RafaLint: August 14th

Stuff to read:

Atch2 pointed out this article from last year about her beloved Maymo (and they almost got the photo credit right). (The very bizzare mangle.)
Rafa “on the loose” sightings in Montreal: on bicycle and with a cute teenager.
Lesilie would like to pass along this article from January. Perhaps, as a reminder that it is a roller coaster we are on; you have to deal with all those ups and downs or just don’t take the ride.

Photos:

Pictures

14 Aug 2011 | by miri | 10 Comments

RafaLint: August 11th

Stuff to read:

The New Normal by Steve Tignor.
Racquet Reaction by Ed McGrogan.
Rafael Nadal can’t overcome cobwebs by Kamakshi Tandon.
Dodig Pulls Off Improbable Victory Over Nadal via the ATP.
Toni Nadal: “La derrota de Rafael es un error grave” via as.com (mangle)
Rafa and the Djoker – a different kind of rivalry by Stephanie Myles.So is the Argentina exo for real now? Thanks to a million

12 Aug 2011 | by miri | 23 Comments

Montreal: 2nd round presser

Some video excerpts:

From tennistv.com.

And one from Tennis Panorama News:

And now the transcript:

Q. You were up a break in the second set. You were up a break two times in the third set. In the end you lose the match. What happened?

RAFAEL NADAL: Well, seriously I didn’t felt that I played bad. But that’s true. In the decisive moments, I didn’t play well. That’s the true.

He played well. Little bit of everything. Little bit of long time without competition. Little bit of I started one week and a half ago playing tennis.

He played

11 Aug 2011 | by miri | 36 Comments

Montreal: 2nd round photos

From photos from Wednesday’s match against Dodig.

Photos by AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Paul Chiasson, REUTERS/Christinne Muschi, and Matthew Stockman/Getty Images

11 Aug 2011 | by miri | 17 Comments

Montreal: It’s not easy being green

Rafa kicked off his North American hard court season by playing Ivan Dodig (#41) in a rain delayed match in Montreal this evening. The rain went on to interrupt play a few times during the match. Rafa came out firing and filed some truly impressive stats in the 32 minute first set. The second was a bit shakier. Dodig upped his game while Rafa lost his first serve and timing. Each player broke once, and they ended up in a tie-breaker. Dodig’s

10 Aug 2011 | by miri | 124 Comments

RafaLint: August 9th

Ready for RafaTennis? He’s up 4th tomorrow (Wednesday) on the main court – not before 5:30pm Montreal time.

Pre-tournament presser excerpt (thanks, Inés):

Rafa speaks from Stephanie Myles on Vimeo.

Photos:

Check out Nida’s Tumblr for some great pictures.
Practice photos by Bianca Tosco via Rafa Updates
Enjoy these photos by Meredith Lackey. No really. Enjoy: one; two; three.
Nice shorts by Sylvain Morin Photos
A good set from Aude Constantin.

Video:

One on one with Pete Sampras: Nadal will bounce back

Rafa does social media:
Rafa’s team’s view of the doubles match.

And

9 Aug 2011 | by miri | 20 Comments

Montreal: Doubles photos

A hardy photographer wandered out to court 9 and took a few photos of a lowly doubles match…

Photos by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images

8 Aug 2011 | by miri | 15 Comments

RafaLint: August 8th

Stuff to read:

Nadal still concerned about foot as Montreal nears via tennis.com
After reading the headline above, take a deep breath and read this article (tweeted by olerafa): We Talking ‘Bout Practice – by Ed McGrogan (tennis.com)
Connors calls Federer-Nadal friendships a modern phenomenon – by Bill Scott (monstoersandcritics.com)
Will Djoker, Woz pass Canada crucible? – Rogers Cup predictions by By Ravi Ubha (ESPN.com)
Beth’s Reviews > Rafa: My Story – a short review of Rafa’s book

Photos:

I love the expression in this

8 Aug 2011 | by miri | 12 Comments

Montreal: Well, at least they’re still cute…

Ah, doubles. Never telecast or streamed unless, maybe, it’s a final. This wasn’t a final, just a first round match in the tournament that’s kicking off the North American hard court season. Thus, we were stuck watching LiveScores in order to follow along as Team Cuteness lost to Berdych/Mayer: 3-6, 6-7(5).

8 Aug 2011 | by miri | 8 Comments

RafaLint: August 7th

sia will be in Montreal Wed-Thurs. In case she has time to tweet, give her a follow.

Stuff to read:

Curtain Raiser – tournament predictions by Steve Tignor
Interview with Toni from as.com (mangle). Is this a repeat? I hope not.

Photos:

3 photos from echantang
Vincent Graton has added more photos to his facebook album

Videos:

Pre-tournament presser clips: one and two.

Interesting tweets:
A series from ArashMadani.

One:

Nadal told me in our sitdown that b/c his foot only let

7 Aug 2011 | by miri | 6 Comments