Abu Dhabi: Excerpts from post-final presser

From the iB3:

2 Jan 2011 | by miri | 6 Comments

RafaLint: January 1st

Abu Dhabi schtuff – all of the articles were pretty much the same

Nadal rekindles Federer rivalry in Doha (Montreal Gazette)
iB3 report
Nadal Beats Federer In Doha Dress Rehearsal (ATP)
Nadal beats Federer in Abu Dhabi final (Yahoo Sports)

Year end yadda, yadda:

El Hombre del Año 2010 se llama Rafael Nadal (Google mangling happily tells me this has nothing to do with llamas.)
Top 10 Sports Stories of 2010 – 6. The rise

1 Jan 2011 | by miri | 2 Comments

Abu Dhabi: Final – videos

Highlights:

Posted by NadalCuriosities – thanks Armando who also offers up a download here.

First set tie break:

Second set tie break:

HQ version of award ceremony:

Posted by vamosrafelnadal. Another version (here) was sent in by amberfan.

Some of Rafa’s on-court remarks without translators

1 Jan 2011 | by miri | 8 Comments

Abu Dhabi: Trophy ceremony photos

Photos by KARIM SAHIB/AFP/Getty Images, REUTERS/Ahmed Jadallah, and MARWAN NAAMANI/AFP/Getty Images

1 Jan 2011 | by miri | 15 Comments

Abu Dhabi: Final – match photos

Photos by KARIM SAHIB/AFP/Getty Images, MARWAN NAAMANI/AFP/Getty Images, REUTERS/Ahmed Jadallah, AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili, REUTERS/Suhaib Salem, and REUTERS/Jumana El Heloueh

1 Jan 2011 | by miri | 12 Comments

Abu Dhabi: Happy New Year!

Hey, look – it’s Rafa and Roger in an exhibition, but this time, it’s not for charity. Both guys hold serve throughout the first set and we go to a tie breaker. Rafa loses his first two serve points to go down 0-3. He comes back (Fed helps with some errors) and goes on to take the tiebreaker and the first set: 7-6(4).

Serve holds were a bit more difficult to achieve in the second set, but just a bit. It too went to a tiebreak and again an early mini-break went to Rafa…but that’s all he needed. Rafa wins

1 Jan 2011 | by miri | 47 Comments

Abu Dhabi: Semifinal wrap up [Updated]

Articles

CNN write up
Sydney Morning Herald write up

A bit of the presser video…or is it snack time? I guess it’s both:

Posted by meko1686.

Photos:

Photos by MARWAN NAAMANI/AFP/Getty Images, KARIM SAHIB/AFP/Getty Images, REUTERS/Jumana El Heloueh, AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili, and REUTERS/Jumana El Heloueh

Stupid me, left out the iB3 report – complete with a bit of the on-court interview:

Finally the last 3 games of the match. (Still in baby chest mode. I hope he’s not keeping things

31 Dec 2010 | by miri | 17 Comments

Abu Dhabi: Hello, new season

Rafa started off his 2011 season on the last day of 2010 by playing #6 Tomas Berdych in the Abu Dhabi exhibition tournament. Rafa’s timing was a bit off at first, but his forehand down the line was soon firing in the most awesome of ways. He broke in the 9th game of the first set and then served it out 6-4. Up a double break in the 2nd, Rafa had a brain fart of a game and double-faulted to give

31 Dec 2010 | by miri | 25 Comments

RafaLint: December 30th

Ready for 2011 Rafa tennis in 2010? Rafa takes on Berdych tomorrow (well, today for some of you guys) in Abu Dhabi.

Year end wrap-up kind of stuff:

Year in review: Glory for Nadal

Tennis: The moments of 2010

YMAs (Yet More Awards):

Nadal named top sportsman by journalists
elmundo.es article about the L’Equipe award (Google mangling)

Abu Dhabi stuff:

Nadal: This was the best year ever
New year and new hopes for Federer and Nadal

I don’t know what’s more wrong

30 Dec 2010 | by miri | 9 Comments

Abu Dhabi: Press and play videos

Rafa gave a presser today and then played with some enthusiastic tennis players.

From the iB3:

Mainly the same footage, but just a bit different:

Posted by meko1686.

I know he probably said the beginning is a “little hard”, but I swear he said a “little hairy”. New idiomatic phrase for him? And I love the “so” after that.

30 Dec 2010 | by miri | 25 Comments