Rafa’s custom hoodie

From Nike’s Facebook page:

Nike Japan designed a special gift to honor Rafa’s recent successes and his inaugural trip to Japan. The one-of-a-kind hoodie was inspired by a traditional Japanese jacket called “Suka-Jan,” famous for beautiful embroideries that cover the back. Check out the album see the story behind the design.

18 Oct 2010 | by miri | 24 Comments

Tokyo: Trophy ceremony

Is this the hair-twitchiest trophy ceremony ever?

Posted by meko1686.

(Thanks, kefuoe for pointing out I’d embedded the wrong vid.)

11 Oct 2010 | by miri | 7 Comments

Tokyo: Final photos

Here’s a few photos from the final.

REUTERS/Yuriko Nakao, TORU YAMANAKA/AFP/Getty Images, Kiyoshi Ota/Getty Images, and Koji Watanabe/Getty Images

(Sorry I’m late posting these and have no captions, but I’m tired after playing tour guide for a friend!)

10 Oct 2010 | by miri | 23 Comments

Tokyo: Final highlights

Posted by ATPWorldTour.

And the ATP wrap up on the match.

10 Oct 2010 | by miri | 11 Comments

Tokyo: Post final interview

Posted by the ATPWorldTour.

10 Oct 2010 | by miri | 3 Comments

Tokyo: The champ

In his first Japan Open final, Rafa played #15 Gael Monfils. Monfils showed that he was focused and meant business by sitting in his chair, staring calmly straight ahead, and not moving a muscle during Rafa’s match prep-routine. Didn’t seem to help him much at the start of the match as Rafa held serve at love in the first game and then broke on his first opportunity in the second. Monfils got on the scoreboard in the 4th game, but then took a bit of a tumble in the

10 Oct 2010 | by miri | 83 Comments

Tokyo: Semifinal photos

Photos from the nail-biter match against Troicki.

Photos by Koji Watanabe/Getty Images, REUTERS/Yuriko Nakao, TORU YAMANAKA/AFP/Getty Images, AP Photo/Shizuo Kambayashi, and Kiyoshi Ota/Getty Images

9 Oct 2010 | by miri | 14 Comments

Tokyo: Semifinal highlights

Highlights from TennisTV.com:

And now on YouTube.

9 Oct 2010 | by miri | 12 Comments

Tokyo: Post semifinal interview

From TennisTV.com – first, English:

And Spanish.

9 Oct 2010 | by miri | 18 Comments

Tokyo: Wait, he won that?

For his semifinal match at the Japan Open, Rafa played #54 Viktor Troicki. The match started with Troicki serving lights out and losing very few points on serve. In the 10th game, Rafa had two break points, but Troicki saved both with excellent serving. At 5-6, Rafa played an excellent, aggressive game and really looked to get a strut going. He held and they went to a tiebreak. He got a mini-break on the first point and then followed that up with two

9 Oct 2010 | by miri | 82 Comments