RafaLint: January 31st

I have no idea what he’s saying, but he’s sure looking tan while saying it:

Rafa Nadal, Presidente de Honor de Lo que de verdad importa en Palma de Mallorca, no pudo estar presente en el congreso pero quiso dejarnos a todos unas palabras…

Which mangles to: “Rafa Nadal, Honorary President of What really matters in Palma de Mallorca, could not be present at the conference but would leave us all a few words …”

Articles:

Another El Mundo Q&A (mangle)
Report Card: Grading the Pros on January – by Tom Perrotta (tennis.com)
Nadal has tools,

31 Jan 2012 | by miri | 17 Comments

Rafa’s back home

And we know this thanks to the iB3 and their airport stalking ways:

Check davidjnadal’s twitter for quotes from the interview and feel free to mangle them. I’m late getting back to work from lunch!

31 Jan 2012 | by miri | 29 Comments

RafaLint: January 30th

Today’s recommended reading:
Nadal vs. Djokovic: Here We Are Again, My Friend – by Brian Phillips (Grantland.com)

No, this isn’t recommended reading, it’s required reading. If you haven’t read it already – go off. Be gone with you. Read it. We’ll wait until you get back. *whistles*

The cruelest thing about this glutted golden age of men’s tennis is that it keeps producing astonishing matches, matches that actually expand your idea of what sport can be, and someone has to lose all of them.

30 Jan 2012 | by miri | 29 Comments

AO: Q&A for The Age – continued

Some new questions up in The Age (and some Reva pointed out I’d missed):

Question from Zara: I was just wondering what was your favourite kit that you’ve ever worn? I especially liked your US Open 2010 & 2011 kits as well as the polos you wore in 2009.

Rafa says: I don’t have a favorite one but I can tell you I keep one of each gear and special ones. I have yesterday’s shoes and will keep them.

Is there any

30 Jan 2012 | by miri | 12 Comments

RafaLint: January 29th

Today’s recommended reading:
Everything You Can Imagine – by Steve Tignor (tennis.com)

When Federer plays Nadal, Federer’s fans ask, “Why isn’t he more aggressive? Why doesn’t he do this, or that, or something else?” It looks like he should be winning. When Nadal plays Djokovic, Nadal’s fans ask the same exasperated questions. It’s not so easy. Djokovic hits with deceptive weight and accuracy, and he’s better than anyone at forcing Nadal to hit his backhand. He’s always going to have the advantage when he does that. When Nadal plays Federer, he can play his game, while his opponent must find a

30 Jan 2012 | by miri | 16 Comments

AO: Final videos

From the AO site: Match highlights and the Shot of the day (I thought there were better ones, actually). Also, a bit of Rafa’s presser.

Trophy ceremony:

The full match is available for registered users here.

Here’s another view of the “oh god, please let it end soon” portion of the trophy ceremony. I love how the two guys to go stretch simultaneously – without looking at each other. They were both so punch drunk. Horrid they made them stand there so long.

29 Jan 2012 | by miri | 11 Comments

AO: Trophy ceremony photos

Some photos from the trophy ceremony.

Photos by Quinn Rooney/Getty Image, GREG WOOD/AFP/Getty Images, WILLIAM WEST/AFP/Getty Images, Lucas Dawson/Getty Images, AP Photo/Rick Rycroft, Clive Brunskill/Getty Images, and NICOLAS ASFOURI/AFP/Getty Images

(Videos to follow later – I’ve been at the computer gathering photos way too long.)

29 Jan 2012 | by miri | 10 Comments

AO: Final match photos

A few of the thousands of photos posted.

Photos by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images, WILLIAM WEST/AFP/Getty Images, Mark Dadswell/Getty Images, REUTERS/Mark Blinch, REUTERS/Tim Wimborne, Quinn Rooney/Getty Images, GREG WOOD/AFP/Getty Images, Clive Brunskill/Getty Images, Cameron Spencer/Getty Images, Scott Barbour/Getty Images, REUTERS/Vivek Prakash, NICOLAS ASFOURI/AFP/Getty Images, and AP Photo/Aaron Favila

29 Jan 2012 | by miri | 5 Comments

AO: Post final presser transcript and photos

Rafa’s post-match presser transcript is up:

Q. How are you feeling physically?

RAFAEL NADAL: Fine. No, I’m tired, sure. Physically was the toughest match I ever played, if not the tougher. I am tired.

Q. Has this sunk in, the results, the magnitude of the match?

RAFAEL NADAL: Can you repeat?

Q. Has the results sunk in yet? How do you feel mentally as well as physically?

RAFAEL NADAL: Yes. No, no, no, nothing to do on that, no? Just accept.

I think we played a great tennis match. It was I think a very good show, my opinion. I

29 Jan 2012 | by miri | 29 Comments

AO: A huge fight, but not quite enough

#1 vs #2 in a slam final. We are spoiled by how often that happens in men’s tennis these days – the chance to see the top 2 players in the world slug it out in a major final should be relished. Unfortunately for Rafa, this match up doesn’t work as well as him as the one against Federer. In fact, last year Rafa fans started to fully realize the pain that FedFans have felt for years.

29 Jan 2012 | by miri | 168 Comments