have to win atleast 3 GS per year like Federer to be described as GOAT....

leosimha

7th June 2010, 04:18 PM

The king of clay reclaims his throne

Jonathan Overend | 19:32 UK time, Sunday, 6 June 2010

And so Rafael Nadal is back ruling his clay-court kingdom and we shouldn't be remotely surprised.

To close the red-shale season unbeaten, with a perfect record from his seven matches at Roland Garros, emphasised his superiority on the slowest surface.

His win over Robin Soderling, in a dominant final performance, also emphasised that his defeat in 2009 - his only loss in six years here - probably requires an asterisk in the history books.

The 2009 Rafa, beaten by the Swede in the fourth round then to pull out of Wimbledon, was let down by troublesome knees and shaken by unexpected family issues when his parents split up.

He went for almost an entire year without a title - from Rome 2009 to Monte Carlo 2010 - but now he has won four in a row, three Masters and one major.

The barren spell was similar, in many ways, to that endured by Roger Federer from October 2008 to Madrid 2009. The Swiss predictably rebounded by winning the French and Wimbledon last summer and Nadal appears more than capable of managing the same feat.

Collapsing to the ground not once but twice emphasised the importance of this victory and the importance of the journey he has taken.

Nadal joined Bjorn Borg as the only man to have won five or more French Open titles. Photograph: AP.

We love to watch sports stars rise to the top and we love to see them dominate. But there is something even more addictive about watching a deposed champion scale the heights once more.

Was I the only one concerned when watching Nadal at the end of last year, giving everything at the ATP World Tour Finals but finishing bottom of his group?

Not writing him off, not saying he was finished, just concerned.

This wasn't the same Rafa. The same gusto, the same determination, but not the same Rafa.

Did he have doubts himself?

"Sure, I had doots" he admitted, with one of his endearing 'Rafa-isms'. "Everybody has doots."

But all doubts were banished at Roland Garros 2010, where he also reclaimed the world number ranking from Federer. We saw the familiar sight - as in Monte Carlo, Rome and Madrid - of Nadal dominating on the clay, bruising opponents physically and mentally.

His opponents threw everything - especially Lleyton Hewitt, Thomaz Bellucci and Nicolas Almagro, as well as Jurgen Melzer in the third set of the semi - but they didn't win a set between them as Nadal racked up his fifth French Open title and his seventh Grand Slam.

Robin Soderling ran him close in the first set of the final and the early exchanges of the second but even his head started to slump in the third. He clocked the inevitability as we all did, although impressively he fought to the end.

He had a terrific tournament, including one of the performances of the year so far to beat Federer in the quarter-finals, and I really hope he carries this form on to other surfaces.

Never beyond the fourth round of Wimbledon before and - get this - never beyond the second round of the Australian Open, a man with his gifts should be a major threat on all surfaces.

It wasn't a classic French Open but the enduring images will be of two likeable Europeans who couldn't stop smiling. And the glow created by the beaming faces of champions Rafa Nadal and Francesca Schiavone could have illuminated the darkest of nights.

Link - http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/jonathanoverend/2010/06/the_king_of_clay_reclaims_his.html

Dinesh84

7th June 2010, 04:26 PM

:clap: Nadal for becoming waeld nember 1..

we will meet in Wimbledon..

leosimha

7th June 2010, 04:33 PM

Rafael Nadal banishes doubts with French Open title

Highlights - Nadal regains French Open title

By Piers Newbery
BBC Sport at Roland Garros

Rafael Nadal said that winning a fifth French Open title had finally banished his own doubts about whether he would be able to return to his very best after a succession of injury problems.
The 24-year-old Spaniard beat Robin Soderling 6-4 6-2 6-4 to win the title at Roland Garros for the fifth time in six years, having lost to the Swede in last year's fourth round.
After losing his French Open title and with it the number one ranking 12 months ago, Nadal was then unable to defend his Wimbledon crown because of tendinitis in his knees, struggled with an abdominal problem at the US Open and then had to retire during his quarter-final against Andy Murray at the Australian Open when the knee issue resurfaced.
It was with that in mind that Nadal described his seventh Grand Slam victory on Sunday as "one of the most important".
He added: "I had a difficult year, and for some moments it was difficult to accept the injuries and everything. For some moments you don't know if you are ready to compete another time, if you are 100%.
"At the same time, sometimes it's a big frustration when you are in the US Open and you break an abdominal one week before, and you are in Australia and have to retire during the quarter-finals.
"So all these moments are difficult to accept. I was there all the time, and for that reason today is a very, very special day for me."

JONATHAN OVEREND'S BLOG
We love to watch sports stars rise to the top and we love to see them dominate. But there is something even more addictive about watching a deposed champion scale the heights once more

Nadal returns to the top of the world rankings on Monday, taking the French Open title from Roger Federer and with it the Swiss player's chance to match Pete Sampras's record of 286 weeks as number one, but when asked which was more significant he was in little doubt.
"I think that for me it's Roland Garros, this is the most important thing for me," said Nadal, pointing to the trophy. "When I was crying after the match, the last thing I was thinking was about the number one."
Nadal completed a magnificent clay-court season on Sunday with a 22-0 record that saw him win the titles in Monte Carlo, Rome, Madrid and Paris for the loss of just two sets, but he steered clear of suggestions he was now the best ever player on the surface.
"I'm sure that the numbers are unbelievable for me, I never thought I'd have the chance to win this tournament five times or Monte Carlo six or Barcelona five, I think, or Rome five," he said. "For me, that's more than a dream.
"When I see these titles and these numbers, for me it's amazing. I don't know how I did it. But first of all, I'm going to be very arrogant if I say for myself I am the best in history. Second thing, I don't believe I am the best in history. I try my best every day, and we will see when I finish my career. I not going to be the one who decides if I am the best or not. You maybe, but not me."
Nadal saved all eight break points he faced against Soderling and described himself afterwards as a "specialist" in that department, adding: "Today I felt great physically. I felt perfect mentally, too. My movement was much better today than the rest of the tournament.
"So I am very happy how I played today, because I played with very good tactics and the movement was at my best level."
Nadal now heads to London hoping to reclaim the titles at Queen's Club and Wimbledon that he was unable to defend last year.
"Winning here and winning the last 22 matches on clay is always very good preparation for grass," he said. "So tomorrow (Monday) afternoon I'm going to be practising at Queen's for not a lot of time. For 45 minutes. Maybe I will play doubles on Tuesday there to prepare and later I'm going to play, I think, singles on Wednesday.

Soderling met an opponent in exasperatingly good form

"I love this tournament. I love Queen's always. It's a different tournament because you play in a club. That makes the tournament very special."
And asked if he planned a party on Sunday night, a smiling Nadal said: "Difficult to have a big celebration if you have to practice tomorrow."
Soderling had to deal with being comfortably beaten in the final for the second year in a row, following his defeat by Federer 12 months ago.
"Losing a final in a Grand Slam is not great," he said. "It's not a great feeling. But, you know, I wasn't close in any one of them. I lost straight sets last year and the same this year. It's always tougher if you lose a really, really close match."
And Soderling had little in the way of insight as to why he failed to convert any of his eight chances to break the Nadal serve, saying: "I have no explanation why I didn't take the break points today."
He added: "The margins are very small. Of course I didn't play as good this year as I did against him last year. I didn't serve as well. I wasn't hitting the ball as clean.
"It was tough today. I didn't really get into the match.
"Rafa always plays kind of the same. He has more or less one game, but he does it so well it's enough to not lose a match on clay for a whole year, which is pretty good. But you always know what to expect when you play against him. I think in the beginning I was a little bit unlucky; I had a few break chances. I didn't take them, so then of course it was tough. I don't think it would have changed anything."
And the Swede was keen to bury once and for all the suggestion that he and Nadal do not get on, following an acrimonious match at Wimbledon three years ago.
"I said, I don't know, like 200 times or even more, I have nothing against Rafa," said Soderling. "I think he's a great player. He definitely has the chance to be number one for a long time if he plays like this."

Link - http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/tennis/8724908.stm

leosimha

7th June 2010, 04:37 PM

[tscii:0a8338b835]

THE RAFA RENAISSANCE

DEUCE
by Joel Drucker | 18.05.2010

© Getty Images
Rafael Nadal completed a historic sweep of all three ATP World Tour Masters 1000 clay titles this season.
Following a year fraught with emotional and physical challenges, Rafael Nadal has emerged with renewed hunger and heads to Roland Garros stronger than ever.

For most young men the teens and early 20s are a time of trial-and-error. That’s even true for tennis players. No less a man than Roger Federer did not ripen into full tennis maturity until the summer he turned 22.

Rafael Nadal was a great exception. Nadal was wise beyond his years from the get-go. At 15, he turned pro. At 17, he beat Federer the first time they played and became the youngest man to reach the third round at Wimbledon since the great Boris Becker. At 18, he helped pace Spain to a Davis Cup victory.

And yet, all that was prologue to his epic. At 19, not only did Nadal win the French Open the first time he played it – a feat not accomplished in Paris for more than 20 years – he won it the first four times he played it.

“For Nadal, life was nothing but trial-and-success”
Forget trial-and-error. For Nadal, life was nothing but trial-and-success, aided by tons of hard work and an exquisite competitive temperament. One year ago, Nadal held the titles at Roland Garros, Wimbledon and the Australian Open. Heading into last year’s French Open, to predict that anyone but Nadal would win Roland Garros was unthinkable, inspiring conjecture that he could earn a calendar year Grand Slam – and perhaps, better yet, remain immune to the laws of vocational and competitive gravity that inevitably affect even the greatest champions.

Then came the hiccup.

Gulp one: Robin Soderling ending Nadal’s 31-match French Open winning streak with a remarkable four-set victory.

Gulp two: tendonitis in his knee that forced Nadal to withdraw from Wimbledon.

And then, a cascade – pummeled in the semis of the US Open, forced to exit mid-match in the quarters of the Australian Open.

Weaving its way through Nadal’s on-court life were personal woes. Important as family is for anyone, in Nadal’s case, family was no mere component. Though Nadal’s father Sebastian and mother Ana Maria were often visible at his matches, their presence was minimal, showing none of the intrusive signs often shown by zealous parents of aspiring players. The tennis business of Rafa was left in the hands of another family member, his uncle Toni Nadal. Though a great many tennis players relocate, Nadal continues to base himself near his family in Mallorca.

But last year, Sebastian and Ana Maria were divorced. For anyone, traumatic. For a kindly Catholic boy such as Nadal, the trauma was exceptionally painful. In most of his public comments, Nadal is usually as frugal about revealing his inner life as he is in making unforced errors. Certainly he’s a friendly speaker, as earnest in his desire to improve his English as his tennis game. But again, it’s Nadal’s tennis that speaks most eloquently on his behalf.

In the recent case of his family, though, Nadal speaks quite candidly. Says Nadal, “My parents’ divorce made an important change in my life. It affected me. After that, when I can’t play Wimbledon, it was tough. For one month, I was outside the world. I am OK now, but you need time to accept. And it’s more difficult to accept when you are outside home and don’t know what’s happening. At least the injury gave me time to be with my friends and family.”

According to Allen Fox, an ex-pro and psychologist, “Going up is a lot of fun. Going down is not. So now we’ll see how well he can take it. But you can tell from how Nadal’s been his whole career that he’s a high quality kind of person and competitor.”

The poet T.S. Eliot once called April “the cruelest month.” Since Eliot died two decades before Nadal was born, he obviously had no idea that in the Spaniard’s case, the exact opposite is true. By early April of this year, Nadal had gone nearly a year without claiming a singles title. He’d taken off all of February while recovering from the persistent knee injury that had forced him to withdraw at the Australian Open. He’d lost in the semis of each of the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 events in Indian Wells and Miami, his attrition-based playing style vanquished by the more offensive-minded Ivan Ljubicic at Indian Wells and Andy Roddick in Miami.

“For one month, I was outside the world”
But even in defeat, Nadal’s innate optimism revealed much. Following the loss to Roddick, he said, “Yes, just keep working like this, keep improving. You know, two semi-finals in a row, first two Masters 1000 of the season for me is positive. If you are there, you gonna have your day. You're gonna win one day.”

Once he arrived 10 days later in Monte-Carlo, his attitude translated into action. For all Nadal has accomplished on other surfaces, put him on clay and it’s a whole other ballgame. On hard courts, on indoor, on grass, he must take more risk – and his opponents are rewarded for their aggression. But the tables turn on clay. As Tennis Channel commentator Justin Gimelstob says, “It’s all in Rafa’s favour. To beat him on clay you have to take chances – and for him it’s all about high-margin tennis.” Indeed, everything from Nadal’s superb movement to massive lefty topspin forehand and penetrating backhand makes him extremely effective on clay.

It was vintage Nadal in Monte-Carlo. Over the course of five matches he gave up a scant 14 games. His last three wins took him through the heart of his homeland. In the quarters he took out resurgent 2003 French Open champion Juan Carlos Ferrero, 6-4, 6-2. In the semis versus the formidable grinder, David Ferrer, Nadal raced to a 6-2, 6-3 victory in 75 brisk minutes. In the final he came up against Spain’s other notable left-hander, Fernando Verdasco. Off the heels of an impressive 6-2, 6-2 thumping of World No. 2 Novak Djokovic, Verdasco’s confidence was high. Nadal pounded Verdasco into dust, 6-0, 6-1. Said Verdasco, “If Nadal plays like this, no one will beat him.”

Having won Monte-Carlo for a record-setting sixth straight time – in the Open Era, no man had ever won any title six straight years – and earned his first singles title in 351 days, Nadal was elated. “When you win a tournament, very emotional tournament for me like Monte-Carlo, is a dream for me. Win sixth time for me is unbelievable. I never expect something like that.”

Two weeks later came another win at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event in Rome. Once again Nadal was thoroughly in command, only challenged by a three-set semi versus Ernests Gulbis. If Nadal had any pain, it certainly never revealed itself as he made his fifth run through Rome in the past six years.

The Rafa Renaissance continued at the spring’s third Masters 1000 tournament, this time in Madrid. A year ago, Madrid had commenced his undoing, most notably in the wake of Nadal’s four hour and three-minute long semi-final victory over Novak Djokovic. A depleted Nadal lost the next day’s final to Federer. But this time, the two playing each other for the first time since then, Nadal emerged the victor, 6-4, 7-6 to earn a record-setting 18th ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title – amazingly by the age of 23 (Andre Agassi won his 17th at 34).

In taking a 14-7 career lead versus Federer, Nadal displayed all the skills that make him so great on clay – not just speed and his spin, but also his ability to come up with great shots at big moments, be it an angled reply to a drop shot, a firm volley and yes, luckily, at match point a service return that took such an odd bounce that Federer wiffed the response. Said Nadal following the match, "Beating Roger is always a special occasion. It’s always a very difficult match. And of course winning at home is very special against anyone. So beating him at home is amazing; it’s a dream for me. For me it’s a dream to have won the three [tournaments] before Roland Garros. I want to enjoy that now and we’ll see what happens in two weeks.”

The word international TV commentator Robbie Koenig created to describe what the Spaniard does on clay is, “Phenomi-Nadal.” As Nadal sees it, “I think is more important than the surface is the tactic on court. You have more chances. You can attack, you can defend. Is important to be very regular. Is very important don’t have a lot of mistakes. No mistakes when you are offensive and no mistakes when you are defensive.”

“People say he was so great two years ago… I think he is playing better now”
According to Ferrer, his victim in the Rome finals, “What happens depends on Rafa, not me. He never seems to miss, he never gives you free points. People say he was so great two years ago… But I have played him twice in the past few weeks and I think he is playing better now.”

And now, Nadal’s confidence boosted once again by a flawless spring on the clay courts, he arrives at Roland Garros primed for a first: the hunger for redemption, to recapture a throne he held – and lost to a man with whom he has a history of competitive tennis and emotional rancor. Says Nadal of last year’s Roland Garros loss, “I played with less calm. One of the reasons was the pain in the knees. And I was down because of the divorce. Soderling played really well and he beat me. But I wasn’t ready, mentally or physically.”

This year it’s quite different. Nadal has come through the most challenging period not just of his career but of his life. There has been the pain in his body and even deeper, the pain in his heart. But once again he has drawn on a vast resource – his work ethic, the drive of his Uncle Toni and most of all, his distinctive positive energy – to redirect himself back into the thick of things.

The philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “If you strike a king, you must kill him.” Having been struck – but not killed – in 2009, the king of clay is more ravenous than ever.
[/tscii:0a8338b835]

Link - http://www.atpworldtour.com/News/DEUCE-Tennis/DEUCE-May-2010/Rafael-Nadal.aspx

raghavendran

8th June 2010, 07:35 AM

nadal is the best in clay court...innum evvolo jeippano :roll: 8-)

MADDY

6th July 2010, 02:18 PM

exceptional guy with exceptional will power - its sheer grit and will power

leosimha

6th July 2010, 03:07 PM

HE NEVER GIVES UP......I recently read an article which says that the people of SPAIN backing and wanting NADAL to WIN more than the FOOTBALL CUP... :shock: The people watch NADAL play only because of he never gives up and his grit and will power.... And now they want the SPANISH FOOTBALL TEAM to win the World Cup 2010 by never giving up.....even if they are down....

wrap07

6th July 2010, 03:44 PM

1 Nadal, Rafael (ESP) 10,745
2 Djokovic, Novak (SRB) 6,905
3 Federer, Roger (SUI) 6,885

8-) :clap:

leosimha

6th July 2010, 03:52 PM

Nadal way ahead in points... :clap: :cool:

Irene Hastings

6th July 2010, 03:57 PM

leosimha

6th July 2010, 03:59 PM

true, Irene. He infact goes on to say that Federer is still the best player. I saw it in one of his interviews. I was :shock:

wrap07

6th July 2010, 04:07 PM

He was also suggesting that andy would wimbeldon one day, rather sooner. He made it a point to mention that the crowd supported him also when he was playing with andy. He seems to quite popular at wimbeldon.

His self belief, and intensity to win and his agility is just amazing. :)

Plum

6th July 2010, 04:17 PM

Though Nadal dominates Fed, he never disrespects. Seldom passes loose comments on Fed. In fact, admires !

This Wimbledon victory makes me feel that Nadal may be a strong contender for the ever best tennis player . Even if it had been Fed Vs Nadal, I feel Nadal would have won the Wimbledon this year.

+1. He is not the GOAT yet. But he certainly can become that and eclipse Fed's achievements. Ofcourse, the beauty aspect can never be matched but you've got to give the devil its due :-)

leosimha

6th July 2010, 04:34 PM

A Beauty called Roger Federer was eclipsed by a Devil/Beast called Nadal. :lol: :rotfl: nice one by Plum.

Actually the media describes Federer as the Goliath and Nadal as "lesser" Goliath... :lol: :rotfl:

venkkiram

14th July 2012, 08:03 AM

Nadal vs Federer - Australian Open 2012 - Highlights

Footwork என வந்துவிட்டால் ஆண்களில் ஆகச் சிறந்தவர் நடால். ஆனால் ஒட்டுமொத்த டென்னிஸ் உலகம் என வரும்போது எனது ஓட்டு ஸ்டெஃபிக்குத்தான்.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfbgYxXJKjc&feature=related

MADDY

6th September 2012, 12:36 PM

http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/news/nadal-miss-davis-cup-semi-final-094416104.html

Nadal to miss Davis Cup semi-final

"I really want to be back competing and enjoying the tennis tour, but I have many years in front of me and my knee needs some rest," Nadal said in a statement on Monday.

positive note from Rafa...

interesting storm of a debate rages in webspace

Mark my words now, RAFAEL NADAL WILL NOT PLAY UNTIL DUBAI CLASSICS IN JANUARY. You can bookmark or save this page to confirm who told you so in January. He will miss the year ending masters series as well, still blaming the knees as not right yet...He is on a silent 6 months ban since, which was enforced since Wimbledon and ends in December. He will be back for the Dubai desert classics in January.

got from comments section

Plum

8th September 2012, 08:43 PM

BanA? Edhukku? ATP chairman thangacchi kaiya pudichu izhuthuttArA? Hilarious comment. pazhaiya pannerselvamA varadhukku practice nadakkudhu pOla. nichayama varuvaan(r). Many yearsA? Chilling to hear!

leosimha

20th September 2013, 07:56 PM

Time to revive this thread. :)

raagadevan

22nd September 2013, 09:22 AM

ESPN's SportsCenter commercial featuring Rafa Nadal

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=XOjpmsmJUqI

raagadevan

22nd September 2013, 09:25 AM

ESPN on Rafa Nadal:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0QCskuEWlI

raagadevan

23rd September 2013, 05:28 PM

Rafael Nadal vs. Andre Agassi [2005 Rogers Cup Final] Was a Transition of Tennis Generations

"It was a transcendent match, one of those moments in time when you witness an aging star make
his determined push to hold off a rising young superstar."

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1783460-rafael-nadal-vs-andre-agassi-was-a-transition-of-tennis-generations

Highlights of the match:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLxzvYoAtwc

raagadevan

27th November 2013, 07:06 PM

Nadal voted greatest ever Spanish sports personality

http://www.thehindu.com/sport/tennis/nadal-voted-greatest-ever-spanish-sports-personality/article5396591.ece?homepage=true

raagadevan

25th January 2014, 07:47 PM

Pete Sampras stunned by 'incredible' Rafael Nadal

http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/tennis/25893964

raagadevan

28th January 2014, 02:31 AM

Crowd's boos add to pain for Rafael Nadal, says coach (Uncle) Toni

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/sport/tennis/crowds-boos-add-to-pain-for-rafael-nadal-says-coach-toni/story-fnbe6xeb-1226811580453#

raagadevan

8th February 2014, 11:38 AM

In win-obsessed world, Nadal offered education in defeat

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.

http://news.asiaone.com/news/sports/win-obsessed-world-nadal-offered-education-defeat?page=0%2C1

Russellyhd

27th February 2014, 09:41 AM

http://sports.dinamalar.com/2014/02/1393435314/nadaltennisspain.html

நடாலுக்கு ரூ. 6 கோடியா

புதுடில்லி: சர்வதேச பிரிமியர் டென்னிஸ் லீக் தொடரில் ஸ்பெயினின் நடால் விளையாடினால், ஒரு நாளுக்கு மட்டும் ரூ.6 கோடி பெறுவார் என கூறப்படுகிறது.

இந்தியாவில் பிரிமியர் கிரிக்கெட் தொடர் வெற்றிகரமாக நடந்து வருகிறது. இதே முறை ஹாக்கி, பாட்மின்டனிலும் புகுத்தப்பட்டது. தற்போது, இதில் டென்னிசும் இணையுள்ளது. இத்தொடர் பாங்காங், கோலாலம்பூர், மும்பை, சிங்கப்பூர், ஹாங்காங் உள்ளிட்ட 5 இடங்களில் நடக்கவுள்ளது. இதற்கு சர்வதேச பிரிமியர் (ஐ.பி.டி.எப்.,) டென்னிஸ் லீக் என பெயரிடப்பட்டுள்ளது. இதன் அறிமுக தொடர் வரும் நவ.,28 முதல் டிச., 20 வரை அரங்கேறவுள்ளது. வீரர்களுக்கான ஏலம் வரும் 2ம் தேதி நடக்கிறது. இந்நிலையில், ‘நம்பர்–1’வீரர் மற்றும் 13 கிராண்ட்ஸ்லாம் பட்டம் வென்ற ஸ்பெயினின் ரபெல் நடால், இதில் பங்கேற்க ஆர்வமாக உள்ளாராம்.

ஒருவேளை, நடால் விளையாடினால் ஒரு நாளுக்கு மட்டும் சுமார் ரூ.6 கோடி சம்பளமாக பெறுவார். தவிர, சுவிட்சர்லாந்தின் ரோஜர் பெடரர், இங்கிலாந்தின் ஆண்டி முர்ரேவும் பங்கேற்க வாய்ப்பு உள்ளது.

பெண்கள் பிரிவில் முன்னணி வீராங்கனைகளான பெலாரசின் அசரன்கா, டென்மார்க்கின் வோஸ்னியாக்கி உள்ளிட்டோரும் இதில் கலந்து கொள்வர் என நம்பப்படுகிறது.

raagadevan

27th February 2014, 10:06 AM

http://sports.dinamalar.com/2014/02/1393435314/nadaltennisspain.html

நடாலுக்கு ரூ. 6 கோடியா

That's right; an expected one million dollars per day/night!

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/tennis/top-stories/Rafael-Nadal-set-to-earn-1-mn-a-night-in-Bhupathis-league/articleshow/31047184.cms

raagadevan

27th March 2014, 09:25 AM

Nadal Wins Laureus World Comeback Of The Year Award

By ATP Staff; March 26, 2014

http://www.atpworldtour.com/News/Tennis/2014/03/13/Laureus-Awards-Nadal-Bryans.aspx

raagadevan

18th April 2014, 10:44 PM

Nadal admits lack of confidence

Reuters - ‎April‎ ‎18‎, ‎2014

Writing by Julien Pretot in Paris; Editing by Ed Osmond

Despite going into the Monte Carlo Masters on the back of another impressive unbeaten run on clay, Rafael Nadal admitted six weeks before his beloved French Open that he has been struggling with his confidence for months.

The world number one, who was knocked out in the quarter-finals of the Monte Carlo Masters on Friday by fellow Spaniard David Ferrer, sustained a back injury at the Australian Open in January.

"I don't have to lie to anybody. After what happened in Australia it was little bit harder for me to find again the intensity, the confidence, the inside power that I always have," said Nadal after a 7-6(1) 6-4 defeat by Ferrer ended his 30-match winning run on clay.

Nadal made an uncharacteristic 44 unforced errors against Ferrer on centre court, failing to find the right length as Ferrer never released his grip.

Asked if a back problem was responsible for his under-par performance, he replied: "No, no, the back is not an excuse.

"No, the back is in good shape. The physical performance is fine. No problem about that."

After losing the Australian Open final to Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka, Nadal won the Rio de Janeiro tournament on clay before being eliminated in the third round of the Indian Wells Masters and losing in the final of the Miami Masters to Novak Djokovic.

"Even if I won Rio, I played the final in Miami, it remains something in my mind and in my game," said Nadal.

"I'm going to fight to try to find that solution soon."

Nadal plays in the Barcelona Open next week, a tournament he has won every year since 2005, apart from 2010 when he did not take part.

The French Open, which Nadal has won a record eight times, starts on May 25.

http://ca.reuters.com/article/sportsNews/idCABREA3H0H620140418

raagadevan

28th January 2015, 02:54 AM

"No, not 'so-so'; 'very bad'. You can say, no problem."

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/2015/01/27/rafael-nadal-upset-loss-australian-open/22388509/

raagadevan

3rd February 2015, 04:14 AM

Rafael Nadal: The Best Is Yet to Come

-By Andrew Prochnow; Bleacher Report, January 31, 2015

"Apparently it's time to write off Rafael Nadal...again."

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2349002-rafael-nadal-the-best-is-yet-to-come

raagadevan

5th September 2015, 11:06 PM

It just hasn't been Rafael Nadal's year.

By John Sinnott (CNN) - September 5, 2015

It just hasn't been Rafael Nadal's year.

The Spaniard crashed out of the U.S. Open in the third round after losing a five-set thriller to Italian Fabio Fognini at Flushing Meadows, ensuring Nadal will be without a grand slam win in a calendar year for the first time since 2004.

"The only thing this means is I played worse than the last 10 years," the 14-time grand slam winner told reporters. "That's the real thing. By the way, for me it was amazing to win 10 years in a row a grand slam.

"You can imagine how difficult it is to make that happen. I have to accept that it was not my year and keep fighting till the end of the season to finish in a positive way."

Remarkably Fognini came from two sets down to win 3-6 4-6 6-4 6-3 6-4 as double U.S.Open winner Nadal lost in a grand slam for the first time having been two sets up.

"I can't describe how happy I am," said the 28-year-old Fognini who will play Spain's Feliciano Lopez in round four. "It was very tough. To do it against Rafa, two sets down -- it was an incredible match," added the Italian, who had lost his last seven matches on hard courts coming into the U.S. Open.

World No. 8 Nadal went out of the Australian Open quarterfinals after losing to Czech Tomas Berdych, then was knocked out of the French Open quarterfinals by world No.1 Novak Djokovic, before being dumped out of Wimbledon in the second round by American qualifier Dustin Brown.

Last month two of the game's most successful coaches, Larry Stefanki and Nick Bollettieri, told CNN that Nadal needs a new coach if he is to rebound and add to his haul of grand slam titles.

They echo the thoughts of John McEnroe, although both Stefanki and Bollettieri -- unlike the outspoken seven-time grand slam winner -- wouldn't dispose of the services of Nadal's main coach, his Uncle Toni.

The 29-year-old Nadal is also helped part time by Francisco Roig.

"I just think Rafa needs to get a little bit of a different view point," Stefanki told CNN when asked about Nadal, who sports a 2-6 record versus top-10 foes in 2015.

"Not getting rid of Uncle Toni, either. I don't think that's a good thing. He should probably stay around."

Such collaborative coaching arrangements have led to success for, among others, top-ranked Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and U.S. Open finalist Kei Nishikori.

"I would bring in somebody that knows the type of game that Nadal has to play now to get back," said Bollettieri told CNN. "Maybe bring in somebody that hears all the gossip on the street, that knows what's going on. But I certainly wouldn't change the foundation."

Bollettieri added that Nadal's opponents have lost the "fear factor."

"What's amazing is that we the fans and coaches can't believe that Rafa is getting beat," said Bollettieri. "It's hard to understand.

"The biggest difference is that before when there was a long rally, you favored Nadal. That's not so today.

"The hard-court circuit is going to tell a lot. This summer before the U.S. Open, you're going to get a strong message of whether he can come back or not. Right now he's not the same Rafa. I'm hoping he can come back. He's a great credit to the game."

-Thanks to John Sinnott and CNN for the original article.

Russellbba

23rd November 2015, 06:08 AM

Lets hope, He comes back fitter and stronger, and reaching grand slam finals more consistently in 2016.

Some words of inspiration from Rocky Balboa, that I relate with Rafa

"It ain't about how hard you hit. Its about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward, How much you can take and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done"

Good luck Rafa !!

raagadevan

26th November 2015, 09:44 AM

Rafael Nadal Ignores Negative Press To Follow Behind Roger Federer And Novak Djokovic

http://www.kpopstarz.com/articles/258403/20151125/rafael-nadal-roger-federer-novak-djokovic.htm

[Uncle] Toni and Rafael Nadal to keep bond

http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/world/Toni-and-Rafael-Nadal-to-keep-bond-396371

raagadevan

12th December 2015, 11:04 AM

"I am a very good loser" - Rafael Nadal tells Times of India

In person, Rafael Nadal is pleasantly disarming. He is as affable, shy and polite off the court as he is aggressive on it. As TOI [Times of India] Guest Editor for the day, the Indian Aces star spoke on a range of issues... "And this year, 2015, was the worst. Yes, it's true, but in the end, I managed it more or less well to finish No. 5 in the world. I am going to try to be higher next year, yes. And I'll try to be play better next year. And I hope that is going to happen. My motivation is there each day. The motivation is the love that I have for this game, the passion and I'm happy playing tennis and the things that I am doing today".

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/tennis/top-stories/I-am-a-very-good-loser-Guest-Editor-Rafael-Nadal-tells-TOI/articleshow/50146932.cms

raagadevan

14th December 2015, 12:29 AM

Nadal inaugurates clinic in Delhi

-Slideshow; The Hindu, December 10, 2015

http://www.thehindu.com/sport/tennis/rafael-nadal-clinic-in-delhi/article7970347.ece#im-image-0

raagadevan

12th June 2017, 10:09 AM

Rafael Nadal Wins His 10th French Open Title, Dominating Stan Wawrinka

By Christopher Clarey, The New York Times - JUNE 11, 2017

It is surely time for a new favorite number for Rafael Nadal.

Once a very promising soccer player, he has long been partial to No. 9, which often denotes a striker, but it is the No. 10 that has kept bringing him joy and fulfillment this spring.
Nadal had already won a record 10th singles title on the clay in Monte Carlo and in Barcelona. On Sunday, to no one’s surprise, he did the same at the clay-court event that still matters most, defeating Stan Wawrinka, 6-2, 6-3, 6-1, to claim his 10th French Open crown.

The victory capped what could rightly be seen as Nadal’s most dominant performance at Roland Garros. He lost only 35 games in his seven matches and did not drop a set. The victory also ended a three-year drought of major titles for Nadal, who won his ninth French Open title in 2014.

“I try my best in all events, that’s the real thing,” Nadal said in remarks during the trophy ceremony. “But the feeling I have here is impossible to describe and difficult to compare to another place. For me the nerves, the adrenaline that I feel when I play in this court is impossible to compare to another feeling. Just for me, it’s the most important event in my career, without a doubt.”

Wawrinka, a powerful 32-year-old from Switzerland, had never lost in his three previous Grand Slam singles finals. He beat Nadal in the 2014 Australian Open and Novak Djokovic in the 2015 French Open and in the 2016 United States Open. But defeating a healthy, confident Nadal on the terre battue of Paris is still one of sport’s greatest challenges.

Nadal, a Spaniard, born, raised and still residing on the Mediterranean island of Majorca, is 31 now. A lesser competitor might have lost his edge long ago, but Nadal is still sliding after drop shots and throwing his body into heavy topspin forehands with the gusto of a younger champion.

Much has changed since his first victory at Roland Garros in 2005, the year of his first appearance in the tournament.

In 2005, Nadal was partial to sleeveless shirts and pirate pants. In 2005, Court Philippe Chatrier had no aerial camera traveling on a wire above it.
In 2005, one could stroll up to the entrance of Roland Garros Stadium with a ticket and enter the gates without being frisked or wanded for weapons or explosives.

The world is very different, but the men’s game has remained surprisingly resistant to change. Nadal’s career-long rival, Roger Federer, beat him to win the Australian Open at age 35 in January. Now Nadal has won another French Open, closing the gap with Federer in the standings for Grand Slam singles titles. Federer remains on top with 18. With Sunday’s win, his 15th, Nadal broke a tie with Pete Sampras for second place. Two-thirds of Nadal’s major titles have come at Roland Garros, where he has an astounding 79-2 record. His only defeats came in the fourth round in 2009 against Robin Soderling and in the quarterfinals in 2015 against Djokovic. He has never lost a French Open final, and his 10 victories in Paris make him the first player to win 10 Grand Slam singles titles at the same tournament in the Open era.

Martina Navratilova won nine at Wimbledon from 1978 to 1990. Margaret Court’s 11 titles at the Australian Open are the overall record, but seven of those came when it was an amateur event called the Australian Championships. What makes Nadal’s 10 titles in Paris all the more remarkable is that they came in a top-heavy era in the men’s game. Federer and Djokovic are excellent on the clay and, if not for Nadal, would surely have won more than one Roland Garros title apiece. Nadal has beaten great players, often beaten up on great players, to maintain his dominance. But if that dominance continues, one thing is expected to be different.

He has been coached since the beginning by his uncle, Toni Nadal, who gave him his first lesson in Majorca and has remained by his side throughout his career. But Toni announced this year that he would stop traveling with his nephew on a full-time basis after this season. Carlos Moyá, a former No. 1 and a fellow Majorcan, is now part of Nadal’s coaching team and is expected to take over the lead position next year. “Without him, not one would be possible,” Nadal said of his uncle on Sunday. Neither Nadal could have envisioned 10 titles when the pair made their first visit to Roland Garros together in 2005. They were both just delighted that the 19-year-old Nadal was in the event. Twelve years later, the tournament now belongs a bit to both of them. To underscore that, the French Tennis Federation made special plans for Sunday. At the trophy ceremony, with Nadal already holding the traditional Coupe des Mousquetaires, his uncle emerged from a tunnel bearing a second trophy: the replica that Nadal gets to keep. It had a different inscription. This one bore Nadal’s name and the phrase “La Decima,” Spanish for 10th.