Happy New Year, happy birthday and a wee contest

Wee prize packet

Happy New Year, everybodyguys! Will (or did) you have your 12 grapes to get the new year started? I’m going to give this a try tonight…but with red grapes instead of green. After all, I don’t have any gifted red undies. :D

Since this site debuted on January 1, 2009, we are leaving our toddler years behind and celebrating our 4th birthday.

A new year and a birthday? This calls for a contest. Albeit a very small contest.

Comment on this post for a chance

31 Dec 2012 | by miri | 61 Comments

Interview with Toni

Photo by David Matellano

Toni gave an interview with SER in which he discussed Rafa’s health and plans for going forward. You can listen to the interview here. Inés has typed up a transcription and then translated that for those of us who are Spanish challenged.

Transcript

Hoy hemos empezado a entrenar en tierra batida después del parón debido al problema que ha surgido últimamente, pues hemos empezado hoy

Me imagino que el deseo para el 2013 está claro, que las lesiones respeten a Rafa y todos

31 Dec 2012 | by miri | 8 Comments

RafaLint: December 30th

Photo by Beth Wilson

Hello everybodyguys. Looks like we have some time to kill, no? To help keep us occupied and remind us of happier times, @SW828 has put together a photo album on flickr. Check out her excellent photos – she’s great at capturing Rafa moments.

What about you? Do you have some Rafa pictures to share? If you have them online, send me a link. If you have them on flickr and have Rafa tagged, you can easily put them into

30 Dec 2012 | by miri | 6 Comments

RafaLint: December 29th

Photo by Beth Wilson

Injury and Illness to Keep Nadal Out of Australian Open – by Christopher Clarey (nytimes.com). This is the best article I could find on the withdrawal. It has actual research in it!

Nadal’s publicist, Benito Pérez Barbadillo, said in a telephone interview that Nadal began to feel ill Dec. 20 in his home island of Majorca in Spain. At that stage, Pérez Barbadillo said, Nadal had been practicing with increased intensity, but his illness forced him to stop training and doctors

29 Dec 2012 | by miri | One Comment

Rafa withdraws from Doha and the Australian Open

This morning, Rafa announced his withdrawal from Doha and the Australian Open via Facebook. He currently plans to return to the tour in Acapulco.

28 Dec 2012 | by miri | 33 Comments

RafaLint: December 27th

Oops! Thought I posted lint the other day. Sorry about that. Sadly, a lot of the links I had are no longer relevant…but then, do we really need article after article about the Abu Dhabi withdrawal?

Rafa wanted to make sure we all celebrated the holidays responsibly:

Articles:

Nadal, como un astronauta – by Juan José Mateo. From (mangle) it sounds like Rafa’s left no stone unturned in his recovery.
Abu Dhabi-bound Nadal: Federer proved his greatness in 2012 – by Reem Abulleil (sport360.com)

Bro-mance alert! Andy Murray: Tennis Missing Rafael Nadal – by Reem

27 Dec 2012 | by miri | 7 Comments

An infection ‘knocks Nadal down’

Rafael Nadal, who has been six months without competing for a partially torn patellar tendon in his left knee and hoffitis, has announced that he will not participate in the exhibition in Abu Dhabi next Friday, where he was scheduled to return, due to a stomach infection.

25 Dec 2012 | by miri | 2 Comments

Rafa withdraws from Abu Dhabi

Not the best news to wake up to on Christmas morning as Rafa has announced via Facebook that he will not be playing in Abu Dhabi due to a stomach virus.

25 Dec 2012 | by miri | 20 Comments

Coming soon: Rafael Nadal Tennis Academy app

Vstrator have launched their promo page for the upcoming Rafael Nadal Tennis Academy app (iPhone and iPad only). Watch the short promo video and sign up to be the first to know about the app’s release: The Rafael Nadal Tennis Academy App Powered by Vstrator.

24 Dec 2012 | by miri | 3 Comments

Interview: Only the knee matters

An interview by Enrique Yunta for ABC.es. “The Balearic tennis player receives ABC when we are a week away from his return to competition. He is excited, but asks for caution.”

24 Dec 2012 | by miri | 3 Comments