FB – first Master Serious

Rafa wins his first Master Serious title: 2005 Monte-Carlo. He defeated Coria 6-3 6-1 0-6 7-5.

Match highlights:

Posted by RetroTennis.

Match point (again – sorry), celebration, trophy ceremony:

2 Aug 2009 | 14 Comments

FB – 2003 Monte-Carlo

A 17 year old Rafa Nadal takes on the reigning French open champion in the second round of the 2003 Monte-Carlo Masters…and wins in straight sets.

8 Jul 2009 | 35 Comments

Flashback – 2006 interview

Wooffie sends in this 2006 interview with Rafa by Alison Kervin.

But the real action is taking place on the court opposite us, where the stand shakes with the delight of hundreds of eager supporters. Only this court is bursting with fans as they jostle for seats. The cheers ring out into the chilly mid-afternoon sky: “Rafa, Rafa, Rafa.”

The stand is overflowing, so I am ushered courtside to watch Rafael Nadal conduct his

27 Jun 2009 | 21 Comments

Rafael Nadal is a Monte Carlo Master

Rafa makes Just Jared thanks to his Monte-Carlo win. Short article complete with some wonderful (and large!) images.

21 Apr 2009 | One Comment

Of eyebrows and clay

Tignor is at it again. This time he talks not only of his love of Rafa, but of his love of the current state of clay court tennis. I have to admit: I didn’t use to like clay court tennis. Keep in mind, this was way back in the day when players were using natural gut and playing with wooden rackets. (Yes, I’m that old.) These days, however, I’ve come to realize that clay

20 Apr 2009 | 4 Comments

Toni’s a tough nut

…at least as tough and hard to please as us fans.

Nadal coach unhappy despite tournament win

“He played a good third set, but it’s obvious he must play better than this week,” said Nadal senior.

“He was missing a little confidence in his game and you could see that his serve was incredibly weak. But it’s the first tournament on clay this season for him and I hope that with some more matches, it’ll get better.

“We know that there’s a lot of work to do before Roland-Garros. But he still won. It’s a very important tournament for us and to win

20 Apr 2009 | 8 Comments

Post final on-court interview – Canal+Sport

“And in the end I…I won.” :)
“They make me feel like home.” Awww.

Posted by NadalPower.

19 Apr 2009 | No Comment

Post final interview

Video interview from the ATP site:

19 Apr 2009 | 4 Comments

Final match photos

For some reason, the usual sources aren’t carrying photos today, so I’m grumpy.

(Photos by EFE/Bruno Bebert, REUTERS/Eric Gaillard, EFE/Christophe Karaba, EFE/Bruno Bebert, and Michael Steele/Getty Images)

Updated: More photos can be found on zimbio.

19 Apr 2009 | 3 Comments

Post final presser

The transcript is up on the Monte-Carlo site.

Q. How tough was it when he broke back in the third set?

RAFAEL NADAL: No, was tougher in the second I think. Yeah, no, I started the match playing well. The first game, well, he play really bad. Later he played well with the 3 1. But later I played good tennis. But in the first game of the second was really important, no? I won five games in

19 Apr 2009 | 2 Comments