RafaLint: December 12th

Babolat has chosen to ignore Rafa’s well-documented fear of the dark with their recent promo.

The 2012 Roland Garros book is available on Amazon.fr – has anyone seen a US shipping friendly source?

Articles:

• Rafael Nadal is fit and an Australian Open contender, says tournament director Craig Tiley – via the heraldsun.com.au
• Bullish Rafa Nadal Eyes Abu Dhabi Hat-Trick – via sport360.com
• Rafael Nadal to return for Abu Dhabi – by The Associated Press
• Rafa Nadal’s Dream Day a big hit with PokerStars – by Rick Dacey (pokerstarsblog.com)
• Lorenza Bertone al Rafa Dream Day: “Sembrava di essere in un film” – by PokerStarsBlog.It Staff. (mangle and translated sum-up)
• 2013 Preview: Who needs to step up – by Courtney Nguyen (si.com)
• What’s Next? ATP No. 4, Rafael Nadal – by Peter Bodo (tennis.com)
• The Greatest Set of Tennis Ever Played — Third Set of the 2011 US Open Final, as Told in GIFs – by Amy (changeovertennis.com)
• La fórmula que se alista para traer a Rafael Nadal a Chile – by Carlos González. Per the mangle it sounds like another tournament is pursuing Rafa.
• Are you Rafael Nadal’s greatest fan? – a quiz from thetennisspace.com
• Tennis mulls rule change for Rio 2016 – the Associated Press
• Leconte: Nadal Won’t Win Another Hard Court Grand Slam – via the tennisspace.com
• Draw Back: Revisiting the Men’s 2006 French Open – via The Changeover
• Rafa Nadal deja buenas sensaciones en el Main Event del ESCOOP – via es.pokernews.com (mangle)

Everyone’s doing those year-end wrap-up kinda things:

• Top Achievements Of 2012 – Nos. 5-3 – by Matt Fitzgerald (atpworldtour.com)
• 2012 BTB Awards: Offbeat awards – Courtney Nguyen (si.com). The bump.
• Tennistalk’s No. 2 match of 2012: Nadal vs. Djokovic – by Ricky Dimon. (Roland Garros)
• Match of the Year: Djokovic vs. Nadal, Australian Open – by Ricky Dimon.
• Rivalries 2012 – Djokovic vs. Nadal – via the ATP

Videos/Audio:

• iB3 report on Rafa’s practice and return (a little more footage here.)
• Integración y deporte – this video from Rafa’s Foundation is old, but it’s worth viewing again.
• Rafa talks about his Australian fans.
• Rafa seems to be happy with his new racket.
• Super short teaser video from an upcoming project. And another.

Photos:

• Rafael Nadal Through Time – this is old (linked to it last May), but it’s making the rounds again.
• The Wall Street Journal’s Photos of the Year includes an emotional Rafa and his team.

Rafa does social media:

• Rafa’s happy to have a corner of a store for his Nike gear.
• He shared some sounds from practice.
• And reminded us to drink responsibly.
• He shared a photo from practice. Looks like Roig is giving him some advice.
• Rafa congratulated Daveeed on his great year.
• He seems to be as excited about his return to the tour as we are.
• He teased us about an upcoming project.
• Another practice photo.
• And he let us know about the PokerStars Dream Day event.

Social media related to Rafa:

• Taking time to serve? Rafa’s got that down pat.
• Everyone’s looking forward to the 28th…
• If you are partying tonight, don’t forget.
• Make sure you follow Rafa’s advice and get home safely!

Últimos preparativos. twitter.com/MarcCapo/statu…

— Marc Capó (@MarcCapo) December 11, 2012

Entrenando con Francis Roig y Toni Nadal, hace falta más de una toalla… twitter.com/MarcCapo/statu…

— Marc Capó (@MarcCapo) December 11, 2012

.@rafaelnadal recibe la medalla de oro “Corazones con Eco” por ser un ejemplo de superación y solidaridad ow.ly/i/1emh6 @frnadal

— Siemens Salud (@siemens_salud) December 11, 2012

Heh.

The Return of the King… @rafaelnadal #tennis #missU #mamadú #idol#december28th twitter.com/XS_XaviSegura/…

— Xavi Segura (@XS_XaviSegura) December 10, 2012

Random:

• The 2013 Tennis Calendar – add the tournaments to your calendar of choice.
• Marcel and Marc! on Spanish TV.
• A book about Rafa’s grandfather. (mangle)

12 Dec 2012 | by miri | 4 Comments