10 Comments »

1. Nana says:

   January 16, 2012 at 11:47 pm

   Haven’t gone through everything but well said, Craig Hickman!

   Reply
2. Maria Galanis says:

   January 17, 2012 at 6:36 am

   Yes, thank you, Graig. What a praise for our boy. Didn’t know he was such a fan. And a great quote by Dr. King. Also, quite a sympathetic article grom Jon Wertheim, which is also a surprise as I at least hadn’t noticed him to be partial to Rafa before.

   Reply
   • Ramara says:

     January 17, 2012 at 9:07 am

     Well, I thought at first, like Rafa, that he said too much to the media. But last night during the AO coverage the ESPN commies had a sensible and informative (at least to me) debate about the *issues* (not the he-said she-said drama) facing the players which was a direct result of Rafa’s and Roger’s comments. So, well done to both of them.

     Reply
3. Bebe says:

   January 17, 2012 at 9:23 am

   Miri, the phrase you’re asking about…I believe Toni was referring to how Rafa the newbie on the tour started to hit thE ball when he faced older players….higher or more lifted maybe? Perhaps Toni is referring to spin and margin? In any case he points out that prior to joining the pro tour Rafa was more aggressive.

   Reply
4. SpanishRNfan says:

   January 17, 2012 at 9:25 am

   Miri, regarding your question if “he started playing up” is the same thing as he was playing people older than him, I’d say that what Toni is meaning is that the former is a consequence of the later… In the Spanish article Toni says that Rafa started to play being too young and, most of the time, he was playing people older than him. I don’t know how to play tennis and thus I’m not sure to understand what Toni means here with “empezó a jugar para arriba” (literally translated as “he started playing up”), but I would assume that most of these players were taller than Rafa and therefore Rafa had to aim his shots “upwards” and, as a consequence, he was hitting the ball in a faulty way… does it make sense?

   On the other hand, “jugar para arriba” could also be interpreted as “going to the net” [in Spanish we say "subir a la red" (go up to the net)], as he’s stating in the previous sentence where he says that Rafa was a very aggressive player in the beginning and that he tried to finish all the points at the net. But with this interpretation I don’t get why Rafa would hit the ball badly as a consequence, as Toni is implying…

   Oh well, I’m not too sure to have been of great help, but I’ve tried :-)

   Reply
5. dingax says:

   January 17, 2012 at 11:14 am

   I don’t understand the language so totally guessing but I wonder whether they are using up in the sense of his court position – moving behind the baseline. It would fit with what they have said earlier – that Rafa became more defensive when he joined the pro circuit because he wasn’t strong enough to keep up with the power. Between this and the comment about playing left handed, its interesting and refreshing how open Toni is about the mistakes and compromises he himself has made as a coach. I am so used to Toni the stern disciplinarian who is very sure of his worldview.

   The other thing in the article is the mention again of adding 7 grams to the racquet. I wonder whether Rafa will add the additional 4 grams in February or he will stick to the 3 grams.

   Reply
   • SpanishRNfan says:

     January 17, 2012 at 11:59 am

     The Spanish article doesn’t talk about adding 7 grams… It says that they’ve increased in 7 points the weight generated by the movement of his shots by adding 3 grams to the head of the racket. :)

     Reply
     • dingax says:

       January 17, 2012 at 12:53 pm

       Ok that makes sense – -don’t understand the language and i Guess the 7 grams stayed in my head from an earlier interview. Thanks.

       Reply
6. Bebe says:

   January 17, 2012 at 4:01 pm

   Maybe it’s just me, but I haven’t heard Toni admit it was a mistake to let Rafa play on the tour so soon….haven’t heard him admit to any mistake in his coaching. Though he adores to point out Rafa’s mistakes : )

   Reply
7. Susanna728 says:

   January 17, 2012 at 4:49 pm

   I really enjoyed the “backstage” video. So interesting to see the players when they don’t know they’re being filmed. (I don’t mean that in a creepy way.) What a killer smile Tsonga has.

   Reply