RC: Post semifinal presser

Rafa’s post semifinal presser via Tennis Connected.

Q. Tied at 3 in the first set you had a couple of chances to break his serve, and he kind of took over from there. Why was he so hard to put away at some points today?

RAFAEL NADAL: Yeah, well, playing against Andy always is a challenge. Is very difficult player in every surface, I told you yesterday. Here a little bit more than the rest, in my

14 Aug 2010 | by miri | 27 Comments

RC: Semifinal photos

Okay, I think I’m done packing for Cincinnati! (Well, still have to sort out my laptop, but that’s last.) So, here are some photos from today’s match.

Photos by AP Photo/The Canadian Press,Frank Gunn, Matthew Stockman/Getty Images, and REUTERS/ Mike Cassese

Also, once again, GOTOTENNIS has some lovely photos.

14 Aug 2010 | by miri | 15 Comments

RC: So long, Toronto

It’s semi-final day in Toronto and the top four players are left. The day started with Rafa vs. Murray. These two have played some crackers in the past and the match-up was highly anticipated. The level of tennis lived up to expectations – the players were smacking the ball right from the start. Aggressive Andy came to play today and he was pushing Rafa around. Andy broke 8th game of the first set and then served it out. They traded tight breaks in the 2nd, but Andy broke again in the 9th game. He served it out in style and

14 Aug 2010 | by miri | 56 Comments

RafaLint – August 14th

I’m so far behind on everything and it’s just going to get worse next week! Oh well, before the semis start, here’s some stuff from yesterday.

True Story – by Steve Tignor

In this article, Tignor takes on a few of the standard catch-phrases in tennis about the big champions: they play the big points well; they play every point as if it were important; they find a way to win when not playing well. Those are easy things

14 Aug 2010 | by miri | 3 Comments

RC: Quarterfinals videos

Last game:

Posted by Patxy270180.

Match highlights from tennis24RG10
Highlights from rtve.es
Match highlights from tennistv.com
tennistv.com Post-match interview (English) (or via YouTube)
Post-match interview (Spanish)

From Inés, a post-match interview for Spanish TV:

And her translation – please don’t reproduce without her permission.

Rafa Nadal, good night and many congratulations

Rafa: Hello, good evening to you, and thank you very much, well, it was a difficult match, really

Very difficult, Tomás said that you

13 Aug 2010 | by miri | 4 Comments

RC: Quarterfinal photos

Sorry I’m tardy, but I had to work and then (finally!) take mom to her birthday dinner. And look…Rafa…in the sun…not under sickly florescent lights. Yay!

Photos by REUTERS/ Mike Cassese, Matthew Stockman/Getty Images, and AP Photo/The Canadian Press,Frank Gunn

More great photos can be found at GOTOTENNIS.

13 Aug 2010 | by miri | 9 Comments

RC: Steady improvement

Rafa and #37 Philipp Kohlschreiber played the 2nd quarterfinal match today at the Rogers Cup tournament. Turns out, Wednesday’s shanktastic Rafa was back and Kohlschreiber needed just 32 minutes to claim the first set. Rafa stepped things up, broke in his first receiving game of the second set, and, 33 minutes later, the second set was his. Things were tight in the 3rd when Rafa broke at love in the 7th game. That’s all he needed and he’s through: 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.

13 Aug 2010 | by miri | 43 Comments

RC: 3rd round presser

Q. Obviously his serve is the biggest weapon, and in the beginning you seemed to have a lot of trouble with it, but after about two-and-a-half games you were able to break him. What kind of adjustments did you make?

RAFAEL NADAL: Well, I started to return the second serve inside the court. In the beginning, I was returning three meters behind the baseline. After, I returned the second serve on the line. So, yes, this was important point, but after that first

12 Aug 2010 | by miri | 10 Comments

RC: 3rd round videos

Match Highlights
Last point

Post-match interview: English

Post-match interview:Spanish (or via YouTube)
Summer of Success
Match snippets: one; two

And now the ATP videos on are YouTube. English interview:

Spanish:

12 Aug 2010 | by miri | 10 Comments

RC: 3rd round photos

Photos from tonight’s match against Anderson.

Photos by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images, REUTERS/Mike Cassese, and AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Nathan Denette

12 Aug 2010 | by miri | 10 Comments