Rafael Nadal Fans

VIDEO: Rafael Nadal getting ready for US summer

World No. 1 Rafael Nadal will kick off his North American summer hard-court season next month in Toronto and today in Mallorca he had his first practice session under the watchful eye of his team.

67 comments

  1. Hi are you still sending emails about RAFA ? I haven’t received any for awhile & was wondering if if I might have unsubscribed by accident. I loved receiving them & would love to be back on your email list ? VAMOS

    Sent from my iPhone

    >

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  3. del Potro had to go to the hospital after suffering a heat stroke at Los Cabos. As of this writing he is still on schedule to play his semifinal tonight vs Dzumhur. I do hope it’s nothing serious. Because of the heat the tournament has been scheduling matches late into the night.
    [Source: DelPotroArmy]

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  4. Rafa has arrived in Toronto and yes, he’s already practicing on the Rogers Cup courts.
    [Source: Rafa Nadal Academy tweet]

    GOOD LUCK RAFA, I don’t care if you don’t believe in luck.

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  5. I wanted to know how many Rogers Cup titles Rafa won so I did some digging. I have also included the results of the other Big Four for those who wish to compare:

    Rafa (3)
    2005, 2008, 2013

    Andy (3)
    2009-10, 2015

    Novak (4)
    2007, 2011-12, 2016

    Roger (2)
    2004, 2006.
    [Sources: Rogers Cup, Wikipedia]

    Rogers Cup may have corrected the error by now, but they quoted Djokovic as saying he “was looking forward to defending my title.” The article was correctly dated 2018. If, if he did say that I am wondering if he has convinced himself he won in 2017. He wasn’t even there.

    As for the YE world No. 1 ranking, Rafa, and Nole are equal with 4 Player of the Year trophies each. Roger has 5.

    Rafa:
    2008, 2010, 2013, 2017

    Roger:
    2004-07, 2009

    Novak:
    2011-12, 2014-15.
    [Source: Tennis-x.com]

    Since 1973, only Pete Sampras has amassed 6 trophies, and consecutively.

    RAFA ROCKS

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    • Margo, I think Djokovic meant to defend his title in Toronto from 2016. Rogers Cup was played in Montreal last year.

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      • Hi YB, You could be right.

        My thinking is that Novak didn’t defend his 2016 title and now has no title to defend in 2018. It’s still the Rogers Cup whether won in Montreal or Toronto. I think he could have been given a pass had he said “defend my Toronto title,” but even that, in my opinion, is stretching it a bit. Two venues yes but there is only one singles Rogers Cup trophy.

        I also think it’s an insult to Sasha who won it in 2017, in Montreal. Sascha is the Rogers Cup defending champion.

        It could also be Novak’s ego doing the talking.

        RAFA ROCKS

  6. As we all know, Federer withdrew from Toronto before the main draw. Why is he being replaced with Jeremy Chardy, world No. 43? Why wasn’t Zverev, who is world No. 3, moved up to second seed?

    RAFA ROCKS 150%

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  7. The time clocks will be tick-tocking at the Rogers Cup, Cincinnati, and the US Open, among other tournaments.

    Warm-Up Clock – Transgressions will not be considered a time violation.

    Serve-Clock – Transgressors will receive a time penalty from the chair umpire.

    Detailed explanations of the rules covering the above can be found on the ATP site.

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  8. I love funny stuff and del Potro has a great sense of humor. 😂
    According to elEconomista, “Juan Martín del Potro wants to be the king of Mexican clay in 2018. He will do that if he wins next Saturday at the Los Cabos tournament which starts this Monday.”
    [Source: elEconomista, July 29, 2018]

    That says a lot about his character after losing miserably in the SF to Rafa this past FO. Gotta luv him. Too funny.

    RAFA ROCKS ALL SLAMS

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  9. Rafa is modest as usual. Based on results, clearly he’s better than both Fed and Djoko. It’s not about the slams only (even if we’re talking about slams only, Rafa with a win, SF and QF is better than Fed’s win plus QF, or Djoko’s win plus QF and a R4), in the Masters Rafa has two titles whilst Fed reach a final and Djoko has no title and reached a SF.

    Rafa has the most titles so far this season (four) and is leading in the race, despite playing only seven events (same as Fed) whilst Djoko already played in ten events.

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    • Not at all to question Rafa’s humility, or his fantastic record on wins other than the Slams, but I don’t think Rafa’s statement has anything to do with his “modesty.” And here’s why.

      Rafa’s words: “To win is the essence of sport.”

      I would gamble that his reply is more a reflection of how he feels; a Slam title is the most important title that he can achieve.

      When written about, or talked about, or introduced, the number of Slams a champion has won is the number quoted, as if it’s part of his or her name. It is considered by many as the highest award in the sport he loves. Has he ever bitten a runner-up trophy? Please correct me if I am wrong.

      He has reached the pinnacle of tennis and being the great champion that he is, he wishes to continue in that vein. Did you watch the video Lorna recommended? Watching his face I could actually feel his pain when he lost.

      Rafa simply loves to play tennis and the clay season the most. It’s what makes him so happy. As a youngster having won on clay, he worked hard to be able to win on other surfaces; grass and hard. He didn’t decide to get better to win a quarterfinal or a semifinal. He wanted the thrill of a Slam win. He played to win. He kept working to win and he is still improving his game.

      As was said about him, “take away his clay court wins and he would still be a Hall of Famer.” He could have stopped playing on other surfaces but he worked hard to add other surface trophies to his collection. To win titles.

      RAFA PLAYS TO WIN

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      • Which player won’t look sad or disappointed when he lost in an important match esp at the slam?? I can easily said that about Berdych or Murray for that matter. Murray even cried when he lost his Wimbledon or AO final to Fed. It’s not unique to Rafa! Fed and Djoko too looked disappointed or upset when they lost in a slam final or SF.

        Fed, Rafa and Djoko, they’re champions, of course losing in a slam is tough to swallow. Rafa doesn’t play to win slams only, he plays tennis because he loves to play tennis and loves to win. So, he’s biting not only slam trophies, but Masters, 500 or 250 trophies alike. And, I feel he totally dislike being owned by his main rival, so regardless of whether it’s a slam, a Masters or a 500 event, he’ll fight to win.

        Whether he admits it or not, he wants to be no.1 and stays there for as long as possible, and he particularly thinks that YE no.1 is more important than being no.1 at other time during a season.

        It’s slam titles and being YE no.1 that are the two most important things to Rafa in his tennis career; they’re not only goals for him to achieve, but they’re what define a tennis great, an ATG in tennis.

      • Thanks for you reply. I don’t know whether you are offering a tacit agreement or counter arguments to my post. Just a few notes to clarify my positions.

        Your paragraph 1:
        My paragraph 5.
        It was not my intention to imply that no one else cries after a loss but that no one else’s tears has an effect on me except Rafa’s. When Fed let flow an avalanche of tears and sobs after his 2009 loss to Rafa at the Australian open all I felt was perhaps some surprise. I didn’t “feel” his loss.

        Your Paragraph 2:
        My paragraphs 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7
        The subject of my post was the importance of Slams on Rafa’s career record, how I perceive his stance on Slams, not 250pt or 500pt tournaments. Of course he plays to win any tournament he enters.

        Note: My “trophy biting” question was about a winner’s trophy vs runner-up, a euphemism for second place. Rafa is a first place kinda guy. As a fan I would be very happy for him to win runner-up but Rafa demands so much more from himself.

        Your paragraph 3 was covered in my paragraph 5.

        Your paragraph 4:
        His YE ranking is very important to him. It informs him of how well he did during an entire season, he has said. But I would not equate YE with the importance of Slams. It is possible to be YE No. 1 without having won a single slam.

      • As pointed out before: take the resume of Boris Becker, or Stefan Edberg. Admire their strong 6 major tally, only RG missing for each. Now add 11 RGs to that resume. And start whining that Stefan/Boris is a clay court specialist. That’s what them Fed trolls do.

  10. Rafael Nadal is feeling “very good” and is in good health” going into the North American season.

    “It will be an interesting part of the season, with twists. There are the young ones, other players who are older and we are competing to win. We will see.

    Sports at a high level is unpredictable. Enough of the two months that we were hearing Djokovic is a disaster and it is I who said no. Now he won the major Wimbledon, playing at a great level. It is also sports.”

    Rafa was asked if he considers himself better in the current 2018 season than his two rivals as indicated by the rankings.

    “No, I don’t consider my self better than Djokovic or Federer this year: Federer won in Australia, Djokovic in Wimbledon, and I in Roland Garros. We are all at a high level.”

    “I believe there is a generation with special players, young ones like Zverev or Shapovalov who will replace us. Know this because they will be at a higher level than us in little time or because of our age, it makes sense.”

    Rafa was also given high praise by Rienda, “I hope that Rafael Nadal can continue his high level for many years and personally I feel very proud of his successes. He is an exceptional sportsman. He is the sportsman we all want to be. The work that he is doing in Spain, outside of our country, and in Spanish sport is spectacular.”
    [Source: Diario de Mallorca]

    The above are excerpts not included in my translation from the DeportesRNC article posted earlier. Evidently the DeportesRNC was neither the original nor the complete interview, my apologies.

    I had hoped that Rafa would take a longer vacation but I was buoyed by his statement he started training on an incremental level. Not his gung-ho, full-on training. Hopefully this approach will protect him from injury. He did say training after clay instead of grass so it is likely he is still feeling the effects of clay.

    Wishing him continued good health.

    RAFA ROCKS

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