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Great King Rafa is the greatest Tennis 🎾 Player i am very happy to the King
these pictures are so nice what a lovely family you have you must all take care of each other l now you will good by for now rafa xxx
I dont know if you look critical at his achievements on other surfaces besides clay.
he only won 22 titles on hard courts
he only won 4 titles on grass
he only won 2 titles indoor
djokovic record
– won 15 titles on clay
– won 6 titles on grass
– won 12 titles indoor
Nadal has done better on djokovic favourite surface then novak did on nadal favorite surface. Hopefully the champ will improve on other surfaces
Just curious, are you including his french open win as his second indoor title?
I do see your point about his level of play on indoor hard court or hard court, but played brilliantly on medium fast indoor hard at the davis cup, but it took something out of him mentally at Australia. I do believe though he
has the weapons now to be competitive against anyone in Australia or indoors. Despite his loss to Novak in the cup, he raised his level in set 2 to make it a match but he was not fresh.
He will be fresh and ready next year. Also, he defeated tsitsipas in last year’s YE Championship by playing at a very high level.
Rafa plays well on hard courts. Witness his US open victory a year ago and three previous victories in New York. He played a very tight quarterfinal versus Theim at the last AO. As long as he is careful with his knees he will do fine. Rafa has been thinking about the 2021 AO for months and he very much wants to win it.
At this point Theim is an equal danger to Rafa as Nole. Djokovic has weaknesses including mental and emotional shortcomings as evidenced by his on the court conduct in New York. He has neck and arm problems when he gets deep in a tournament.. I don’t know what his problem was in Paris. He was simply unable to match Rafa’s level of play.
To Marijnt’s point, Rafa has and will continue to improve his game. His backhand has become a real weapon as is his serve. The big servers on tour are a challenge but Rafa usually finds a way to prevail.
Totally. His backhand and serve is the reason he can go toe to toe against anyone on a medium fast hardcourt now. As long as he does not try crazy defense on hard his knees should hold up. Fingers crossed.
Dont get me wrong I am very happy for rafa. But I really hope he will do better in the remaining years of his career on other surfaces.
He had bad luck the last years at the australian open. A lot had to do with the surface that benefit roger and novak. He reached three times the final in which i think he should have won these finals also he suffered injuries. And with the rise of new hard hitting big serving players it will be very difficult for him more and more to compete against them unless he is willing to improve his game on hard court
Some enigmatic comments from Rafa in El Pais in English regarding the months after the lockdown. He says no one knows how difficult his day to day life has been with complications on a physical level. He describes the tougher conditions in Paris only adding to the fact that his body was already a little run down.
Certainly hoping that his health and condition have fully recovered. Would love to see him take at least the rest of this month off.
Oh Pauline, I feel so bad for him. Your comment arrived just as I was thinking how healthy Rafa looked yesterday. He may be talking about any pain he may have which is caused by damage to his body after so many injuries which wouldn’t be visible by just looking at him. He could be experiencing worse pain brought on by the terrible weather in Paris and by lack of exercise.
My heart hurts for him. I hope the much better weather in Mallorca will have him feeling better. There is a limit to what he can take to alleviate any pains because of banned substances by the ITT/ATP.
I know his team will do everything possible to have him feeling better.
Feel better Rafa.
I just found out that the last time nadal beat djokovic on grass was almost 12 years ago (final of queens 2008). The last time he beat djokovic on hard court was 7 years ago (us open final 2013). For me these are schocking statistics.
I am wondering if rafa has come to terms that he can only beat nole on clay
Highly unlikely marijnt. Whichever tournament Rafa plays he will fight to win be it against ND or whomever. He does not run away from obstacles but will face them with determination as he showed the world at this French Open.
After yesterday’s win I am disheartened by some here who, instead of sharing in Rafa’s joy, are expressing their desire for Rafa to win so and so tournament and demanding even more from Rafa after all he has given to sport in general and to the wider world of tennis lovers and watchers.
As a Rafa fan I would love for him to win more Slams but it is up to Rafa to decide what’s in his best interest and what he wants to do. What other players do in no way diminishes my support for Rafa who has already broken so many records.
Enjoy the win.
Wow…. are you serious? “come to terms” ??
Coming into Roland Garros, Rafa had played only 1 tournament in 6 months.
Novak … had the Adria Tournament disaster , Southern and Western Conference and the US Open he was tossed from… He played a lot more than Rafa did but. we all saw what happened…
With conditions being described as the worst ever at RG , Rafa came out yesterday and played like the warrior he is … He practically obliterated ND and it’s not only because of the surface… He was ready physically and mentally and he took ND to task…freaking Novak out as the match went on.
It’s obvious Novak was rattled as he was bageled in the first set….and beyond…
The mental part of this win will have lasting effects on Rafa…
Once he enjoys some time off, celebrates and relaxes…. we will see him back on the courts at the Academy… this time on hardcourt…
He has nothing to come to terms about…. He is a 20 time Grand Slam winner and that speaks for itself….I know that 13 of those titles are on clay… need I remind you, he has won the US OPEN twice in the last 4 years….
I agree wholeheartedly . Rafa has just reached the pinnacle of tennis heirarchy . Djokevic is 3 Slams behind having lost badly to Rafa in the most important match for him this year . No question , Federer and Djokevic are also in the same heirarchy as Rafa but neither has achieved a record close to Rafa’s 13 Roland Garros wins .
Marijnt, never underestimate what Rafa is capable of doing. He and his team devised a perfect plan to beat Novak at RG. Rafa’s will and determination to adapt and improve are second to none. I think the next misson will be to work on elevating Rafa’s game on hard court to beat Novak and he will. More exciting times!
Thank you Mimi. Covid cases are rising here so we’ve been advised to keep our celebration as small as possible and/or virtual which I am doing.
I hope this reply is put in the right place as my last one to Margo wasn’t.
Have to laugh as I also watched the match again. Totally stress free that way isn’t it? Just sit back, relax, and marvel.
Actually I thought of you after Rafa’s victory regarding the donation you make every time in his name. You inspired me and I did the same this year.🤗
Pauline your response found me. LOL
That is good, a different kind of celebration for now……Pauline. I have a sister who works close to my house. She used to come to have lunch with me every Thursday, and although I am not a good cook, but we enjoyed each other’s company……..hopefully it’s okay to continue soon🤞
Yes, definitely. I never watch match Rafa loses a second time, do you? Talking about stress, I slept through the night for the first time since Rafa returned in action.🙂
Thank you for telling me, Pauline.🙏❤️ I am glad to hear that. I made the donation as soon as the trophy presentation was over. I have donated to the same hospital since 2016 when Rafa and Marc won Olympic gold in doubles. I actually met the annual giving officer last year and found out she got married the same day as Rafa and Maria. We are supposed to do lunch again in March, I already made a reservation too, but because of the pandemic, it has been postponed. However, she already told me she will be expecting her first baby this month. Hope to hear good news from Rafa and Maria soon.👶
👏🏻🥰🤗😍
Congratulations Rafa – your thousands of fans are grateful to you for lifting up our spirits during these stressful times