Rafael Nadal survived a back-and-forth first set with fellow Spaniard Albert Ramos before prevailing 7-6(2), 6-4 in the second round of the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell on Wednesday afternoon. Nadal served at 73 percent and converted all three of his break chances to advance in one hour and 56 minutes.
The world No. 1 fell behind 3-1 in the opener but broke right back for 2-3. He then served for the set at 6-5, only to fail in his attempt at closing it out. Nadal cruised through the ensuing tiebreaker seven points to two and finished off the match in style with a timely break to love at 5-4 in the second. The top seed and defending champion is now 41-1 in Barcelona as he seeks a ninth title in his last nine trips to the tournament.
Next up for Nadal is Ivan Dodig, who rolled over No. 13 seed Feliciano Lopez 6-1, 6-4
Nadal interview:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMj11XQs_zw]
David Ferrer did not have as much luck in his opener, and nobody could have seen it coming. The No. 2 seed had just upset Nadal last week in Monte-Carlo and he had also eased past his Wednesday opponent–Teymuraz Gabashvili–6-4, 6-0 last month in Miami. This time around, though, an in-form Gabashvili trounced Ferrer 6-2, 6-2 in one hour and 21 minutes.
Gabashvili interview:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=csqXN8xWtBA]
Albert Montanes after his upset of Alexandr Dolgopolov:
[tweet https://twitter.com/montanes_albert/statuses/458999068417880064]
Jurgen Melzer after his win over Jerzy Janowicz:
[tweet https://twitter.com/jojomelzer/statuses/458991045695782913]
[polldaddy poll=7990556]
Toni Nadal in l’Equipe on Rafa’s win over Ramos (@chriscottthomas): It’s not working. No, nothing worked. He wasn’t feeling it, he didn’t play well, he moved badly, he made to many errors, he had no forehand, no backhand. Pffft. He’s too tense to play. His loss in Monte-Carlo affected him. He gives it too much importance. Suddenly he has doubts. He needs to win tomorrow (today against Dodig) to try and get better.
Rafa, in his book, said he has doubts sometimes, like any normal human being, or like most normal human beings do.
He is going through this doubts period right now and I believe only he can solve this. He will.
Vamos Rafa!
I have one quibble with Uncle Toni’s statement through. He speaks as if it is Rafa’s loss in Monte Carlo which is affecting him, but I think Rafa has not been playing well for some time now even though he has been winning matches. In fact, I thought the Ramos match was an improvement on the Ferru match, he won and he cut down on those pesky UEs even though they are still too many! Of course, as a coach Uncle Toni must be very frustrated and this is where his statement is coming from. However, I am more inclined to go with Rafa’s up-beat post Ramos on-court interview.
#OneMatchAtATime
L’Équipe is a French newspaper (devoted to sports; it named Rafa ‘The Champion of the Champions’ last year). Do you think it has quoted everything that U.Toni told to Spsnish newspapers?
https://twitter.com/nycsandygirl/status/459094565627396096/photo/1
^^Harsh. It’s one thing to say those things to Rafa in private, it’s another to say it to the world. I’m not convinced that kind of brutal analysis from one’s coach and uncle in a public forum will contribute anything positive toward Rafa’s psyche or game.
^^
Completely agree. He needs to keep schum.
jpacnw@April 24, 2014 at 5:15 am
deucy@April 24, 2014 at 5:53 am
Don’t worry, Rafa has said the same to the world.
jpacnw@April 24, 2014 at 5:15 am
deucy@April 24, 2014 at 5:53 am
An excerpt from U.Toni’s interview
¤¤ Question – Don’t you think that sometimes you ask too much of him [Rafa]?
TONI NADAL – I’ve always been very critical of him and I do not accept any excuses, because the only way to win is by working hard. Rafa knows it and accepts it, because it is a condition I asked him from the first day we started training. That’s me and I will not change because he wins one or one hundred tournaments. I always ask him the best and a little more. ¤¤ [Interview to El Mundo in 2010]
^^”…….and I do not accept any excuses,…….. “. Nor does Rafa offer any, to my knowledge.
Vamos Uncle Toni!
#QED
U.Toni is only confirming what the whole tennis community is aware of and discussing ad nauseam. In fact I take heart from his comments – it confirms it’s not a sinister sign of an injury problem. A ‘BTE’ crisis of confidence can be turned around.
I too do wonder about Toni’s harsh ‘naming and shaming’ technique but it is the way he has always handled Rafa since he was a young kid. It has worked in the past: let’s hope it continues to work now.
#BetweenTheEars
Agree with you @ed251137, Uncle Toni is only stating the obvious. As Rafa’s Uncle, he is best placed to tell Rafa the truth. No-one should doubt his motives in this respect, this comes from a place of caring. As Rafa’s coach, he is only stating what Rafa himself has said so I do not see how this would wound Rafa.
I take heart from what Uncle Toni and Rafa have said. No smoke and mirrors. It’s the true, no?
As Rafa himself said in his presser after his loss to Ferru in MC, “I don’t have to lie to nobody”. Why should Uncle Toni lie? Uncle Toni has said himself, he’s not paid, he has nothing to lose, he can tell Rafael (as he calls Rafa) the truth.
All I can say is that it’s a good thing Uncle Toni isn’t on this forum! He would be marked for life! )
He seems to be a tough love kind of guy. I have mixed feelings about him saying these things publicly. But at least we do know that this is a mental thing with Rafa, loss of confidence.
It’s a vicious cycle. Winning is what restores confidence. But you need confidence to win. Each additional loss sets Rafa back. A win at MC would have been a nice boost for him moving forward in the clay season. But he hasn’t been able to work through it yet.
I hope that Rafa can find himself soon. It’s hard to watch him struggling. :'(
As quite a few people here have already pointed out, his body has let him down so often at critical moments in his career it is hardly surprising if he fears it could happen again. And if he is fearful of injury he can’t play with ‘colm’.
#ChickenAndEggSyndrome
Time and time again, I go back to what Rafa said during a l’Express interview a few weeks after his historic AO win.
Apologies for putting this up again but it provides an insight into Rafa’s psyche:
“When I was young, I always had this dream : I was at the bottom of a huge mountain and I was looking at the top. When I beat Roger Federer in January, in Melbourne, in the final of the Australian Open, I felt an animal excitement. But afterwards, I felt an emptiness and a loneliness indescribable. As if I had no more aim/no more purpose.”
Remember that was 2009 which Rafa later summed up as being a very ‘up and down year – but mostly down’.
In 2013 he climbed the biggest mountain of his career shortly after many people had been wondering if he would ever play again let alone bag two GS titles and return to No.1.
I never heard that interview. I don’t know how I missed it. It’s quite remarkable.
We know that Rafa found more aims and purpose in his career. He had to find a way to beat Novak after seven straight losses. He has come back from so many injuries and tough losses.
Rafa would be tested later in 2009 when he lost in the fourth round to Sod. Then he had to withdraw from Wimbledon and not have the chance to defend his title. After that was the long road back, going ten months without a title.
Rafa’s career has been filled with ups and downs. But somehow he always finds a way to keep on going, stay at the top. His comeback in 2013 was an extraordinary example of that. Rafa never gives up.
Rafa has been there before…”nothing was working”…I heard that statement before…RG 2011…Rafa was full of doubts, not playing well, lack of confidence…it was painful enough to watch him struggle and yet we had to cope with his depressive statements as well…that is how Rafa behaves…and Uncle Toni is no different…they always say the truth…
one reason why we as his fans are able to deal with Rafa’s ups and downs is the sincerity we have been faced with all along…we never were able to put the ‘pink glasses on’…those situations Rafa has been in his whole career we had to observe realistically, exactly the way they were and that is what differ us from other fans…Fed would say: “the match was on my racquet, I did not play well and that is why I lost”…Nole would say: “I could beat him but I did not feel well on the court, I had this pain, bla, bla”…and our Rafa would say: “He did everything better than me and I just want to congratulate him”…
It is hard sometimes to acknowledge that our favorite player is not playing his best, that he is injured or that he has confidence issues…we here all live through that in our own way: we either go silent filled with disappointments or we go after each other with infinite arguments 🙂 either way is fine I say…:)
we are here to support our Rafa NO MATTER WHAT…we are here to believe he will get better sooner than later…and we are here to understand that our Rafa is only human and that he himself experiences fears and disappointments…I always believe in Uncle Toni…he has been with Rafa all his life and he knows him better that his own parents…Uncle Toni knows exactly what to do…but the execution of those solutions is solely on Rafa…he will get there…I know he will…
Vamos Rafa!
natashao2013: April 24, 2014 at 9:34 am
+1
As someone who prefers the unvarnished truth to platitudes…………..