• More complete presser videos: English; Spanish
• rtves report – very similar to embedded vid below, skip if you are short on time
• iB3 report and interview – in Mallorquí with Spanish subtitles
• Match highlights
• Nole/Troicki do Gypsy

Post match Spanish interview with translation by Bee (do not post her translation elsewhere without her permission):

Rafa: Good. Better than the other day, a little better, that is always positive, it gives you the sensation that you are getting better and the truth is that I also played, not very well but, yes I had the feeling for moments of playing at a good level. In the whole match no, but yes after the 6-2 3-2 until the 6-2 6-2, 3-0 if I had played at a high level I slowed a little, but well, I think that for moments I did things quite a bit more positive than yesterday.

You lost a serve?

Rafa: I lost my serve once,(smiling) yes, it is normal on clay, you usually lose serves, it is normal to lose them and well, the truth is that this clay season I have lost very few, maybe the match against Nico in Madrid and the the final against Federer, all the others I have lost very few and that is always a very, very good sign.

Zeballos is a good player? He is No. 44, but with the result now in your hands seems less no?

Rafa: Nooo, I think that he is a player who you always have to bear in mind, when I go out to a match I always go out thinking that I can lose, of course and I go out very focused. Once the match gets under way that always helps to be able to play with a little more calm and without worrying so much about the result, even though later you can be distracted a moment and things get tough, like what happened at 4-2 30-0 in the third set. You go to 4-3 and if you lose that it goes to 4-4 and there could always be problems, later you always have to be very aware at all times and the important thing for me is to try to play well, and if they beat me playing well, congratulate the opponent, but the important thing is to continue improving…for me.

Your next opponent, do we know yet? Do you have any preference? It looks like it might be Hewitt.

Rafa: Yes, it looks like it is going to be Hewitt. We know each other very well, we have played before, apart from Roland Garros it might be the 4th or the 3rd time, so they are always good matches, tough matches and I will have to play well if I want to win, that is what I am looking for.

Lastly, after the rain interruption I guess it was good news to be programmed to play the first match, no?

Rafa: Yes, it was lucky. I asked for it and it seems that they did me the favour of putting me on early because… for various reasons it was important, because if had rained today and everything accumulates, if it is a tough match you have the rest of the day to recover, and I think that is important, and so for me it was good news

@Meriko1 saved out a copy on YouTube in case the one on the federation site doesn’t work for you.

And some photos by Costantini from the tournament site.

Photos by EPA/ETTORE FERRARI

Photos by Julian Finney/Getty Images

The stats are for over the course of their careers – from the year they turned pro. The titles and money per year don’t include this year since we are just in February. The other stats go right up until the end of the Australian Open.

(Stats based on figures found on ESPN.com, the ATP site and Wikipedia.)

Photos by Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images, WILLIAM WEST/AFP/Getty Images, REUTERS/Vivek Prakash, AP Photo/Mark Baker, REUTERS/Tim Wimborne, Mark Dadswell/Getty Images, and AP Photo/Andy Wong

Posted by gandaines.

Photos by Julian Finney/Getty Images,CARL DE SOUZA/AFP/Getty Image, GLYN KIRK/AFP/Getty Images, Clive Brunskill/Getty Images, AP Photo/Sang Tan, and REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth

Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images

Rafa was a dead man walking today in London – he had no chance of making the WTF semis. The match wasn’t totally without consequences, though: Djokovic needed to win in order to have a chance to make the semis and Rafa needed to protect his #2 ranking. The first set went to a tiebreaker with neither contestant playing that well. Rafa’s back stiffened up in the second set and a massage couldn’t keep him from being broken in the 4th game. It felt rather inevitable after that. Nole wins: 6-7(5), 3-6.

Stats:

As it happened blatherings:

At work – yeah, the day after Thanksgiving *sigh*.

Rafa forgot the mascot – awww…poor kid. He does eventually notice him and give him a pat on the head.

Rafa won the toss and elects to serve. Shocking!

Blistering forehand winner from Djokovic to earn a break point. Rafa nets a ball and is broken.

Sloppy service game for Nole and he goes down triple break point. He saves one with a nice, crisp volley at the net. Another with an ace. Nole nets a ball and is broken.

Rafa double faults to give Nole another break.

Koenig reads a stat about how Rafa’s ground-stroke speed has dropped significantly since last year’s AO.

Break point for Rafa and a second serve from Nole, but Rafa’s return is well wide and it’s deuce. Beauty of a drop and lob follow-up takes Nole to game point. Rafa tries to be aggressive with a forehand down the line, but sends it just wide. Nole holds. 1-3

Pushed to deuce twice, but Rafa manages to hold: 2-3.

Stress-free hold for Rafa – he holds with his first ground stroke winner of the match.

Nole can’t seem to get a first serve in and he double faults to give Rafa a break point. Nole nets a ball and he’s broken. We are back on serve: 4-4.

Oooo! Nice backhand down the line winner from Rafa. He follows that with a service winner. Rafa holds. Nole to serve to stay in the set.

Rafa sticks close to the baseline for a change, bosses the point and ends up a winner. Nole holds for 5-5.

Nice and easy hold for Rafa: 6-5. Nole to serve to force a tiebreaker.

Nole holds. Tiebreak time.

One of Rafa’s shots is called long, but he wins on a challenge and they replay the point. He could have had a mini-break – instead it’s 1-1. Rafa totally flubs a shot and sends it way wide – mini-break to Nole. A very long rally with both players making good shots ends with an unforced error from Rafa…and I let out a sound that frightens my co-workers. Massive forehand winner from Nole: 2-5. Nole runs Rafa up and back and Rafa ends the point by netting a ball: 2-6. Nole sends a ball barely wide: 3-6. Another goes long: 4-6. Nole nets a drop shot: 5-6. Rafa sends an easy shot wide and Nole takes the set.

Rafa at least seems to be going for a bit more and not being 100% passive. He’s just making too many errors for that to work for him right now. 7 winners/ 20 UFEs from Rafa that set.

Nole holds to start set 2. Rafa holds: 1-1.

Whoever is sitting next to Uncle Toni is a gabber.

Easy hold for Nole: 1-2.

Rafa on the ground not looking happy. Trainer is working on his lower back.

Okay, Rafa’s back up and ready to serve. Shot out wide to Nole’s forehand followed by a angled volley out wide to the backhand – beautiful. But Nole breaks.

Nole holds and leads 4-1.

Pushed to a break point, Rafa manages to hold for 2-4.

Nole holds. Rafa will serve to stay in the match.

Rafa holds: 3-5. Nole to serve for the match.

Down 0-30, Nole serves an ace, but it’s overruled on a challenge from Rafa. Rafa blows the second serve return and it’s 15-30. Nole hits a drop shot that ticks the top of the net, but manages to go over: 30-30. Second serve. Good length from Nole draws an error from Rafa: match point. Second serve. Massive backhand winner down the line from Rafa: deuce. Excellent serve from Nole: match point #2. Second serve. A series of fierce forehands from Rafa draws an error from Nole: deuce. Why does he only play this aggressive when it’s do or die? Nole sends a shot wide and Rafa has a break point. Beauty of a shot down the line – held to the last second – saves the break point. Rafa sends a return flying: match point #3. Nole wins.