ARTICLES:
The world No 2 said: “We need to be responsible, we need to be sending strong messages and we need to be a positive example for society. We need to understand we are suffering an unprecedented situation and my feeling is that we need to come back when all the players from all the countries of the world are able to travel under safe circumstances.
“If not? In my personal opinion we will come back and I probably will play but my feeling will be that we are not being 100% correct.”
Nadal has been watching the protests in the United States over the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. “All the normal people and all the people who want a peaceful and good world, we are against racism, poverty, all the terrible stuff which is happening more often than we would like.
“When you see all these disasters on the streets, my feeling is: ‘That is not the way to protest.’ That’s not a good example. The situation is critical but I really believe strongly in people and I really believe we will be able to fix the problems.
- ‘Extraordinary’ Rafael Nadal compared to F1 team for relentless improvement ‘every year’ | express.co.uk
Speaking in an interview with Stats Perform, Leconte, a French Open runner-up in 1988, lauded Nadal’s greatness and his drive to evolve his game.
“When you think about it, 12 Roland Garros in 15 years,” he marvelled.
“You don’t think it would be possible. If someone told you that, you’d say, ‘You’re crazy.’ What’s astonishing to me is how he evolved physically, how he changed his game, how he improved. I like to compare him to an F1 racing team which is producing a new car every year, he is coming every year with a new way of playing and adapting. He works on his serve, on his right hand, his left hand, and he’s always changing some things.”
With a dozen French Open titles in 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2017, 2018 and 2019, the Spaniard is the only player in the history of the sport, male OR female, to win the same major 12 times. And the domination shows in his ridiculous 93-2 win-loss record in Paris, with his only losses coming against Robin Soderling in the fourth round in 2009 and Djokovic in the quarters in 2015. He had to pull out mid-tournament in 2016 due to a wrist injury.
After falling to Nadal in the 2019 final, 6-3, 5-7, 6-1, 6-1, Dominic Thiem was asked to describe what happened in the last two sets—and his answer shed some light on why the 19-time Slam champion is 93-2 in Paris.
“After these two sets, I dropped a little bit my level,” the Austrian said. “Then Rafa, who’s won this tournament 12 times, he stepped on me.”
- 34 Stats On Rafael Nadal’s 34th Birthday | ATP Tour
- QUIZ: All Rafael Nadal’s Grand Slam wins | Eurosport
VIDEO: ‘This guy is something special!’ – Corretja on realising Nadal and Federer were unique |Eurosport
The best plan , Rafa!
Vamos Rafa ❤️❤️
2006 FO final Rafa vs Fed on NBC showing now. Between sets, Rafa is shown being interviewed recently at home during the pandemic. For me, a welcome sight.
RAFA ROCKS
I said years ago that Rafa could turn his hand to the diplomatic corps . He has the ability to listen,heed and change course when required. Above all he has perseverance , kindness and a sense of fairness .Put that with a keen sense of humour and you have the best kind of ambassador for peace and progress .
Jean Palmer is right, Rafa is a diplomat and also a leader. His always well stated progressive views help shape opinion on a variety of issues (not just tennis) around the world.
The US Open situation is a mess. The view in the U.S. is that it will probably happen. No chance that fans will be present. They are also confident that travel can be arranged. The proposal that each player can bring only one other person to the tournament is crazy. Given that physical and medical issues are likely it seems unsafe to limit a player to just one coach without the players physical therapy being present. I can’t see Rafa or Roger or other top players being ok with this.
Good Afternoon Rafa, we all hope and wish our best for USA, in order to recover peace ad calm, well done and from The Canaries get an enormous H u g from C. Javier
It’s been complicated enough arranging football matches, which only involve 32 players (including subs), a small number of staff, and inland travel. Having 256 players (and that’s before you start with qualifying) plus coaches, physios and everyone else, and all the umpires, travelling in from all over the world, plus the ground staff, would be very challenging under the present circumstances. I’m missing tennis badly, but I think it’s too soon for the US Open to be staged.
Very disappointed that the CEO of the USTA, Stacey Allaster who is a fellow Canadian, is pushing so hard for this tournament to take place. Make no mistake that money is the number one deciding factor. As Rafa stated his decision will be based on what is best for his tennis, his future and his body. I truly hope he will listen to what he knows is true in his heart and avoid travelling to the States this year. This virus is far from over with still no vaccine or proven treatments.
Correction: She is Chief Executive Professional Tennis for USTA.
Rafa is wise, concerned and makes excellent points . Our world is going through a time of extreme challenge in many ways. Racism is rampant under many guises, extreme poverty , covid virus, loss of livelihood etc .Some works leaders without ethics and only interested in personal power.
Tennis seems unimportant right now but we miss it and particularly people like Rafa. Thanks Rafa for your words and i hope that our world will improve.
Rafa, thankyou for being you!
All this destruction and looting will not bring that poor man back. If the authorities showed they were in earnest of punishing properly for crimes committed by the Police force, these people are meant to be protectors of the innocent, do right by those that do wrong instead of making the situations worse…..the country would not be rebelling as is happening now….it doesn’t help that the thick President has added fuel to the fire threatening shooting. May God forgive him for not acting like a proper President would do. He has the audacity to call God’s name out in his threats.
You misinterpreted the President . He meant when the looting starts people whose properties and businesses are being destroyed will come out and defend themselves. Also he came out to implore people who are demonstrating to love this country and perhaps he did not need to hold the Bible to say it .
Gloria, Lillian correctly explained what trump meant.*
AND you think it was the Bible??? You missed that one too by minimizing the harm trump did by using the military when he had the area around St. John’s cleared of PEACEFUL protesters. If you were an American and knew what “freedom of peaceful assembly” means, you would understand. All this for a photo-op in front of a church while holding a bible. It wasn’t the Bible that has millions of Americans in an uproar, it was the use of the MILITARY to attack peaceful protesters.
“When the looting starts, the shooting starts” primer.
*In late 1967, as armed robberies and unrest gripped black neighborhoods in Miami, the city’s white police chief — a tough-talking former U.S. Army Cavalry officer who parted his hair straight down the middle — held a news conference “declaring war” on criminals.
The police, Chief Walter Headley warned, would use shotguns and dogs at his command. And then he uttered the phrase that President Trump drew from Friday morning on Twitter to denounce the unrest in Minnesota and elsewhere fueled by deadly police brutality.
“I’ve let the word filter down that when the looting starts, the shooting starts,” Headley said.” In 1967, a Miami Herald report on Headley’s comments said “his men have been told that any force, up to and including death, is proper when apprehending a felon.”
Headley, the Miami police chief for 20 years, liked to brag that he was early to hire black police officers, though only white officers were allowed to be called “policemen.” Black officers were called “patrolmen.”
Easy to fact check.
Thank you for your words of hope and encouragement. Amongst all the chaos, we need a voice of
reason. You have demonstrated the power of a positive mindset, by never giving up. Your respect
for opponents, fans, and family makes you a worthy role model. We miss seeing you on court, but
we must heed the advice of experts. Stay healthy, stay strong.👏💪🤛🙏🎾❤️
Bravo and thank you Margo for this detailed explanation. We can always depend upon you to set people straight.
There are some who don’t bother fact checking as what they would learn wouldn’t suit their pro trump agenda. Very sorry to see what has been happening in your country but hopeful that positive change will result from it. Good, decent Americans who are the majority want to see equality for all citizens. Most Canadians are supportive as well.
Thank you Margo🙏
Thank you RR🙏
Mimi Lau: ❤️
The West Indies are coming here for the Test match series, but the players and coaches and other staff are all staying in an on-site hotel which is going to be “bio-secure”. There’s not really any facility for doing that at Flushing Meadow, plus there’d be a lot more people involved, and players would need to leave at different times … I wish I could see the US Open happening, but, sadly, I can’t.
I’d love to think that the US Open could be played, but it seems very unlikely. And I hope that real change comes about as a result of the current protests – we can but hope.
Thank you, Rafa🙏❤️
The destruction of property is wrong but the purpose of demonstrating is meaningful.