RafaLint: June 7th
Photo by THOMAS COEX/ AFP/ GettyImages
Everyone ready for the semis? Rafa’s first up at 1pm local time…just 7 hours away.
Articles:
- Racquet Reaction: Nadal d. Almagro – by Hannah Wilks (tennis.com)
- Nadal Records 50th Match Win On Parisian Clay; Beats Almagro To Reach SFs – via the ATP
- Rafael Nadal rolls into French semis – AP via ESPN
- Nadal playing among friends – by Kamakshi Tandon (ESPN.com)
- Nadal eases past Almagro to seal spot in the semis – by Kate Battersby (rolandgarros.com)
- By His Design – by Jesse Pentecost (thenextpoint.com)
- Some Top Shot Returners Answer Speed With Savvy – by Christopher Clarey (nytimes.com)
- Beholding Nadal’s Empire of Clay – by Christopher Clarey (nytimes.com)
- Why Nadal needs to break his habits – by Greg Garber (espn.com)
- Nadal’s Latest Weapon: A Backhand Down the Line – by Geoff MacDonald (nytimes.com)
- How dominant has Rafael Nadal been at the 2012 French Open? – by Chris Chase (yahoo.com)
- Djokovic, Nadal could give us a show – by Howard Bryant (espn.com)
- Nadal/Ferrer SF Preview: Tale Of The Tape – by Leo Levin (atpworldtour.com)
- Men’s Semifinal Previews and Picks – via tennis.com
- French Open men’s semifinal preview – by Courtney Nguyen (si.com)
- Match of the Day: David Ferrer (ESP) (6) v Rafael Nadal (ESP) (2) – by Kate Battersby (rolandgarros.com)
- Nadal, the Underrated Tactician, Stalks Djokovic – by Tom Perrotta (wsj.com)
- As a someone who is occasionally a geeky numbers person and is very interested in the display of data, I find this chart to be very interesting. I also like who’s listed as the most dominant.
- Nadal, Ferrer Commit To Beijing – via the ATP
I give up. I’m marking everything read in my RSS Reader.
Videos:
- Rafael Nadal thanks Babolat fans for their supports
- BREAKING NEWS: Rafa likes chocolate
- Rafa and Moya visit Babolat
- iB3 match report
- More lockerroom footage
Photos:
- Check out this Behind the Scenes with Babolat Facebook album for pictures of Moya and Rafa.
- Rafa and Moya
- Lovely B&W photos from the Roland Garros Facebook account.
Rafa does social media:
- Rafa shared a photo from his pre-quarterfinal dinner.
- Today, he posted a photo of himself with the amazing Esther Verger.
Mi mas sincero pesame a la familia de Manolo Preciado. Un crack.
— Rafael Nadal (@RafaelNadal) June 7, 2012
Tweets about Rafa:
As a good night gift, here’s a nice picture of @RafaelNadal today :-)RT @rolandgarros_FR: Hot photo of the day twitter.com/rolandgarros_F…
— Roland Garros (@rolandgarros) June 6, 2012
Don’t tell@RafaelNadal but that bottle on the right it half a degree off centre..#worrying twitter.com/ellaling23/sta…
— Ella Ling (@ellaling23) June 6, 2012
.@RafaelNadal d @NicoAlmagro 76 62 63 to win 50th career match @rolandgarros, surpassing #BjornBorg (49-2). 59 of 60 games held at RG.
— Greg Sharko (@SharkoTennis) June 6, 2012
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Rafa explains in his book that the habits help him calm down and also isolate himself from his surroundings. It is so hard to keep your calm and concentration with a roaring audience and millions watching. Apparently he needs these habits to recreate some sort of comfort zone. Sounds logical to me. It’s hard to understand the mechanics of it but if it works for him, no problem for me!
I also think he has been adjusting the front of his shorts a lot more lately. I dare not even begin to imagine what might be the reason ;-)
If you are O/C yourself, or live with someone who is, you may recognize the tics and their purpose. Arranging the bottles, and all the othe compulsive acts, enable him to channel the anxiety and distractions into a sidelines structure for the space he inhabits during a match. If he has his bottles in just the right place, then he doesn’t have to think about them during a break, when he must give all his mind to other things. When he does the same routine prior to a serve, he not only makes sure that he won’t be blinded by sweat or hair or limited in his movements (a good reason to go back to sleeveless), he calms his nerves with the familiarity and siphons off distractions again.
To eliminate them during the season would require so much attention that his game would suffer. As a fan, I can live with them. Outside the game court, he’s a lot less compulsive, apparently — and not surprisingly.
I agree and I never thought he should change his routine. I don’t mind it at all. If he feels he should change it because that would do him good, I’m all for it. But he shouldn’t do it for any other reason.
still mad at tsong….if hed just played right joker would have been in uk now :(…but rafa will beat him in finals and it will make the victory even more thrilling….dont understand y ppl r underestimating fed so much… joker is not at his best and fed can beat him that is not such hard to imagine
anyone know where to watch online streaming of Rafa and Daveeed in the US?? Tennis channel is not streaming:( help?
Try livescorehunter or just search live tennis, you should find something.
Most players have habits. Fed makes the same exact motion of sweeping his hair out of the way. Rafa just has a few more of them and they’re a little odd so he gets all this attention about it.
It’s a non-issue as far as I’m concerned.
I wasn’t able to watch the semi because of no coverage (which I find mind-boggling). Nole looked in good form against Fed but I don’t think it will be enough on Sunday. Rafa is playing with such colm and confidence and the serve is clicking!
Actually it was Fed who didn’t play his game. Djokovic’s level wasn’t that fantastic.
Mmm, those black and white photos are just beautiful. The one of the back with the scar gives me goose bumps. In both a good and a bad way (that scar is like a crater!). Oh, and somebody’s getting a bit of a hairy back I think. :)