Spanish media story about the stolen watch:

I still wonder if anyone has an valid sources on the story…can a Spanish speaker clue me in?

Posted by europapress.

Photo by EMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images

Thanks again to Rafangel. First, the blog:

Click here to send Rafa a question

Hello everybody,

It is really hot in New York City. It might sound strange from some one like me, from Mallorca, used to the sun, but it really is. These last three days have been horrible and I have to say that to play during the day it must have been tough. I practiced today and warm up yesterday when the sun was out and wow, it was hot.

I played yesterday at night so that’s not that bad. Tomorrow, Friday I am also playing at night apparently so that’s better for the heat although it is announced that we might have a hurricane coming!!! Hopefully not. I remember a couple of years ago and it was a mess with scheduling. I think that’s one of the worst things in tennis: the rain!

Anyway, I am practicing early at 10.45 so I suppose it is not as bad as at 3 or 4 pm! You might wonder at what time I leave the hotel? Well with the NY traffic you’d better be careful. I would leave at 9.15 or so, so that I have time enough to get to the site and get ready for practice.

The rain was pretty bad last year too.

And today, we get a Q&A:

You have mentioned that your backhand isn’t working as well as you would like. Is there any reason why that particular shot is difficult at the moment? Good luck at the USO, and much love, Ellie

RN: No, not really. I felt in Cincy it was not really working and that on hard courts affects my game since I leave a lot of space for the rival when I try to hit my forehands. I am working on it and I feel that yesterday it wasn’t that bad at the beginning of the match.

Yes. Running around your backhand on these fast courts is….problematic at best. (And I thought it was better towards the end of the match – further proof that I know nothing.)

Have you thought about running a marathon and if so, would you run in Spain or US? Good luck to your US Open matches. Marissa Vargas

RN: No, no chance! Not my kind of thing. Believe it or not I don’t really like to run just for running. I like it on a tennis court but definitely not against miles or a chronometer.

He needs a purpose or something more energetic to compete against than a stop watch.

We know you have a great sense of humour and you did the “la bamba” video one year, would you ever make a record like footballers do, something funny where you say a few lines in English (or “Spanglish” as I call it!) with your lovely accent! Besos y abrazos, Juliette Westbrook-Finch

RN: Hahahahha. Many thanks. I am not sure I want to do that. I am already a bad singer in the shower!

I’d like to investigate his singing ability a bit further….

We know that you like to listen to music before the start of a match, but what helps you unwind most after a match (a match that you have won of course! Bona sort, Bee

RN: Yes, I always listen to music before a match and during the day. I love music. After the match I don’t usually listen to music though. I have too much work to do!

Like snort laughing in interviews?

On your bag you have coloured stars for each Grand Slam you won, what colour will the star be if you win the US open? Cedrine

RN: Happiness!!! Is that a colour?

Impossibly cute.

What is the last book you read? You’re such a great champion. Good luck for the next few weeks in NYC. Axèle

RN: I have read one about Spanish history. It was novelized (?), you know half truth, half story.

Ah, so one step closer to the truth than the newspapers. ;)

Photo by EMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images

Rafa’s answered some questions for elmundo.es. The Google mangling is pretty trippy. Nice to hear him confirm he often asks for a late start.

Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images

It’s time for Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer to showcase their rivalry in a U.S. Open final by Mike Lupica

There Rafael Nadal was late Tuesday night, in neon-green tennis shoes or maybe Gatorade-green shoes that looked like something Lady Gaga might accessorize with, serving even better than he did the day and night he took Wimbledon from Roger Federer a couple of years ago, once again making tennis a sport to watch and the U.S. Open the kind of big show it still can be.

Nadal flirts with greatness – by Jay Greenberg

At 24, he has won five times at Roland Garros, twice at Wimbledon, and once in Australia to reach eight Slam titles faster (25 events) than anyone besides Bjorn Borg. Yet the best he has done at Flushing Meadow were semifinal losses the past two years.

It’s been the way the ball bounces — literally — on the hard court, still Nadal’s toughest surface even if he did beat Roger Federer in an Australian final. It’s been end-of-the-season physical and mental fatigue, and Nadal said, it has even been the wind and the softer ball favoring players who hit flatter.

Lessons learned from spending a day at the 2010 US Open – by Marilla Mulwane

When on the practice courts, many of the big name tennis players will request the courts on the far end. They don’t want the peering crowds interrupting their practice. While this is understandable, Rafael Nadal is an exception to this rule. His is regularly seen practicing on the very first practice court in front of the wire fence. The crowds become massive, pictures are being snapped, fans are calling to him in English and Spanish, and Nadal keeps practicing. Fans are really respectful, too. There is no crying, screaming, begging for marriage like at a Justin Bieber concert. Fans watch him practice like an animal at the zoo. And Nadal doesn’t seem to mind at all.

It might be more like Rafa doesn’t want to hear talking heads yammer non-stop. Last year, he was always on the court furthest away from the public, but there are reports that there’s now a broadcast booth/center/whatever on that end.

Nadal, Wozniacki advance after hot day at US Open – by Eddie Pells

Needing a U.S. Open title to complete his career Grand Slam, Nadal has long had a knack of making even the easy matches look hard. That’s especially true on hard courts, where every violent stop, and every precise change of direction, comes with a vicious squeak that screams of the toll taken on the Spaniard’s body. Against a game first-round foe, this one looked and sounded every bit that tough.

According to a post on the ATP World Tour’s Facebook wall, the 10,000 tickets for the “Match For Africa” Exhibition Sold out in 2 minutes. Not too shabby.

Some fan videos from the first round match.

Practice video.

No Rafa on the OOP for tomorrow, he’ll probably play Friday…if the predicted rain lets him.

Video of Rafa signing autographs.

Last game:

Posted by vamosrafelnadal.

From Inés:

or via the rtve.es site.

Post match interview with Canal:

Posted by Patxy270180.

Photo by REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton

Thanks to Rafangel for sending this in!

Hello everyone,

Here I am again writing this blog, this time from New York. Last time I wrote to you all was after my Wimbledon win earlier this summer. I know it was a couple of days after but I made it … so here I am again, excited and happy to write this blog. It kind of brings me good luck, but the most important thing is that it allows me to communicate directly with all of you and tell you what I think, what I feel.

Let me start by saying that I got here to NY 10 days ago. I came straight from Cincinnati after I lost in the quarter finals against Baghdatis. Since then I have been practicing as much as I could here in NY. I say that since it rained a lot the week previous to the event. However I got in good practice time and I feel ready.

Many thanks to all and hope to be writing this blog for the next 2 weeks!!!!

Quick add to the store: I am Rafa shirts.

North America
Europe

(If there are shirt styles you’d like to see with this design, let me know.)

Photo by EMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images

Rafa’s presser via the USO site (direct link to video):

Q. Do you prefer to have a night like tonight to start a tournament: a very difficult match to get under your belt? Or would you rather play for an hour and 10 minutes and get it over with?

RAFAEL NADAL: I prefer play one hour and 10 minutes. Win easier, no? Everybody wants win easier. That’s no excuse about that, no?

I think that no one wins easy, no? Roger did last night. Djokovic, very tough match today. Soderling five sets win yesterday.

So no one match is easy, especially in a big tournaments, no? The pressure’s there. You play against players that they don’t have much to lose, so they play aggressive. This is difficult to stop.

I had a difficult match, but I think I did play well.

No one wins easy…well, Federer does. Heh. And thank goodness this wasn’t like the Djokovic or Soderling matches!

Q. Did you feel like you played well other than the serve? Were you happy with all the parts of your game?

RAFAEL NADAL: Well, my serve worked very well tonight. There have been a few aspects. The concentration was high all the time. The forehand is working well. The backhand is not that bad that I had last weeks. So improves a little bit. Just remains a little bit of this confidence to have a little bit more, you know, to improve a little bit that level, to go to the next step.

That’s the only thing for me, to remain, to play with a little bit more aggressive, a little bit more calm. The basic things I think are in the really right way.

I hadn’t thought about the concentration until he said it – it was nice to see him stay steady on without a weird second set blippy service game that gave away a break. The backhand is better than it was at Cincy, but he still looks a bit unsure about it. I hope he can settle into it soon.

Q. You said on court you know you have to serve well to win here. Have you been working on that a lot this summer?

RAFAEL NADAL: All my life I worked a lot on my serve (smiling). Not this summer, no; all my life.

All. His. Life. All 24 years. Oh wait…

Q. When you go out in a first-round match against a guy who could be dangerous, do you say, I don’t want to play too crazy because maybe I can get into a bad situation, so maybe I’ll play a little more safe and see what happens?

RAFAEL NADAL: No, is difficult go first round and play crazy and play aggressive and play like if you are playing the final, no, because you need this confidence during all the tournament to play like you do in one final, no?

So you go on court. I know Gabashvili very well. You go on court knowing he gonna play aggressive. He gonna go for the big shots. So I just tried before the match to think that I have to play regular all the time. I have to be very focused on my serve and I gonna have chances on the return in a few moments, no?

If I gonna be well with my serve, on the return for sure I gonna have my chances. I had, and I had a few terrible mistakes with the breakpoints. So I went for two tiebreaks. Is important for the confidence. I played well the two tiebreaks, I think.

Yep, you did. Helped make up for your break point conversion rate, which, until the 3 set was 0%.

Q. You were hitting 130 miles an hour on your serve. Is there a change on your serve, or it had to do with the conditions or what?

RAFAEL NADAL: And wait. Wait for the next one, I going for 135 (smiling).

No, I am trying to serve a little bit more like Wimbledon because the ball here is very soft. Is not getting a lot of topspin. I try to play a little bit more flat. And for that reason, I am serving faster, I think. That’s it.

Cheeky Rafa! So cute smiling, snorting and cracking himself up.

Q. Talk about playing Istomin. He’s played pretty well the last few weeks.

RAFAEL NADAL: Yeah, he’s playing well. He had a very good tournament in New Haven. Yeah, sure is difficult opponent, good player. I played against him in the second round of Queen’s. I had a very difficult match, 7-6 in the third — 7-5 in the third.

Well, is really close than the match of today, I think. But he plays a little bit more calm than Gabashvili. So, I don’t know, I just have to keep playing like I did today, a little bit more aggressive, a little bit more confidence. That’s it.

And better with the backhand, okay?

Q. Are you as comfortable at this Grand Slam as you are at the others?

RAFAEL NADAL: Is the more difficult for me, especially I think because the ball. The ball is the more difficult thing for me because the ball I think is more easy to play that ball for the players when they have the flat shots, no? That’s much easier for them than for the topspin players. That’s the only thing.

But I won Olympics with this ball. I won in Beijing in 2005 with this ball. I can do it.

You can do it!

Q. You’re about ready to unveil your new, big, flat forehand?

RAFAEL NADAL: That’s almost impossible. The thing is play with topspin, but play very aggressive all the time, play with very high rhythm. That’s the way.

*rolls eyes at question*

Q. There’s a doubles player here who is playing with a two?handled racquet.

RAFAEL NADAL: I met him.

Q. Does that strike you as crazy?

RAFAEL NADAL: For me, yes (smiling). For me, yes. For me is no reason to play like this, yeah. Is add the complication on the game, you know.

Always polite – it would be crazy for him…doesn’t mean that other guy is bat shit crazy. Nope. Not saying that.

Some photos from tonight’s close match.

Photos by Chris McGrath/Getty Images, REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton, EMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images, and AP Photo/Henny Ray Abrams.

Photo by EMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images

No, that’s not the score from tonight. That’s Rafa’s top serve speed. Where you been hiding that?

Rafa started his quest for his missing piece of slam hardware by playing #93 Teimuraz Gabashvili – a self-described slightly crazy Russian who can get streaky hot when given the chance and hits the ball hard and flat. He has the kind of game that’s written about in the tennis manual chapter on “how to beat Rafa on fast hard courts”, but could he do it consistently enough? Not quite. He played consistently well, but Rafa was just a notch better. Rafa’s through to the second round: 7-6(4), 7-6(4), 6-3.

Stats:

As it happened blatherings:

Sleek outfit, sleek new hairdo, let’s hope we have some sleek tennis to go with it.

Gabashvilli starts us off by serving. Nice long rally ends with a forehand winner from Rafa: 15-15. Nice combo from Gaba: 30-15. Toni showing off the Quelys in the stands. Gaba nets a shot: 40-30. Excellent serve and Gabashvilli holds for 1-0.

Fantastic forehand winner from Gabashvilli from the back of the court: 0-15. I missed a few points and it’s 15-30. That? Was a sexy mo-fo of an ace: 30-30. Gabashvilli pullsRafa into the net and passes behind him: 30-40. Second serve into the body: deuce. Nice serve/backhand combo and Rafa holds for 1-1.

Rafa standing way back to return serve: 15-0. Nice depth from Rafa and Gabashvilli sends a ball long: 15-15. Gabashvilli pops a winner from mid-court: 30-15. Rafa’s forehand return is out: 40-15. Rafa lines up a forehand, but nets it and Gabashvilli holds for 2-1.

Second serve. Nice angle from Gabashvilli and Rafa can’t do anything with it: 0-15. Rafa into the net, nice volley and Gabashvilli can’t quite get the ball over the net: 15-15. Ace: 30-15. Rafa works Gabashvilli ‘s forehand until he draws an error: 40-15. Nice solid hold for Rafa: 2-2.

Beauty of a forehand winner from Gabashvilli: 30-0. Excellent defense from Gabashvilli at the net and Rafa muffs a backhand: 40-0. Rafa nets a ball and Gabashvilli holds.

How long until I give up and just start typing Gaba?

131MPH serve? and lost the point: 0-15. Double fault: 0-30. Nice serve and Gaba’s reply is out: 15-30. Again: 30-30. Nice forehand winner: 40-30. Again an out return and Rafa holds for 3-3.

Rally ends with error from Gabashvilli. Deep forehand from Rafa draws an error: 0-30. Excellent serve out wide followed by a shot to the other direction and then the next back to the start: 15-30. Rafa muffs a forehand: 30-30. Rafa runs around to hit a deep forehand return and Gabashvilli can’t do anything with it: 30-40. Second serve. Gabashvilli’s shot is called out, the chair overrules and Rafa seems to agree with the overrule – replay it. Gabashvilli paints a line with an overhead: deuce. Service winner: game point. Ace and Gabashvilli holds for 4-3. This is pretty much how I remember the match going with them in Miami – hope the result is similar.

Rafa’s got a shoe off. He’s cutting some padding and tape from the bottom of his foot.

Nice serve: 15-0. Another serve out wide and Gabashvilli can’t do anything with it: 30-0. Gabashvilli pulls Rafa into the net, kind of stops playing because he doesn’t think his ball is going to go over and can’t quite do anything with the reply: 40-0. Rafa’s backhand goes well wide: 40-15. Service winner and nice hold for Rafa: 4-4.

The bright patch of hot lime right at Rafa’s neck is…doing things to me.

Gabashvilli’s shot is long: 0-15. Excellent angled backhand from Gabashvilli: 15-15. Nice forehand winner: 30-15. This time his forehand goes wide: 30-30. Ace: 40-30. Gabashvilli holds for 5-4.

Amazing (impossible) passing shot from well wide for Rafa: 15-0. Aggressive forehand from Rafa: 30-0. Service winner: 40-0. Another and Rafa holds at love for 5-5.

Gabashvilli sends a ball long: 0-15. Nice dropper from Gabashvilli: 15-15. JMac sticking up for Rafa and his love of NYC after Fowler spouted that Rafa’s not fancy enough for NY crap. Rafa nets an easy forehand return: 30-30. Fierce forehand from Gabashvilli: 40-30. He holds for 6-5.

Gabashvilli nets a ball: 15-0. Service winner: 30-0. Ace: 40-0. Rafa nets a forehand: 40-15. Gabashvilli’s shot is long and we are going to a tie-break.

Gabashvilli into the net and nets the ball: 1-0 – mini-break for Rafa. Beautiful forehand winner from Rafa: 2-0. Rafa hits a backhand out and we are back on serve. Gabashvilli sends a ball long, mini-break back to Rafa for a 3-1 lead. Rafa nets a forehand and it’s 3-2. Two fierce forehands, into the net and then a drop volley that Gabashvilli can’t do anything with: 4-2. Gabashvilli nets the ball: 5-2. Rafa taking approximately 45 minutes to serve.

Kalliopeia: okay rafa, when I’m even thinking “GET ON WITH IT” you’re going too slow

5-3. Gabashvilli into the net and knocks off a nice winner: 5-4. Wide serve and then a forehand down the line: 6-4. First set to Rafa: 7-6 (4). 63 minutes; 73% first serves in; 10 UFEs; 9 Winners; 3 aces.

This is a good test for Rafa – Gaba playing the kind of game that’s in the tennis manual on “how to beat Rafa on fast hard courts”

30-30 when they come back to the match. Excellent point with both players hitting out, but Rafa passes Gabashvilli with a great shot: 40-30. Gabashvilli angles a serve return, Rafa returns the favor but his shot is just out: deuce. Body serve and Gabashvilli can’t get around it: game point. Service winner and Rafa holds to start set 2.

Gabashvilli nets a ball: 0-15. Kalliopeia and I are trying to make sense out of something and it’s 30-15. Gabashvilli into the net and knocks off a winner: 40-15. Gabashvilli nets a backhand: 40-30. Two fierce forehands from Rafa: deuce. Rafa can’t get the service return in: game point. Gabashvilli’s shot is long: deuce. Aggressive play from Rafa – deep shots and into the net: break point. Gabashvilli into the net: deuce. Rafa sends a shot long and is a bit testy with himself: game point. Rafa sends another shot out: 1-1.

Gabashvilli sends a service return long: 30-0. Ace – 130MPH? 40-0. Rafa holds at love.

Nice winner from Gabashvilli: 15-0. Gabashvilli nets a forehand: 15-15. Rafa sends a shot long: 30-15. Rafa nets a backhand: 40-15. Gabashvilli holds for 2-2.

sapphireswell: They’re giving away free ice cream in the stands… What about Rafa? He should get some too :P

Another 130MPH ace? Nice hold for Rafa: 3-2.

Bad short shot from Gabashvilli and Rafa runs in and knocks off a winner: 0-15. Another short ball from Gabashvilli and Rafa pounces: 15-30. Gabashvilli’s turn into the net and a pretty volley from him: 30-30. Gabashvilli runs Rafa back and forth: 40-30. Gabashvilli holds for 3-3.

Nice serve: 15-0. Rafa into the net for a beautiful backhand volley: 30-0. Gabashvilli sends a ball just out: 40-0. Nice deep shot from Gabashvilli that Rafa can’t quite handle: 40-15. Good return from Gabashvilli and Rafa’s reply is out: 40-30. Rafa holds for 4-3.

Gabashvilli sends a ball out: 0-15. Ace: 15-15. Rafa nets a backhand: 30-15. Excellent backhand winner from Gabashvilli: 40-15. Ace and Gabashvilli holds for 4-4.

Ataraxis00: There’s a match in progress and the men are up in the booth playing with their balls. Literally.

Tense looking double fault from Rafa: 0-15. Aggressive point and he’s into the net: 15-15. Beauty of a forehand down the line draws an error: 30-15. Gabashvilli into the net and draws an error – barely: 30-30. Service winner (and a Vamos!): 40-30. Deuce. Ace! Game point. Rafa holds for 5-4.

Nice serve and into the net to knock off the defensive return from Rafa: 15-0. Fierce forehand winner from Gabashvilli: 30-0. Rafa sends a shot long: 40-0. Again and Gabashvilli holds for 5-5.

Gabashvilli’s service return is long: 15-0. Another out shot: 30-0. Rafa’s turn to send a forehand long: 30-15. A deep shot from Rafa draws an error: 40-15. Comfy hold for Rafa: 6-5.

Gabashvilli’s shot is long: 15-15. Now that’s a backhand! 15-30. Everyone in the Nadal box snacking. Fierce forehand down the line, into the net and knocks off a volley winner: 15-40. Second serve. Fluffy service return and Gabashvilli hits a winner: 30-40. Second serve. Gabashvilli controls the point and comes into the net to finish it off: deuce. Second serve. Rafa nets the return: game point. Gabashvilli holds.

Nadal box? Still munching.

Aggressive play by Rafa; Gabashvilli almost tracks down the dropper, but just can’t do anything with it: 1-0. Totally miss hit backhand from Rafa: 1-1. Rafa’s forehand is long: 1-2. Gabashvilli’s shot is long: 2-2. Gabashvilli’s already won more games than in their prior 2 meetings combined. Gabashvilli’s serve return is out: 3-2. Gabashvilli’s forehand is out – mini-break to Rafa: 4-2. Fierce forehand winner from Gabashvilli: 4-3. Rafa hits a short, floating slice, Gabashvilli steps in and…nets the forehand: 5-3. Gabashvilli barely gets a serve back over the net, Rafa runs in and fwaps a forehand winner at the net: 6-3. Service winner from Gabashvilli: 6-4. Gabashvilli nets a forehand and Rafa takes the second set: 7-6(4)

15-15. Ace: 30-15. Rafa miss hits a moon ball forehand that some how drops in; Gabashvilli doesn’t do much with it and point to Rafa: 30-30. Backhand just barely out: 40-30. Nice winner from Gabashvilli and he holds for 1-0.

Fowler, I love you and all, but stop with the NY hasn’t embraced Rafa stuff.

Gabashvilli nets a serve return: 30-0. Ace: 40-0. Rafa holds: 1-1.

That V keeps saying, “just nestle here.”

Fierce winner from Rafa: 15-15. Wow. I take that back. That was a fierce winner from Gabashvilli: 30-15. Gabashvilli ‘s forehand is long: 30-30. Rafa nets a serve return: 40-30. Nice drop shot from Gabashvilli and he holds for 2-1.

Ace: 15-0. Rafa nets a forehand: 15-15. Rafa into the net and Gabashvilli smokes a passing shot: 15-30. Second serve. Gabashvilli muffs the reply: 30-30. Second serve. Gabashvilli tries to smoke the return, but it’s out: 40-30. Flat and fast forehand winner from Gabashvilli: deuce. Ace: game point. Service winner and Rafa holds.

Gabashvilli’s shot is out: 15-15. Nice point and Gabashvilli into the net to knock off a winner: 30-15. Gabashvilli nets a ball: 30-30. Gabashvilli sends a ball well long: 30-40. Defensive chipped service return from Rafa and Gabashvilli pops a winner: deuce. Rafa nets a backhand: game point. Double fault: deuce. Fierce winner from Gabashvilli: game point. Error from Rafa and Gabashvilli holds for 3-2.

The net cord pops Rafa’s backhand up and then lets it land back into the court: 15-0. Forehand winner: 30-0. From deep in the court, Gabashvilli hits a cross court forehand winner: 40-15. Rafa’s backhand is long: 40-30. Gabashvilli’s backhand is well out and Rafa holds for 3-3.

Forehand winner from Gabashvilli: 15-0. Decent passing shot from Gabashvilli, but Rafa changes directions and pops a volley winner: 15-15. Good return and Gabashvilli misses the volley: 15-30. Gabashvilli nets a ball: 15-40. Aggressive play, Rafa pushes Gabashvilli off the court and then total blows the backhand: 30-40. Gabashvilli pushes Rafa deep and wide and Rafa can’t get the ball back over the net: deuce. Gabashvilli nets a ball: break point. Second serve. Gabashvilli nets a ball and Rafa finally wins a break point. He’s up 4-3.

Gabashvilli miss hits a second serve return: 15-0. Gabashvilli nets a service return: 30-0. Chair over-rules an ace call and Rafa challenges…they wait and wait, but can’t get the challenge on the screen. They review in the booth and the call is out. Gabashvilli runs into the net and misses his shot: 40-0. Rafa attempts to tee-off on a backhand and it goes into the net: 40-15. Rafa holds.

Rafa pushes Gabashvilli back until he draws an error: 0-15. Double fault: 0-30. Backhand winner from Rafa: 0-40. Gabashvilli’s shot is long and Rafa breaks to win in straights.