Rafa withdraws from Doha and the Australian Open

This morning, Rafa announced his withdrawal from Doha and the Australian Open via Facebook. He currently plans to return to the tour in Acapulco.

28 Dec 2012 | by miri | 33 Comments

RafaLint: November 26th

Photo by Robert Marquardt/Getty Images Europe

There’s actually been stuff going on in Rafa-land, but I’ve been very busy. Sorry about that. I don’t know how I’m going to manage balancing my new outdoor activities with the tennis schedule once it heats back up again…

Most Beloved:
Rafa was named one of the most loved Spanish sportsmen of the last 25 years by XL Semanal (mangle). Here’s a short interview brought about by the declaration(mangle). (Be sure to click through to both of the above

26 Nov 2012 | by miri | 6 Comments

Behind the scenes…

…of Rafa and Roger’s romantic evening. From the ATP:

12 Jan 2012 | by miri | 3 Comments

RafaLint: January 9th

Rafa’s love affair with tennis:

Posted by aljazeerasport.

Video of Toni leaving for Australia. @DavidJNadal tweeted about what Toni said:

Toni Nadal: “A Rafel el año pasado le costó mucho dar golpes ganadores.Ésta es una de las causas de por qué jugó mal al final de temporada”

Toni Nadal: “La cabeza de la nueva raqueta tiene más peso, buscamos quele pueda pegar con más fuerza”

“Ahora bien, no me quiero engañar, no es el flechero, es el indio. Es Rafel el que tiene que jugar bien. Buscamos un poco de ayuda externa”

Toni Nadal: “La competición es ganar,

9 Jan 2012 | by miri | 5 Comments

RafaLint: January 6th

Today’s recommended reading: Back to the Struggle by Steve Tignor (tennis.com)

Articles:

Racquet Reaction: Monfils d. Nadal by Hannah Wilks (tennis.com)
Monfils takes out Nadal to reach Qatar Open final from espn
Monfils Tops Nadal, Faces Tsonga in Qatar Final by Michael Casey AP
Monfils Ends Losing Streak To Nadal In Doha from the ATP
Nadal es un enigma by J. J. Mateo (elpais.com). Here’s the mangle.

Videos:

iB3 report on Doha semi.
Rafa (and Daveed) answer a question in Abu Dhabi.

Rafa

7 Jan 2012 | by miri | 21 Comments

Doha: Semifinal presser transcript

Rafa’s presser is up. No stupid and unnecessary quips from me. Just Rafa.

Q. Gaël took a lot of risks today. Is it the main reason of your loss, you think?

RAFAEL NADAL: No. He take a lot of risk. I take more risk than him. That’s my feeling.
I didn’t play the right way tactically in the first set, in my opinion. I wanted to play more aggressive than usual, playing more inside, don’t wait. So just try to go more for the

6 Jan 2012 | by miri | 29 Comments

Doha: Semifinal videos

First up is the full day video from the tournament. Worth it for the Tsonga/Edberg exhibition!

If that doesn’t work, here’s Part 1:

And the rest is on the Partido a Partido site.

6 Jan 2012 | by miri | No Comment

Doha: Semifinal photos

Some photos from today’s match against Monfils:

Photos by KARIM JAAFAR/AFP/Getty Images, AP Photo/Osama Faisal, and REUTERS/Fadi Al-Assaad

6 Jan 2012 | by miri | 3 Comments

Doha: Deja Vu

Rafa met Monfils (#16) in the semifinals of Doha today. Both men came out of the gate firing their groundshots, and we were treated to many excellent rallies. In the 6th game, Rafa played a few loose points and Monfils took full advantage – breaking him for a 4-2 lead and kept his head in the game to take the first set, 6-3. Gaël’s level dropped a bit in his first service game of the second set and it was Rafa’s turn to

6 Jan 2012 | by miri | 67 Comments

RafaLint: January 5th

This? Is cool. It’s a 360 degree view of Rafa and Rog’s candle-light tennis date. Both guys send us New Years wishes and there’s a contest to enter. So, go enter and good luck!

New Babolat promo:

Posted by BABOLATWorld.

Articles:

Racquet Reaction: Nadal d. Youzhny by Hannah Wilks
Nadal finds top gear to beat Youzhny by ESPN
Nadal, Monfils To Square Off In Doha SFs from the ATP
How does Nadal respond to Djokovic? by Simon Cambers (thetennisspace.com)
Nadal wheels out heavy artillery as Federer finds answers to the wind by Richard

5 Jan 2012 | by miri | No Comment