Rafa the toast of Spanish sport

Rafael Nadal's status ranks alongside Spain's World Cup champion footballers after the US Open title which completed a career Grand Slam for the world No. 1.

Nadal got a taste of the home adulation as he was given a standing ovation when he arrived for Real Madrid's Champions League match against Ajax Amsterdam at the Bernabeu stadium in the capital.

Nadal had flown in from New York after doing the American chat shows following his four-set win over Novak Djokovic. The top man in the game is also a stakeholder in his local Real Mallorca side.

Despite his new elite status in tennis, Nadal remains humble about the accomplishments on court which are drawing him closer to Roger Federer as the list of all-time greats is made. But Nadal is having nothing of that kind of talk.

"I have a lot of title to go," said the winner of nine Grand Slam singles crowns as he compared his total to that of Federer's 16. "I'm more than happy that with my titles, for sure. I think is talk about if I am better or worse than Roger is stupid, because the titles say he's much better than me, that's the truth at that moment. I think will be the truth all my life."

"Roger was an example, especially because he improved his tennis during all his career, that's a good thing to copy. Roger and me are different, much different styles. But being better than Roger - I don't think this is the right moment to talk about that."

http://tennistalk.com/en/news/20100916/ … nish_sport

Najbardziej nielubiany przeze mnie zawodnik.

Odczuwam do niego sporą niechęć. Nie tylko z powodu zwycięstw z Rogerem, ale przede wszystkim stylem gry. Mimo tego mam do niego szacunek, w pełni zasłużył sobie na te wszystkie zwycięstwa. Zaimponował mi skromnością, do tego młody, z sukcesami, z kupą forsy, a nadal mu nie odbiło.

Rafa's rise to world domination

All hail the new king of the courts.

Rafael Nadal fell to his knees under the leaden skies of Flushing Meadows on Monday after beating Novak Djokovic to be crowned US Open champion and firmly cement his place in the history books.

After two weeks of charming the New York crowds with brute force and devastating beauty, the 24-year-old Spaniard finally got his hands on the trophy that had eluded him for so long to become only the seventh man to complete the Grand Slam set.

Five titles on the Roland Garros clay, two on the Wimbledon grass and last year's victory at the Australian Open were signs of greatness in the making.

Nadal's 6-4 5-7 6-4 6-2 win over Serbia's weary number three seed meant the New York concrete had finally been conquered after seven years of trying. Sunday's downpours merely delayed his conquest.

"That's more than I dreamt," declared the man from Mallorca who had never previously got past the US Open semi-finals.

"For the first time in my career, I played a very, very good match in this tournament. I played my best match in the US Open at the most important moment."

It was a contest that Roger Federer, five-time champion in New York and loser to Djokovic in this year's semis, could not bear to watch.

The 29-year-old Swiss had already been replaced by Nadal at the top of the rankings and with the player boasting the deadliest and most powerful left arm in the business now more than halfway to Federer's haul of 16 Grand Slam titles, it could be argued the Spaniard is set to topple his arch rival.

Federer has up until recently been hailed by many to be the greatest. Nadal says any comparisons with him are "stupid". But the stats are compelling.

When analysing the duo's accomplishments at the same age, Federer secured the Slam sweep at the 2009 French Open aged two-and-a-half years older than Nadal's current age. Nadal has won 42 titles with Federer having won 33 when aged 24, while Nadal has won 82.4% of his matches, compared to Federer's 76.6% five years ago.

Bjorn Borg, US Open runner-up four times, was the only other man to bag nine major championship victories by 24.

Nadal first picked up a racquet aged four with his uncle Toni (who remains his mentor and coach) and after turning professional in 2001, won his first match on the ATP circuit in Mallorca to become the ninth player in the professional era to win an ATP match before his 16th birthday.

His first ATP title arrived in Poland in 2004, a year later he became the first man since Mats Wilander (1982) to win the French Open title on his debut and in the following year at Roland Garros, racked up his 54th consecutive clay-court win. His winning streak on clay would go on to reach 81.

His march to the top was relentless. A straights-set demolition of Federer ensured a fourth successive French Open crown in 2008 and a month later, the Swiss was toppled once again in a five-set epic as Nadal conquered Wimbledon's grass for the first time.

Federer was again on the receiving end eight months later in the Australian Open final as his Spanish nemesis powered his way to glory on Melbourne's hard courts in another belting five-setter.

The left-hander's rise has not been without its setbacks. The last year has been a monumental test, on and off the court, with knee tendonitis, abdominal pain, a knee injury and the break-up of his parents all proving major obstacles.

"The life changes sometimes," Nadal said in New York on Monday night. "The second half of the year was very difficult. Ten months ago seems like I was never going to be the same. Now seems it's going to be one of the greatest."

The true test of Nadal's greatness will be his longevity and being able to surpass Federer's 16 Slam crowns. His approach to this year's tournament at Flushing Meadows and his evolution from king of clay to king of concrete provides a glimpse of what the future may hold.

While the packed crowd on Arthur Ashe cheered their tearful new victor on Monday, Nadal admitted the US Open was the most difficult tournament to play in - having to adjust his game for the "balls, the court, everything, but especially the serve".

As well as the barrage of missiles firing at all angles from the baseline, his serve is now one of his crucial weapons.

Nadal's average serve speed increased from 107mph in 2009 to 119 this year, and through six rounds and 91 service games in the build-up to the Djokovic clash, he won 84% of his first-serve points and was broken just twice.

These could be worrying signs for anybody considering competing with the current Slam champion of three surfaces and last year's winner in Melbourne.

Djokovic, the only player to take a set off Nadal in seven matches at Flushing Meadows, said: "Nadal is proving each day, each year, that he's getting better. That's what's so frustrating. He's getting better each time you play him.

"He's so mentally strong and dedicated to this sport. He has all the capabilities, everything he needs, in order to be the biggest ever."

John McEnroe, a four-time champion in New York, had no doubt of Nadal's credentials in August when predicting Nadal's success at the US Open.

"The guy's just an animal. He's mentally and physically incredible," the American former world number one said.

More telling perhaps was Nadal's verdict that there remained room for improvement. He added: "I need to keep working on my serve and be more aggressive. I am not a perfect player. Everybody can improve."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/tennis/8996667.stm

Nadal serves up a timely treat for his uncle Toni

With less than a week to go before the US Open, Rafael Nadal was concerned. His backhand had been "terrible", he had been making too many unforced errors on his forehand and his serve had been ineffective. Opponents were regularly driving their returns to his backhand as the Spaniard tried to run round the ball and avoid playing it on his weaker flank.

After only two matches at Flushing Meadows, the world No 1's game had been turned around. He had not lost a set or dropped his serve and was striking the ball with more confidence, especially on his backhand. Everything had changed with the arrival in America of his uncle and coach, Toni Nadal, in the week before the tournament.

"Toni arrives and everything is under control," Nadal explained with a laugh after his second-round victory over Denis Istomin. "I started serving well one or two days before the competition, but in practice the week before it wasn't good.

"I changed the grip a little bit five or six days ago because I felt when I played against the wind I wasn't getting any free points. I tried to serve with a little bit more aggression. For the moment it's working really well so I'm going to try to keep playing like this. Serving like this gives me big confidence in my game."

Less than a fortnight later, Nadal became US Open champion and only the seventh man to win all four Grand Slam titles. In seven matches he dropped his serve only five times, a performance that only Andy Roddick has matched since such statistics were first compiled in 1991.

The extra power in his serve, helped by the change in grip, gave Nadal the confidence to serve with more variety and play with more aggression. His early successes on clay derived from his ability as a counter-puncher, but on other surfaces he has learned the need to attack more. Four of his last five Grand Slam titles – he has won nine in total – have been won on grass or hard courts.

Nevertheless, it was an extraordinary performance given both Nadal's hard-court form earlier in the summer – he lost to Andy Murray in Toronto and to Marcos Baghdatis in Cincinnati – and the conditions at the US Open. Many experts said the Mallorcan's heavily spun forehands, cracked with a huge arcing swing, would make it difficult for him to cope with the pace of the "unfluffy" Wilson balls off a surface that some consider to be quicker even than Wimbledon's.

Although Nadal agreed that his serve "probably made the big difference", he insisted after his victory that he had made no significant changes to his hard-court game, which he said was much as it had been when he won last year's Australian Open.

"Part of it is confidence," he said. "When you are playing well and your confidence is high, it seems like you've improved a lot, but there are moments when you're not playing that well, when you lose your confidence, you lose matches and it seems like you've forgotten how to play tennis. It's not like I've improved a lot since 2009. I think I've improved my tennis a little bit, but it's not a radical change."

Much of that confidence derives from his relationship with Toni, who has been his coach since he was four. When you watch their practice sessions, the respect and affection between nephew and uncle is clear.

Rafael, a tireless worker, plays and practises with unrelenting commitment. He said: "My goal all my life has been the same: to keep improving and make myself feel a better player next year than what I felt this year."

What does he see as his greatest strengths? "I think my mentality, my attitude on court has always been good. I am positive on court and I fight all the time. But that's not the only thing. I think I was able to listen all the time to my coach, to make adjustments and to be ready to change things in order to improve.

"If you're talking about my game, I think the best thing that I have is my intensity on court. When I am playing well, the intensity always is high. The rhythm is high. Sometimes you can hit easy winners, but I can hit winners after three or four shots by keeping a great rhythm all the time."

Nadal is already certain to finish the year as world No 1. Given that he has no titles to defend until next April, he is also likely to establish the biggest lead in the history of the world rankings. His current advantage of 4,880 points over Novak Djokovic, the world No 2, is only 310 short of the record, which Nadal himself established in May 2009, ahead of Roger Federer.

http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/tenn … 83398.html

Rafael Nadal's gladiatorial spirit puts the fallen sports stars to shame

"My name is Rafael Nadal Parera, commander of my legions of fans, general of the sport of tennis, loyal servant to my coach and uncle Toni, son to Sebastián and Ana María, and I will always be avenged, in this set or the next."

Apologies to Russell Crowe, but right now in the world of sport, Rafa Nadal is the gladiator. On court he plays like one. Off court it's as though he keeps a copy of Rudyard Kipling's If in his tennis bag. What an impressive young man he is.

Reputations of sports stars have recently been falling asunder almost by the day. First there was Tiger Woods, whose private life came apart and, by his standards, his game too. We have had the Pakistan fiasco which has put the very sport of cricket in jeopardy.

Wayne Rooney has followed John Terry and Peter Crouch into the tabloids and apparently three other top footballers would be joining them if it were not for some clever legal work.

Former world boxing champion Ricky Hatton is in rehab with drink and drug problems and current world champion David Haye's crass "gang rape" remark at the press conference for his forthcoming fight beggared belief.

In addition, the reputation of John Higgins, the former world snooker champion, was delivered a blow last week as he was fined and suspended by the sport's governing body for a lack of judgment after being caught in a newspaper sting.

Sporting role models are becoming a little thin on the ground. But at least we have Nadal, who plays his sport like a man with a serious grudge, ignoring setbacks, always dealing with the next point as if his life depended on it but never without respect for his opponent.

Watching him in the early hours of last Tuesday, becoming only the seventh male player to complete the full set of tennis grand slams, I was again in awe of how he dealt magnificently with Novak Djokovic, who had beaten him in their three previous encounters and had ended Roger Federer's challenge in the semi-final and who at times played brilliantly himself.

While Nadal is such an irresistible force on court, off it he comes over as a shy, self-effacing individual who only has good things to say about everyone. A cynic might well think he is a clever professional paying lip service to those he needs to, just as Tiger used to do, but I genuinely believe Nadal is one good guy.

Witness his interview on court after dispensing with the Russian Mikhail Youzhny in the semi-final. American interviewer Mary Joe Fernandez was wittering on with her 'how did it feels' and 'what does it means' when Nadal stopped her in her tracks. "I would like to say something else," he said.

"I would just like to pay my respects to all the people who lost their lives in the Twin Towers." He had not been prompted to do so, but he had not forgotten he had been playing on Sept 11. It was delivered in a language in which he is not yet quite totally at home, but it was classy and very moving and, of course, the New Yorkers loved him for it.

Sky's coverage of the US Open was top notch. It was held together in relaxed fashion by Marcus Buckland. He got the best out of Greg Rusedski and Annabel Croft, who always had good opinions, while the commentary of Mark Petchey and Peter Fleming was nicely understated. Unlike many in the business, they know when to let the pictures speak for themselves.

Once again Andy Murray disappointed us and, more importantly, himself. He has wins against Federer, Djokovic and Nadal but not when it matters most. He is undoubtedly a great player, at times producing the kind of bespoke tennis that even those three, with 26 grand slam wins between them, cannot match, but if ever a man needed an able sports psychologist, it is the 23-year-old Scot, for whom time will soon be ringing alarm bells.

There are occasions, when things are not going his way, when he reminds me of Harry Enfield's character Kevin. Murray needs a more gladiatorial spirit and someone other than mum to put their armour around him.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/tennis … shame.html

Lekarz zwraca uwagę Nadalowi na coś ważnego.

Rafael Nadal musi się nauczyć jak słuchać swojego ciała, jeśli chce zdominować tenisowy świata jak Roger Federer - powiedział lekarz hiszpańskiego tenisisty.
24-letni Hiszpan w tym miesiącu zwyciężył w US Open i tym samym skompletował wielkiego szlema. Jest dopiero siódmym zawodnikiem, który dokonał tej sztuki.

Ale jak na razie królem tenisa pozostaje Roger Federer, wyprzedzający Nadala o siedem zwycięstw w wielkoszlemowych turniejach. Po wygraniu US Open kibice na świecie zaczęli się zastanawiać, czy Hiszpan będzie w stanie dogonić lub ewentualnie przegonić Szwajcara. Umiejętności posiada odpowiednie. Gorzej ze zdrowiem, bo Rafael Nadal od lat ma problemy ze swoimi kolanami.

- On musi się nauczyć jak dbać o siebie, by trzymać się na wysokim poziomie przez wiele lat - powiedział dziennikowi "Marca" lekarz Nadala Mikel Sanchez.

Lider światowego rankingu zwrócił się do ortopedycznego specjalisty po Australian Open, kiedy poczuł silny ból.

- To niesamowite, że potrafił grać dalej z kolanami w takim stanie - dodał Sanchez, który leczył Rafaela Nadala serią zastrzyków z osocza, by pomóc w odbudowie ścięgien.

- Jeżeli będzie kontynuował grę w takim samym rytmie, istnieje ryzyko, że ścięgna znów ulegną urazowi. Podobnie może się stać z innymi ścięgnami, takimi jak Achillesa - wyjaśnia Mikel Sanchez. - Poddaje swoje ścięgna gwałtownej pracy, ponieważ dużo trenuje. Spędza na korcie mnóstwo godzin, gra dużo meczów i zawsze na 100 procent - tłumaczy.

- Jeśli ciało nie potrafi zregenerować tego, co zostało zniszczone, powstają kontuzje. Im bardziej agresywny jesteś, tym więcej kontuzji łapiesz. Im cięższe mięśnie nosisz, a on tak ma, jesteś bardziej podatny na urazy - mówił.

Sanchez musiał przekonać Nadala, by zrezygnował z udziału w tegorocznym turnieju w Barcelonie. Podkreślił jednocześnie, że tego typu decyzje Rafael Nadal będzie musiał w przyszłości podejmować sam.

- On musi zrozumieć, że im będzie starszy, tym większą równowagę będzie musiał zachować. Nie może próbować wygrać każdego turnieju w ciągu najbliższych 10 lat - zakończył Mikel Sanchez.

http://www.eurosport.pl/tenis/lekarz-o- … tory.shtml

U Nas tego jeszcze nie napisałem, ale dla mnie te wszystkie kontuzje Nadala są mocno przesadzone. Nie uważam, że ich  ogóle nie ma, ale jak czytam te wszystkie straszne historie o stanie Jego kolan, a następnie zestawiam to z Jego ostatnimi wynikami to odczytuję to jako niezłą ściemę. 3 szlemy w 3 miechy z kolanami 50-latka, taa.

DUN I LOVE napisał:

U Nas tego jeszcze nie napisałem, ale dla mnie te wszystkie kontuzje Nadala są mocno przesadzone. Nie uważam, że ich  ogóle nie ma, ale jak czytam te wszystkie straszne historie o stanie Jego kolan, a następnie zestawiam to z Jego ostatnimi wynikami to odczytuję to jako niezłą ściemę. 3 szlemy w 3 miechy z kolanami 50-latka, taa.

Spoko, jak nie wygra jakiegoś następnego ważnego turnieju, to i tak będzie "moralnym mistrzem", no bo przecież kolana...

Nadal Lends Hand To Million Trees Project

World No. 1 Rafael Nadal took part in Thailand’s ‘A Million Trees For The King’ project, planting a tree in honour of King Bhumibol Adulyadej on a visit to Hua Hin on Tuesday.

Nadal, the top seed at the PTT Thailand Open, took a quick charter flight to the royal beach town located 200 kilometres south of Bangkok to contribute to the campaign to reduce global warming.

“For me it’s an honour to part of this project,” said Nadal. “It’s a very good project. I want to congratulate the Thai people and congratulate the King for this unbelievable day. I wish all the best for this idea. It’s very, very nice.”

Nadal arrived in Thailand last Tuesday for his Bangkok debut, and spent time vacationing in Hua Hin ahead of the ATP World Tour 250 tennis tournament.

“I did a lot of things,” Nadal said, who took part in a religious ceremony with Buddhist monks on the beach over the weekend. “I was with friends. I was on the beach, very nice beach. We did water sports, we went to golf one time, we went [go-carting] another time. So we did a lot of things. We went there, having fun in Hua Hin and enjoying a lot.”

The 24-year-old Spaniard is scheduled to meet Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva on Wednesday and plays his opening match against Belgian Ruben Bemelmans on Thursday.

http://www.atpworldtour.com/News/Tennis … -Tree.aspx

Nadal: Muszę grać jeszcze agresywniej

Rafael Nadal zapowiedział, że jego rywal we wtorkowym meczu pierwszej rundy Japan Open - Hiszpan Santiago Giraldo - znajdzie się pod ostrzałem atomowych uderzeń. Obecny numer jeden światowego rankingu uznał, że przyczyną porażki z Guillermo Garcia-Lopezem w Bangkoku był brak agresji w jego grze.

W półfinałowym meczu Thailand Open Nadal wykorzystał zaledwie 2 z 26 szans na przełamanie podania rywala.

- W tak krótkim czasie niewiele da się poprawić. Na pewno jednak w Japonii muszę zagrać zdecydowanie agresywniej. To nie będzie łatwy mecz. Nawierzchnia w Tokio jest bardzo szybka, a Giraldo jest piekielnie niebezpieczny - powiedział 24-letni tenisista z Majorki.

Czy 63. na świecie Giraldo rzeczywiście będzie w stanie stawić opór zwycięzcy trzech z ostatnich czterech turniejów wielkoszlemowych?

- Ten sezon jest dla mnie znakomity - przyznał Giraldo. - Przez cały rok prezentuję dobry poziom. W Australii miałem problemy z kolanem, ale zdążyłem już o nich zapomnieć. Moim celem jest poprawianie gry z każdym turniejem - dodał.

W Tokio tytułu sprzed roku bronić będzie Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, który na Nadala trafić może dopiero w finale.

http://www.eurosport.pl/tenis/atp-tokio … tory.shtml

RAFA WINS 7TH TITLE OF THE SEASON

Less than 24 hours ago, the Spanish world number one had to salvage two spectacular match points against him to stay in the run for the Japan Open title. You fast-forward to the present, and Rafa sits comfortably at a press conference being interview by the world media on how he managed to beat No. 5 seed Gael Monfils of France 6-1, 7-5 in the final to claim the Japan Open tennis championships celebrated in Tokyo.

Rafa clinched the first set with a ferocious forehand down the line but Monfils, who survived a fright when he took an early tumble and turned his ankle, raised his game in the second.
Luck deserted him in the 11th game, however, a net cord giving Rafa break point and he nosed ahead 6-5 when a sliced return floated past Monfils and landed flat on the line.
Rafa delivered the knockout punch in the next game, a big serve to the body ending the match and giving this year's triple grand slam champion his seventh title of the year and his seventh victory (out of 8) over Monfils.

Rafa now heads to the Shanghai Masters -at the end of a three-week run in Asia- in confident form with a semifinal in Bangkok and a title in Tokyo. He has a bye in the first round and will play the winner of the match between Gilles Simon and Stanislas Wawrinka in the second.
You can check out the full draw here: http://www.atpworldtour.com/posting/2010/5014/mds.pdf

The Spanish winner, with an imposing 66-8 mark for the season, was appearing in his eighth final in 15 tournaments and improved to 7-1 in 2010 finals. This is also Rafa's 43rd career title and his seventh for 2010.

Rafa improved his ATP World Tour-best match record to 66-8 (35-7 on hard court) this season. The left-hander was playing in his second tournament since victory at the US Open, where he became the seventh man in ATP World Tour history to complete the career Grand Slam. Last week he reached the semi-finals in Bangkok (l. to Garcia-Lopez).
More soon...

http://www.rafaelnadal.com/content/rafa … tle-season