ARTICLES:
- Nadal Bids For 11th Monte-Carlo Crown In Loaded Top Half | ATP World Tour
“I always feel good when I am here, it is one of my favourite tournaments,” admitted Nadal, during the draw ceremony that was hosted by Zeljko Franulovic, the Tournament Director of the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters and the 1970 champion (d. Orantes). “It’s been a love story between me and this event, the people who run the tournament. I saw this tournament on the TV before I started playing here and always wanted to do well. These sorts of tournaments help me to wake up in the morning and to train and compete with a lot of passion.”
Nadal’s coach, Carlos Moya, told Spanish press the No. 1 was in good shape for entering the claycourt season he has traditionally dominated during his career. “He’s a little less confident, compared to the previous year, because he’s a player who thinks he needs a lot of matches to be good,” said Moya.
“But I think a player of his quality needs less the matches and more to be physically good.”
- U.S. Open Will Use a Serve Clock in the Main Draw | New York Times
The chair umpire will run the 25-second clock and will be given leeway to delay the start of it in certain situations: after a particularly long point late in a grueling match, in hot and steamy conditions, or if there is a fan disturbance, for example.
During the ATP Finals in London last November, Nadal made it clear he was not a fan of the new measures.
“I believe it is not something that is good for the future of the tour,” he told reporters, and added: “For me personally, I am not worried at all. I don’t want to play for 10 more years. I can adapt easily to that.”
Ten-time French Open winner Rafael Nadal is headlining AO International Tennis, one of the hottest tennis video game releases in years.
The top-ranked Spaniard and former world No. 1 Angelique Kerber of Germany play a prominent role in the game, made by Australia’s Big Ant Studios and scheduled for release on May 8.
- My First Challenger Title: Nadal’s Historic Victory In Barletta 2003 | ATP World Tour
“Challengers are some of the biggest tournaments too and it’s important to have this step before coming to the ATP World Tour,” Nadal told ATPWorldTour.com. “Everything was new for me in that moment. And then Monte-Carlo was the first big tournament that I played. I started to play Challengers at that time and won the title in Barletta. So I had a lot of confidence. I played against players that I knew very well from those Challengers.”
PHOTOS: Monte-Carlo Masters Draw Ceremony
VIDEOS:
- Five Great Rafael Nadal Shots at the Monte-Carlo Masters
- Rafa and Pablo Cuevas practising together in Monte Carlo
Let me see here: you won 16 GS and counting
French Open 10
Wimbledon 2
US Open 3
Aus Open 1
Looking for number 11 at FO.
Titles: 75 including
Monte Carlo, Barcelona, Madrid, Rome, Indian Wells, Miami, Cincinnati, Acapulco, Beijing
and the list goes on.
See, you don’t need to prove to us that you are a damn good tennis player. Don’t let everyone tell you otherwise/ Good luck in winning all of your clay tournaments and defending your points too.
VAMOS RAFA.
Rafa your practice is looking great,
and my love and prayers are all with you this week.
Love and prayers,
AlaineXXSydneyXXAustraliaXX
I especially enjoyed the 2009 Monte-Carlo clip vs Nole. To watch Rafa setting up shots during long rallies has always fascinated me; exactly when and where to hit a ball for a great shot. And he is still doing it.
RAFA ROCKS GREAT SHOT MAKING
[…] Continue reading Rafa Roundup: “Rafa is a player who thinks he needs a lot of matches to be… […]
If anyone can convince Rafa he doesn’t need a lot of matches to be competitive it would be Carlos. The challenge is to get Rafa to believe it.
Rafa, without any AO warmup matches, won 2 sets in his QF match vs Cilic before retiring, and he won his DC singles matches, also without warmups. Hopefully these wins has put a huge dent in his need for unnecessary time on court.
Wishing him a great clay-court season and beyond.
RAFA ROCKS
Correction 2nd paragraph: these wins “have” not has.
Vamos Rafa <3
Rafa the only is for you to be healthy to play tennis ,I hope this year is yours too .your fans love you vamosssssssssssssss champ and good luck🎾🎾🎾🎾🎾👍👍👍👍👍❤️🏸
That’s Rafa for you! Practice or competition, he rips the ball the same way. It’s funny seeing him so intense in practice, while Pablo Cuevas is calmly returning the ball. I think that Rafa has so much respect for all his opponents that he thinks needs a lot of practice and matches under his belt to feel fully confident. As his coach, Moyà knows best about Rafa’s form and if he thinks that being physically fit and healthy is more important than lots of matches, then i’ll go along with that. From what I’ve seen and heard from Rafa so far, he’s fit and eager to step on to that red dirt in Monte Carlo. Good luck champ!
ps: thank you for posting Rafa’s practice …..love the sleeveless gray…. white shorts…and backward hat : ) Great FH cross court corner shots!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! : ) : ) 🙂 🙂
VAMOS SWEETHEART!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! : ) 🙂 : ) : ) We love you dear Rafa and totally with you and support everything YOU feel and think before each tour….YOU ARE MAGNIFICENT ON ALL SURFACES and YOU HAVE DEMONSTRATED THAT OVER THE YEARS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! : ) 😉 : ) 🙂 VAMOS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! : ) YOU ARE NUMBER ONE PLAYER IN THE WORLD AND THAT IS BRILLIANT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! : ) : ) : ) : ) ONLY TAKE ADVICE FROM ANY COACH ABOUT TENNIS……NEVER TAKE ADVICE ABOUT ANYTHING ELSE…..THE COACHES WHO ARE THERE FOR YOU, DEDICATED AND DEVOTED WILL NEVER PUBLIC ALLY MAKE POOR NEGATIVE STATEMENTS PRIOR TO TOUR ABOUT YOUR READINESS LEVEL. IT IS NOT THEIR BUSINESS TO DO THAT. PERIOD! BECAUSE YOU DEAR RAFA TOP TOP TOP EXCELLENCE IN THE TRUTH SENSE OF THE WORD……AND GO RAFA GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! : ) : ) : ) : ) : ) : ) : ) : ) YOUR NUMBER ONE COMPETITIVE TOP RANKING IS NOT ONLY BEAUTIFUL AND ADMIRABLE BUT IT INDICATES OF YOUR BRIGHT SUCCESS, LOYAL TENACITY, BRILLIANT DETERMINATION, PASSION AND LOVE FOR TENNIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! : )
PLEASE GO BY YOUR OWN INSTINCTS AND INNER KNOWING. NEVER EVER PAY ANY IMPORTANCE TO OUTSIDE OPINIONS…NO COACHES…..NO MEDIA…..NO NOBODY….AND WHY IGNORE ALL OF THAT????? BECAUSE YOU ARE THE ONE PUTTING FORTH CLASSY TENNIS OVER MANY YEARS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! : ) So do not let anyone tell you anything about your confidence…..YOU ARE PRECIOUS & SOLID EXACTLY JUST THE WAY YOU ARE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! : ) 🙂 : ) : ) It is basic human instinct to question and reflect one one’s own performance and readiness before each tour….and PAY ZERO ATTENTION T…..drop hearing or listening to any BS coming from outside of yourself about YOUR OWN readiness….or confidence and other BS opinions. YOU ARE INCREDIBLY GIFTED AND INTUITIVE PERSON AND THAT IS WHY YOU ARE AT THE TOP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! : ) YOUR CONFIDENCE IS BEAUTIFUL AND AN IMPORTANT PART OF YOUR SUCCESS…….SO PEOPLE COMMENTING ON THAT HAS NO VALUE……ESPECIALLY PRIOR TO TOUR…..IT IS ALL AIR…..AND MEANINGLESS. ENJOY EVERYTHING SWEETHEART AND KNOW WE ALL ENJOY WATCHING YOUR BEAUTIFUL TENNIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! : ) : ) ; ) : ) : ) : ) : ) WE LOVE YOU & VERY HAPPY FOR YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! : ) : ) 🙂 : ) : ) : ) VAMOS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! : ) : ) : ) LOTS OF LOVE & HAPPINESS & VAMOS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! : ) VAMOS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! : ) VAMOS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! : ) XOXOXOXOXO
AO International Tennis- not available on Xbox360 so sadly I won’t be playing it.
I love how Djokovic ends up on his knees at the end of that wonderful point by Rafa, asking God all sorts of questions we will never get to know:)
Rafa looks so intense even during a practice session! Stay Healthy champ, and hopefully you can successfully defend all your titles from last year. Good luck!!
Happy weekend to all Rafans:)
And a happy weekend to you too Mac.
RAFA IS ROCKIN’