RafaLint: July 19th

The honor of playing for his country means so much to Rafa; I cannot imagine how difficult of a decision this was for him. The fact he didn’t do the “easy” thing – stay on the team, enjoy the honor of carrying the flag, and then go out early in the tournament because he wasn’t able to play at this top level – is why this site is here and why a lot of you come to visit it or other Rafa sites. Because of his withdrawal before the deadline, two Spanish players who otherwise wouldn’t are going to get to enjoy the spirit of the games. So – VAMOS Feli and Marc! I hope you enjoy the hell out of every second you spend in the Olympic village.

(Correction – as people have pointed out, I got a bit carried away. Feli was going to be on the team, but just for doubles. Now he’ll be in the singles draw.)

Statements from Rafa: in Spanish and English.

The quote from Benito in this article, pretty much sums things up:
Rafael Nadal Withdraws From London Games – by Christopher Clarey (nytimes.com)

“He doesn’t want to give excuses for past losses; he’s not in condition to play; that’s all he wants to say,” said his publicist Benito Perez-Barbadillo in a telephone interview. “He’s going to start practicing again. He’s just not ready to compete. He’s not competing for himself here. This is not Rome or Madrid or even the French Open. This is competing for your country. You can’t go out there when someone else can be competing at full strength.”

Babolat encourages you to leave a message for Rafa via their Facebook page.

Interesting tid-bit in The Times article on the withdrawal:

Nadal told The Times in the immediate aftermath of his defeat by Rosol that he had been having more trouble with tendinitis in his knees which have bothered him one and off for the past four years.

Articles:

• Nadal’s Olympic Pull-Out is Good News for the Long Term – by Chris Oddo (tennisnow.com)
• Believe It Or Not, Nadal’s Withdrawal Doesn’t Signal The End Of The World – by footfaulters
• Rafael Nadal out of London Olympics opens door for Roger Federer – by Courtney Nguyen. Totally agree with the sentiment in that last paragraph.
• Blanco: “Nadal siempre ha dado todo por el deporte español” (Mangle: White: “Nadal has always given everything for Spanish sport”)
• Nadal now faces even greater challenges – by Howard Bryant. Um. Rafa gave up the biggest honor of his career so far because he’s afraid of losing. Yeah. Sure. Pppffft.
• Rafael Nadal pulls out of London Olympics – AP via nbcolympics.com
• Toni Nadal: This is Rafa’s ‘worst moment of all’ – via tennis.com
• The Racquet Scientist: Rafa’s Knees – by Pete Bodo (yes, it’s Bodo, but there’s good info in there)

Videos:

• Report: Nadal withdraws from London Olympics – via tennis.com
• Withdrawal report from GrupoIntv and one from TVPublicaArgentina.

Tweets about Rafa:

• Pau’s message of support.
• Video from Pau: in English (just the message is in English, the video is in Spanish) and Spanish.
• Due to Rafa’s withdrawal, Marc! will now be on the team to play doubles with Marcel. His message today.
• David Ferrer sent a message to Rafa.
• So did Marcel Granollers.
• Nike’s message of support.
• Martina loves Rafa so much, she sent two messages: one and two.
• Andrea Petkovic, who announced her own withdrawal yesterday, went the humorous route.
• Brad Gilbert chimed in.
• Darren Cahill too.
• Vamos forever from Babolat

I’m sure I missed a lot – feel free to add links in the comments.

19 Jul 2012 | by miri | 54 Comments