RafaLint: May 27th
Articles:
- Grounds Pass: Day 1, May 27 – by Steve Tignor (tennis.com)
- Carlos Moya: Rafa still has a lot of records in him – by Carlos Moya (rolandgarros.com)
- Clay, Grass, Hard Court? For Tennis’s Top Players, It Doesn’t Matter Anymore
- Back on Roland Garros Clay, Nadal Has Chance at History – by Christopher Clarey
- Tennis Now’s Roland Garros preview
- Tennis Expert Picks – French Open – via ESPN
Videos:
Photos:
- Rafael Nadal Through Time – fun photo gallery from Sports Illustrated
- Pictures from the gallery event Rafa attended. (Thanks, Inés)
- There are some Rafa practice pictures in this album from the RG Facebook page.
- Nana/natalieHOHO is onsite and sharing photos: Rafa works on training his ball to stay. Check out her stream for some more! (Including a shirt change. Was that enough encouragement?)
- Excellent Rafa mural.
Tweets about Rafa:
Mahut after his defeat of Andy Roddick:
Mahut said he picked the locker beside Rafa and that obv it gave him good vibes. “So maybe now I’ll have a nap in his locker”, he said lol
— Carole Bouchard (@carole_bouchard) May 27, 2012
And, lastly, some practice photos from today:
Photos by AP Photo/Christophe Ena
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I’ve heard on TV two different explanations for the ugly Tees the players are wearing (with pics of themselves): (1) the French Open had these made for the players, and (2) these were made to support a charity.
Either way, it’s not only awkward, it’s ugly.
Rafa’s and Fed’s are Nike tees and are available for purchase in Europe.
Thanks, Miri. You should brief the commentators.
Hee! The ‘Rafael Nadal through Time’ pics made me laugh esp. the earlier ones. The Beijing Olympics suit – omg!! :D
But Rafa, please forget there’s something called hair-gel..
Where was that Mural of Rafa? Paris? NICE! :o)
Ugh I wish Rafa and Fed would give up wearing those hideous shirts with their faces on them! WTF Nike! way to make your players look like ego-maniacal assholes.
I agree I don’t like it and I expect they don’t like it either but they have obligations I suppose.
Considering what a major year it was in Rafa’s career, I find it odd that the SI gallery doesn’t have one single photo from 2010!
The 2004 photo from Auckland is unbelievably adorable :)
About the t-shirts: Is it really that big a deal? It’s not like it says “Rafa, the greatest player ever!” ;)
That second practice picture. I wish Rafa would stop teasing us with those legs of his! He just needs to tell Nike that his fans want short shorts for his match shorts then we’ll all be happy. Pretty PLEASE.
Nike makes shirts with players’ pictures on them because some fans want to buy them, not because Nadal and Federer want to wear them. I’m sure the shirts are on sale at the Nike shop on the RG grounds and it is part of Nadal’s and Federer’s job to promote the product line. Wearing them at practice seems a fairly unobtrusive way to do so.
We’ll have to disagree, then. A lot of folk will think it swell-headed for Roger and Rafa to wear them, and it’s a hamfisted way for Nike to make money at the expense of these guys’ public faces. Besides, these shirts are hideous.
Hideous? I don’t think so. I’d actually seen the shirts for sale online and would have bought the Rafa one except it was too expensive! This was before seeing Rafa and Roger wearing them. I agree some may think it rather arrogant of them but I think they are wearing it as part of their Nike endorsement obligations. I would buy the shirt if I could, in my case, the hot pink one with Rafa’s image in white. I just love that one but it seems not to come in small size and is expensive anyway. The white one comes in small size but that I don’t like. Anyway, as long as it’s Rafa…
Hihi, you really need to ask Miri if a shirtless Rafa is encouragement for us??? What where you thinking? ;)