RafaLint: June 29th
Photo by LEON NEAL/AFP/GettyImages
Rafa, in defeat, was classy as always – his Facebook update:
No pudo ser… así es el deporte, hay q saber celebrar las victorias y encajar las derrotas! enhorabuena a Lukas por su gran partido!
It couldn’t be…This is sport! You must know how to celebrate wins and assume defeats ! Congratulations to Lukas for his great match!
Articles:
- “Today Happened” – by Steve Tignor (tennis.com)
- A Shell-Shocked Wimbledon – by Tom Tebbutt
- Racquet Reaction: Rosol d. Nadal – by Hannah Wilks (tennis.com)
- Why Rafael Nadal lost so early at Wimbledon – by Howard Fendrich (csmonitor.com)
- Wimbledon Update Digizine from tennis.com
- “Estoy decepcionado” – via ole.com.ar (includes a video). Here’s the mangle.
- Millions of women left devastated as Spanish hunk Rafa Nadal crashes out of Wimbledon (who will we lust after now?) – by Deborah Arthurs (dailymail.co.uk). In case a little eye-candy will help.
- Don’t worry ladies, Nadal is philosophical – by Sarah Edworthy (wimbledon.com). I’m sensing a trend here.
- Wimbledon stunner: Rafael Nadal ousted in Round 2 – by Douglas Robson (usatoday.com)
- Rafael Nadal stunned in 2nd round – via espn.com
- Nadal Stunned in Second-Round Knockout – by Christopher Clarey (nytimes.com)
- Five thoughts on Lukas Rosol’s five-set victory over Rafael Nadal – by Mark Hodgkinson (thetennisspace.com)
- Lukas Rosol conquers Rafael Nadal, upsets ATP hierarchy – by Courtney Nguyen (si.com)
- Wimbledon: Rafael Nadal in ‘best form’ despite Rosol defeat – from the BBC
Video/Audio:
- Full match
- iB3 report
- Grumpy Rafa – no idea what Rosol was doing to set Rafa off.
- Massive Vamos!
- Rafa fall down go boom
Photos:
- Match photos from Zimbio (I’ll try to do a photo post tomorrow, but they take hours and I haven’t had the time yet.)
- rafandready has uploaded some Wimbly photos.
- Some cute Roland Garros photos in this set from Bee.girl.
- Match photos on flickr by Ross Dickson.
Tweets about Rafa:
RT @Barry_FlatmanST: #Nadal very chatty about Spanish football team this morning. Insistent #Llorente must play up front in #Euro2012 final
— Miguel Seabra (@MiguelSeabra) June 28, 2012
Clear to see how @RafaelNadal felt about the roof decision! twitter.com/ellaling23/sta…
— Ella Ling (@ellaling23) June 28, 2012
Rafa loses match; hugely disappointed; walks over to fans to sign autographs,makes no excuses for loss- GREAT Champion
— Chris Evert (@ChrissieEvert) June 29, 2012
Random:
- Rafa’s up for an ESPY award for best tennis player – you can vote here.
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i wonder if Rafa wld watch Euro finals live in Poland/
Ukraine?
He turned up in South Africa, I hope he takes time out, goes and watches his beloved Spain and has a good rest. Looking forward to the Olympics (at least there wont be a time difference for me)x
And no Lukas Rosol! :)
oh dear, it took me 15 minutes to get through that Daily Mail article because i was laughing so hard. that is some quality reporting right there.
except for the comments about Rafa being arrogant, which he is not.
it was more like a gossip column in a woman’s magazine, what nonsense.
The same people seem to be trolling different sites writing the same rubbish about Rafa
sorry wrong article
It’s interesting, because a few people I know, who are moderately interested in tennis, but still watch say Wimbledon, quite often think that Rafa comes across as being arrogant, on court and occasionally in pressers. So it’s not an uncommon view from the general poooblic, I think.
I have a few friends who think that as well, and I can see how, from their limited perspective, they might reach that conclusion, but I believe they are wrong:)
Ewwww…. that was some disgusting British tabloid thrash!
i was just saying i found it funny because it IS so badly written…. :/
And the lights out player is out.. Rosol just lost the next round in 3 sets. Too bad the fire died out after such shining moment. Does anyone know of an upset winner who did not go pffft in the next round? Even Razanno who ousted Serena in 1st round FO had the same fate….
Maybe Rosol’s opponent this round wasn’t hitting groundstokes consistently inside the service box, which makes it slightly more difficult to play ‘lights out’ tennis. My point here is not to criticise Rafa but the idea that to beat a stunning tennis player you have to play stunnis tennis; Rosol did play very well, but was not put under any real pressure from Rafa’s groundstrokes or defense and was allowed to build his confidence steadily. Not once throughout the match did I think that Rosol was someone to get really excited about (unless of course you are a journalist, whose job is to find or create drama and excitement, often, it seems, at the expense of reality).
The positive thing about the result is that it gives Rafa a decent break before the Olympics (though I’m more bothered about the US Open personally), and the chance to actually prepare for a major tournament, which is nice.
*stunning
I respect your opinion Rafarocks. But although Rafa wasn’t playing his best, he didn’t lose to Rosol just because he was playing poorly. Pretty much all the journalists and other top players (Fed and others) thought that Rosol was playing out of this world tennis in some crazy zone where he could have beaten anyone that day. (See Rafalint articles.)
It drives me nuts that Rosol lost today. That’s why he’s #100 and Rafa, Novak, Fed, Andy, Daveed and others are always in the top ten. They can win more than one match in a row and usually it’s six or seven (or 20 or 30) in a row. Rosol takes out a top player who maybe could have won the tournament and who everyone wanted to see more of, and then doesn’t have what it takes mentally or physically to win his next match. I wouldn’t mind his defeat of Rafa quite so much if he had kept going in the tournament and shown that he is actually worthy of the win over Rafa.*steam coming out of ears*
Agree 100%
Indeed. At least Soderling did make it to the RG final twice.
Fair enough Susanna, I should have given Rosol slightly more credit but like you, him losing in straight sets the next day really frustrated me, especially because it was so predictable as mentioned.
By the way, I don’t tend to take much notice of journalistic opinion, because much of it is manufactured as alluded to in mmy earlier post. I trust my own opinion on things in the main, though admit that obviously I can be wrong, spectacularly so at times. xD
Absolutely agree.
me too…the one-shot wonder takes out a great champion, then fades away
Rosol played brilliantly in the fifth set, and very well for the rest of the match, but had Rafa played a little better a couple of his service games, or had there not been a 40 minute break, for that matter, he would still have slot to a rather mediocre Rafa. That tells you a lot about the difference of level between them.
Absolutely Susanna. Couldn’t agree with you more. Such a waste.
Rafa just had a bad day in the office. It’s not the end of the world although I would prefer that he won. I was given up tennis after Sampras until Rafa comes along. He brought me back to enjoy tennis once again. I am very grateful and appreciate his performances through all of these years. Vamos Rafa!! Get a good rest and comes back for Olympic.
Pretty much same thing for me. I had not watched much tennis after Marcelo Rios retired, and Rafa certainly reignited my interest in it.
Strangely enough, Tignor says the opposite of what I thought Rafa said in his interview about the defeat in the second round. I thought I read somewhere that Rafa said he thought it would have been harder to lose in the final because then he would have been so close to the title, whereas losing in the second round means he was so far from winning it. I thought that was strange, because it is always better to go as deep in the tournament as you can, and I suppose it is better to lose in the final of a Grand Slam than to a guy ranked 100 in the second round.
I think you’re right and Tignor misunderstood what Rafa was saying, which was that sometimes it’s easier to accept a loss in the earlier rounds because you’re not even close to winning the title, whereas if you lose in the semis or finals, it’s tough because you feel you really had a chance to win the whole thing. I also think him saying that might partially stem from the fact that he was in so many finals that he lost last year. Most of the time, like you say, it’s better to go deep in the tournament rather than to lose early, but i think Rafa is a little sick of going deep and then losing anyway, that’s why he said that (more or less) anything other than winning doesn’t work for him at this point in his career.
Tignor interpreted it in the only reasonable way when writing about a professional athlete, imho. I would have thought the same.
I can see where it’s a bit difficult to parse his quote:
It’s the “so that” that makes it confusing. On first read, I would think that “so that” refers to “not the semifinals or final”… But my gut tells me that’s not Rafa’ meaning. So that means…clear as mud? Does it bother him more to have a chance to win a title and not win it? Or to not even have that chance? I could see a case for either.
Exactly. It could either mean that it bothers him more to be in the final and not win it or that it bothers him more that he lost in the second found and he didn’t have the chance to win it. I think Rafa could mean that the feeling of defeat is more disappointing and perhaps stronger when you’ve lost in the final, but when he looks back to the tournament, I’m sure he would have preferred to have reached the final. I cannot imagine him saying it’s better that he lost in the second round instead of losing in the final.
I totally agree Miri. His words could be interpreted either way. I personally had thought he meant he was more bothered by going out early as he had not given himself a chance. It was not until I read the articles by journalists that I saw they understood him differently. Checking up his presser statement, I could see why. Right now I’m not even sure which it is. However, I think he will be unhappy at having dropped a lot of points and also not playing very well. Rafa usually likes to compete well or play his best (even if he loses) and he did not in that match.
I believe Rafa meant that losing in a final is more disappointing. In the context of all those painful losses to Novak in all those finals, when he was “so close yet so far” from all those major titles, that is the most logical line of thought. Imagine reaching out for that last piece of gorgeous chocolate truffle cake only to trip up and see someone else snatch it away in front of your eyes… definitely worse than if it was taken away before you even rose to get it.
Losing in the 2nd round of grand slam to an unknown #100 was a freak result for Rafa and I believe that was how he saw it too. The best and most common way of dealing with a freak result in the immediate aftermath is to accept it as such (that “shit just happened”) and move on.
Rafa also said that he was “not very, very disappointed” in the same press conference. This is consistent with the above lines of thought. Anyway, he said all of these just after the defeat. He could well feel differently now, but I found no ambiguity in what he said in the video of the press conference. Remember, he was responding about “losing” at certain stages, not about getting there. He would definitely want to get to the latter stages of any tournament, but he could well feel worse losing at the final hurdle when the prize is so close than losing in the second round to a freak result.
This is how I interpreted his words, too. ;)
I think it’s pretty clear he’s saying there’s more frustration when you lose in the final stages because then you felt close to the winning, and didn’t.
It’s natural, and good I think, ,he feels that way after all the finals he lost recently. Now, if he were to be losing early regularly, I’m sure he’d feel differently.
Most “giant killers” crash and burn.
That happens first in this case, as the style of tennis Rosol was playing is high risk depending on very good serving and taking the ball early for clean winners. It is similar to Nikolay Davydenkos playing method or The Joker when he is in top form. It is hard to keep that up and once the player loses his timing he will hit lots of unforced errors. The margin between very good and abysmal can be small.
I also think Rafa is tired after his exertions at the french especially. Despite good statistics he was slow to get going and prone to being less effective at dealing with Rosols’ low margin game. It only takes one encounter with some one on exceptional form when you are not at your best to get dumped. It is the disadvantage of a competitive knock out format and a perpetual Tennis season that never ends. Rafas obvious annoyance during the match was like Federers during the US Open final in 2009. Fed suspected delpo was good enough to beat him on the night and so he was. NO challenge trophy this year.
I am downright sorry I slogged through all the major online pieces about this event. I have seldom read such arrant twaddle as that Daily Mail tripe. It may have been intended as parody, but it was hamfisted, inaccurate, and … astoundingly crappy. Many of the other editorials and columns have been hyperbolic, overstimulated, breathless, gushy. I needed a hot shower and lots of soap when I was done.
Perhaps worse have been the so-called analyses of Rafa’s game and that of his opponent. Everyone except former pros seem to be all over the board on every strategic and technical aspect of the play. Some were actually sounding deathknells for Rafa’s career.
Most laughable has been the constant mentioning of Rafa in the television coverage by ESPN/Tennis Channel since he was defeated (about 60 hrs ago). I kept count for awhile, but stopped after toting 221 markers in about 5.5 hours. Straight through today, it was still happening. No matter what the topic was, Rafa’s name was brought in, many many times.
Clearly, Rafael Nadal is such a dominating force in the sport that even his absence is a Presence. Love him or hate him, the tennis world and its denizens cannot do without him — just like us.
Only Rafa. ¡Vamos, campeón!
But the pictures in the Daily Mail article were nice, no? If you don’t read, but just look at the pics and imagine lathering Rafa’s increasingly hairy chest in a hot shower, it’s much more fun. Believe me. ;)
CC LOLOLOL!!
HAHAHAA..
You crack me up CC, and I like your perspective here.
Melissa, you had more courage (and much more stomach) than I. I only dared to read Tignor, Wilks and then the Wimby article. I only read the Daily Mail story when others mentioned it. Even then, it left me with mixed feelings and more sour than sweet. I loved the pictures but as you said, the article was very inaccurate and trashy. It was as if the author knew next to nothing about Rafa. I agree with you that tennis cannot do without Rafa. He makes it all interesting whether people believe it or not. All the epic matches of recent memory have Rafa in them. The intriguing rivalries have him sandwiched in-between. Rafa is quite simply – THE MAN. I can’t wait for him to be back in full passion. Vamos Rafa. You deserve the best.
Very, very true. He is in the rivalries, he is is most of the classic epic matches of recent times. Tennis would be a bore without him (I thought it was being for that matter before he came onto the scene).
Great idea for a new t-shirt Melissa. “Only Rafa” Love it.
@Susanna728, you very well took the words from my mouth, my opinion exactly.
Nonetheless, Rafa, i applaud your tendency to be objective and also you being able to congratulate Rosol despite your loss – a rare virtue indeed! ‘Miss you terribly but looking forward to seeing you soon. Vamos Rafael Nadal Parera!
It would interesting, or perhaps not so much, to see what the so-called journalists would write about if they did not have Rafa for material.
Federer’s fashion sense and Djokovic’s comic routines.
And wouldn’t that be extraordinary…
I found this comment posted following the “Five thoughts…” article worth noting:
“Every Matador knows that one day a young bull will come out that cannot be controlled and he will get gored. He can only hope to get out with the minimum of damage. Today was that day for Rafa – he has been the young bull himself, so he knows how it goes, he faced his fate with dignity and will be a better player now that it is over – the event has happened and the nerves will settle. He has survived!”
And I would add, not only has he survived, he will thrive and lift more trophies than Rosol can count.”
Uhm, I have to say I don’t appreciate the bullfighting – disgusting animal torture act that it is – reference at all.
I do not support bull fighting either…it was not intended to be taken literally
Fair enough. It’s just that I hate the references to bullfighting references made about Rafa, just because he’s Spanish…
I can understand that, seems a bit cliche doesn’t it.
It does, but mainly I care because of the poor bulls…
Didn’t mean to be rude to you in any case.
Can somebody tell me what exactly “encajar las derrotas” means? The English version says “assume defeats,” which doesn’t sound quite right. I guess it means something like “accept defeats,” or is it more like “embrace defeats”? Or something else?
HArd to translate… “embrace” isn’t it. “Accept” would come closest I’d say. “Encajar” mean to make something fit into something, so in this context it refers to managing to accept something that is difficult.
Maybe “assume” would be close as well.
Cristina, I like this “fitting in” connotation, thank you. So could I say “encajar las derrotas” is like, perhaps, accepting the losses as part of the pattern of the sport — for example, putting it all into perspective?
Maybe, though it sounds to me more about referring to assuming things even if they’re not easy.
“Encajar las derrotas” means putting them in their rightful place. I would have to see in which context this phrase is used, but it is most probably keeping them in perspective.
Not being able to watch Rafa play was hard.
Finding out he lost in the second round was even harder.
Reading most of the reactions afterwards was the hardest.
Why?
After Rafas first match, I posted a comment about the ever so high expectations of him being victorious every time. I also stated, that even if he did win, he never really got the credit, that he deserved.(It has been like that for years now).
Now that he lost so early in a tournament, where he has been such a dominating participant for so many years, it wasn´t that hard to imagine, how the loss would be handled by the media.
I don´t mind Rafa being criticized, if he looses a match, that is inevitable and part of the game for everybody. But the reactions are always that much harder in Rafas case.
Of course the opponent, the way he played in that second round match, set the scene for the media to really compete for the prize of: ” Best selling article of the most shocking defeat of all time in the history of tennis”, or something like that!
While some writers tried to treat this as a: ” Once in a lifetime performance” from a player ranked #100, others definitely seized the opportunity to make the most of it, by writing articles where you can only shake your head in disbelieve by the context and the angle.
The journalists have to make a living, and when Rafa looses that early to a relatively unknown player, he has never met before, well, there´s the story for you!
We, the readers,(and fans) fortunately have a choice, we can read it and grieve, or we can read it and leave (it).
Instead of torturing myself, I take somewhat comfort in the fact, that Rafa may not get the credit he deserves, the respect that he has earned throughout the years, but he gets the attention big time, winning or loosing.
That tells me, that he is a hell of a tennisplayer, fighter, rolemodel and a great champion, and when so many can make a story go on for days about his defeat, it is exactly because of that!
Thank you…well said.
Why do the Rafa critics, euphemism for Rafa haters, dislike him and openly express such hatred toward him? I don’t understand it, and I refuse to visit their hateful sites to find out what their arguments are. It’s one thing to respectfully disagree with or dislike someone, but venomous hatred is disturbing on so many levels. Very sad…
I had followed football more than tennis usually before, and had never talked much to other tennis fans, and I have been disappointed to find that tennis fans can be – and often are – very personal and vicious in their dislike for players. You don’t actually see that kind of thing is team sports I think.
I think Rafa gets a that kind of reaction from a considerable amount of people basically for two reasons:
1. Federer fans who are seriously sore losers and often very, very arrogant in their ideas about how tennis should be played.
2. Independently of that, Rafa’s kind, shy and wise personality attracts hate and bully-like behaviour from certain kinds of people, who either are too cynical to believe he’s for real, or who feel it reflects badly on their own personalities. And I mean, one sees that kind of thing not just with someone famous like him, but in everyday life.
Good points, insightful comments…and Rafa handles it all with grace and dignity.
Christina, you are spot on. I think it has to do with jealousy too. Let´s face it, Rafa is good looking, he attracts a lot of female attention, he plays wonderful tennis, and he has a great personality off court.
So if that hurts, some may react to that, and they do it by posting those negative comments. That´s their payback, I guess.
Yeah, I think that may have to do with it as well.
The stupid, bigoted anti-Rafa media (Greg Garber, etc.) are at again, trying to write off Rafa’s career and doing everything they can to criticize Rafa. I guess they are so stupid that they lack perspective. They never give Rafa any credit that he deserves. They’re even writing off his French Open win, just because of Wimbledon. I’ve had it with the garbage from the bigots in the media.
Rafa has always struggled in the 1st week of Wimbledon (taken to 5 sets by very low-ranked players like Robin Haase, Kendrick, who were ranked even lower than Rosol). The fast grass in 1st week is much worse for Rafa’s game than the slower grass in 2nd week. This time, Rafa was unlucky (Rafa most likely would’ve won if it hadn’t been for that stupid decision to close the roof). Plus, the media forgot that it’s natural for the French Open champion to be tired, when there’s only 2 weeks between French Open and Wimbledon. Just look at Sharapova, who lost early after winning French Open, even though grass is a better surface for Sharapova than clay. If Sharapova can struggle at Wimbledon (her better surface), of course Rafa can, because grass is worse surface for Rafa than clay.
How come the media spares other players from criticism? They never write off Federer, even though he’s been Slamless for over 2 years. But with Rafa, they always pile on criticism.
Well, the bigoted media wrote Rafa off at the beginning of the clay-court season this year, and Rafa proved them wrong didn’t they?
What do you all think?
Oh, just ignore them. It’s like I said above, some kinds of people feel they can pick on someone like Rafa sue to his kind disposition.
But they CAN’T write his career off. Let them try, lol.
I’ve noticed how the commentators are still talking about Rafa days after he’s gone! I think everyone is feeling his absence. I’ve rewatched the match a couple of times and Rafa was playing really well in the fourth. He had the momentum going and if they had proceeded with the fifth straight away I think he would have won. He was imposing his will and his game on Rosol (or whatever his name is).
We’ll never know but it was definitely a one-off, freakish match. I’ve also had a chance to look at Rosol’s game and it’s lousy. Good serve but nothing else. So how did he beat him? Hell if I can figure it out!
Christina, I loved your post! You are spot-on about the haters. They don’t think he’s for real. And the Fed fans are forever bitter that Rafa took their king’s crown (and slams that he would have won). And Nole’s fans are way too political and nationalistic. Me thinks they aren’t real fans and they don’t have any historical perspective about the sport.
I’ve said on Yahoo eurosport, most of the Djokovic fans I have spoken to seem to have only become fans last year but they are no where near as vile as the Federer fans on most websites including Youtube.
@Kevin, I said it before that Rafa gets less respect than Djokovic and Federer, despite Djokovic’s questionable behaviour on the court sometimes, the media seem to be in awe of his achievements in 2011. I love the fact that McEnroe and Becker (i believe) said he can not be called a legend until he has achieved some where near what Rafa and Federer have done consistently, remain in the top 2 for over 5 years, and win numerous majors.
The recent media coverage of Rafa’s loss has been extreme and it always makes me laugh the way they write him off. They said he was over when he had his injuries in 2009, then he came back and stunned everyone in 2010.
The fact that he’s won the French open has been completely sidelined by this Wimbledon loss but the commentators are still gushing over Federer’s grandslam total and Djokovic’s incredible year.
They’re writing Rafa off? Discounting the FO win?? How truly short-sighted (and ignorant) they are. Glad I’ve avoided media trash this week…
What Rafa has done in managing to beat Djokovic – and not just one time, but three times in a row – after being dominated by him it’s truly, truly remarkable, and I think these people know it too. He has dome something that other all time greats, like Borg and Fed, were/have not been able to do.
The media has always been overly harsh on Rafa. They often want to write off Rafa’s career. These media pundits should be ashamed of themselves!
Certain parts of the media are also very anti-Hispanic, accusing Rafa and other Hispanic players of doping.
What do you all think?
Good talk guys! Well come on…let the olympics begin. Maybe Rafa-haters will go to sleep.
Let´s hope so.
Rafa posted on Facebook that he had his wisdom teeth out yesterday …
https://www.facebook.com/#!/photo.php?fbid=10150962790061026&set=a.456161351025.251362.64822581025&type=1&theater
Awww, poor baby. I knew something was bothering him at Wimbly. Thank goodness he’s had them out now as this is at least the 3rd time they’ve caused him problems in a few years.
Expect him to be rampant at the Olympics!!
I saw the video of the match- Rafa did NOT bump into that Rosol- all Rafa did was brush the towel. But these losers in the media (Jon Wertheim, Greg Garber, etc.) want to SLANDER Rafa, by saying he intentionally “bumped” into Rosol. These losers in the media should be very thankful that Rafa is not suing them for slander.
By the way, Wertheim and Garber (and others) also said that Rafa would have a bad red-clay season after Rafa withdrew from Miami this year. Well, Rafa proved that Wertheim and Garber (and others) are 100% WRONG, didn’t he?