Rafael Nadal

A page and forum to discuss all things Rafael Nadal.

Nadal 5

Current ranking: 14

Last result: Australian Open second round (lost to Mackenzie McDonald)

Next tournament: Roland Garros

59 Comments on Rafael Nadal

    • (My) fans are everywhere. A robofan but still…

      Gussie-bot has three types of bot posts:

      (a) the unpromted automated twitter/facebook/instagram repost (requires no original thought in a poor attempt to give the feel of a live current poster);

      (b) the prompted posts:
      – before (mandatory Vamos pic),
      – during (match stats after each set),
      – and after (Well done Rafa animated gif) any Rafa match
      in a poor attempt to give the feel of a live Rafan

      and last, but not least,

      (c) the prompted (oversensitive) post judging actual human posters (typically actual real live Rafans unlike itself) any time it detects a potential threat (e.g., questioning a Rafan’s dislike of earrings on men)
      in a successful attempt to give the feel of a poster who’s only friend is a database.

      Hahahahahahaha!!!!!!

      Hilarious!

      God, I’m KILLING Me!!!!!!!

      Reply

  5. Someone’s only purpose on this site has been to sabotage the Rafael Nadal page – by posting photoshopped pictures of Mirka’s husband and whatever other crap.

    But, he is killing only himself!

    Reply

  6. http://www.oregonlive.com/the-spin-of-the-ball/index.ssf/2015/04/rafael_nadal_is_building_towar.html

    Rafael Nadal is ‘building’ toward his best self at the French Open, even if he’s not the favorite

    Novak Djokovic is always there, pushing for clay-court titles year in and year out.

    Rafael Nadal, the “King of Clay,” takes comfort in that.

    “Djokovic was good in 2011, in 2012, 2013 as well as in 2015. Sometimes you win more and some you win less,” Nadal said after falling to Djokovic in the Monte Carlo Masters semifinals last week.

    Just relax, dear friends, he was essentially saying. We’ve been down this road before, and it didn’t result in Djokovic holding up the winner’s trophy at Roland Garros, the only clay-court member of the Grand Slam.

    Former U.S. Open finalist Greg Rusedski isn’t unduly concerned for Rafa, either.

    “Nadal will go deep in Barcelona and don’t be surprised if he wins that event and then after that you’re going to have Rome and Madrid, so he’s going to build nicely,” the commentator said this week.

    Nadal, after all, is coming back from a long string of injury and health problems. After winning his record ninth French Open championship last June (over Djokovic in the final), he managed to play only 12 more matches the rest of the year.

    So, yes, he’s still building, still trying to find what he calls the “right mentality.” And the progress is there to see. He’s admitted to getting winded late in matches this season, but he’s running — and stopping and starting — at full speed without pain. A very good sign for a guy with a history of knee and back problems. And he’s using a new, bigger racquet, which is giving him even more spin than the already unmatched spin he’s famous for.

    “His balls are different from any other player. They have this spin, plus they bounce a lot higher,” said 98th-ranked Lucas Pouille, Nadal’s second-round victim in Monte Carlo. “He was able to take advantage of my weaknesses. He was very solid and he played better and better as the match went on.”

    Roger Federer, the only other player to win Roland Garros in the past 10 years (and a five-time loser to Nadal at the French Open), says amen to that. That spin and high bounce that Nadal generates, and that uncanny ability to get better as matches grind on, have long set Rafa apart on the dirt.

    Of course, all good things must end. Nadal won’t go on winning the French Open for the rest of his life, and it surely seems that Djokovic won’t rest until he does win it.

    And Nadal cannot take advantage of any of Djokovic’s weaknesses, because Djokovic doesn’t have any. Unlike Pouille (not to mention Federer), Nole’s backhand will not break down against Nadal’s high-bouncing assault. Rafa’s metronomic consistency will not worm its way into Djokovic’s head; the Serb loves long, punishing rallies as much as Nadal does.

    Djokovic’s best surface is asphalt, but he’s more comfortable on and attuned to clay than Federer or Andy Murray ever have been or will be. He’s beaten Nadal in Rome and Monte Carlo and Madrid.

    Yet he’s 0-6 at the French Open against the great Spaniard. If nothing else, that will be weighing on Djokovic’s mind as the inevitable match-up at Roland Garros looms.

    Djokovic — the World No. 1, the Australian Open champion and the winner of the first three Masters tournaments of the year — will be the favorite at the 2015 French Open. But Nadal will have built up through Barcelona this week and then in Madrid and Rome. His coach and uncle, Toni Nadal, has made clear that Rafa does not approach his eleventh Roland Garros with a been-there-done-that attitude. Rafa is a winner, he says, because he always wants to win.

    And when Rafael Nadal is at his best on clay, he doesn’t need to exploit weaknesses: he can win by playing straight at Djokovic’s many strengths.

    — Douglas Perry

    Reply

  7. “And when Rafael Nadal is at his best on clay, he doesn’t need to exploit weaknesses: he can win by playing straight at Djokovic’s many strengths”…

    Gosh I love this statement…

    Reply

  15. “Whatever those crazy seedings might say, this year’s French Open is surely a two-horse race, for clay-court tennis, with its grinding rallies and slow bounces, rewards steel and stamina over flashy racket-work. It is also a race that Djokovic believes he can finally win.

    Roland Garros often feels like an independent state within the kingdom of tennis, with its own rules and royalty. So until he has annexed this bloodthirsty corner of Paris, his reign over the world’s most global sport will remain incomplete. ”

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/tennis/rafaelnadal/11561855/Rafael-Nadal-faces-French-revolution-from-the-imperious-Novak-Djokovic.html

    We gonna see, no?

    Reply

  16. Lot of speculations online on Rafas troubled love life that maybe causing his game on court to suffer. Not sure if any of it is true.

    Reply

  17. Hey @danica, howdy? You are most welcome to post here on Tenngrand and defend Nole to your heart’s content. Oh, btw, the reason “some of us” do not post on your current favourite site, Tennis-x blog is because we are banned. That’s right, we don’t “lurk” we are banned, plain and simple! You see, Sean Randall does not tolerate Rafans on his site except the Stepford Wives variety. I can see why you would be a fan of his site.

    Thank goodness Ricky Dimon is the opposite: intelligent, open-minded and tolerant of opposing views. Vamos Tenngrand!

    I prefer hanging around intelligent, open minded and tolerant people myself. Just saying.

    And oh, shout out to your man, Nole, he really is creaming it, chapeau!

    Reply

    • I just read few articles here n there on tennis-x. I don’t find articles there anti Rafa to the extreme..atleast the ones I read..I went through 1 or 2 today..even comments are not anti Rafa to the extreme.

      Reply

  20. To be frank..I think Rafa is almost near his lowest..he can only get lower by losing RG..that will be the lowest for him..If he loses RG..he may well be down to 3000 odd points (he is defending 3600 points from now to RG) and he will surely fall out of Top 10 if he does not do a good job in next 3 opportunities.

    Once you fall out of Top 10..climb up gets harder as you play tougher opponents as early as in 4th round

    Reply

    • He can only go up from there which is a good thing, no pressure at all next year .

      I frankly feel the crisis he is in now is a lot bigger than 2009..2012 ..2014..atleast there he was not losing to just about anyone on his fav surface..He still finished 2009 as No 2 and 2013 post 2012 he got back at the top immediatedly.2014 he righted the shop at Madrid and first 4 months he won 2 titles at Doha, Rio and made finals at AO, Miami.

      2015 is GRAVE , GRAVE, BIGGEST CRISIS… Fight it Rafa and come out a winner.

      Reply

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