Anyone for tension?

A bizarre and tension-filled interview in The Times (subscription only) sent in by Emma (thanks). I think when it starts with the interviewer upset that she can see Rafa’s undies (guess she doesn’t cover sports much if men in their undies is upsetting to her) and then asking about him tugging his undies, it’s not going to be a good interview…

 
Anyone for tension?

He’s the tennis superstar who has netted a fortune, has hordes of admirers and is happy with

5 Jun 2011 | by miri | 202 Comments

RafaLint: May 16th

Monte-Carlo:

Viva shared a link to a post Monte-Carlo final interview Rafa did with Le Figaro:here (mangle).

Rome:

Djokovic run won’t last forever, says Nadal

If you look closely, you might recognize someone in two of the photos on this page

Roland Garros:

Flashback with Toni from the RG site. I’m assuming this was done last year?

Another RG preview – with Rafa talking about the 2010 RG
L sends in this link: COUNTDOWN TO FRENCH OPEN (6 DAYS): Reverse Chase on. No. 1 Rafael Nadal Trying to Catch No. 2 Novak Djokovic

The new issue of Tennis magazine arrived today…and I

16 May 2011 | by miri | 22 Comments

RafaLint: May 15th

Match stuff:

Raquet Reaction

Djokovic beats Nadal in Rome in French Open warm-up

New Boss, Old Boss

Novak Djokovic beats Rafael Nadal in Rome Masters final

Djokovic Dethrones Defending Champion Nadal

ATP match highlights

Anyone find video of Rafa’s portion of the trophy ceremony? Oh, here is it – start at 5:10.

xta would like everyone to go read this as a reminder. I think it’s a good idea too.

15 May 2011 | by miri | 50 Comments

Rome: Post final presser

Thanks to @agimanocska for sending me a link to Rafa’s presser transcript: here. I’m not sure if it’s a translation or what, because there’s some oddities.

Q: Rafa — did you expect him — and to having such a long and hard match against Murray last night — did you expect it to come out and play as if it never happens.

Nadal: He is a very good player and very own performance physically and mentally. This level of performance is

15 May 2011 | by miri | 44 Comments

Rome: Final photos

Photos from today’s match against Djokovic.

Photos by REUTERS/Alessia Pierdomenico, ANDREAS SOLARO/AFP/Getty Images, ANDREAS SOLARO/AFP/Getty Image, Clive Brunskill/Getty Images, FILIPPO MONTEFORTE/AFP/Getty Images, and REUTERS/Max Rossi

15 May 2011 | by miri | 11 Comments

Rome: How do you solve a problem like Nole?

Another Masters 1000 final with Rafa and Nole in the final. This time? It was the rain delayed Rome Masters final. Would it go the way of their last 3 finals? Or was it time for a change?

It started out the slug fest we’d all grown used to: both players hitting deep, strong and working every angle on the court. Rafa blinked first and was broken in the 9th game. He went on to break Nole in the next game, but couldn’t

15 May 2011 | by miri | 226 Comments

RafaLint: May 14th

Semifinal stuff:

IB3 report

Nadal playing better every day as final approaches
Rafael Nadal beats Richard Gasquet to make Rome final
Nadal overpowers Gasquet to reach final
Nadal Cruises Into Final in Rome
Some nice presser photos in this twitpic stream.
Nadal itching for Djokovic showdown

Video feature from Rome posted by ksyuzi:

How the hell does he put up with this? And Maymo being nice and taking a photo for a lady and then the lady not paying enough attention to take the camera back…sheesh.

Rafa posted a video on Facebook about his Drink Responsibly

14 May 2011 | by miri | 19 Comments

Rome: Semifinal videos

Highlights:

Hotshots:

On-court post-match interview (Spanish):

All the above posted by NadalCuriosities.

In-studio post-match interview (English):

Posted by ATPWorldTour. The Spanish version is available on TennisTV.com.

Video from the presser. (You can always tell when he’s feeling a little defensive in his answers – he up-speaks more.)

14 May 2011 | by miri | 8 Comments

Rome: Semifinal photos

Photos from today’s match against Gasquet. (Sorry I’m so late, had errands to run and then had to watch the second semi!)

Photos by FILIPPO MONTEFORTE/AFP/Getty Images, REUTERS/Max Rossi, AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia, Clive Brunskill/Getty Images, and REUTERS/Giampiero Sposito

14 May 2011 | by miri | 8 Comments

Rome: Swinging free

In the first men’s semifinal of the day, Rafa took on #16 Richard Gasquet whose been having quite the run lately. Gasquet took out both Federer and Berdych to make it to the semifinal and had been playing great tennis all tournament. He brought that game today – pushing Rafa’s service games right from the start. They both held serve until the 10th game when Rafa stepped up his game and broke Gasquet. Gasquet didn’t wilt, though. He had break point in the

14 May 2011 | by miri | 56 Comments