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Thread: Rafael Nadal

  1. #21
    Senior Member Veteran Hubber mgb's Avatar
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    Some interesting facts about Nadal

    In preparation for an event, tennis great Pat Cash played a clay-court match against the then fourteen year-old Nadal. Cash was reluctant to play against Nadal and took this arranged match as an offence. In the end, he was surprised to find himself losing by a close margin

    Although Nadal plays left-handed, he is naturally right-handed. When he was younger, his uncle and coach, Toni Nadal, decided that his two-handed backhand would benefit from a strong right arm, so he taught Rafael to play with his left.

    After the 2006 French Open final against Federer, Nadal started by praising Federer in his speech. The translator mistranslated the speech, leading the public to think he was praising himself. Nadal was thus booed and whistled at throughout the speech.

    When Nadal beat Federer by 6-1, 6-3, 6-0 and won the French Open title last year, that was the quickest French Open finals since 1980.

    It is common for Nadal to spend as much as 38 seconds, 18 over the limit, between points on his service game. The rules of tennis state that a maximum of 20 seconds is allowed between the time at which the last point is finished to the time at which the next serve is delivered. Nadal has picked up numerous time violations for this breach of the rules and has received a number of warnings from tennis authorities

    Nadal is the nephew of former Spanish footballer Miguel Ángel Nadal, one of Spain's most capped players. Miguel's brother Toni is the coach of Rafael

    In 2006, Nadal and Roger Federer became the only two male players in the open era to reach the Wimbledon final after having both played in the French Open final just a month prior. There have been several men to reach the Wimbledon final after making the French Open final, but never had the same two men accomplished such a feat at the same time

    Nadal has "Vamos Rafa" ("Let's go Rafa") written on his shoes, a common exhortation by his fans

    He can curl 30kg with his left hand and 25kg with his right

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  3. #22
    Senior Member Platinum Hubber ajithfederer's Avatar
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    Read in Toni Nadal's wiki page

    He actually makes Rafa to gut his own tennis strings.

    He actually made him practice in bad balls and not so good courts so that he should get acclimatized to all conditions. Toni makes Rafa to do his own laundry.

    Toni Nadal believes more in practice and that is why you see Rafa stretching limits of tennis.

    Rafa is indeed a rare breed in Tennis

    At 23, he should reap more laurels.

  4. #23
    Senior Member Platinum Hubber ajithfederer's Avatar
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    Rafael Nadal has either equaled or set various records in tennis history.

    1. Longest single-surface winning streak (clay): 81 matches (2005-May 21, 2007)
    2. Winning the French Open at the first attempt. Tied with Mats Wilander (1982)
    3. Only the third teenager in history (since 1973) to reach world no. 2
    4. Most clay-court titles in a single year (eight in 2005)
    5. Most consecutive clay court winning streak: 81
    6. Most consecutive French Open titles: 4 tied with Björn Borg
    7. Winning French Open and Wimbledon in the same year. Tied-two others in Open Era history.
    8. Only male player to have won French Open, Wimbledon, and Olympic gold medal in the same year (2008)
    9. Won most titles as a teenager: 16 tied with Björn Borg
    10. Won 24 consecutive matches, the longest winning streak of any teenager in the open era in 2005
    11. Only male player to have held Grand Slam titles on three different surfaces simultaneously: French Open 2008 (clay), Wimbledon 2008 (grass), Australian Open 2009 (hard)
    12. Nadal and Federer are the only No. 1 and 2 pair to play French Open and Wimbledon finals, three consecutive years
    13. Nadal and Federer are the only No. 1 and 2 pair who have won at least 11 consecutive Grand Slam singles tournaments between them, starting from the 2005 French Open through the 2007 US Open
    14. Federer and Nadal are the only two men who have played each other in the final of the same Grand Slam three consecutive years (French Open and Wimbledon)
    15. Nadal and Federer are the only pair of men during the open era who had reached the Wimbledon final after having just played each other in the French Open final (2006, 2007, 2008)
    16. Most consecutive French Open finals in the Open Era: 4 (tied with Borg, Lendl, and Federer)

    Rafa

  5. #24
    Senior Member Platinum Hubber ajithfederer's Avatar
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    And not to forget the fact that Rafa has 15 Masters Titles, he is tied with federer and they both are short of agassi who is at 17.

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    Senior Member Platinum Hubber ajithfederer's Avatar
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  7. #26
    Senior Member Platinum Hubber ajithfederer's Avatar
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    Robin Soderling vs Rafael Nadal from Wimbledon 2007

  8. #27
    Senior Member Platinum Hubber ajithfederer's Avatar
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    http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/spor...dominance.html


    Rafael Nadal's knees showing wear and tear of his clay-court dominance

    11:39 AM, June 11, 2009

    Nadal Rafael Nadal was the man of the moment just a few months ago, from Australia to Paris. It appeared as if the tennis gods had blessed him with everything he could ever want.

    But was everything so heavenly? In and out, back-to-back, he played on and on and on. Sometimes, he was masterfully striking. Sometimes, he made his body slog for his accomplishments.

    He played, he won, he conquered.

    And then came the clay season -- the time when Rafa turns master, his dominance of the surface so emphatic that he offers no leeway to any rival. Even the mighty Roger Federer couldn't stop him.

    Rafa was invincible.

    And this is where the dream started to flicker. The number of clay court tournaments Rafa packed into his schedule not even a recently turned pro could have managed to accommodate.

    Monte Carlo, Barcelona, Rome and Madrid -- four tournaments as preparation for the "grand" Roland Garros.

    It was unnecessary. His knees were still reeling from a lot of strain and there he was playing in all these tournaments, which meant two months of continuous, strenuous pressure, even though it was on his beloved surface.

    As much as his knees were tortured, he tortured them even the more by winning three out of the four tournaments, finishing as a finalist in the fourth.

    Who makes these decisions for him is unknown. But even common knowledge would tell you that playing four clay events for a person who is undoubtedly the best clay courter at the moment is blatantly foolish.

    And what purpose did it serve? He lost in Paris and his overwrought knees have ended up getting inflamed again. His website quotes him as saying that he played most of the past months in complete agony and pain.

    What was Rafa thinking?

    -- Rohini Iyer

  9. #28
    Senior Member Platinum Hubber ajithfederer's Avatar
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    MAY 28 | 2009
    BACK TO THE PAST?

    May 28, 2009

    Rafa, first of all I’d like to thank for the joy you bring [into our lives] every Sunday when you play. You are our pride and I have a question for you: If you could go back to the past and play the final of Roland Garros against a past winner, who would you like to face (and of course beat)? Borg, Wilander, Bruguera, Agassi, Kuerten, Moya, Agassi, Costa, or Ferrero...?

    I wish you the best of luck at Roland Garros...

    RN: Thank you very much. In regards to your question, I’ve always said that given that it is not possible to go back to the past, [you have to be] realistic and [for the record] I’ve actually faced a lot of the players you already mentioned. (Moya, Agassi, Ferrero and Costa).

    Rafa, I would like for you to answer [this question] with total honestly: Have you read any of the statements made recently by your opponents in relation to the tactics they need to use in order to beat you? (Eg: Higueras, a former coach of Federer said that "just like he did in Madrid, Federer needs to shorten the points in order to avoid Rafa getting his rhythm back and therefore, take away his confidence”).

    Is this something that Toni and you analyse and use as a pre-match strategy, or do you just focus only on what you have to do our there? I hope you answer me.

    RN: First of all, I always answer honestly. I often read the newspapers but at the same time, I try not to pay attention to the kind of statements you just mentioned. I imagine that when the players make such statements it makes sense to them what they say, and nothing happens.

    It is also clear to me that other players analyse me and the way I play, just like I can analyse them. It’s normal. But in the end, when we are out on the court, we have to run around and play and that is what we also analyse before matches. The best way to play.

    Hola Rafa: You're one of the most loved personalities in Spain based on a survey published by ‘El Mundo’ in July 2008. Do you think people like you for your game, your success or for the way you are?

    RN: Thank you very much. I do not know. I imagine that people [like me because they] know and see the way I always fight till the end and I try to give my everything every time I step out on a tennis court.

    Hola Rafa, congratulations on your great achievements. I was wondering if you’ve ever played mixed doubles? And if not, who would you like to play with?

    RN: No, I have not played mixed-doubles at a 'Grand Slam' (which is only tournament where you can play it). These tournaments involve a lot of pressure and intensity and playing other competitions, like the men's doubles or mixed can lead to complications later on, especially when it comes to my schedule.

    Hello Rafael! Congratulations on your career. I just wanted to know how you are planning on spending your future once you retire from professional tennis?

    RN: Thank you very much. The truth of the matter is that I haven’t really thought about it yet, It’s true.

    I just want to know if you or your team have discussed the possibility of sacrificing a clay court tournament or a Master Series event (like Cincinnati or Canada) in the lead up to the US Open, in order to save up more energy and arrive better there?

    RN: It’s very difficult to sacrifice a clay court tournament, as there are hardly any of them around. As to Cincinnati or Montreal, I do not think it’s possible because it is compulsory to play them. This year will be better without the Olympic Games, and therefore we should arrive [In New York] less tired. We will see how the season goes anyways. You should always go one tournament and match at a time.

    http://www.rafaelnadal.com/nadal/en/...ck-to-the-past

  10. #29
    Senior Member Platinum Hubber ajithfederer's Avatar
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    http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...RVO1183QJ0.DTL

    Strokes of Genius
    Federer, Nadal, and the Greatest Match Ever Played
    ---------------

    By L. Jon Wertheim

    On a spring morning in Paris last year, Sports Illustrated writer L. Jon Wertheim was hoping to write a book about an incredible tennis match. Amazingly enough, one was served up for him a month later at the 2008 Wimbledon men's singles final - a five-set epic between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal that justifiably was dubbed an instant classic.

    "Strokes of Genius" details the drama of this match in lively detail. Wertheim's grasp of tennis is informed not just by the many players and events he's written about for more than a decade, but also by a keen sense of its essential grammar. "They're out there alone, cordoned off from outside influence," Wertheim writes of tennis players. "Unlike golf, the competition is simultaneous. ...Tennis is the most gladiatorial sport going."

    As naturally occurs in any competitive battle, the contrasts are most obvious. There's the right-handed Federer, the dominant, cucumber-cool, elegant Swiss who had won five straight titles on Wimbledon's velveteen grass. "This isn't Everyman," writes Wertheim. "It's Superman ... moving gracefully to deifying, classical music." There's Nadal, the contender, at once visceral and humble, out to win his first major title on a surface other than the rough-and-tumble clay where he had rapidly become a legend.

    Wertheim's easily accessible match detail is richly supplemented with biographical portraits, covering such topics as Federer's youthful temper, Nadal's athletic family and, as each rose up the ranks, their similarities. As Wertheim writes, Federer and Nadal shared "a similar sports code, a shared sense of how a top athlete ought to comport himself."

    Along the way, Wertheim deftly touches on all the defining factors of contemporary tennis. But most of all, it's the incredible match that's the centerpiece.

  11. #30
    Senior Member Platinum Hubber ajithfederer's Avatar
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    Why the 2009 Wimbledon Crown Will Be Rafael Nadal's

    The Dream. The Vision. The Hope. The Desire. The Passion. The Conviction. It is this fire within that drives the best from oneself.

    Few believed him when he said "I want to win Wimbledon."

    Just a mere clay-court specialist, how could he?

    The Tennis World laughed it off back then, when hardly anyone expected him to reach a Wimbledon final, let alone repeat it again, come even closer and finally, attain the glorious crown.

    But yes, he did. “I would hate to lose knowing that I hadn’t given my all,” says the warrior who fights till the last drop of sweat.

    July 6, 2008 bore witness to a magnum opus wielded by two tennis titans, who have carved their own niche, and etched their own significant place in tennis history.

    And on a day the Tennis World shall never forget, a match that has been lauded the greatest ever, with a virtuosic display of patience and precision, dexterity and prowess, it was the Mallorcan who hung on in optimism, and emerged the victor, the deserving champion.

    Indeed, it was a realization of years of perseverance and hard work.

    He never dreamt too far ahead, he could not put all his thoughts into coherent articulation, but his actions spoke volumes for him, as dreams undreamt evolved into reality as he achieved the phenomenal, to rewrite for himself the annals of tennis, with the foundations laid on clay.

    He was a man who built his game on precision, focus, and tenacity tinted with originality.

    Rafael Nadal’s shock loss at Roland Garros 2009, the problem of a persistent knee injury and the possibility of a small but lingering mental setback, some seem to be fairly convinced to expect a below-par performance by the Spaniard.

    And meanwhile, on the other side of the coin, the pressure is off and the Swiss Maestro is as ecstatic as his astronomical number of fans. Blissful in his demeanour and play. And so, Wimbledon 2009 shall be Roger’s, they say.

    Fans, media and tennis pundits call clay ‘a favourite surface’ for Nadal, but his own words are put carefully as ‘a surface on which I achieved great success which I’m very happy for.’

    But this formidable Spanish conqueror has also emphatically expressed his love for Wimbledon. His dream and desire to win it. And the journey and joy of the achievement, which he still reminisces with elation and bliss.

    He may not like to compare grand slams—the French and Australian too have their own significance for him—but Wimbledon will may always have meant a trifle more than the rest.

    As his first grand slam outside la terre battue. At the world’s beloved tournament, perhaps because of its uniqueness as the only grand slam on grass, tradition, audience or the name, whatever it maybe, one always considered the most prestigious. The consummation of a long toilsome race.

    He gave his best. He chased each ball. He fought every game. He lingered till the end with a never-say-die attitude.

    He lived to strive, he lived to fight, he did not assume, and so he continues on the trail of his quest to improve.

    And despite all odds, the virile, vivacious Spaniard from Mallorca, who captured hearts round the world, shall emerge the winner once more, I say, because the will power and desire burning in his veins shall drive him there.

    To relive that moment. Exhilarating but serene. Intangible yet lucid. Ephemeral yet everlasting.

    Otra Vez.

    http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1...rown-is-nadals

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