Rafael Nadal made a confident start to his French Open challenge, swatting aside World No.100 Sam Groth in 80 minutes.
Video: Roland Garros
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Oh maria – why did u have 2 tell me about novaks trainers – that is hilarious! Only problem is that i’ll have 2 watch one of his matches now to check them out. Every cloud hey….it will be worth it
Hi teresa – thats right i think. It was towards the end of the match and fabio was having a go at rafa cos he was taking his time and being slow cos of his rituals but it was during the change of ends when they were seated. Poor rafa – but he beat fabio and i recall a very frosty handshake from rafa at the end. Poor rafa
Didnt watch the match maria just read something about his on court interview being in french to charm the crowds but dont think grand slams do the camera signing thing. I really hope they show rafas match on thursday – it will depend on whether any english players are on at the same time i suppose on our english channels
Hi chantelle , can’t remember where they were playing I just felt sorry for Rafa (have a feeling it was Uncle Tony’s fault coaching from the side) Fabio can be quite funny but could have been a threat to Rafa so I’m glad he’s out .will have to take a look at this video that Teresa’s on about though. What a surprise Novak speaking in French , did he draw a heart on the camera lens as well. Wonder if he get a special treatment as his sponsors are Peugeot and that advert shown when the tennis is on with him in it says peugeot official partners of Roland Garros. Hmmmmmmmmm
I think Djokovic has a gift for languages as does Federer. I must say, however, that he has lived in French speaking Monaco for years. Djokovic moved out of Serbia as soon as he started winning.
Hi maria – thanks 4 the update. I heard after his match, novak spoke to the audience in french and ‘suitably charmed them’. Eugh so transparent. And i notice that rafa always applauds his opponets when they are walking off when rafa wins. But the last time they played and fabio walked off rafa carried on packing his bag. Ooer. I also recall that ‘go away’ incident with fabio – was it hamburg last year? Poor rafa
If I remember rightly Rafa’s rituals were driving Fabio mad. He’s not the first. He was saying in Italian ‘always the same’. I think poor Rafa is a little sensitive when player’s make reference to his tics. This always upsets me when I see it.
Teresa, I didn’t mind him until I saw him play against Nadal and started going at him while Rafa was sat down .I felt so sorry for Rafa and he said to Fabio you get away , you get away ( have a look on YouTube it will make your heart melt) I thought it was quite funny when one of the commentators said Fognini struts round the court like a peacock( their not wrong )
I’ve seen that but that’s Fabio – typically Italian. They seem to be good friends. The funniest video is Rafa stroking Fabio’s bottom in the locker room only for his towel to fall off:))
Methodical warmup; greater challenges ahead-keep it burning!🇪🇸🔥👑🏆👍💪👏🐃🏆❤️
Rafa played ( and looked ) great today and good news that Fabio Fognini ( the pot belly pirate) has been knocked out so Rafa won’t have to play him. Novak Rafa’s coming for you , you have this Rafa your only obstacle is the weather conditions. Chantelle, an update for you Novak won (obviously) but after 2 sets (,yawn) I switched over . It was soooooooo boring Novak needs the big boys to make his game look exciting.The only fun thing about the match was Novak’s trainers, if you see him sideways on from a distance he looks like he’s. wearing heels
I’ve never heard Fabio described like that before LOL. He’s considered pretty hot! Fognini was no match for Rafa in their last match. As he said ‘I don’t need to play well to beat Nadal I need a miracle’. Gotta love the guy!
Fabio was off for some time with an injury and obviously enjoyed some pasta. He is getting married in early June. Some attributed his pot belly to getting married, but that has not happened yet.
Great match today Rafa played with confidence so just keep doing this in every match we will you all the best
VAMOS Rafa !!!
Vamos Rafa!!