Rafael Nadal’s run at the Sony Open Tennis in Miami is over as he lost 3-6, 3-6 to No.2 seed Novak Djokovic of Serbia in the final. Win or lose, always with Rafa!
“I want to congratulate Novak and his team, he played an amazing two tournaments in a row,” said Nadal. “Winning Indian Wells and Miami is very difficult to do. In no other tournament have I lost this many finals, but it’s always a very special tournament for me. The energy and passion from the crowd is unforgettable.”
Rafa’s next tournament is the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters beginning on April 13th. Looking forward to seeing him back on his beloved clay. Vamos, champ!
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AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee
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Clive Brunskill/Getty Images North America
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EFE/EPA/ERIK S. LESSER
EFE/EPA/ERIK S. LESSER
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AP Photo/Lynne Sladky
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Miami (Al Bello/Getty Images)
EFE/EPA/ERIK S. LESSER
AP Photo/Lynne Sladky
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“I want to congratulate Novak and his team, he played an amazing two tournaments in a row,” said Nadal. “Winning Indian Wells and Miami is very difficult to do. In no other tournament have I lost this many finals, but it’s always a very special tournament for me. The energy and passion from the crowd is unforgettable.”
Source: ATP World Tour
+Hi Rafa: Sorry yu lost in this final; I was hopin you would experience a “Maiden Win” in Miami. Just have self belief and know you can win aginst any player. We all love you. God Bless You. Marylynn.
c’est le meilleur joueur du monde c’est un fait
LEAVE,,, RAFA ALONE HE HAS WON MORE TOURNAMENTS SINCE JAN;; 14, THAN ANYONE, HE IS NUMBER 1, SO NEG: COMMENTS DONT BOTHER TO POST, WE THE FANS ARE NOT INTERESTED HE IS A WELL ABLE TO CONTINUE HIS WINS, ON CLAY, OR ANY BASE THEY OFFER,
I didnt watch d game but honestly am tired of seeing Rafa lose 2 Novak in straight sets without much of a fight.I think he has 2 sort it out & play with confidence,like a champion against Novak.Rafa,i dnt want any more defeats 2 Novak,i want 2 see ur head 2 head with Soger repeated against Novak.Common Rafa,u’re d man & u can do it.Common,am so pissed & i hope u are too.We are not taking any more feeble losses. Vamos Rafa
I agree with Mitch. Also, I actually stopped watching early in the 2nd set – mostly because I thought Rafa was not playing well at all. Too patchy – not aggresseive etc. Depressing. He could beat Novak but has to change to hurt Novak. Rafa has to learn to play a bit like Novak to try and beat him at his own game since Novak has the right answers to counter Rafa’s game, his spin. The main thing though, I think is Rafa’s attitude. This thing that he can be beaten anytime – almost putting himself down – being too humble is not good. The Universe seems to be giving him what he expects of himself. Rafa must start to have very firm, strong and positive thoughts and beliefs about himself – without being arrogant. Next is Monte Carlo where I hope he comes back with a ‘killer instinct’ as honestly, Novak has come very close to beating him on clay – often and even won last year’s Monte Carlo tournament. Whatever it is, I will always be a Rafa fan – no matter what, and only hope that we see him rise to the heights that we know he is capable of and play fantastically. Good luck and vamos!
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I agree with Debby and Chandra. There’s nothing wrong with CONSTRUCTIVE criticism of Rafa’s strategy and tactics.
The bottom line is that against Novak, and only against Novak, Rafa must leave his comfort zone, play close to the baseline, flatten out his forehand, and hit consistently DEEP in order to keep Nole on the defensive. Rafa’s done it before – see 2010 & 2013 US Open finals – and he can do it again.
Tennis Channel had a graphic early in the Miami tournament that showed Rafa’s average ground-stroke hit-point at the 2013 US Open final – when Rafa beat Nole in 4 sets – was 0.5 meters behind the baseline. But, at the 2011 US Open final – when Rafa lost to Nole in 4 sets – his average ground-stroke hit-point was 1.5 meters behind the baseline. A one meter differential may not sound like a lot, but make no mistake about it, it’s a COUNTRY MILE in a Grand Slam final between two baseline specialists.
On a different note, if I had the chance, I would BEG Rafa to hire Mats Wilander as a part-time or full-time consultant, not to replace Uncle Toni & Francisco Roig, but to supplement them. Rafa would greatly benefit hearing from a fresh voice, and Wilander, IMHO, would be the perfect choice.
Rafa loss today was because he played too far from behind the baseline, no time to recover to get back to the balls which Novak was serving very good and volleys. Rafa is always a strong,competitive player, good exciting , thrilling and suspense matches.I’ll always love and support him win or lose Love from Toronto Rafa. Keep healthy and strong good luck in Monte Carlo!
EStoy de acuerdo con Luisa , los que admiramos y amamos a Rafa, lo seguiremos haciendo, pase lo que pase, Rafa es Rafa, “no matter what”.. Änimo Campeón!!!! , te amo!!
Nina Miolán, Sto Dgo, Rep. Dominicana.
It clearly wasn’t Rafa’s day, too many errors, but still a final is a good result. I hope he will get the mental edge over Djokovic back and dominate the clay court season 🙂
Rafa has done his best, which happened not to be enough today.
Now please correct me if I am wrong but
still he has made it to four finals out of the five tournaments he has played this year so far (Doha, Australia, Rio, Indian Wells and Miami). And he won Doha and Rio.
These are very positive results, and as Rafa observed on his interview yesterday, there were very important 600 points just for being In the finals.
Djokovic is a great person and a great player. Saying that about him doesnt diminish Rafa a bit. Vamos Rafa! ♡♡♡♥♥♥♡♡♡♥♥♥♥♡♡♡
Amor desde Latin America!
Sorry you took offense to my comment. I love everything about Rafa and I love his attitude. I was sad to see him lose, is that better? He was not hitting with confidence, it was an off day. I’m sure he’ll come out strong on the clay like he always does. If the only comments welcome here are “we love you Rafa” I’ll stick to that. I just finished reading all sorts of nasty comments about Rafa on ATP site. That was certainly not my intent, didn’t expect to get attacked here, though, so I’ll refrain from posting analysis here and will save for nadalnews.
Rafa still No I, records are made and broken, thats how it goes. Rafa keep smiling! Win or lose, we still rooting for you! Simply our GOAT!
So sorry Rafa, you can’t win them all. Still love you to bits and know you will win again soon!
Sera en el proximo encuentro!!! Te amamos Rafaaaa!!!!!!!
I love Rafa so much! I love how Rafa is playing!! Sorry for the loss of today!!!! All my love for Rafa no matter what!!!
Sad for Rafa. Please win Monte Carlo, we are all with you. Hate the commentators so pro Djokovic
agree you ^^
NO HA PODIDO SER, HAY MUCHOS TROFEOS, MUCHOS PARTIDOS, VAMOS RAFA.-
So sad to see Rafa seem so confused about what to do. If someone who knows nothing about tennis watched this match, they’d never know that Rafa is #1 in the world. He is too fearful of Nole (I mean we saw why but still) and the lack of confidence affects how he plays. So sad. And the first clay tournament is one that Nole broke his 8 win streak . . .
I don’t agree with you. This kind of comment is so negative that certainly has nothing to do with rafa fans and ours and Rafa’s attitutde. What is sad is to read a comment like yours.
I agree with you. It was very hard to see Rafa not playing his best. Hope to see him in a good physical and mental shape.