Rafael Nadal is eager to lift a 12th title at the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell.
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Rafa good luck for the next tournament on Clay you can do it vamossssssssss champ 💪💪💪💪🎾🎾🎾🎾😘😘😘😘❤️
I hope you are healthy Rafa vamossssss champ you can do it 💪💪❤️❤️❤️❤️😘😘😘🎾🎾🎾😘❤️
Vamos Campeon! Always with you, Rafa!!! And always, always proud of you!
All the best for the week. Always with you. Vamos Rafa <3
Cuando juega….espero se encuentre en mejor forma.
For me, I found what happened to Rafa in Monte Carlo quite perplexing… He seemed strong and focused and did away with his first 2 rounds with ease… He beat Agut and Dimitrov in only 2 sets each and with each victory I had hoped would add to Rafa’s confidence. Then he plays Pella… so ok… it goes 3 sets… but Rafa wins… A victory is a victory… and now he has to play Fognini… I say to myself “Rafa has this.”
I remember the US Open years ago when Rafa was up 2 sets against Fognini and Fabio came back to win the next 3 sets… It was horrible… I was there courtside till 2:30 AM feeling sick and watching in disbelief and I have never liked Fognini since. I read the day before this match in Monte Carlo that Fognini made some remark to Rafa like “I’m ready for you.” And I say to myself… what’s up here… is Rafa letting Fognini get into his head?
Rafael Nadal is the greatest who’s ever played on clay… His opponents fear him (as they should) .. They go out there and face Rafa hoping they can get a shot off…maybe win a game against him… They have nothing to lose as nothing is expected of any opponent.
The pressure is all on Rafa… every point…every set…every match.and that’s a lot to live up to … The world wants him to win and he puts so much pressure on himself as an athlete to meet everyone’s expectations, even his own, knowing he has weeks of injuries and less playing time and less practice.
It’s been very hard on him and it’s showing…
I have always known Rafa has had his mental blocks and problems confidence wise against Novak… it’s ongoing… but what took place in Monte Carlo … ‘having a bad day” instead of lighting up the court and sending Fognini home is very troubling to me…..
I am hoping that maybe we will see Tiger Woods in Barcelona…. I believe his friend Rafa needs him now to have a long talk about career, as we know Tiger, one of the greatest of all time has been injured for years…thought many times about leaving golf but loves it so… and last week he wins the Masters!!!
Now that he’s in Barcelona the time has come for Rafa to reset, as he goes in fresh to the court that is named after him… The Barcelona crowd will be screaming for him!! Perhaps their love will lift him up…
I also found this loss very perplexing. But then, Fognini is a very good tennis player who can beat anyone on a given day. It’s okay for a great man like Rafa to lose a match every once in a while. Djokovic holds Wimbledon, US Open, and the AO titles right now, but who expected him to lose in Indian Wells and Miami, then also in Monte Carlo the way he did?
These things happen, that is sport. Rafa cannot win constantly, as much as we wish it were so:):) Rafa was simply not meant to win Monte Carlo in 2019 and that was that. Fognini was the stumbling block.
Anyhows, our champ will roar back for sure!
Well said, Marileena. I think you make a very sound analysis of Rafa’s current mental state. Often overlooked is the immense pressure of always being expected to win every clay court tournament, a pressure he has had to bear since 2005. Almost impossible for us ordinary folk to realise the strain of that expectation.
Fognini, in my opinion, is a creep. You can tell just by the way he struts around on court, and I believe he has always tried to needle Rafa, there is a history there.
BTW, I thought Rafa beat Pella in 2 sets, and I think the signs were there that he was not playing at his best.
Who cares? The King of Clay has nothing to prove to anyone.
I stand corrected … it was 2 sets… a little too close but a victory in 2 nonetheless… and btw your opinion of Fognini is spot on… I completely agree ….