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

83 Comments on Rafael Nadal

  1. MailOnline, 1 July 2015: ¤¤ Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal maintain friendship with regular games of FIFA, the Scot’s mother reveals.

    Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal enjoy a close friendship despite their rivalry.
    The pair regularly play EA Games’ FIFA series online against one another.
    Murray’s mother Judy explains that because the players are a similar age, they get along well and have grown up together.
    Assuming both Murray and Nadal win their second round matches on Thursday, they could face each other in Wimbledon’s quarter-finals ¤¤

    Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/tennis/article-3146164/Andy-Murray-Rafael-Nadal-maintain-friendship-regular-games-FIFA-Scot-s-mother-reveals.html#ixzz3efEJVFiK

  2. Rafa’s interview on July 1, 2015, in Spanish:

    (Translated by Camelia:
    Rafa said that his forehand during the rallies was good in general but the finishing one needs to improve…
    So in today’s [July 1] practice Rafa worked to improve his forehand,more aggressive & decision to play it, moving inside the court & going to the net.
    He practised for 1 hour and 30 min, 90% of the time spent to work on the specific things for forehand & last 10 min for the serve.)

    http://www.canalplus.es/play/video.html?xref=20150701plucandep_4.Ves

  3. Wimbledon did a Q&A session with Uncle Toni …here are some of them:

    Q. What are three things you need to be a successful tennis player?
    A. You need more than three things. Good eyes are very important – to see the ball fast, reaction and coordination. Also, legs, you have to be very quick and good shots.

    Q. If you could take one shot from any player, past or present what would it be?
    A. Nadal’s mental strength, McEnroe’s volley, Federer’s forehand, and Djokovic’s backhand.

    Q. Who are your idols?
    A.The problem today is that people have idols everywhere. I only have one idol in my life – Nastase.

    Uncle Toni is such a big rafa detractor as per ‘some’ criteria! he even said federer , not rafa, has the best forehand and that DJokovic has the best backhand! sham on Uncle Toni,,,

    And Nastaste?! :O This is surprising :s

    • Only Toni goes out of his way to be nasty about Rafa. He refutes anything said in Rafa’s favour and endeavours to prove that he has nothing going for him.

      Toni seems to get your kicks out of denigrating Rafa but if it makes him feel good, then go for it. It’s free fun for Toni and it probably makes him sleep better at night .

    • July 2, 2015 at 12:49 pm,
      —Uncle Toni is such a big rafa detractor as per ‘some’ criteria!—
      ===============================

      If my memory serves me correctly, only sanju can’t stand U.Toni (because of “putting Rafa down”).

      • right….. it is criminal and anti-rafa behavior for rafa fans here to say djokovic has the best ROS but it is completely okay for Uncle Toni to say that federer has a better forehand than rafa’s and djokovic has a better backhand than rafa’s ! Double standards galore!

      • Augusta, I know you are never wrong.

        Even so…

        Several regular posters here have written disapprovingly of much (that was not very positive) of what uncle Toni has said at times about rafa, as well as about what seems to be a way to train him in his early years that we have gone so far as calling bullying:

        Ed, hawkeye, myself, and a few others besides sanju.

        Of course, none of us have said that _everything_ Toni has said and done w rafa is negative.

      • July 2, 2015 at 1:08 pm
        —it is criminal and anti-rafa behavior for rafa fans here to say djokovic has the best ROS —
        =========================

        It’s criminal (actually “bullshite”, but I don’t know the meaning of this word) on this site, according to some posters, to post negative FACTs about Rafa’s opponents – Djoko & Fed! 😆

      • Thanks to John McEnroe and Brad Gilbert’s banter, the players at Wimbledon this week have been asked about the best shots in the game.

        Stan Wawrinka offered his pick taking Novak Djokovic’s return of serve as the shot he’d like to have.

        “I will take Novak return,” Wawrinka said. “Because he’s so good. He make you play all the time. He always find solution how to return each player. Always putting yourself under pressure even when you’re serving.”

        Amaaaaaaaaazing!!!!!!!

      • chloro says:
        July 2, 2015 at 1:13 pm,
        —Several regular posters here have written disapprovingly of much (that was not very positive) of what uncle Toni has said at times about rafa…
        Ed, hawkeye, myself, and a few others besides sanju.—
        =====================

        Oh, thank you for explaining that “several regular posters here” belong to this group:

        https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CI6brDZUsAAnGIS.png

      • Augusta, you need to take a break. Looks like you have lost your ability to see sarcasm! Lol…. i am not the one calling uncle Toni a rafa detractor. Actually, it is nadline10’s wonderful criteria ! So go ask her, not me. She labelled all those who said novak has the best ROS so it is very resonable to assume her criteria would treat uncle Tomo similarly…lol

      • Thanks for showing us all why deuce left a few days after your repetitive “Don’t worry” condescending posts to her.

        It’s exactly how I remembered it.

        (Your light show in your post just above is hilarious! Confirms everything about you I’ve said before.)

    • vamosrafa

      I am afraid that august does not get nuance, sarcasm or the like. Whatever any of us writes here is to be literally and at face value. Then when you point out that it was indeed sarcasm in answer to someone else’s inaccurate and false statement, she totally ignores the intended meaning!

      It’s hard to have a discussion when others are so obtuse 🙂

      • Sorry, I was referencing augusta! Got to get the names right! I also meant to say in my second sentence that whatever any of us writes here is to be TAKEN literally and at face value.

      • nativenewyorker7 says:
        July 2, 2015 at 2:07 pm,
        —I am afraid that august does not get nuance, sarcasm or the like–
        ===========================

        He and you didn’t get my sarcasm! 😆

  4. It’s not just hawkeye, Vamosrafa has posted other experts in the sport and now we have Uncle Toni’s own words. 🙂

    • nativenewyorker7 says:
      July 2, 2015 at 2:10 pm,
      —-and now we have Uncle Toni’s own words—
      ============================

      What words and where do you have them?

      • You just have to laugh. That’s what happens when one is just a camp follower. No original thought.

        #Mary had a little lamb
        She tied it to a pylon
        10,000 volts went up his back
        And turned his wool to nylon

  5. That’s called backing up an opinion with substance by quoting other knowledgeable people in the sport.

  6. augusta,

    Maybe you forgot this post from Vamosrafa.

    July 2, 2015 at 12:49 pm

    Wimbledon did a Q&A session with Uncle Toni …here are some of them:

    Q. What are three things you need to be a successful tennis player?
    A. You need more than three things. Good eyes are very important – to see the ball fast, reaction and coordination. Also, legs, you have to be very quick and good shots.

    Q. If you could take one shot from any player, past or present what would it be?
    A. Nadal’s mental strength, McEnroe’s volley, Federer’s forehand, and Djokovic’s backhand.

    Q. Who are your idols?
    A.The problem today is that people have idols everywhere. I only have one idol in my life – Nastase.

    Uncle Toni is such a big rafa detractor as per ‘some’ criteria! he even said federer , not rafa, has the best forehand and that DJokovic has the best backhand! sham on Uncle Toni,,,

    And Nastaste?! :O This is surprising :s

    Reply

    • nativenewyorker7 says:
      July 2, 2015 at 2:24 pm,
      —augusta,
      Maybe you forgot this post from Vamosrafa.
      July 2, 2015 at 12:49 pm—
      ==============================================================

      There is a lot of words in vamosrafa’s post. WHICH words did you mean in your post on July 2, 2015 at 2:10 pm ? I would like to know what YOU were talking about.

    • augusta,

      It takes a lot of gall for you to post that comment you made about me. Just who has the real hatred here? Maybe you should read nadline’s unoriginal little poem that was obviously meant for me. She does this quite often. Posts comments that are clearly meant for me, but doesn’t have the courage and guts to address me by name.

      But then, she has you to do a lot of her dirty work for her. That is quite foolish on your part and also kind of sad. Why don’t you let the real hater here do her own dirty work and not try to fight her battles?

      The hatred is coming from both of you and it’s beyond obvious. You’ve driven good posters off this site, so why not continue with the attacks and cheap shots and keep it up? Except that I am still here! 🙂

      • nativenewyorker7 says:
        July 3, 2015 at 11:40 pm,
        1) —Maybe you should read nadline’s unoriginal little poem that was obviously meant for me. She does this quite often. Posts comments that are clearly meant for me….—
        2) —The hatred is coming from both of you and it’s beyond obvious. You’ve driven good posters off this site—
        =============================================

        1) You are constantly assuming on this site that the world revolves around YOU ! I have seen one nadline’s comment on your post during a year (and after that she apologized). But you keep attacking her – to paraphrase you: making dirty work!
        .
        2) You keep constructing&spreading imaginary stories – nothing new. I am wondering what’s the purpose of your stories.
        .
        I don’t come here to fight personal battles (you drag other posters into your battles) and your cheap shots against me don’t scare me. I am coming here to support Rafa and I will be – no matter what! 🙂

      • Are you aware that the rankings are based on points gained over 52 weeks and Rafa hasn’t played for all of the last 52 weeks? It’s not bad to be #10 playing badly and not gaining points for almost 6 months. How many players have ever achieved that?

        This must be another record Rafa has now set.

    • nadline,
      Google is your friend… if you are confused by the difference between “return of serve” – for which no hard stats can be collected, by definition – and “return games won” – for which there are all the stats you could ever want.

      For “return of serve” potentially stats could be collected wrt how many first and second serves the returner put back in play without an UE. But only subjective stats could be collected re the quality of the return.

      An excellent returned of serve… neutralizes the advantage of the server much of the time… even if they don’t win the point right away. There is _some_ numerical relationship between the QUALITY of the return of serve… and the stats of return games won… but only that much.

      Just by watching enough games of the top female and male players we all have a pretty good idea who are the best returners of serve… .yes they tend to have higher return games won but that link does not always work for each game, set etc.

      in summary, forget what ‘experts’ say, and even very good long-time keen observers and analyzers of the game such as vr and others…. just listen ONLY to what the TOP players say about who has the best RETURN of serve… They know a thing or two about tennis and they know what they are looking at when they watch a pro game.

      You’re welcome :-).

    • Yes, and you probably believe that the earth is stlll flat! 🙂

      Who better to know that the people who play the game? Also, what about what Uncle Toni said that I reposted above? So what does Uncle Toni know!

      You are the one who needs a reality check and quite badly, I must say. You see only what you wish to see, cherry pick stats selectively and out of context.

      Get a grip! The earth is not flat! 🙂

  7. #8 is not bad considering he still needs to get to 100% confidence. He’s had wrist and back problems so he’s probably guarding against a relapse and is too scared of going full on with his shots. Losing early has also robbed him of match play.

    Of course, he’s always been superman, going straight to the top after injury time out so much is expected of him.

    • nadline,

      with all due respect,

      what say you about the MANY completely off days he’s had at nearly every tournament this year, excessive sweating at times whilst it was not hot outside, losing to possibly anyone… unlike any of his former returns from injury time off? Do you think the rest of us are hallucinating and involved in some naive group-think when we write about a high level of anxiety, meaning higher than most players on the circuit have?

      what say you about the rising number of rituals and other coping mechanisms we have observed in Rafa over the years?

      what say you about the repeatedly uncharacteristic self-descriptions in Rafa’s interviews of the last months?

      believe me, I am NOT happy at all about any of these changes, and which he finds resolutions to them sooner than later. I just can’t deny the reality that is right in front of my eyes.

      • he’s not gloating… he’s using various creative ways to get through your denial of the facts in my post above… same for gussie’s denial of the same unfortunate sad facts

      • wait, wait, I noticed this right away but didn’t comment yet:

        “so why is hawkeye gloating about it?”

        does this mean that you actually agree with us, that there is more going on with rafa than a difficult return from unjuries (they are all difficult returns)… that there is a much lower level of confidence and it’s dragging for half a year now… that there is an unusual level of anxiety…the kind most people by common sense receive treatment for…

    • “#8 is not bad considering he still needs to get to 100% confidence. He’s had wrist and back problems so he’s probably guarding against a relapse and is too scared of going full on with his shots. Losing early has also robbed him of match play. Of course, he’s always been superman, going straight to the top after injury time out so much is expected of him.”

      That’s the most intelligent thing you’ve said this year. Reminds Me of Me!

      It’s not bad, but it’s a long shot from good.

      As I said, the layoff hasn’t helped but this started long before the injuries.

      I repeat, just one 250 title off clay in 22 months.

      • Rafa suffered from back and wrist problems since the AO 2014. He also had blisters on his hand from early on in 2014 and did well to even make the final of the AO. He’s been unlucky with injury and the appendicitis also hampered his fall swing playing up to the eyeballs in antibiotics before the operation.

        I just feel sad for him not smug that he is ranked 10. I wonder how any of the top players would cope with being sidelined for over a year out of the last 3 years.

      • nadline,
        you are absolutely right about all your wrote… except, sigh, I thought you finally saw sense and saw that there is VASTLY more going on that than, ALAS

        for your information: no rafans around here are gloating about this, despite what you might perceive. Gloatings only from filter and other little rifraftrolls.

      • Don’t deny any of that about Rafa. Never said I did. All of that and some other things have worsened his anxiety to the point that it is a disorder IMO. You yourself keep saying that you hope his anxiety doesn’t get the better of him as it has recently. That’s pretty much the definition of a general anxiety disorder.

        Don’t worry, you are very smug in other ways.

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