On Friday, Rafael Nadal will play Italian Fabio Fognini in the semifinal at the 2017 Miami Open.
Date: March 31, 2017
Match time: 1 PM local time / 1 PM EDT – New York, Montreal / 6 PM BST – United Kingdom / 7 PM CET – Spain, France, Germany, Italy / Saturday 9 AM AEDT – Melbourne. To convert to your local time, use this website.
Rafa on playing Fognini:
I know him very well and he knows me very well.
We played a few times and he’s beaten me a couple of times, too. It’s a tough match.
He’s playing well, so it will be a good challenge. I need to play my best, keep playing aggressive like I did today and hope to have my chances.
Rafa leads his FedEx ATP Head2Head with the Italian 7-3, but the pair has split their past six matches. Their previous encounter in Miami was a one-sided affair, with Nadal recording a swift 6-2, 6-2 win in their 2014 fourth-round clash.
| YEAR | EVENT | SURFACE | RND | WINNER | RESULT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Barcelona Spain |
Outdoor Clay | QF | Rafael Nadal | |
| 2015 | Beijing China |
Outdoor Hard | SF | Rafael Nadal | |
| 2015 | US Open NY, U.S.A. |
Outdoor Hard | R32 | Fabio Fognini | |
| 2015 | Hamburg Germany |
Outdoor Clay | F | Rafael Nadal | |
| 2015 | Barcelona Spain |
Outdoor Clay | R16 | Fabio Fognini | |
| 2015 | Rio de Janeiro Brazil |
Outdoor Clay | SF | Fabio Fognini | |
| 2014 | ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Miami FL, U.S.A. |
Outdoor Hard | R16 | Rafael Nadal | |
| 2013 | Beijing China |
Outdoor Hard | QF | Rafael Nadal | |
| 2013 | Roland Garros France |
Outdoor Clay | R32 | Rafael Nadal | |
| 2013 | ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Rome Italy |
Outdoor Clay | R32 | Rafael Nadal |
GOOD LUCK & VAMOS RAFA!
My prayers and best wishes for Rafa…VAMOS Rafa!
Hi maria – are you ready for this? It’ll be good
Another athlete succumbs to injury. Rising Japanese star Joshihito Nishioka, who retired from his Miami Masters match against Jack Sock, is scheduled for knee surgery on
April 4. He sustained a tear of the Anterior Cruciate Ligament [ACL] in his left knee.
RAFA ROCKS
Such a shame, I really like Nishioka he is very respectful towards his opponents and fights for every point, kind of like a mini Rafa 🙂 I hope his surgery goes well
He said therapy right after surgery. Didn’t give a timeline. Bugger when any athlete is injured. They work soooo hard.
RAFA ROCKS
Vamos Rafa, Fogs should be done in two and after that it’s all out to get some sort of revenge on the Weak Era King. Boy, three defeats in a row, among them the most painful of all (Aussie Open), it is time to turn the tables!
Yes, I’m with you on weak era farm animal myth. But if that guy keeps winning slams and 1000s it will get harder and harder to argue against.
I even called myself “weakera” on another tennis forum, and it’s crawling with Fed fans.
Nick could beat Fed though, it’s not at all unlikely. I don’t think Fed has had a tough test since Rafa at the AO, which Rafa should have won. Wawrinka has some kind of weird mental block against Fed, his tennis “father.” An in form Djok would also beat Fed quite easily.
AO 17 is up there with the most painful losses to me. It hurt even more because I what I thought was right. Couldn’t sleep that night. Shut myself off from tennis for a whole month (but still checked Rafa news of course :p).
I was in pain for days/ Finally watched 5th set two days later. Tragic. He should have won that match, everything would be different, re GOAT, Rafa’s head.
Fed credits you for forcing him to change his game in order to progress. So-now
it is time to reinvent and innovate. We see your will to win- dictate and find your way! 🤔😠🤗👍💪👊👏🏆❣️
Greetings Rafa fans!
I’m a long time Rafa fan–upwards of ten years–and need a new place to post as tennis.com destroyed it’s otherwise lively comments section.
I watch his close matches with sometimes dangerously elevated heart rates and icy hands, and remember every close thrilling match for years to come. Best lately was Dimitrov semi at AO.
He should handle Fog just fine, if he plays as he did against Sock.
I have much more to say, but this is a test post.
Welcome, Rafalite. 🎾🎾💪💪😊😊
Thanks VY. And thanks for having this comments section and blog. You’re doing all Rafa fans a great service.
LOL, that was accidental.
OLA OLA OLA OLA & VAMOS DEAR RAFA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! : ) : ) : ) : ) Good morning! : ) Very happy for you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! : ) : ) 🙂 : ) : ) Congratulations on your fantastic victory and all your fabulous day to day happenings!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! : ) It is very beautiful outside & a great day for your beautiful Tennis!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! : ) : ) 🙂 🙂 : )
Very happy for you sweetheart and sending love & happiness your way !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! : ) Enjoy lots & lots of fun playing and have a fantastic time !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! : ) : ) : ) 🙂 : ) : ) It will be a great match for you !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! : ) : ) : ) : ) Vamos!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! : ) VAMOS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! : ) VAMOS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! : )
Just watched the highlights of Kyrgios vs Zverev, and WOW! Like Rafa Fan said, Kyrgios is growing on me. Them ridiculous tweeners! Of course I wouldn’t be so happy if he did that to our Rafa:(:( It’s good to see someone having some good fun while getting it done. This is already developing into a good rivalry, ie Nick vs Alex.
Anyway, Rafa better come out swinging against Fabio tonight! And if Rafa wins, bring on Nick or Roger- it doesn’t matter who this time, Rafa should be ready:)
Even though Kyrgios has been relatively well behaved throughout IW & Miami, I knew it wouldn’t be too long before he’d be up to his old “bad boy” antics. Absolutely no need to mimic Rafa – totally disrespectful and attention seeking at its worst. I sincerely hope that if Rafa meets him in the final, he will beat his butt! First things first, Rafa. Get the victory over Fabio!!!! 😄😄😄
Wow missed the match but we’ll done Jo konta!
Good luck Rafa keep going on win this title
Rafantastic- Enjoy the Rafa match tonight 😊 and we also have a great woman’s final to look forward to on Saturday Konta/ wozniacki . Both great players, one champion and another champion in the making. Good luck to both of them , may the best lady win. Jo win or lose you have made the UK proud 😂
Thank you Maria. – You too 🤗
Good luck to all of them 😃🍀
Sure is a lot of great tennis in sight 🎾💪🏼😍
Have a nice weekend everyone ☀️🌷
Come on Jo Konta, one more game needed to take your place in the final
Congratz Jo Konta, for reaching the finals as well 🇬🇧😊👏🏻
Well done Nick 😀but the Rafa thing not cool 👎take responsibility for yourself, no need to bring other players into the mix. We are all behind you now, don’t destroy that .
Good luck tonight Rafa, but you don’t really need that, your tennis speaks for itself 😘🇪🇸
Vamos, Rafa! Beat Fognini’s little butt! You can do it!!!!
Susie, Maria and everyone, are you being put off by the young boys?
I know their behaviour isn’t the most “exemplary” but I think they don’t mean ill either. It’s most likely they just react in the heat of the moment. I’m sure many of us also have moments like this in our normal, non-sportman life.
Tennis, often called the loneliest sport, is just so taxing both physically and mentally. In no other sport we witness as many outbreaks, facial expressions and body language as on a tennis court. So I always try to cut them as much slack as I can because, I believe, what we see on court is only a part of them, not who they really are.
Unless we know for sure someone is truly a “jerk”, which of course more often than not we don’t, I think we’d better off with just enjoying the game as much as we can, supporting our favourite players and having fun sharing with each other. We can dislike some players all right but I think it’s not very nice to judge or call them names.
So I think there’re still much hope with young players like Zverev an Kyrgios. They’re already treating us with great tennis. Give them some time to see how they mature, how they love tennis and channel that love to us.
As for Kyrgios, I will probably try to “investigate” that incident later (or maybe not as I don’t like to focus on the negative things too much). But at least for now I’m still cutting him quite some slack as I feel he’s quite the honest, interesting type; just doesn’t take himself too seriously even though he’s crazily talented. He may act rude or disrespectfully sometimes but he doesn’t mean it, even doesn’t think it’s rude.
Hopefully he can prove me right. The same with Sascha. The boy has heart, you can tell.
I’m exhausted now after too much tennis (and babbling). My enthusiasm now has much to do with Rafa’s comeback this year :-). You won’t believe how little I’ve been sleeping lately.
Sorry for wasting your time reading my nonsense. Have a good night and see you tomorrow “at” Rafa’s 1003. 😊😊
I’ve warmed to Nick a bit in the past months because he’s become more serious, but his rather unpleasant character continues to shine through, such as when he was berating the linesman repeatedly, even though at that point he was up.
He’s still a bad mood on a tennis court, even when winning.
The nicest of the young ones is Busta (always the Spanish, most well-behaved, it’s in their training) I like Thiem and Zverev too, Nick the least but sadly he is the most talented.
I saw this first time I saw him but it remained a question if he would get serious on the court.
Now he is, and a little more likable, but still, no-one i could ever really root for.
Rafalite, sorry for only reading your comments just now. And thanks for them. It’s nice having your here, really.
Nick, I think, has much more in him than he lets on. He’s still a kid, a troubling kid, inside out. Just give him some time. Isn’t it time is all we have? And our love for tennis too? 🙂 We have nothing to lose, and will only gain as much as we would like if he can turn it around and show us what he’s really made of. 🙂
How dare you call your fair reporting 👏👏👏👏 “nonsense.”
All too often I’ve read how tennis athletes especially have no way of releasing that pent up energy during a match [racket smashing] or after [Roger’s post AO breakdown]. These are just two examples of energy release.
The one act that I consider abusive and inexcusable is when Serena threatened a diminutive female line judge. I saw that live. Couldn’t believe it. That was flagrant abuse.
How many of us can honestly say we would never smash a racquet, or cry after a losing match were we in someone else’s shoes?
I don’t like Nole because I never did. Not a good reason, for sure. If I knew him personally I might like him. Yet he has been so badly talked about here, which is anyone’s right, but I just don’t get it.
I watched Roger break down after his AO loss to Rafa. How tenderly Rafa put his arm around Roger and tried to console him. Rafa had me feeling sorry for Roger LOL. Roger later explained that the emotional toll of the highs and lows of that match was something he just could not control. He is after all an emotional male, a someone like him few people are lucky enough to have in their midst.
I could continue but then I would have everyone sleeping 💤 through Rafa’s match.
RAFA GETS IT
Margo, thanks for your comment, and sorry for not replying it sooner. The traffic here on RNF has been quite stuffy lately, so many posts. I used to just sneak in to read and push the like buttons as much as I could LOL.
Now look at me, babbling like crazy at every match :p.
Back to tennis. I agree Novak doesn’t have a likeable “air” abt him, just like Fed naturally has an “superior” air abt him. But the way I see it, they’re the two biggest figures in Rafa’s tennis life (besides his team and family), and I love tennis, so I really want to get to know them better.
From what I’ve seen, and learned, quite a lot, they’re both decent guys with lots of heart despite being not very nice, even down right obnoxious at times.
In the process I think I got to understand much more about the dynamics between them. I don’t think I can ever really get Rafa if I just focus on him.
So for me it doesn’t matter whether I like them or not, as long as I still respect them and can admire their talents, seeing things for what they really are, not being clouded by my personal preferences, all is well with me.
It’s like a journey.
Abt Serena, did you know she loves Rafa? She couldn’t even stand watching Rafa playing Novak at RG SM 13 because she was too nervous! Just like us fans :P.
I think she’s all right, Margo. Not because of this. Just because of her own story.
Cheers. 🙂
Kyrgios was fiddling with his knee a bit during the third set. Hope he doesn’t pull out before meeting Roger again.
He WANTS that match, rafa fan. I can tell. I don’t think he will pull out this time unless his injury, if is real, is really serious.
Or maybe he wants Rafa to think he’s not 100%? LOL Think Nole’s antics, or Roger’s “groin pain,” this AO final.
RAFA ROCKS
MY fear exactly.
I think he could beat Fed, I think Fed’s actually quite beatable.
Not sure Nick can play his best in repeated matches against top players.
I thought his other withdrawl was suspect.
I think it may have been rafa’s serving ritual Vy but I’m not sure as I missed it. Nick won anyway and it was a good match despite all the drama on that dodgy call
I totally missed that part too, Susie. Not sure why. Maybe the camera angles on skysports were different as I didn’t recall the commies even talking about it.
From what I heard Nick is actually very nice to the ball kids. It’s his habit to tell them to give him the towel, not by hand signalling like most players that makes people think he’s shouting at them while in fact he’s just being unhappy/grumpy with his game at that moment. He always has that grumpy, sulky look on his face anyway :D. But both he and Sascha have a lovely smile. 🙂
Haha, great TB. Sascha won it finally.
Great play from both players. Great fighting back from Sascha. He’ll have momentum now. But if Nick doesn’t let it get to him he can still win this.
I’m pulling for BOTH now. 🙂
THAT lob is Back!!!
10-9 Sascha!