RafaLint: October 19th
Photo by Stuart Franklin/Getty Images
Articles:
- Article in the Castelló Masters Facebook. From the mangle (you’ll have to self-mangle, Google refuses to provide a link-able mangle), it sounds like Rafa’s team won.
- Rafa Nadal campeón también de golf al ganar el Pro-Am via abc.es. Again, from the mangle, sounds like Rafa’s team won.
- Rafael Nadal Lobs Tom Lewis Words of Advice via the Daily Express (WARNING: annoying autoloading video on the page).
- Rafael no ha jugado bien y eso le ha pasado factura – interview with Toni. And, thanks to genny_ss, we have a translation instead of a mangle.
Videos:
- More videos from the golf pro-am: long summary with a lot of Rafa and a lot of presser excerpts – rubbing his face while someone else speaks, talking about improving, multi-tasking, more in Spanish, getting a little squirmy, hiding his hands, and more multi-tasking.
- Even more golf videos from other sources: on the driving range (wait, so at one point, Rafa had on a sweater over a vest over a shirt? Boy really likes to be warm, no?), and a report from rtvv.es.
Photos:
- Two more Shanghai photosets from smallfish wu: smiley practice and doubles match. Aww, Marc! I’ve had to do that with shorts/pants too.
- There are a few more photos on the Castelló Masters site.
- And some more at Beyond the Baseline.
Rafa does social media:
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aww, marc! is he wearing rafa’s shorts? or is he really too short even for a size Small?
Well whatever the reason, that rear end is looking goood!
How cold is it in Spain right now that he needs to wear three layers? The boy does like to keep warm indeed.
Well, the early autumnal mornings are quite chilly and even misty/frosty, the temperature going up dramatically as the sun goes up during the day, so Rafa dressing in layers was appropriate.
First he practiced his swing through a basketful of balls wearing his white sweater (and everything else under it). Then he stripped off the sweater and teed off in the black sweater vest, to remain only in his white mock turtleneck when the game (and the day) really heated up.
His mum must be proud. Sensible boy, not catching cold.
Nike must be proud, as well. What a fine display of all their tops.
But the most proud must be Rafa’s fitness coach and his physio. Tweaking a chilled trunk muscle during golf would be very silly.
Thanks, Robert! You are knowledgeable as always. :)
Paige, I’ve found that the weather in Mallorca is surprisingly similar to where I live in the southern U.S. Right now in Manacor it’s 58 with a low of 48 expected (15 and 9C). Hope that helps.
Thanks, Denizen! That did help.
Oh, Marc! That is heartbreakingly hilarious.
Rafa is the only “face” of Nike that I want to see (be still my heart,and oh,what a face it is) well, eyes are for looking aren’t they? Kudos to Nike, as they sure knew what they were doing IMO!!
On a slightly separate topic: There seems to be a double standard on how the media covers Djokovic’s and Nadal’s injuries. Whenever Nadal is injured, the media says that Nadal’s “physical” game is the cause and that his career may end soon. But when Djokovic is injured this year, the media simply says that the cause is that he played many matches. But Nadal has played more matches this year than Djokovic, and Nadal has more match wins than Djokovic this year so far.
Plus, Djokovic seems to have slightly more injuries this year than Nadal. Djokovic has had at least 3 significant injuries this year: Djokovic withdrew from Monte Carlo Masters (citing injury), had a shoulder injury in Cincinnati, and had a back injury that forced him to withdraw from Davis Cup, China Open, and Shanghai Masters.
Nadal has had only 2 significant injuries this year: the hamstring injury at the Australian Open, and the foot injury at Wimbledon. The hamstring injury was caused by a virus, which made Nadal’s body more vulnerable to injury. So the virus, rather than Nadal’s “physical” game, was the underlying cause behind the hamstring injury.
So when Nadal is injured, the media should identify the fact that Nadal has played many matches this year (more matches than Djokovic this year), as the primary cause, instead of focusing on Nadal’s “physical” game.
I’d love to hear others’ opinions. What do you all think?
This whole injury-issue has never been about rational arguments. Rafa has been stereotyped ever since he became well known as being injury-prone due to his “physical” style. And, while Rafa had his share of injuries (interestingly the really long time outs have been at the beginning of his career), he is by no means more injured than other players. Just look at poor Tommy Haas, whose career has been all about injuries; Guga Kürten never reached his full potential; DelPo has never been the same since his wrist injury; even Pete Sampras was considered to be a little fragile. I think, perception is warped a bit, because Federer has been almost NEVER injured, and here the stereotype is, that his style is so easy on his body. It’s never mentioned, that he has been darn lucky in the genetic roulette as well.
As far as the Djoker is concerned: he has thrown so many matches in the past, that he is perceived as being the picture of health at the moment, while Rafa is in a no win situation: If something more serious is going on, it’s “due to his physical style”; if it turns out to be not so bad after all, he’s accused of being a hypochondriac (Nole has been accused of that in the past, he seems to have changed places with Rafa these days).
I have a hunch, though, that Rafa’s book has changed journo’s perception a bit; they are less quick in accusing him of being hyper sensitive.
This discussion (like anything that starts with the statement that it’s off-topic) probably belongs in the community.
Nice Rafalint Miri, loving Rafa in this get up’ he works it really well…