Rome: Post final presser transcript

Rafa’s post-final presser transcript is up. I will never, ever, ever complain about an ASAP Sports transcript again. Ever.

Q: Congratulations. Bravo and can you tell us if you were feeling a little bit off. It seemed you played short and behind and then suddenly things changed He was taking the initiative and you seemed to be a little worried?

NADAL: At the beginning of the match? I do not agree. Sorry – I started playing winners with my forehand

21 May 2012 | by miri | 11 Comments

Rome: Trophy ceremony photos

Photos from the trophy ceremony in Rome.

Photos by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images, FILIPPO MONTEFORTE/AFP/GettyImages, AFP PHOTO/GABRIEL BOUYS, and REUTERS/Alessandro Bianchi

21 May 2012 | by miri | 16 Comments

Rome: Final photos

Photos from today’s match against Djokovic.

Photos by FILIPPO MONTEFORTE/AFP/GettyImages, Julian Finney/Getty Images, Clive Brunskill/Getty Images, GABRIEL BOUYS/AFP/GettyImages, REUTERS/Alessandro Bianch

21 May 2012 | by miri | 6 Comments

Rome: Rafa reigns again

A Master’s final on a Monday – a rare thing indeed. Not that rare for Rafa and Nole to play a Monday final, though. Seems to be an annual affair lately. Both guys came out firing and Rafa had break points in the first game. He didn’t convert then, but did so in the 5th game to go up 3-2. Rafa followed that with an error-filled game and Nole broke back. They held serve until a tight 11th game. An

21 May 2012 | by miri | 122 Comments

MC: Post final presser transcript

Rafa’s post-final presser transcript is up:

Q. Do you think you played the perfect game on serve and return today?

RAFAEL NADAL: I think never nothing is perfect. That’s the true. I played a very, very good first set, in my opinion, very solid after he start very good in the first game. He had 15 30. The second game, the serve was very important. The three serves saved my game in the second game.

After

22 Apr 2012 | by miri | 30 Comments

MC: Trophy ceremony photos

Lots of photos from the trophy ceremony.

Photos by REUTERS/Eric Gaillard, VALERY HACHE/AFP/Getty Images, Clive Brunskill/Getty Images, REUTERS/Olivier Anrigo, and SEBASTIEN NOGIER/AFP/Getty Images

22 Apr 2012 | by miri | 15 Comments

MC: Final photos

I can’t seem to find a lot of match photos. Hope these (mainly of Rafa celebrating post win) will do. Trophy photos to follow.

Photos by VALERY HACHE/AFP/Getty Images, Clive Brunskill/Getty Images, REUTERS/Eric Gaillard, REUTERS/Olivier Anrigo, and SEBASTIEN NOGIER/AFP/Getty Images

22 Apr 2012 | by miri | 6 Comments

MC: Historic 8th

It’s a final of an important tournament, so it’s got to be Rafole, right? Rafa came out playing aggressively and Nole, well, didn’t. Nole seemed off and was hitting many more errors than usual. I’m not smart enough to say whether Rafa’s play had a part in this or it was all Nole. I suspect a bit of the former and a big dose of the latter. Rafa broke early in each set and used the confidence he gained from the

22 Apr 2012 | by miri | 137 Comments

Exhibition: Rafa v. Nole

The exhibition in Bernabéu to benefit Rafa and Real Madrid’s foundation seems to be firming up – we have our participants. Per Marca.com, it will be Rafael Nadal vs. Novack Djokovic on July 14th. (mangle)

Rafa teased us a little about the event, but provided no details. (Oh, that’s kind of a redundant way of saying that, no? Teasing = no details.)

10 Apr 2012 | by miri | 13 Comments

AO: Final videos

From the AO site: Match highlights and the Shot of the day (I thought there were better ones, actually). Also, a bit of Rafa’s presser.

Trophy ceremony:

The full match is available for registered users here.

Here’s another view of the “oh god, please let it end soon” portion of the trophy ceremony. I love how the two guys to go stretch simultaneously – without looking at each other. They were both so punch drunk. Horrid they made them stand there so long.

29 Jan 2012 | by miri | 11 Comments