Photo by REUTERS/Adrian Dennis

Jon Wertheim just posted this post-Wimbly Q&A with Rafa on the SI site – good stuff there-in.

SI.com: How much does history motivate you? Do you know, for instance, whose record you tied today?

Rafael Nadal: The history is there for sure, being part of these players — Connors, Agassi, Lendl — it’s amazing. Just an honor to be close to these players. But I am 24 years old and it’s very difficult to talk about the history now, where I am. In my opinion the Grand Slams are not the only thing to value … I don’t have a lot of the information, but what Lendl did at the Masters was amazing. We have to see. We have to value different things, no? We have to see when I finish my career where I am. Right now I am very happy — I never thought I can be here with 18 Masters 1000 and eight Grand Slams.

Valuing different things – that’s the key as Rafa goes on to explain in the next bit:

SI.com: Does it mean anything to you that at the same age, you’re ahead of where Roger Federer was with Grand Slams?

Nadal: No, I think every career is different. For me, it’s amazing winning here on grass, winning on hard court in Australia. I hope to do well at the U.S. Open for sure — I’ve reached semifinals the last two years. For Roger, I think … maybe it’s easier than for me because I am especially [good] on clay and we have only one [clay-court Slam]. I can play very well on grass, too. But hard court players, they have more chances than the clay-court specialists. They have three. We have one. For sure I can play well on grass … but the chances are less.

And yet, you’ve still achieved 8 slams at a pretty young age. Not bad.

SI.com: Do you still think of yourself as a clay-court specialist, even now that you’ve won two Wimbledon titles?

Nadal: I don’t feel like a clay-court specialist. Not now and not even when I didn’t win [on other surfaces]. In 2005, I won in Montreal, very difficult. I won in Madrid [when it was an indoor event] on a very fast surface, too. I didn’t play my best tennis at hardcourt or grass Grand Slams at that moment, but I was able to do it. I think I am a complete player. I can play well on all the surfaces. For me, the clay might be easiest but I am not a specialist on clay. I have five finals at Roland Garros. I have four here.

I’ve ranted about the whole “specialist” tag before – and not just how it relates to Rafa – so I’ll refrain. Clay and his game go well together, that doesn’t equate to specialist. (Oh, I said I was going to refrain.)

SI.com: There are people who say Roger is over the hill, that he won’t come to the top again. What’s your opinion?

Nadal: My opinion is that everyone said the same two years ago and after that he won in Australia, he won in Roland Garros, he won Wimbledon, he won the U.S. Open, so we will see what happens. Roger is good enough, he has enough experience. For sure it’s difficult what he did the last seven, eight years, impossible to repeat for another player … Roger is going to be there, I’m sure of it.

You go, Rafa. The press wants a story so they invent one. Kudos to you for not feeding it.

SI.com: You talk about your difficulties, what is not easy for you. Is it more difficult to face problems on court or in your private life? Which, in your opinion, was the biggest problem you ever faced?

Nadal: You’re talking about the divorce of my parents?

SI.com: No. Everything.

Nadal: I think the tennis is only a game. You can lose. You can win. After that? In life, there are much more important things than tennis. I know that for sure … I didn’t have a lot of problems in my private life and I feel very lucky for that. But you always have things. For sure, the tennis right is an important pat of my life — it’s my work — and I have a few health problems for the last few years, especially last year. But I feel lucky. Even then I felt, “You’ve won six Grand Slams, you’ve won a lot of titles. You’re 23 years old. Be calm and be happy. What you have already is a lot.”

Amazing attitude and probably the difference between a player like him and a head-casey one.

SI.com: Do you believe in God? We see football players crossing themselves. You don’t do that. Do you do praying?

Nadal: It’s hard to say, “I don’t believe in God.” I would love to know if God exists. But it’s a very difficult thing for me to believe. I don’t know. It’s private and I don’t want to speak about it, but I say, “If God exists, you don’t need [to cross yourself] or pray.” If God exists, he’s intelligent enough to [do] the important things, the right things.

Just when I thought I couldn’t like him more…

SI.com: Can you describe glory?

Nadal: The glory is being happy. The glory is not winning here or winning there. The glory is enjoying practicing, enjoy every day, enjoying to work hard, trying to be a better player than before.

The glory is having that attitude.

Photo by REUTERS/Phil Noble

Some random Rafa related bits. First, thanks to Atch2 for tweeting this article about Rafa’s new strings.

Brad Gilbert, the former coach of Andre Agassi and Andy Roddick, likens it to an equipment upgrade in golf, especially in the case of Nadal.

“If everybody is hitting 350 (yards) and you’re hitting 300 it is a disadvantage,” Gilbert says. “Now he’s hitting 350, but he’d still be winning with old strings. He’s just gone modern technology, and I think that’s helping.”

[snip]

“Obviously it’s helping, but it’s not foolproof for every person,” says ESPN commentator Gilbert. Or as top-ranked Nadal puts it: “You lose, you win, (it’s) not the string.”

Rafa’s mentioned (and not just for his goofy fan-boy-ness) in this NY Times blog about the World Cup final:

Rafael Nadal, having confirmed his No. 1 status in tennis this month, came to Soccer City Stadium near Soweto on Sunday night to cheer on his countrymen. In tennis a man has to win for himself, but in soccer any man among the 11 can win it. And on this night Nadal’s equal in the eyes of Spanish sports fans was Andrés Iniesta.

[snip]

He sat before us, all 5 feet 7 inches of him, looking like a schoolboy rather than a man who had just been subjected to two hours of intimidation aimed at disabling his technical artistry. Iniesta shares with Nadal the temperament to compete like a tiger and to take the plaudits with something bordering on humility.

Here’s a nice flickr photoset of Rafa at Wimbledon by Mark Brocklehurst – check out his stream for more Wimbledon and Roland Garros photos.

Check out the latest issue of the USTA Digital Mag for a preview of the Olympus US Open Series.

Another boring article trying to compare and predict the career-ending slam count for Rafa and Roger. *yawn*

Bodo rambles about injuries and the ramblings they cause.

Photo by Stefan Wermuth-Pool/Getty Images

The Spanish press is all over the World Cup, so not a lot of lint to gather tonight. But here’s a few bits for you:

A Genuine Holstein – by Peter Bodo. Bodo haters will probably hate this too, but I had to include it for the following:

I don’t want to leave you all without a little tennis today, so here’s an anecdote relayed to me by my pal Alejandro Delmas, of the Spanish language Diario As. In his meeting with the Spanish press after his semifinal win, Rafael Nadal was asked what he would write about Roger Federer if he were a journalist.

“First,” Rafa replied, “No way I would be a journalist.”

He went on to say, “You guys have tried to kill Roger – often. But he’s always come back and proved you wrong. So one thing I would not do is make the mistake of saying Roger is dead.”

You go Rafa. He knows how annoying it is to have the press lift you up only to shove you back down, and he doesn’t like it – when done to him or someone else.

A group of us caught also up with Rafa’s uncle and coach, Toni Nadal, up in that Players’ Garden shortly after the final. He was peppered with the usual assortment of questions, including the inevitable one: has Rafa surpassed Federer, as the rankings insist?

“Maybe right now Rafa is the better player,” Toni conceded.

Will Rafa eclipse Federer’s record of 16 major titles. Toni pondered this, then gestured toward his pocket and said, “If I have to put money on it, I say maybe ‘no.’”

I’m tired of people asking if he’ll surpass Fed’s record because it seems to imply that if he doesn’t, he’s not that great. Screw that. He’s currently tied or won more than some of the greatest names in the game: McEnroe, Connors, Agassi, Lendl, Edberg, Wilander, Lacoste, Rosewall, Perry, Newcombe… The bottom line for me is: despite the pride I feel when I look at where he is on the list of Major wins, I also could care less as long as Rafa’s happy with his record and how he’s playing. Yeah, being on the top of lists is cool, but I often feel the people who concentrate on that stuff are doomed to failure. So, just keep going one match and one tournament at a time, Rafa. Once you are done, we’ll laugh about numbers while munching on bis-quits.

• Wimbly slide show at Sports Illustrated – love the shot of Rafa with the trophy next to the list of winners.
• L’Equipe slide show of Rafa’s slam titles – thanks kefuoe

Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images

Rafa’s found the time to post his final blog and Q&A. Big thanks to Rafangel for sending them to me. First, the blog:

Hello everyone and BIG THANKS to you all.

You can imagine two things of me today: 1) I am over the moon and 2) I am very tired and need holidays!

The first one is difficult to explain further. The sensation to win the tournament of my dreams for the second consecutive time (I didn’t play here last year) and doing it after winning Roland Garros too is something it was difficult to imagine just one year ago. I was suffering, watching the final on TV at home on my sofa, and wondering how things were going to unfold in my career. But today I am again with this special feeling of winning the biggest and most important tennis tournament in the world.

The second one is long to explain. I am not that tired from the match itself. To be honest all the media work I did after the match was longer than the match itself. I got to the house at 9.30pm and only had 5 minutes to get changed. I was then back in the car talking to Spanish radio stations and only finished when I got to the hotel for the Ball. But also tired for these past 16 weeks where I only had a few days at home.

Now it is time to get treatment and rest for 2 weeks, a full 2 weeks of not playing tennis and simply enjoying my holidays!

To end this blog and to end this 2 weeks of being with you, I want to really thank you for your support. I truly mean when I say that I feel at home here in Wimbledon. I feel the warmth of the fans here like at home and I feel the respect for the game, for our sport. For me it is really an honor to play here and a dream to have done what I managed to do on Sunday.

Many thanks also to The Times for giving me this opportunity and I hope we continue with this tradition now that is also lucky for me!

Your Rafa

Nothing snarky from me here. Just, how crazy is the life?

And now, the Q&A:

How does this victory compare to beating Roger in 2008? Mal, Sheffield

RN: It is different since the one in 08 was my first win. But let me say that a win is a win and I am very happy, very proud, very excited about the win.

No comparations!

Who was your most difficult opponent at Wimbledon this year? Helios, San Francisco

RN: Maybe the answer should be obvious because of the five-set matches. However, mentally it is also tough before the match and the semis against Andy as well as the final were both tough.

In other words: the score line doesn’t always tell the full tale.

You seemed quite nervous at the start of the final which is not like you. Did the crowd and the occasion affect you? Joanne

RN: No, I wasn’t too nervous. Tomas played very well, especially with his serve, and there was not much I could do then. I was pretty much calmed during the whole match.

“If you are not nervous in the final of Wimbledon, you are not human, so…”

Now that you have won the French Open and Wimbledon in the same year twice – which is amazing – what will be your next ambition? Rob, Tottenham

RN: I really want to be ready and fit for the US Open.

*fingers crossed* Although, I do worry that all this early talk about the Open is jinxing things.

I loved your match with Andy (I thought you brought out the best in each other). Do you enjoy all of your matches or are there some players whose style makes them more enjoyable to play against? Sian Morris Ross

RN: Enjoyable is to play and most of the times to win. With Andy we always play good matches. He is very talented and it is really difficult to play against him.

He’s not going to name names. Well, since you already named one…

How did you adjust from playing from clay to grass? Was it hard? Shirlee, New York

RN: It is hard, but this is what also motivates me. I won a few matches at Queens and then practiced, practiced and practiced more. That is also why the first matches at Wimbledon are tougher.

Challenge…he always loves challenge.

After you won in 2008 you gave a lot of your kit to the Wimbledon museum. Did you keep anything for yourself to remember it by? Katharine

RN: I gave a whole kit on Sunday too. But I also keep a whole kit for me, the last racquet i played (the one I converted the match point)

Glad he didn’t give it to Brad Gilbert this time!

Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images

Revitalised Rafael Nadal proves we were wrong to ever doubt him by Simon Cambers

“I love the competition, sport in general and I love to practise,” Nadal said as he contemplated what makes him unique, a couple of hours after his 6-3, 7-5, 6-4 victory over the Czech Tomas Berdych. “You try your best in every moment. When I go to play golf I try to do my best. When I have a football match with friends and we play five-a-side, I don’t understand why not everyone is running. I don’t understand sport like this. When I go to play I enjoy running, finishing the match tired, to give it my all. It is a fun match with friends but that is what I understand is sport.”

Why am I suddenly thinking about that “Real men of genius” advert about the “overly competitive touch football player“?

Nadal has the talent to be the greatest of all time – but only if his knees are up to it by Nick Bollettieri

After watching such a brilliant display from Rafa again, perhaps I should rethink the way we teach tennis. Forget about strokes! It’s movement, movement, movement – the foundation for everything else. Except I’m not sure you can teach movement like that.

Rafael Nadal converts another doubter – by Scoop Jackson (the same idiot who complained that Rafa’s clothes were too tight).

McEnroe Backs Nadal To Complete Grand Slam Set

“The guy’s just an animal; he’s mentally and physically incredible and he can definitely do it if he’s in this shape. The conditions in New York don’t suit Nadal so well and he needs to make his body hold up. So I think after Wimbledon he is going to take some time off and get his knees recovered and then maybe not play too many matches before the Open.”

Short video interview with a reluctant Papa Nadal…in Italian.

Two vids about Rafa’s return to Mallorca with a lot of the same footage. I think one might be about him buying into Real Mallorca: one; two.

A nice slide show of images from the Wimbledon final.

Rafa goes to Vitoria for a check-up – this article is a bit more clear on the timeline of the knee treatment: he did have a check-up Monday and the treatment will be next Monday. (Semi decent Google translation)

Borg loving on Rafa – at least, that what the Google translation sounds like. (And before people get pissy for Borg for loving on Fed too, :P ) And they have a photo gallery too.

Posted by ATPWorldTour.

Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images

Tignor posts his grades for Wimbledon. Someone got a very good one.

The last three Wimbledon men’s finals were all-time classics that lasted into the early London evening. So when Nadal hit a winning crosscourt forehand to end this year’s final, it seemed way too early in the day for the match to be over. When he fell on the cracked brown dirt at the baseline, it hardly seemed like the end of a Wimbledon final at all. There’d been no seesaw drama. The crowd was never brought to its feet. There was no victor’s climb into the stands. Even Nadal’s most notable celebratory gesture—he somersaulted soccer-style on the grass—looked like it had been rehearsed, as if he’d been so confident of winning that he’d scrapped his last practice session so he could perfect his roll on the turf.

Of course, if you know anything about tennis, and the subtle ways in which excellence in the sport works, you couldn’t have been bored by Nadal’s performance. The fact that this match felt like a foregone conclusion is, more than anything, a credit to his all-business mastery of the moment, and the long-term improvements he’s made to his game over the years. Yes, Berdych failed to capitalize on his few opportunities; the squandered break points at the start of the second set were particularly crucial. And he fell apart at exactly the wrong moments. But Nadal was also not at his best. He was blatantly nervous to begin the second set, and he never reached his peak level of shot-making energy the whole afternoon. But he didn’t need to be, because, in an inconspicuous way, he had taken Berdych out of his own game. Remember, the Czech was a former nemesis of Nadal’s. He beat him three straight times at one stage, and his assets were seen as the template for how to beat Nadal: He was tall enough to handle his topspin, he could hit through the court on either side, and he owned a two-handed backhand that could go toe-to-toe with Nadal’s crosscourt forehand.

Considering that Nadal has beaten Berdych in their last seven matches without dropping a set, how do we like that template now? Watching the final, I started to think that Berdych’s game is exactly the wrong one to throw up against Rafa, and the reason for that turnaround was obvious: Nadal had transformed all of Berdych’s old strengths against him into weaknesses. He drew errors by hitting low slice backhands that forced Berdych to bend and dig. He hit his crosscourt forehand at a safe and slightly wider angle than normal to take advantage of Berdych’s lack of reach with his two-hander. And most important, he stretched Berdych with his bending slice serve to the backhand side and fired the ball into the tall man’s body to jam him.

Turning your opponent’s strengths into liabilities, and your own liabilities into strengths: There’s the mark of a mature player, and it’s got nothing to do with muscle or speed. Nadal and his uncle Toni once said, with all sincerity, that when Rafa began his pro career he had the worst serve on tour—the worst. Look what that shot is doing for him now; he just went through a Grand Slam final unbroken. As I said, all of those holds did not make for a crowd-pleasing performance. But that’s exactly what we used to say about Pete Sampras, and, in his days of utter dominance, Roger Federer. What else does this “dull” duo have in common? They’re widely thought of as the two greatest tennis players in history. Nadal has always been celebrated for the youthful vibrancy he brings to tennis. But it may be a sign that, at 24, he’s reaching his mature peak when we can give him an even higher compliment. Wear it as a badge of honor, Rafa, because only the very best are lucky enough to have it pinned on them: You were good enough to be called boring. A+

Posted by meko1686.

Per Inés, this video starts with Rafa leaving the knee clinic in Vitoria this morning…

….and then cramming his legs in the back seat.

Rafa in a tux:

(In case that’s region blocked, try this one on YouTube.)

Team Nadal playing tennis footie:

Posted by IanRStewart.

• Channel 6(?) report
• 24h
• cuatro
• ESPN Spanish
• L’EquipeTV

Photos by Julian Finney/Getty Images