Watch highlights as Rafael Nadal is beaten in five sets by Stefanos Tsitsipas in Melbourne.
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It sill hurts. Take rest and all the best for the next tournaments.
ADELANTE!! Rafa, estas en plena forma, solo una veces se gana y otras se pierde, a seguir trabajando, tu lo puexesSIEMPRE CONTIGO!!!!
This was not a random occurrence. What happened was predictable. Why? When a participant at a grand slam has so many distractions: Father, Mediocre Trainer (Roy), Financial advisor, etc, he or she has no chance of being ready for each match. At a grand slam a player has no time but: Sleep, Physical Therapy, Training, Eat, and Study opponents, all of this done with his trainer, not TRAINERS. For that reason, “the” trainer, Carlos Moya, must be with his pupil 100% of the time supervising every aspect of the competition: The competition happens very fast and there is very little time for preparation. The coach has so very many functions and extremely hard work that is vital his/her participation, and in the process, NO distractions whatsoever. So that is why he, Rafael, lost. Besides, Roy is a mediocre trainer: He (together with his uncle Toni who NEVER ever was a professional trainer ) was responsible for the downfall of Rafael back four years ago and thanks to Carlos, Rafael was resurrected. It took a great effort get rid of Toni, ( that was a great accomplishment ), but fortunately was done. I am sure that Carlos did not accompany Rafael because he asked himself: How can I support/guide Rafael if there is so much distraction and therefore I cannot do nothing at all? Actually, there may have been much worst reasons for this situation to happen: I have followed Rafael’s career quite close for many years and I can feel through observation what is really happening. Rafael must take command of his life and stop the abuse or keep the failure. Carlos Moya is the selection Rafael MUST do in order to success and in the process, Roy MUST go; there is no other solution.
I agree and have always, at least since 2011, that Rafa has to do something to get realty string mentally.
I’ve also since then said that Novak is the one who is immensely strong mentally. All the players I’m sure know that too and they are afraid because they can’t or don’t seem to be able ti match Novak’s mental strength. To be fair Rafa has shown mental strength from time to time but maybe when he is suddenly surprised and has made stupid mistakes he often doesn’t seem to be able to make it.
Time is slipping away and that is what worries me the most!!!
Rafa you’re the BEST!!!!
Wish you all the best for the season.
As for Naomi Osaka making jokes about Rafa, yhoooo go on make jokes with Nisha, u gonna fall like him, eating Japan or Greek food can’t take u to the final, God forgive me, I’m wishing u a bad luck in ur final, I always supported u, but sins like u think that u can beat everyone just bcos u’ve beaten Serena, let me tell u, u will never beat het againa because of ur attitude im wishing u bad luck in the final
I felt for Rafa as we all do. He suddenly looked a different guy in the 3rd and tb not his forte wonder was hiding back niggling? I know he can take on any aged player and hammer them, but think Stefanos had a w/o and therefore he was in peak condition…no pre injury at AO..didn’t give 15 days without a proper match…Rafa gave his all and love him for it.
Angela, that is not what happened. Rafael was not with his coach! Why? I just imagine reasons. Therefore he was NOT prepared and that is why he lost. Roy has never been a good coach! Rafael’s success is do to his great physical conditions and lately, to his great coach: Carlos Moya. Can you imagine two people acting as coaches?
I have always loved Rafa why do you want to knock him down while he is down he doesn’t need his coach there all the time he just lost his concentration he is human anyway I hope he wins more big matches
To me he is the greatest player ever
I agree Angela. This is no time to knock Rafa (or his Team). I doubt that he has time to read what people say about him and his Team on this site. Maybe that is just as well.
Carlos has been good for Rafa but Rafa won lots of Slams, Masters and other titles with Uncle Toni as his Principal Coach and Francisco Roig as the Alternate Coach whenever Toni could not accompany Rafa.
Rafa knew what he needed to do on court on Saturday (he had played Tsitsipas seven times before and had a 6-1 record against him). He is not a machine though and can’t always execute (or is not always allowed to execute) his plan; not for the want of trying his very best of course. It was a tough loss and, had he not tensed up in the tie-break, Rafa might well have won in three sets. I personally don’t think that Carlos being there would have made any difference to the outcome of that match. Tsitsipas is a very talented young man and played really well against Rafa, free of the pressure that is always heaped on the higher ranked player in such big matches.
At 34, we can no longer reasonably expect Rafa to win every match he plays against fellow ‘top tenners’, especially when he is up against big servers on hard courts, (much as we would like him to). Rafa plays at his best on clay courts of course but also on hard courts that take spin, like Indian Wells, which Rafa loves to play. The hard courts at the Australian Open do not play like that. The bounce is lower and the pace is quicker; so Rafa cannot capitalise on his main strength, his topspin forehand. This might also go some way to explain the fact that he has only won this tournament once, (though he was runner-up on four occasions, which was quite a feat in itself). The AO courts did play a little slower then than they do now though. The centre court in Melbourne is perfectly suited to the Djokovic style of play, which might go some way to explain his eight wins there. It will be interesting to see how Medvedev fares against Djokovic. The courts definitely suit Medvedev, who has a big serve and powerful, flat ground strokes. He will be up against the machine that is Djokovic though. We are in for some long rallies. Fingers crossed for a Medvedev win.
I like these comments Ginagigi. What I would not put past Raphael is maybe not admitting to a twinge in his back and maybe just maybe that is why the overheads were not customary winners. Rafa has no fear of his competitors.
I accept that he is human and he losses sometimes a match. I do not accept this kind of losses he lost too many times in that way. And neither should Carlos Moya accept this kind of loss.
They should be working on the mental state of Rafa and Rafa should be open minded about his and really think about adding someone to his team who can help him with that
Look at Nole before he worked with boris becker he was mentally very fragile now he is the mentally the most feared player in the tour.he realizes that that aspect was absent in his game look at him now.
I am feeling low because of his sudden defeat.
Everything was going well but tie breaker is the cause of downfall. Anyway hope for the best in future matches.
Good luck to you the rest of the season Rafa!❤️
Naomi Osaka is on to the final beating Serena 6-3, 6-4.
👏
Yay for Naomi!
Serena… she needs to say sorry to that umpire for calling him ‘a liar and a thief’. Then maybe her luck will change:):)
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And NoWay WhatAJokeAVich got through another devastating injury and is in the finals!
Unbelievable match Rafa! There is no way you should feel defeated. It was so close.
Not always does the best man win.
Onward to the next tourney. Get some rest and stay safe!!!💪🏻
If some say Carlos Moya’s not being at the tournament is why Rafa lost, then maybe that is true. But if Moya’s non-presence is the culprit, then maybe Moya wasn’t welcome. Maybe Rafa or his entourage didn’t want him there. Ultimately, and more importantly to me, is our champ lost to the 5 seed. It’s not as if the Greek was incapable of winning. He played superb when it counted.
I agree I think youth won out in the end as Rafa looks totally exhausted That’s probably why he made mistakes in 5th set
I would have loved to see him win a 2nd AO but it’s not the end of the world
I love following Rafa & was so disappointed for him yesterday but what a career he has had to date
Rafa should have won the tie breaker in the 3rd set . It was a lack of concentration that caused the unforced errors and the loss of the set .I am disappointed as I thought Rafa had a good shot at this tournament . Nontheless , Rafa is not infallible so onto the next one . I hope Stephanie goes on to win as this would be poetic justice . He played well in sets 3 & 4 and can win this title .
Rafa a so your much You were playing so good and tel you mis in the tie breaker cost him to lose we’ll go to the next tournament we love your fans for ever 💪🎾👍❤️😘
Very sad. He has to carry his family every where he goes and previous coaches that are just parasites: That is wy he lost. Where was Carlos Moya? There was the point: Something really bad happened because since Carlos is “the” coach, he SHOULD have been there: Remember it is a grand slam. Poor Rafael. And it has been going this way practically all of his life: Previously with his “beloved” uncle Toni that has no education in physical training. Toni experimented with his nephew. All so very sad.
You did your best that’s all you can ask of your self it was a great match 💖