Rafael Nadal and Jaume Munar on Wednesday completed their pre-Wimbledon training on the grass courts of the WTA Mallorca Open. Both players are aiming to fully adapt to the natural grass surface before heading to Wimbledon.
During the practice, our champ appeared to hurt his left ankle. He had to take off his shoe and sock to check it out. Let’s hope everything is ok. Take care, Rafa!
Do you remember when Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer faced off in that historic 2008 Wimbledon men’s final? Or maybe you read the book “Strokes of Genius: Federer, Nadal, and the Greatest Match Ever Played,” by Jon Wertheim, a writer for Sports Illustrated and reporter for Tennis Channel.
Tennis Channel will premiere the documentary film Strokes of Genius, based off Wertheim’s book on Sunday, July 1, the night before the 2018 edition of the tournament begins July 2.
Watch the trailer here.
As you already know, this week Rafael Nadal is practising in Santa Ponsa, Mallorca where he prepares for Wimbledon. His mornings are reserved for hard work while during the rest of day he lives on his boat/yacht Beethoven where he can relax and enjoy fishing, sailing and diving. Our champ will travel to London on Sunday.
ARTICLES:
Q. After so many years and so many victories, what routines do you follow and which have you changed?
I always shower in the same shower stall in the locker room, the one furthest to the right; I also always have the locker 159. I haven’t changed much honestly. I have introduced some new things and what I do now may not be the same as what I did eight years ago. I used to get to training 20 minutes early, wrap my hands with bandages and move around a little and that’s all… now I arrive an hour early, I go to the gym, I warm up a lot more seriously. Routines change depending on what is required.
Criticism of Nadal on these grounds is obviously not valid. While he always peaks for clay, it’s not as if he’s given up on other surfaces. Over the last year and a half. Nadal has played 14 hard-court events, and 10 on clay. Since 2005, he’s missed Wimbledon just twice, and he plans to be there again in two weeks. Like Federer, Nadal has the exemptions he needs to skip every mandatory event if he chooses, but since the start of 2015 he has played 25 of 28 Masters 1000s and 13 of 14 majors. His 67 wins last year, including seven at the US Open, were the most he had in a season since 2013.
No GOAT candidate has ever been as dominant on any surface as Nadal is on clay. However, Nadal also has been successful enough on the other surfaces that he has a strong case as the best tennis player of all time. His success at majors outside of the French Open compares very favorably with anyone in the Open era — including Federer. Nadal is the unquestioned King of Clay, but taken as a whole, he is very likely the King of tennis as a whole. Long live the King.
“You can always improve something, and I think that everyone can improve. There is no limit. You never know where is the limit,” Nadal said. “If you don’t have the will to improve, you don’t understand the sport, because the sport is always about improving. That’s the meaning of sport. It’s playing with the dream of doing something better than what you’re doing before… When you’re not working with passion of doing something better, I think that sports will lose its sense.”
“I remember when he won the first time at Roland Garros, someone said to me ‘Rafa’s going to win a lot more of these trophies.’ It seemed outrageous to think he’d win 10 more after that but I can see how he’s managed to do that. He works as hard as possible; he’s always trying to lift his game to new heights.”
VIDEO: Rafael Nadal vs Dominic Thiem | Roland Garros
As you can see, Rafael Nadal started training on grass in Mallorca ahead of the third major of the season. Vamos Rafa!
Roger Federer overtook Rafael Nadal at the top of the world rankings after beating Milos Raonic on route to winning the title in Stuttgart.
Grigor Dimitrov climbed to the fifth spot while Marin Cilic fell to the sixth. Kevin Anderson remained in the eighth position, ahead of David Goffin and John Isner.
The current ATP rankings and point scores are as follows:
| # | Name | Nationality | Points | Tournaments |
| 1. | Federer Roger | Switzerland | 8920 | 18 |
| 2. | Nadal Rafael | Spain | 8770 | 14 |
| 3. | Zverev Alexander | Germany | 5965 | 22 |
| 4. | Del Potro Juan-Martin | Argentina | 5080 | 19 |
| 5. | Dimitrov Grigor | Bulgaria | 4870 | 22 |
| 6. | Cilic Marin | Croatia | 4860 | 18 |
| 7. | Thiem Dominic | Austria | 3835 | 26 |
| 8. | Anderson Kevin | South Africa | 3635 | 21 |
| 9. | Goffin David | Belgium | 3110 | 24 |
| 10. | Isner John | USA | 3070 | 25 |
Roger will need to triumph once again at Halle Open this week if he is to prevent Rafa returning to No.1 in their continuing see-saw battle. Even the runner-up spot and 300 points would see Roger fall 50 points behind our champ.
As the reigning Halle and Wimbledon champion Roger has 2500 points to defend in his two scheduled grass events, whereas Rafa has only 180 points.
Rafa is still #1 in the year-to-date rankings.
Source: ATP World Tour
(AAP) – Rafael Nadal will start preparing for Wimbledon next week with practice sessions on the grass courts used for the Mallorca Open, a WTA event in Spain, tournament organisers have confirmed.
After extending his record haul of French Open titles to 11 by winning Roland Garros last Sunday, Rafa withdrew from the Queen’s Club Championships, a key Wimbledon tune-up to be played in London from June 18-24. In announcing that decision on Wednesday, he said his doctors had advised him to rest.
The Mallorca Open courts will be played that same week in the small town of Santa Ponsa, located about an hour by car from Rafa’s hometown of Manacor.
Rafa is then expected to travel to London to continue his preparations for tennis’ grass grand slam event, which begins on July 2.
Source: AAP
