The draw for the Barcelona Open tournament is out.
Rafael Nadal will start his title defence by playing the winner of a match between Leonardo Mayer and Marius Copil. He is then projected to face Frenchman Lucas Pouille in the third round before a rematch with Stefanos Tsitsipas in the quarter-final. Dominic Thiem and Alexander Zverev are possible semifinal and final opponents for our champ.
Rafa’s potential route to the final:
- 1st round: Bye
- 2nd round: Leonardo Mayer or Marius Copil
- 3rd round: Lucas Pouille
- Quarter-final: Stefanos Tsitsipas
- Semi-final: Dominic Thiem
- Final: Alexander Zverev
- Rafael Nadal vs Stefanos Tsitsipas
- Dominic Thiem vs Karen Khachanov
- Fabio Fognini vs Kei Nishikori
- Daniil Medvedev vs Alexander Zverev
For Rafa this will be his 14th participation at the tournament, where he will play for his 12th title. During Rafa’s 13 appearances in the City of Barcelona, he has compiled a 54-3 record.
Good luck, Rafa! VAMOS!
Camps Rafa! Think of one match at a time.Be focussed on your Service No more Double faults plz.Think Barcelona open as a step for RG 2019.
Rafa, tear Struff apart. You are the King Of Clay
Only someone who does not watch tennis can put Zverev at any end
A. Zverev is out of Barcelona.
RAFA ROCKS
According to an article, Rafa’s uncle Toni always advised Rafa “…to be 100% focused.”
[Source: Luigi Gatto]
Rafa’s post-Fognini loss points to this very issue.
If he is not injured, what then is the explanation for this defeat? He said he avoided a worse defeat by winning those two games in the second set.
He’s got a lot on his mind. I hope he still has that fight in him to help him focus on winning and playing the ball and not the opponent.
RAFAMAZING ROCKS
Rafa is already in Barcelona. He has been practising and doing press stuff today. He looks happy in the photos, which is good to see.
rafa is the goat when it comes to clay but he can not win all the clay tournaments every time. For me personally the defeat against fognini was a beatdown.
The clay court form is not there yet rafa has a couple of tournaments to play himself in great form for the french open. After all the grandslams is all what matters and i consider rome to be my favourite clay court masters series tournament.
The match against fabio was a disaster. Nadal needs to focuss on his serve and putting more depth in his shots also using the fdtl more often
Leonardo Mayer will be Rafa’s first opponent in Barcelona. Earlier today he def. Marius Copil 6-3, 6-7(3), 7-5.
VAMOS SWEETHEART!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! : ) : ) : ) : ) : ) : ) WE LOVE YOU AND SENDING LOTS OF LOVE & HAPPINESS AND VAMOS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! : ) VAMOS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! : ) VAMOS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! : ) HAVE A BEAUTTIFUL TIME IN BARCELONA AND ENJOY YOUR BEAUTIFUL PLAY !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!! : ) IT IS A BLESSING THE WAY YOU WISELY MOVE FORWARD AND COMPLETELY REFOCUS ALL YOUR GOD GIVEN ENERGY TO THE NEXT MATCH….TO TOUR NEXT POINT……..TO YOUR NEXT TOUR…….!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! : ) TAKE BEATIFUL CARE AND ENJOY EVERYTHING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! : ) LOVE YOU SWEETHEARAT AND ENJOY A GREAT NIGHT AND A LOVELY TOMORROW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! : ) XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX
Come on Rafa .You know you can do it.Vamos.You are not alone.So many wonderful amazing people are of one voice willing you onwards and upwards to achieve even greater things than you already have.Only One Rafa.👍🏼🇪🇸
Rafa can and will bounce back from this terrible defeat . As he said , he had a bad day . It happens to the best if them including Dvokovitch and Federer . Rafa must get his service game on track and focus on exploiting his opponents weaknesses . Fognini outplayed Rafa because he plated to win. Rafa played as if he had nothing to lose . Mental toughness is Rafa’s strength and he lacked it in . Lets get focused and tough !
Yes or course it was a shame 😕😢 I was there on Weds. and Thurs.in Monte Carlo such good days out to see him win 😀😀🌞 both times, the crowd was behind him 😅Fri a success too saw the result later, so down to see Sat. result. Seems strange that the next day did not follow on, what was lacking, just an off day ? He must havé been determined to continue. 😯 He said afterwards, coming back after injuries is not easy but that doés not explain how he easily won the first 3 matches this week. I saw the finals 👑 today Bravo Fognini but would have prefered Lajovic 😕 In the doubles would have préféréd Haase and Koolhof 😕 rather than the croates. Let s hope Barcelona will be a 12th title 😊 Fiona in Paris
Sorry @ hearn fiona, I meant to “thump up” your comment but “thumped down” by mistake. You raised the best point overlooked by everyone, which is actually something very obvious: if he was injured, how come he won his first 3 matches easily with no physical issues?
Getting carried away? What’s your wavelength? You’re thinking much too deeply about this, Maria!
Overview
Sad day for all Rafamaniacs out there. Even I, the world-famous critic of Rafa, felt some pity for Rafa yesterday. Of a truth, however, it might well be due to Rafa’s body not yet fully restored to 100%.
I knew Fognini was up to no good knowing that Rafa was not fully fit to match his capricious playing style. In his presser after defeating Borna Coric, he said” ….and next is a match with the King of Clay” There was a sinister smile on his face when he said the words ”King of Clay”. It was indeed a ”lucky upset” considering that the Nadal recovery process is slow and builds up in parts.
Rafa Nadal is wired like a Machine. When a machine breaks down, it will need to be test run for some time before it can begin to work 100%, And Fognini knows this too well. He knows he couldn’t have defeated a 100% Nadal. What Fognini defeated yesterday was the true version of ”an injured person playing tennis.’
Back to Reality/Back to Life
Of a truth however winning a 12th title might eventually not be possible for Nadal. Why? In his presser after winning his La Decimal, Rafa Nadal had famously said ”I don’t want to win a 12th Roland Garros” Although it is said that Rafa does not believe in the existence of a God, we all know that God indeed exists as a supernatural force who created the universe. When we sleep, we go into the spirit world and we dream. Dreams are proofs of God’s invisible existence. It is the spirit that controls the physical.
God indeed created Rafa Nadal and gave him all those wonderful tennis talents to excel and to help humanity. If God had decreed Nadal to achieve 12 RG and Nadal says no, then a 12th RG or any other 12 th title for that matter will not happen unless Nadal seeks forgiveness from God and follows up with a public retraction of the statement: ”I dont want a 12th Roland Garros title”
But as always, we’d see…………….cheers and happy Easter.
I am very saddened that Rafael is not a believer and thus never gives God the Glory when he wins and never gives God thanks for blessing him with such an amazing talent. As much as I dislike Djokovic he always thanks the Lord by gesture after his wins. However I am still an avid fan of Rafael and dread the day he stops playing. The excitement in watching tennis will be gone. I so want him to win his 12 the RG and another Wimbledon, Australian open and US open. I would love him to end his career as numero uno. Love you forever Rafa.
I have long believed the injuries Rafa has experienced during his life as a tennis professional
should not have happened at all. Yes the rigorous style of play that has the Rafa signature appears
to place demands on his body that earn him injuries. If Rafa was training properly with a trainor who knew what he was doing all these repeat injuries would and could have been avoided.
I do agree to a certain extent that Rafa’s numerous injuries could be avoided, and that is, if Rafa comes with a good to great serve and plays/ed a more aggressive game throughout his career, like the way he played when he first started out as a teenager in 2003/2004.
I do feel he’s physically fit enough to play his high intensity game, a game that only Rafa could play, and won’t be injured so often, IF Rafa hasn’t come with a congenital left foot issue (which caused him all sorts of knee issues when he has to compromise the way he moves to accommodate his foot issue).
Imo, Rafa with a great serve could turn out to be a more attacking player, instead of having to grind so often and becomes a counterpuncher instead.
Of course, if Rafa plans his schedule well and cuts down on HC events, that may help him avoid some of his injuries.
I feel that when he’s on clay, he could play like the way he did during 2017 clay season ( more aggressive and less grinding) and when on HCs, plays his good serve plus FH short point tennis like his AO2019, that way, he will be putting less pressure on his body.
Rafa, put this week behind you. Mental relaxation is just the tonic you need. If the mind is calm, your body will respond positively, so take it easy and press the reset button. Best of luck in Barcelona.
We are so spoiled as fans with Rafa’s incredible success. Rafa has another tough draw. I only wish that he play well and his knees are good. Yes, of course, I hope Rafa wins, but I want him to build toward a win in RG. That will make him truly happy!
Vamos Rafa! Win this tournament and regain your full confidence. You are and remain forever the kind of clay!!!!!!!
Wish you al the best champ. Hopefully you will find your game next week. Always with you. Vamos Rafa <3
Something doesn’t add up. If Rafa played Barcelona 13 times and won 11 times, how could he have more than two losses there?
Ramara it’s an error in the above article. Rafa has won Barcelona 11 times out of 13 appearances. He withdrew from the tournament in 2010 due to exhaustion. The other winners were Fernando Verdasco in 2010 and Kei Nishikori in 2014 & 2015.