IW & Miami: Rumors abound

Photo by Jorge Reyes

Just before I went to bed last night, @Rafael_Plaza tweeted that a story was to come out in Marca today claiming Rafa had decided to pull out from Indian Wells and Miami. While @Rafael_Plaza has proven to be a good source, Marca’s been more up and down with their statements on Rafa’s schedule. Sure enough, the article was posted today (mangle). Shortly afterwards, however, reports came via @tomeuterrasa and @PauFerragut that Toni had denied this on

26 Feb 2013 | by miri | 10 Comments

L’Equipe Interview: No Panic

Photo by MARTIN BERNETTI/AFP/Getty Images

There’s a nice interview with Rafa in today’s edition of L’Equipe (print only, I think). Moondancer of VamosBrigade has done the difficult translation work. Please visit their site to read the full translation.

A few bits I found interesting.

It’s a settled pain. I could feel it in the morning while getting up and in the afternoon while I’m eating or while hitting a backhand. My first two days in Chili were difficult: I was feeling a lot of pain and I didn’t have

7 Feb 2013 | by miri | 15 Comments

RafaLint: January 30th

Articles:

Rafa Nadal: “Espero hacer un buen torneo” – via mundodeportivo.com (mangle)
Ask the Physio – discussing Rafa Nadal’s knee injury – by Alasdair Jones (thetennisspace.com)
Nadal, portada en Chile por responder un tuit – via sportyou.es (mangle)
Nadal keeping expectations low before comeback in Chile – Writing by Iain Rogers in Madrid, editing by Clare Fallon, total lack of formatting and paragraph breaks by someone at guardian.co.uk
Rafa Nadal reconoce que aún nota molestias en la rodilla – as.com (mangle)

Videos/Audio:

Nadal relishing return – you can tell it’s been awhile since he’s been doing English

30 Jan 2013 | by miri | 12 Comments

RafaLint: January 29th

Photo by Beth Wilson

It seems that a lot of the stuff included in this lint post caused rampaging speculation, paranoia, fear and loathing to be unleashed on twitter today. (Okay, I’m exaggerating, but hey, that’s what a lot of people seem to be doing today.) I was lucky enough to miss most of it because I had a very busy day at work. But I’d just like to encourage people to calm down. Rafa’s not played at a competitive level for a long time. His

29 Jan 2013 | by miri | 21 Comments

RafaLint: January 16th

There are a lot of sites out there claiming that it’s confirmed that Rafa’s playing in Viña del Mar. As far as I know, his camp has not confirmed anything yet. Per Genny and Inés, the Spanish press and reporters are saying that the tournament really wants him (d’uh!), are holding a WC for him, and are hoping to announce something soon, but Rafa’s camp hasn’t signed on the dotted line yet. He may well end up playing there, and may confirm things soon after I post this so I look like an idiot, but it’s not confirmed yet.

Rafa

16 Jan 2013 | by miri | 3 Comments

RafaLint: January 14th

(The “I’m only slightly delirious from one sleepless Australian Open night” edition.)

Babolat is offering you the chance to win cool prizes…if you have reflexes like Rafa (and a Facebook account). Play here.

A promo video for the contest:

And don’t forget to show your support for Mission Nadal, so get on it – like these people already have.

Articles:

‘Big Four’ Still Missing a Vital Element: Nadal – by Christopher Clarey (nytimes.com)
Moyà: “Ahora mismo le falta algo al tenis y ese algo es Nadal” – an interview with Moya in which he has

14 Jan 2013 | by miri | 17 Comments

RafaLint: January 9th

Photo by Beth Wilson

Articles:

Nadal’s Nurturing Nature Will Enable His Revival – by Chris Oddo (tennisnow.com)
Barbadillo: “Nadal wants to come back when he feels well” – via ubitennis.com
Brasil Open briga com Chile e Argentina nas negociações para trazer Nadal – by Gustavo Faldon (espn.br) And here’s the mangle – everyone wants Rafa.
Nadal reprograma su calendario – via diariodemallorca.es (mangle)
Ocho meses sin Nadal – via puntodebreak.com (mangle)
NBA’s Dirk Nowitzki still has a passion for tennis – by

10 Jan 2013 | by miri | 15 Comments

RafaLint: January 1st

Rafa wishes us Happy New Year – first in video form (via @DavidJNadal):

And then he goes back in time and has his 12 year old self wish us the same via a photo.

Articles:

Rivals support Rafael Nadal comeback delay AFP via theaustralian.com.au
Report Card: Djokovic, Tomic, Li off to hot starts, others not so much – by Courtney Nguyen. Read past the grade. That short paragraph is in sensible contrast to the following article…
One Title, Many Pain – by Peter Bodo (For the masochists/completists out there. Not

1 Jan 2013 | by miri | 29 Comments

Interview with Dr. Cotorro

Photo by Beth Wilson

Rafa’s doctor gave an interview last week and given all the questions that have been swirling about his recovery, delay and then sudden re-emergence in the practice courts, I thought it might be worth paying attention to. But…it was in Spanish and I’m stupid. So I asked Genny for some help. Here’s her sum-up of the interview.

¿Qué tipo de virus tiene el Rafa Nadal?

This interview to Dr. Cotorro took place last week (Dec 29). It is quite long and now I

1 Jan 2013 | by miri | 12 Comments

RafaLint: December 29th

Photo by Beth Wilson

Injury and Illness to Keep Nadal Out of Australian Open – by Christopher Clarey (nytimes.com). This is the best article I could find on the withdrawal. It has actual research in it!

Nadal’s publicist, Benito Pérez Barbadillo, said in a telephone interview that Nadal began to feel ill Dec. 20 in his home island of Majorca in Spain. At that stage, Pérez Barbadillo said, Nadal had been practicing with increased intensity, but his illness forced him to stop training and doctors

29 Dec 2012 | by miri | One Comment