World No.1 Andy Murray and 14-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal stopped traffic during a friendly hit on the Al Maryah Island Bridge in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday as they prepared for the start of the 2017 season. It marked a ceremonial start to the Mubadala World Tennis Championship, which officially gets underway on Thursday with a pair of quarterfinal matches.
The annual six-man event is taking place at the International Tennis Centre, Zayed Sports City from Thursday through Saturday. This year’s star-stunned lineup includes Murray, Nadal, world No.3 Milos Raonic, 10th-ranked Tomas Berdych, flamboyant Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, and tournament rookie David Goffin.
“It’s always good to be in Abu Dhabi,” said Murray, the reigning Wimbledon champion who finished a year No. 1 in the world for the first time in his career by beating Novak Djokovic in the World Tour Finals championship match this fall. “I’ve been coming here for so many years and it works as a place to start into the season. I know I’m going to get the practice and matches I need. I worked so hard to get to world No. 1 and I’ve been training hard in Miami. But after a few days off at home for Christmas, I’m ready to play.”
“It’s good to be back,” Nadal noted. “I feel fit, healthy, and ready to go. I’ve got some good memories from winning in Abu Dhabi, so hopefully I can play well again and get some good match practice.”
Opening day will pit Nadal against Berdych and Tsonga against Goffin. Murray awaits either Tsonga or Goffin, while Raonic will face the winner of the Nadal-Berdych clash.
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Pau Ferragut @PauFerragut 45m45 minutes ago
#Nadal: “For sure I’m happy the way that I played today. I feel well to be back in #AbuDhabi at the start of the season”.
Nice start! Vamos Rafa!
Thanks for the commentary, Hawks.
Congratulations Rafa!
I don’t know if the tennis channel is showing these matches. But it’s great to know that Rafa started off with a win!
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good to see rafa start with a win. that’s very impressive after so long off the tour. i have had a very good feeling ever since moya came on board. think he will be a very calming influence in the same mode as darren cahill. do you agree nny??
Amy,
Yes! Absolutely! I have also had a good feeling since they brought Moya onto Rafa’s team! It’s the first move they have made to bring in a new point of view with someone who knows Rafa. Moya can really help Rafa with any confidence issues that may come up.
Rafa can brainstorm with him and Moya may see things that he cannot see.
I am very encouraged! Glad you feel the same way!
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yes i feel it is very positive nny. i remember why back in early 2015 ed saying that she thought moya would be a great person to bring in as a supplementary coach to toni so shout out to her!
sorry why back should read way back!!
The TC is showing the Abu Dhabi matches live on their TC+ ap, not on tv. 🙁
Ramara,
Thanks for that info!
Cannot wait for the season to begin. Guys 6 weeks without tennis is too long. You should just play all year round!!!! Lol
Agreed!!!
Amy i like your good feeling CHEERS 😉
here’s hoping alison! just feel it is a very positive thing to change the dynamic and that moya will be a calming influence regarding nerves and so on…fresh eyes and ideas as well…
happy new year alison….!
I saw the match and loved the aggression of Rafa! Nice match, great indicator of Rafa’s form and health!
Rafa stay injury free and happy! Amazing how much the crowds love Rafa! They were loudly supporting every Rafa’s winner!
Vamos Champ! Enjoy your tennis and we sure will!
Rafa is playing well. He has set his heart on winning RG and all Rafa fans hope and pray that he will lift the musketeer for the 10th time in June next despite negative vibes from haters like she-who-shall-not-named who hoped delpo would win RG 2017. Moya is an addition to the team. He is not going to make much difference. Everything depends on how healthy Rafa is. If he knows he can trust his body, he will play fearlessly as he did when he was winning slams. He used to always engage other coaches off and on. Before USO 2010, he had engaged a coach for his serve. Just because he doesn’t talk about the others helping him, it doesn’t mean he doesn’t look to others for some ideas. Moya has formally joined the team but he has always been Rafa’s friend and mentor so obviously he must have hit with Rafa and given him advice in the past too.
Good to see you back, Mary! 🙂
Yes, Rafa and C.Moya are friends and they have hit together a zillion times.
Photos from 2013:
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C06KG3eWIAEaPOO.jpg
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C06KYZgXEAA2ygR.jpg
Happy New Year Amy, lets hope its a good one tennis wise, and everything else wise 😉 ….
absolutely alison! let’s hope 2017 brings us all some good things!
ps glad you’re posting here now alison. it’s really nice to have both you and rc here….
Cheers Amy you too, and i think people are generally respectful of each others opinions, and there isnt the bullying here that goes on in another forum i wont mention, Ricky runs a tight ship here, although i dont expect everybody to agree on everything, and i wouldnt them to either, and RC is an amazing poster, and a very clever and knowledgeable lady when it comes to our beautiful game, love her posts 😉 ….
alison you weren’t here last year. There is a troll gang here which specializes in lynch mob style attack but is lying low because of Ricky now actively moderating. amy is not a Rafa fan. She is an Andy fan ( guess who she is?).
Note how she studiously avoids commenting on Andy despite his great achievements and her claim that she is an objective tennis fan.
Obviously not.
If Ricky was actively and objectively moderating and not being hypocritical by saying stick to tennis to some posters, then your post would have been deleted.
Please delete this post Ricky and feel free to moderate me. It’s about all you know how to do.
seconded hawks. why is it that mary, or rather holdserve, who is an out and out troll is never moderated?? why is there one rule for you and one for her?? she is the worst person in troll terms ever to post on this site yet nothing is ever done. it’s really pretty shameful. when she is away there are almost no arguments on site, when she is here she spends all her time trying to stir things up.
oh and i’m not saying this because she spends all her time harassing me (which is against site rules). if it’s not me it’s someone else ie nny for months on end and again nothing ever said or done.
Thanks Amy.
yes rc is a great poster alison! agree with that. but i very much enjoy your posts as well…like me you are a rafa fan who also likes other players and doesn’t see him as some kind of idol ie he is human and imperfect and all the better for it!
cheers to you too alison!
Goffin beats murray 6 and 4.
#ExhoTennis
wow! that’s a surprise to say the least….exho or no exho…
Maybe Berdych will beat Murray as well. Expos more important for some than for others I guess.
Murray’s body language suggested he was out for a practice, nothing more. Didn’t get upset as usual when he’s not playing well.
Contrast that to Rafa who looks like it’s an ATP event.
Speaking of, Rafa just broke for 3-1 in the third set.
Heh. Rafa’s hungry. Murray not so much.
As Fed has said, it’s one thing to get to No. 1. Quite another to stay there.
No signs of Nole taking tennis seriously again so far.
I think Fed will capitalize and get his 18th at least in 2017,
Jury is out on Fedal. Rafa looking good in exho (great first step) but Brisbane will give us a better picture.
I’m more focused on his mental strength (nothing new) reflected in his serve and shot depth.
Raonic treating it as a real event as well. Showing a lot of frustration.
Rafa serving well holds for 4-1. Won the first 6-1 losing the second 3-6.
Pretty easy hold for Milos.
Rafa serving 4-2.
Easy hold for 5-2.
Rafa’s playing well.
Milos holds to love.
Rafa to serve for the match.
Wow. Great D from Rafa converted to a deep BH winner for 15-0 now up 30-0 on a net cord.
Service winner for triple match point.
Another service winner and GSM Rafa!
Vamos!
Not as clean as yesterday but not bad with a tougher opponent.