RafaLint: September 13th
Photo by AP Photo/ Charles Krupa
Q&A
- El Mundo Q&A #5 and here’s the mangle.
- El Mundo Q&A #6 (mangle)
Articles about the final/USO:
- Racquet Reaction by Peter Bodo
- Nadal Is Again Unable to Overcome Djokovic by Jorge Castillo (NY Times)
- The game that crushed Rafael Nadal by Greg Garber (espn.com)
- Mr. One More Ball by Steve Tignor (tennis.com)
- Djokovic Wins Most Electric Men’s Final in Years by Lindsay Sakraida (NY Mag)
- Djokovic now the best of the best by Richard Deitsch (SI.com)
- Video: Best points, shots of Djokovic-Nadal by Courtney Nguyen (SI.com)
- Djokovic vs. Nadal by the numbers by Courtney Nguyen (SI.com)
- Djokovic vs. Nadal: Breaking It Down by Craig O’Shannessy
- It’s Form, Not Dysfunction, on Final Day by George Vecsey
- Fifty thoughts from the U.S. Open by Jon Wertheim (SI.com)
- A Keen Use of the Wind Aided Djokovic by Geoff MacDonald
- Bodo gives Rafa the MVP award: The 2011 U.S. Open Awards
Other things to read:
- Richard Mille Hosts Exclusive Dinner For Rafael Nadal by Ashley Joy Parker (hauteliving.com)
Video:
- Pre-match interview that was on SkySports
- iB3 report on the final
Davis Cup:
- Spanish TV coverage of Rafa’s arrival and practice in Cordoba. I don’t know what he’s showing Roig, but I appreciate him doing it.
- DC video – Rafa arriving, guys practicing…Gracias!
- Si no jugara por mi país, no haría el esfuerzo from as.com. From the mangle, it sounds like Rafa is only considering playing so soon after the USO because it’s for his country.
- Pictures from the Spanish DC Team’s Facebook page
- Photos from Rafa’s practice, arrival and The Armada
- Rafa arriving equals bedlam and more bedlam.
- New shoes
- Nice to know Marc! is there too.
Rafa cheers us up via social media:
- Rafa lets us know he’s okay and thanks us for his support: English and Spanish. (Thanks for the “hello everybody guys”, Rafa. It was just what I needed to hear last night.)
Random:
John Carlin offers his ideas for motivating Rafa to beat Nole.
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I think he’s showing Roig the spot where he had the crumbs at the presser.
Miri,
Here’s another article, it’s the U.S Open Poem 2011 from Pete Bodo:
http://blogs.tennis.com/tennisworld/2011/09/the-us-open-poem-2011.html
Reading through the comments section of the above article I came across one that really resonated with me and I just wanted to share it with other Rafa fans here (there were also quite a few other good ones too):
“I’m kinda late to post this, but I had a moment early this morning that I want to share.
I am not as crushed, disappointed or broken as I have been in times past when Rafa lost one of his matches. No, I am surprisingly calm, peaceful and full of hope. Because…when I looked at Rafa standing on the platform yesterday holding the trophy of the Finalist, I saw someone who knows who he is despite the position in which he found himself. I saw something different about him.
Earlier in the spring when Rafa lost his clay titles to Novak, I saw him stand on the podium kicking at the floor like a kid, hands behind his back, head down. I saw a young man deeply disappointed and I wondered what his mental state would be. I knew that Rafa is not used to losing on clay. I hoped for the best.
But when I saw Rafa standing on the podium yesterday – his back was straight, his hands were behind his back, but his head was up. His eyes looked straight ahead. This young man had faced his biggest fears and survived. It was something about him that said, OK…this is where I am; then this is where I begin again.
Then when I saw his press conference, I saw a transformation that made me sit up and take notice. When I looked at Rafa this time, I saw a man.
And this morning, I had this thought: Rafa has confronted the worst that could happen to a Champion by losing six finals in one season. But the thought that was so profound to me this morning – and what I saw in Rafa during his press conference – was: Rafa has learned to lose without fear.
At the beginning of the year Rafa played like he was afraid to lose rather than playing like he knew he could win. I don’t know what happened between the US Open last year and the Australian Open this year, but Rafa could not relax. He didn’t take a break in December. He couldn’t settle down for the French. He couldn’t practice after Wimbledon. He was out of sorts during the spring hard courts. And somewhere along the line he started playing with fear.
But he approached the US Open with determination and a semblance of his usual tenacity. He lost, but he lost the fear of losing and came out a man in the end.
This was Rafa’s coming out party. I celebrate this for him. And I can’t wait to see what’s in store for him the rest of the season and on into 2012.
It’s going to be glorious. “
this is fantastic !
i think it was del potro or someone else who said, to win ,first you have to learn to lose.
go rafa – play without the fear of losing!
Sometime this year Rafa said something along the lines that when you play there’s nothing wrong in losing but you must never play with the fear of losing.
I think Rafa was really disappointed after what happened in Australia and when he came back he had lost all the momentum and rhythm in his game that he had at the start of the year and was never was able to regain that level again. As the year progressed and with Djokovic’s upswing and Rafa not feeling comfortable with his game and his body, I think he became too focused on all the points he had to defend and it just seemed like he wasn’t enjoying his tennis and competing any more. But he seems to have gotten the fire back again, and I just hope that if he gets to the top again he’ll try and enjoy it a bit more.
“OK…this is where I am; then this is where I begin again.”
There is something quite profound in that.
Yeah I noticed the difference in body language during the trophy presentation. Very different from previous trophy presentations. Rafa was just standing upright, head held high and staring resolutely ahead (though it seems that he was just refusing to look at Djokovic :P )
I sure hope Rafa will come back to play without fear of losing AND of winning before 2012!!!
Some comments in the articles are very interesting but alot of them come from pure haters. So normally I don’t go beyond the first page of comments. Comments from haters still get to me even though I know they don’t deserve any attention. So thanks alot for sharing this!!
Sorry, L, I know you liked the comment a lot but all I’m thinking about is …… whuuuuuut???? Rafa learned to lose without fear? What exactly does that mean? How can you lose fearlessly?
Not be a sore loser, yes, not be a boastful winner, yes, play without fear, yes, but lose without fear??? Rafa was just not so dissapointed after USO, because deep down in his mind he came to terms with the fact that he probably wouldn’t be able to beat Nole that day. That’s all. I mean, deep down inside, who doesn’t want to win? Of course he wanted to win. But, he knew that he probably wouldn’t. Therefore he was prepared psychologically and didn’t look out of sorts at the end.
The problem is that he shouldn’t get used to this feeling. Not learn to lose. To remember to win. To just snap out of it.
What a beautiful comment! I found it very profound and moving. Thanks for posting it, L. I feel better already.
I’m not sure what happened but I meant to reply to L’s comment.
Thanks for the lint Miri. But going through a couple of articles made me sad! And I wasn’t this sad when Rafa lost the match. What I’ve read is essentially Rafa beaten thoroughly blah blah blah. So I’m probably going to just stop reading the articles about the match. I think I just need to go find Rafa’s Armani ads.
Those so called journalists know nuts about tennis to save their lives. They usually go with the flavor of the month and whats sensational. Remember 2009 when the media went on fire saying Rafa won.t win another major and Rafa silenced them in the only way he knew how.
You’re not alone, I’ve only skimmed over articles about the final scanning for bits about Rafa, nothing more;)
If Federer managed to serve an ace on the match point, just if?
I really don’t understand how can Federer and Murray get so close to win against Nole and Rafa can not? Nole simply outpowered Rafa.
If it was a Fedal final, Rafa would be the champion.
You lose some, you win some; it’s how you play the game & Rafa played that last game & gives his all both in sports & life! He’s learning how to lose graciously IMO.
Guys,
Another Great Read by Richard Evans:
http://msn.foxsports.com/tennis/story/Novak-Djokovic-victory-over-Rafael-Nadal-in-epic-US-Open-showdown-is-boost-for-the-sport-091211
Realistically the odds on Nole winning were high and so it is unavoidable to get used to it for the time being. Rafa needs a bigger better serve and a way to stop Nole returning so well. Usually Rafa and Murray return better than any; but Nole has managed to take the initiative in most rallys in his recent matches against Rafa. When you can take the initiative at your own pace you win most of the points. It is the ability to always take the initiative that is killing Rafas game on both serve and return. It is neutralising Rafas forehand as a weapon. Just practising harder is not going to work. Some careful thinking is required.
Keith,
I’m pretty sure careful thinking and practising hard go hand in hand:)
I agree that Rafa needs to improve his serve but I think he should be focusing more on improving his placement which has really worsened since he’s been trying to add pace. Djokovic barely had to move to return RAfa’s serve that’s how badly it was placed most of the time. With all the fiddling RAfa’s done to his service motion this year and since he’s not a natural server, he no longer has confidence in that shot and it’s worse now than it’s been in a long time. If I’m Rafa I consider going back to my 2010 serve before the Usopen grip change and work from there because RAfa was serving very well throughout the clay season and at wimbledon last year which I actually think formed the foundation that together with the grip change led to his great serving at the USopen. But of course what do I know right? Everything seems so straight forward from a fans perspective:)
Rafa’s lefty serve out wide from the ad court fed right to Djoker’s excellent BH return. Over and over and over.
Rafa still seems to think Djoker is Federer 2.0 and is inclined to try to break down his BH, which inevitably fails. He really needs to refocus on Djoker’s rare weaknesses (which he did some, by hitting behind him for example, and drawing Djoker to the net) rather than assuming that “hit to his backhand 20 times” will work. He also can’t prevail in the fitness department at the moment.
I’m available for coaching, cheap. :D
i saw a stat comparing 2010 USO final vs 2011 USO final. as far as i remember, rafa had the same return points percentage won. meaning, he was getting on djokovic’s serve (as evidenced by the plenty of breaks he had) and winning a good amount of neutral rallies. and to think the fourth set was a rout, to still have the same return points won is a good sign. i never got the feeling, especially in their clay matches that rafa had any advantage in the neutral rallies this year. i believe he was finally able to change that in the 3rd set. too bad he ran out of gas in the 4th. the timing of the MTO was unfortunate as it stopped rafa’s momentum and adrenalin. ( i do think carlos ramos handled the entire match poorly).
if only rafa’s serve was existent this year, it could have been a different story. or at the very least, a closer match. yes, djokovic’s returns were phenomenal, but he was also helped by rafa’s serve being MIA.
ok, found the stats:
http://healthnsports4u.blogspot.com/2011/09/reversal-of-roles-at-us-open-djokovic.html
anyway, all this to say, that i’m hopeful for next year.
fix that serve,rafa. and yeah, your fitness too. (please don’t get sick again)
p.s. i also think rafa has started to enjoy the fight again, the challenge, as he said in his presser. which i didn’t see especially in the wimbledon match.
so again, hopeful.