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jaccol55 · 08-01-2011 10:58:14

Nadal to delay trip to Melbourne to recover

Rafael Nadal, who has been struggling with flu this week, lost 6-3, 6-2 to Nikolay Davydenko in the semifinals of Doha and says he will remain in the city for a couple of days before traveling to Melbourne.

"I stay here because I have to get healthy before I travel," he said. "Going by plane sometimes makes you worse. And at the same time I don't have anything to do right now in Australia."

Nadal said he knew during the first set he was in no condition to win the match. "I thought about retiring for a moment," he said. "I felt real bad, but, you know, is difficult for me to go off court. It's not nice for the crowd, not nice for the tournament, not nice for the opponent, too.

http://www.tennis.com/articles/template … &zoneid=25

DUN I LOVE · 08-01-2011 14:32:49

W dniu wczorajszym Rafael Nadal, w parze z Marcem Lopezem, wygrali turniej deblowy ATP Doha 2011. To już 7 deblowy tytuł w karierze Nadala i aż 3 w Doha. Wcześniej Hiszpan wygrywał tu grę podwójną w 2005 i 2009 roku.

jaccol55 · 11-01-2011 18:03:20

GET READY AUSTRALIA, RAFA NADAL IS IN TOWN!

Rafa Nadal's bid to a record-breaking fourth consecutive grand slam at the Australian Open is back on track with the world No.1 set to commence training in Melbourne on Tuesday after recovering from illness.

RAFA ARRIVES IN MELBOURNE

Rafa has spent the past two days resting in Doha after being struck down by the flu, but he recovered, boarded a flight to Melbourne on Sunday night and arrived in Australia on Monday night, a week out from the start of the event.

"He will be fit to play and is already resuming practice on Tuesday," Rafa’s PR manager Benito Perez-Barbadillo told AAP.

Rafa felt so unwell during a 6-3 6-2 loss to Davydenko in Qatar that he contemplated retiring halfway through their semi-final.

He fought on but decided to push back his trip to Australia in order to aid his recovery.

"Going by plane sometimes makes you worse and at the same time I don't have anything to do right now in Australia," Rafa said on Friday. "With my condition right now I think the more reasonable thing to do is rest a few days and have less risk of injuries, less risk of everything."

After such a long fight and a proper night’s sleep, Rafa will begin his quest for a fourth straight major title with a practice session at Melbourne Park today.

http://www.rafaelnadal.com/content/get- … nadal-town

jaccol55 · 12-01-2011 15:03:29

Nadal gets started in Melbourne after delayed arrival

World No.1 Rafael Nadal began his quest for a fourth consecutive major title as he stepped out onto Rod Laver Arena under a closed roof in muggy conditions for his first training session at Melbourne Park, less than a week out from the start of the Australian Open.

The 2009 champion, who arrived in Melbourne on Monday night after recovering from illness in Doha, looked relaxed as he rallied with Spaniard world No.32 and good friend Feliciano Lopez. The 24-year-old Spaniard, changing from a purple shirt into a blue one after enjoying a break with his entourage, focused on his main weapon, his powerful forehand, and was often praised by Lopez when he hit a winner.

After losing to Nikolay Davydenko in the semifinals in Doha last week, Nadal decided to push back his flight to Australia and spent two days resting in the Qatar capital as dealt with his illness. Despite the loss, and having contemplated whether or not to retire from the match, Nadal bounced back with fighting spirit, teaming up with fellow Mallorcan Marc Lopez to clinch the doubles title in Qatar for a second time.

The Mallorcan native's bid for a record-breaking fourth straight major, also being described as the 'Rafa Slam', will commence next week at Melbourne Park.

http://www.australianopen.com/en_AU/new … 17990.html

DUN I LOVE · 14-01-2011 17:33:23

Stan zdrowia Nadala się poprawia. Nie jest jeszcze super, ale z dnia na dzień coraz lepiej. Hiszpan powiedział, że podczas turnieju w Doha przyjmował antybiotyki.

WORLD No. 1 Rafael Nadal admits he is yet to fully recover from illness with the Australian Open only three days away.

The Melbourne Park title favourite practised with Victorian Peter Luczak on Rod Laver Arena on Thursday, but said he was still short of full health.

"I am better," he said.

"Last week, I had the difficult week in Doha.

"I was sick and had fever. Had to take antibiotics.

"Still not perfect, but I am improving every day, I think."

Asked to quantify his fitness levels, Nadal said: "Remain a little bit to be 100 percent, but hopefully we have a few more days and it's not gonna be problem."

The reigning French Open, Wimbledon and US Open champion said media reports that he had deliberately delayed his flight out of Qatar were wrong.

"I spent one more day in Qatar, but that was my plan," he said.

"I always did this.

"Otherwise it is too early to arrive here."

Nadal is top seed ahead of tomorrow's draw.

He is bidding to become the first man since Rod Laver in 1969 to hold all four major titles at the same time.

Queensland's Laver held all grand slam crowns in the same season - a feat he accomplished twice.

Even if Nadal claims the Australian Open, it will not be recognised as a grand slam as the tournaments were not won in the same year.

heraldsun.com.au

jaccol55 · 16-01-2011 14:31:30

RAFA'S ROOTS DEUCE

Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer are great players and ambassadors for the sport.

To become a great, Rafael Nadal learned from former greats. Over the past six years the Spaniard has become a titan of the sport.

Champions in full bloom appear strikingly original. From the scintillating shot-making of Rod Laver, to the unwavering steadiness of Bjorn Borg, the counterpunching fury of Jimmy Connors, the touch of John McEnroe, the concussive brilliance of Pete Sampras and the silky-smooth prowess of Roger Federer, the man atop tennis’ steep pyramid displays an array of techniques, shots and manners that seem his and his alone.

"Nadal is like a guy hitting to you with two forehands. It's murder."
Behold Rafael Nadal. Among peers, the prospect of playing Nadal is frightening, his game summed up by Tennis Channel analyst Justin Gimelstob in two words: “absolutely brutal.” Among the public, Nadal-as-champion is endearing, everything from his sportsmanship to his competitive moxie cherished. As Connors says, “He works hard, goes about it the right way and you can tell when he goes out there and plays, nobody runs out to the baseline like he does.”

That Connors - like Nadal, a left-handed forceful baseliner with off-the-charts intensity - would make such a statement speaks to an overlooked aspect of Nadal’s game. When the champion commands the world, his game’s singular genius seemingly erases history. But as the saying goes, behind every tennis player there is another tennis player. And if in Nadal’s case the most public example of that premise is his uncle Toni, the strands and spins of Rafa’s strokes bear the marks of a great many others.

Step back from the planet Nadal currently presides over. Journey back in place and time to a Mediterranean island off the coast of Spain. Picture 10-year-old Rafa hitting one ball after another. Inside and outside the lines, the Mallorcan hangs on the words of an uncle with insights not just into tennis, but of broader topics that teach the boy about self-reliance, manners and even matters of esoteric philosophy. The boy is also inspired by another uncle, a world-class football player. The boy has already been playing tennis for six years, striking the ball with two hands off both sides.

At which point his uncle is struck by an inspiration from tennis history. Why not have the boy play left-handed? Left-handers may only comprise 10 per cent of the world’s population, but in tennis they have made a significant impact, Laver, Connors and McEnroe among the very best who have turned the tables on opponents with a distinctive vengeance. Though it’s hard to imagine when Toni Nadal had this idea he imagined it would yield a tennis superpower, certainly he tapped into something that could give the boy a distinct advantage. A page from the game’s past had been absorbed. With signature urgency, the boy, flexible in head, heart and body, applied his uncle’s suggestion.

"[Earn] struck it with this whip-like, bolo-like motion. No-one else hit the ball like that."
Of course at first this did nothing in shaping what Nadal struck from his right side. It hardly mattered if at age ten this was now called a backhand instead of a forehand. As a natural right-hander, young Rafa drew on the strength of his right hand to drive his body weight through the ball and fling the ball into play. Or at least that seemed one source of strength. Only well into his pro career would Nadal’s backhand reveal more textured dimensions.

The forehand was another matter. In the late ‘40s and early 50s, years before Toni Nadal, there was a touring professional named Carl Earn, a left-hander from Los Angeles who struck his forehand with a pronounced Western grip – a grip that at that point had been out of fashion for more than a quarter-century. Earn reached the quarter-finals of the 1950 U.S. Pro Championships, losing to Jack Kramer. According to one of Earn’s contemporaries, Hall of Famer Pancho Segura, “He struck it with this whip-like, bolo-like motion. No-one else hit the ball like that. The vicious topspin was deadly. It was a lot like Nadal’s stroke.”

Fast-forward 30 years and a more visible example emerges – one Toni Nadal likely saw. Along with Borg, left-handed Argentine Guillermo Vilas (pictured right) was one of the first players to primarily strike the ball with topspin off both sides from the baseline. His forehand was a forceful drive, the ball whipping and dipping in ways quite uncommon at the time. In the '90s another top-spinning left-hander emerged, Austrian Thomas Muster. Both Vilas and Muster had significant runs that earned them the unofficial crown as “King of Clay,” a title validated further when each won the French Open [at Roland Garros].

Meanwhile, on Mallorca, young Rafa was honing his own stroke. Toni Nadal of course knew about Vilas and Muster. But he also was aware that the boy would find his way to his own distinctive style. That such factors as lighter rackets and, in the late ‘90s, the emergence of new strings that aided the increased generation of spin, would all play a role in Rafa building a forehand that, while drawing without likely knowing it from Earn, Vilas and Muster, emerged as completely distinctive and incredibly effective.

"Nadal is able to defend from deep positions in the court because of his phenomenal ability to spin the ball."
According to John Yandell, researcher and publisher of the on-line tennis magazine Tennisplayer.net, “What distinguishes Nadal’s forehand from others on the tour is the consistently higher levels of spin he generates – both the topspin and the sidespin that makes it jump to the side after it bounces.” Yandell’s extensive research reveals that on the average, Nadal’s forehand spins 3,300 revolutions per minute (RPM) – and sometimes well past 4,000 RPM. Says Yandell, “His average forehand has about 20 per cent more spin on it than most others. His ability to spin the ball is related to his defensive capabilities. Nadal is able to defend from deep positions in the court because of his phenomenal ability to spin the ball.”

So this was the Nadal who at the tender age of 19 won Roland Garros the first time he played it and by the end of the year was ranked number two in the world: a self-made left-hander with a whopper of a forehand, a reasonable degree of competency on the backhand and a serve that ostensibly merely put the ball in play. Added to the strokes was yet another distinct set of elements that at one point were contradictory, but somehow found synthesis in Nadal’s makeup: the poise and sportsmanship of Borg, blended with the fire-breathing competitive makeup of Connors.

What’s amazing, though, is to see how Nadal has continued to enhance his game even upon climbing so far up the tennis mountain – and in the process, further tipped his hat to greats that preceded him even while he’s concurrently created his own distinctive playing style.

Yandell is fascinated by what he’s learned studying Nadal’s backhand. Says Yandell, “Everyone talks about the fact that being a natural right-hander gives him an advantage by using his right hand. That might be true. But what’s most interesting to me is the use of his left hand. The vast majority of pros hit the two-handed backhand with the dominant hand in a bent configuration. Nadal hits with both arms straight at contact. One of the very few players ever to do that was Andre Agassi – one of the best two-handers in history. When you hit with the dominant hand straight, it’s more similar to a one-handed backhand. It’s advantageous for hitting the ball early, on the rise, flat and hard. So Nadal is able to hit flatter, rocket-like lasers off the backhand side – a weapon of a different type than his forehand.” Segura’s belief is that, “Nadal is like a guy hitting to you with two forehands. It’s murder.”

And while the Nadal bazooka-like two-hander has similarities to the early-struck, time-robbing drives of Agassi and Connors, consider also his incorporation of the one-handed slice. If hardly elegant in form in the manner of such elegant slice backhands as those struck by Ken Rosewall or his fellow left-handed Spaniard, Manuel Orantes, Nadal’s willingness to deploy this shot shows a tactical awareness. In prior eras, the likes of Rosewall, Orantes and another lefty, John McEnroe, used the slice as a form of probe, foil, approach shot and defence. While a stretched Nadal will use the slice for defence, he is also wise enough to use it as a way of forcing his opponent to apply enough topspin to make the ball slow down and give Nadal a chance to run around his backhand and deploy his forehand.

"He's a student of the game. He appreciates the game."
The shot Nadal enhanced the most in 2010 was his serve. It’s an amazing evolution. Early in his career, Nadal’s delivery was often predictable and attackable – at least to those who dared take such a chance given how well he backed it up. In this case, he was much like Connors, who’s often considered to have had one of the worst serves ever of a world number one – but like Nadal, could also back it up with incredible counterpunching. In 2010, though, Nadal stepped near the realm of McEnroe – the world’s best serve for a good deal of his career. Nadal had altered his motion. With his shoulders, legs and hips more engaged, everything from the delivery’s speed to its variety picked up considerably.

Nadal has enhanced his game by drawing on so many aspects of what’s come before him. As Andy Roddick says about the Spaniard, “He’s a student of the game. He appreciates the game. I think he knows the history of the game.” It’s hard to imagine what more Nadal can bring to the court in 2011 and beyond. Increased serve-volley? Coming in on his returns? Further deployment of the slice backhand? But in Nadal’s hands, what may seem improbable one day could soon enough become business-as-usual.

http://www.atpworldtour.com/News/DEUCE- … Nadal.aspx

Serenity · 16-01-2011 15:41:33

Wywiad przed AO

Q. Could you let us know how you feel and how much practice you've been able to get in since you arrived in Melbourne?
RAFAEL NADAL: I'm feeling better. I think not perfect yet. But, yeah, seems like after what I had in Doha, when I practicing, I feel a little bit more tired than usual and sweating more than ever.

But the true is I'm better than few days ago. So that's very positive. I hope not going to be a problem for next Monday or Tuesday. I don't know yet.

So happy I am able to practice every day normal time. So is nothing special. I practiced like I did all my life.

Q. You said you didn't have a long break. Does it feel like the beginning or the end of the season, this tournament?

RAFAEL NADAL: For sure the beginning. We're in 2011. 2010 is past. For me is the beginning for sure, no? I didn't stop. But this year everything starts another time. So very happy to be here in Australia another time. Always very good news be here.

Yeah, is true, I didn't have a break. So hopefully if I have a good result here, I gonna have a few weeks after here.

Q. Do you feel any extra pressure going for the four slams in a row?

RAFAEL NADAL: For sure, no. That's true, maybe I only going to have this opportunity in my career. But not for that reason I going have the pression. The pression is like every Grand Slam, you want to play well in the important tournaments. And for me, have the fourth or not is something that is not in my mind.

What is in my mind is try to play well, try to start the season playing well another time, and we will see what's going on. It's very difficult to think about that when we didn't start the tournament, playing a very difficult tournament like this one.

Q. How do you explain that it hasn't happened for such a long time?

RAFAEL NADAL: I think is almost impossible. Is very, very difficult, no? The tennis is a very competitive sport and is not a lot of difference between players. So a lot of matches decides in a few balls. So for that reason is very difficult to have one player winning everything. That's the true.

So I think that's the reason.

Q. Can you tell us how special it would be, regardless, to be able to take out the four?

RAFAEL NADAL: I think is better if we continue with another questions because for me, seriously, I can't answer this question because I didn't imagine (laughter).

I think if that's happen, for sure for me I gonna be more happy to win in Australia because is the Australian Open more than is because the fourth in a row. That's hundred percent true.

Q. When Federer was in here earlier, he said you should be the favorite for the tournament because you won the last three Grand Slams. Do you feel the same way?

RAFAEL NADAL: No. For sure no. Yeah, every tournament is completely different. I gonna try my best to play well. And we will see what's going on, no?

But I feel if I play at my best level, I can have a chance to be in the second week, and there we will see what's happen, no? Every match will be really difficult, so I have to be ready for everything.

But I for sure am feeling less favorite than him and not more favorite than Djokovic, Murray, Soderling, these kind of players, no? So that's true. That's what I think.

Q. How is it possible that two players are dominating the circuit as you and Roger have the last years?

RAFAEL NADAL: I don't know. I don't know. Well, he made a little bit more than me. That's the true. But I don't know. I think that's difficult. That's something gonna be not easy to repeat, but I don't know how is the tournaments. But in more than 20 Grand Slams, only two or three players won a Grand Slams, I think that's impossible to continue like this. I think that's not going to continue like this. We will see what's happen, no?

But there is a lot of good players, a lot of young players, and every year is more and more difficult.

Q. Your fellow No. 1 on the women's tour, Caroline Wozniacki, is coming into her first tournament as No. 1. Can you talk about the pressures coming into the first Grand Slam as No. 1?

RAFAEL NADAL: I don't think she need my advice, no? But at the same time, seriously, for me doesn't matter if I'm No. 1, No. 2 or No. 5. When you arrive for play a tournament, the goal is to play well and try to play a good tournament, have a good result, and if is possible win. Doesn't matter if you are No. 1 or No. 5, the pressure is the same because in the end your goal is the same if you are No. 1 or if you are No. 5.

Q. Do you see her winning a Grand Slam in the very near future?

RAFAEL NADAL: I thought he [sic] will have a very good chance last year in the US Open. Was playing really well. Finally he [sic] lost in semifinals. Well see.

She is No. 1 of the world. For sure the No. 1 of the world has chances to win the important tournaments.

Q. You've won the US Open. Can you talk a little bit about the difference in conditions between this hard court tournament to the US Open and how do you play it differently tactically, or are they the same?

RAFAEL NADAL: I play what I can. Every tournament is different. In every tournament you have different feelings. Even during the tournament you can change a little bit because your feelings are changing, no? So US Open was a really special tournament for me last year.

In general, the conditions of Australia are a little bit more easy for me than US Open. The history says me that. The ball here is getting little bit more topspin, is a little bit slower. But seriously I start to think for me is better have faster courts or slower courts?

Q. A couple of quite famous players this year have changed their racquet, have gone to a new company. You've always been with the same racquet people. How big a gamble is it to change your racquet?

RAFAEL NADAL: Well, I have the option to do it a few years ago. But seriously I think is something difficult to do and is important decision because, yeah, maybe you win more money with another things, with a company, but if you lose little bit of your feeling and you lose little bit more than before, you are less happy than before. And is more important be happy than the money in general. That's what I feel.

Q. Rafa, Novak said after the US Open last year that he was really impressed how much you improved your serve. Is there a particular area in your game you look to improve this year?

RAFAEL NADAL: Always everything. But the serve, still to improve a lot. I think I am serving better, but never going to be enough, my serve.

Everything. You can play more aggressive. You can play more inside the court. You can go more times to the net. You can return little bit more aggressive. You can play longer. You can play more close to the lines.

In tennis you can improve all your career. So is something that I always tried when I wake up every morning and I go to practice. My goal is improve, not go to practice. That's why I am here, no? If someday I lost this feeling, maybe I don't gonna come back to this tournament.

Q. Rafael, away from the tennis, not at the tennis courts, what is different about the Australian Open for you, outside the tennis?

RAFAEL NADAL: I think the Australian Open probably is the easier Grand Slam for the players. The facilities are better than the rest of the tournament because you have everything very close, the hotel. The tournament always is improving, is creating new areas for the players. That's fantastic, no?

I think is a tournament is improving more every year. So just we can say thanks to the tournament. Seriously, for me, with me, the organization, the director of tournament was always fantastic. Just can say thanks very much because the support, they make me feel like home. Is one of the tournaments that I am always very happy to be back.

Q. You mentioned about your desire to keep improving all the time. Do you think because you and Roger have that mentality, you are taking men's tennis higher with you as well, that everybody now has to improve to even get close to you?

RAFAEL NADAL: I don't know. I think every player improves normally because the player practice and the player keep improving I think all the career. So is important to know what you need to improve and how you gonna improve.

So I think the important thing is keep focus, keeping have the right illusion and motivation to improve your tennis even if you are on the top. And I think that's why Roger is on the top for long, long time, no? Is almost 10 years in the top of the rankings. That's why I think he improved a lot these years.

And myself I think, too. I can lose much more, and I can play a bad season this year. But I don't have any doubt because, win or lose, not depends only about how you play, depends about how you are mentally. Is a lot of facts can change between win or lose, no?

But I (indiscernible) I am better player this one than three or four years ago. So that's something that is important personal satisfaction. That's why I am practicing every day.

http://www.australianopen.com/en_AU/new … 29065.html

Raddcik · 17-01-2011 15:16:11

Nadal Feels No Extra Pressure Chasing “Rafa Slam”

Rafael Nadal is chasing his
second Australian Open crown.

World No. 1 Rafael Nadal goes into the Australian Open as the holder of the Roland Garros, Wimbledon and US Open titles. Should he lift the winner’s trophy for the second time on Rod Laver Arena in two weeks, the Spaniard would be the first player since Laver in 1969 to hold all four titles at one time. Would there be a more fitting place to mark such an achievement?

The 24-year-old Spaniard insists, though, that with history beckoning, he feels no extra pressure. “That's true; maybe I am only going to have this opportunity [once] in my career. But [it is] not for that reason I [am] going [to] have the pressure. The pressure is like every Grand Slam, you want to play well in the important tournaments. And for me, having the fourth or not is something that is not in my mind.”

World No. 2 Roger Federer, who was beaten by Nadal in the 2009 Australian Open final, acknowledged on Saturday how “incredible” the Spaniard’s past eight months had been – he has dropped only six sets in sweeping the past three Grand Slam titles – and labelled his rival the clear favourite for the title in Melbourne. Nadal was quick to disagree.

“I feel if I play at my best level, I can have a chance to be in the second week, and there we will see what happens. Every match will be really difficult, so I have to be ready for everything. But I for sure am feeling less favourite than [Federer] and not more favourite than Djokovic, Murray, Soderling, these kinds of players.”

There were worrying signs for Nadal fans as the Mallorcan struggled with illness during the Qatar ExxonMobil Open in Doha in the first week of the season – although he fought through to reach the singles semi-finals (l. to Davydenko) and win the doubles title – but the left-hander declared himself nearly back to full health on the eve of the Australian Open.

“I'm feeling better. I think not perfect yet. [It] seems like after what I had in Doha, when I am practising, I feel a little bit more tired than usual and sweating more than ever. But the truth is I'm better than few days ago. So that's very positive. I hope [it’s] not going to be a problem for next Tuesday. So [I am] happy I am able to practise every day, normal time. So is nothing special. I practised like I did all my life.”

Nadal will open his Australian Open campaign on Tuesday against Brazilian Marcos Daniel.

http://www.atpworldtour.com/News/Tennis … ssure.aspx

Joao · 17-01-2011 19:33:08

Nadal walczy o Wielkiego Szlema

Dawni mistrzowie jak jeden mąż na zwycięzcę Australian Open typują Rafaela Nadala. Argumenty są różne, ale mianownik zawsze ten sam: Hiszpan za dwa tygodnie przejdzie do historii!

Przed turniejem w szwajcarskich mediach królują rozpacz i czarnowidztwo. - Alle gegen Roger (Wszyscy przeciwko Rogerowi) - alarmuje dziennik „Blick". Co rusz przytaczane są słowa tenisowych gwiazd, które w Melbourne wyżej oceniają szanse Rafy niż jego wielkiego rywala. John McEnroe, Stefan Edberg, Mats Wilander i Yannick Noah na wyścigi wyliczają przewagi lidera światowego rankingu. Wieszczą, że Federer nie obroni tytułu, a Nadal wygra czwarty kolejny turniej wielkoszlemowy.

Kto broni, a kto marnuje

Ich zdaniem o wyniku rywalizacji tytanów może zadecydować psychika. Tu tenisista z Majorki ma nad konkurencją wprost miażdżącą przewagę. To człowiek-skała, facet broniący meczboli i wychodzący cało z największych nawet opresji. Roger - mimo że wygrał do tej pory 16 turniejów wielkoszlemowych - jest inny. W trudnych momentach pęka, pod presją gaśnie w oczach, a z jego luzu, swobody, geniuszu zostają jedynie wspomnienia. Żadna z gwiazd nie marnuje tylu piłek meczowych co on, a do tego dochodzi jeszcze fatalna statystyka w meczach rozgrywanych „na pełnym dystansie".

- Im dłużej trwa spotkanie, tym trudniej pokonać Nadala. Z Federerem jest inaczej - tłumaczy McEnroe. Na udowodnienie tej tezy przedstawia bilanse: Hiszpan zwycięża w 82% spotkań zakończonych piątym setem, Szwajcar jedynie w nieco ponad połowie. W tym zestawieniu na liście wszech czasów zajmuje zaledwie 97. pozycję! O tym dlaczego, dowiadujemy się między innymi z finału Australian Open sprzed dwóch lat. Decydującą partię Federer zaczynał uśmiechnięty, pewny swego, skończył zaś rozedrgany i ze łzami w oczach. Podczas dekoracji z bezsilności rozpłakał się na ramieniu zwycięzcy.
- Wiecie, dlaczego kibicuję Rafie? - pyta Mats Wilander. - Bo jako numer jeden niesamowicie się rozwinął. Poprawił serwis, przyspieszył uderzenia, nauczył się grać na różnych nawierzchniach. Federer błyszczał, ale jego tenis cały czas wyglądał podobnie - komentuje.

- Nadal może wymazać z tabel większość jego rekordów - uzupełnia inny Szwed Stefan Edberg.
- Jeśli tylko będzie zdrowy, nikt nie dobierze mu się do skóry - uważa Noah.

No właśnie, tylko czy będzie? W Dausze Nadala dopadła ostatnio paskudna choroba, faszerowano go antybiotykami. Przełożył podróż z Azji do Australii, bo bał się, że z samolotu wyjdzie ledwo żywy. Wirus długo kradł mu siły...

Na antypodach zaczął delikatnie, od obowiązków poza kortem. Razem z szefami firmy KIA prezentował nową Optimę (ze sponsorem turnieju wiąże go długoletni kontrakt), a dopiero po dłuższej aklimatyzacji zdecydował się na bardziej intensywne treningi.

- Teraz czuję się już dużo lepiej, choć na pewno jeszcze nie jest idealnie. Bardziej się męczę, więcej pocę. Ćwiczę jednak tak jak zawsze - opowiada. I w swoim stylu przyznaje: - Jestem mniejszym faworytem niż Federer i nie większym niż Murray, Dżoković i Soderling. Żeby dotrwać do drugiego tygodnia imprezy, muszę grać na swoim najwyższym poziomie. Wtedy wszystko może się zdarzyć - tłumaczy.

Drugi plan Murraya

Z asekuracją chyba jednak przesadza. Na leczenie zostało jeszcze sporo czasu. Brazylijczyka Marcosa Daniela Rafa pokonałby nawet z wysoką gorączką. Schody zaczną się dla niego dopiero w drugim tygodniu. - Gdyby udało mu się zwyciężyć w czwartym kolejnym turnieju wielkoszlemowym, osiągnąłby coś niezwykłego nie tylko w skali tenisa, lecz całego sportu. Mam jednak nadzieję, że mu się to nie uda - szelmowsko uśmiecha się Andy Murray, który w poprzednim sezonie zniweczył plany Nadala. Teraz znów chce go zastopować, choć dookoła powtarzają, że projektu „zatrzymać Rafę" po raz drugi nie da się już zrealizować...

BARTOSZ GĘBICZ

http://www.sports.pl/Tenis/Nadal-walczy … 1,289.html

Serenity · 18-01-2011 20:13:19

AO 2011 - wywiad po zwycięstwie w 1 rundzie

Q. Is it good to save energy for later or would you have preferred a tougher match?
RAFAEL NADAL: You never know, no? The worst thing is that he had an injury. He's for sure a really nice guy, really nice person. I really sorry for him. I wish him all the best for the recover. Hopefully is nothing really, really important.

But that's all what I can say. Save energy or not, I think the way that the match came doesn't make big difference, no?

Q. Were you generally happy with the way you were going anyway?

RAFAEL NADAL: Is difficult to say something, to say I played really well, I played bad. I think I played right. I played some good shots, some long shots. The serve can be a little bit better. Yeah, that's the only point that I think I can improve. I can improve in everything for sure.

But the only thing I feel I have to improve more if I want to play well here. So that's it. For the rest, forehand and backhand, I felt okay.

Q. What about the serve? What do you need to do that's different?

RAFAEL NADAL: If I know, I will do it before. I don't know. I will try to practice a little bit. I practiced already after the match a little bit. Hopefully going to be fine.

Q. So you say after the match you went straight to the practice courts?

RAFAEL NADAL: Only for serve. Half an hour for serve.

Q. You're winning a game like that 2 love and you can see your opponent is injured and hurting, does it enter your head to give an easy ball?

RAFAEL NADAL: No. For sure I am a professional and I try my best in every point, no? That's the best thing for respect the opponent in that situation. I think that's the best way, no? So sometimes if you do something and you let him win a game is worst, no?

I think he started the match injury. He tried his best during the match. He didn't want to retired. That says a lot of him. Not everybody's able to do this. So all the respect for him. And I think he did all in his hands, but he was really injured.

Q. Does a Grand Slam require a specific routine for you because it's two weeks and it could be a five set match sometimes? Do you have a special routine compared to other tournaments?

RAFAEL NADAL: No. I try my best in every tournament. Sometimes works well; sometimes not that well. I don't have a special routines in no one tournament.

Q. The fact that you have a day off between each match...

RAFAEL NADAL: The only thing is you have a day off. The day off, I don't know, you can relax. Little bit of swimming pool, that's all. Practice little bit. Not many things.

Q. I guess you're not too happy about the result of Real Mallorca last night against Madrid. Can you talk a little about the start of the season for Mallorca and how Michael Laudrup has influence on the team?

RAFAEL NADAL: I think for sure is not a positive result. Was 3 0. Mallorca is doing a great season. Is 27 points already. For us the main goal is keep in the first division, so we are in the really good way.

I think the coaches are doing a great job. The situation of the club one year ago wasn't ideal, the perfect one, so a lot of changes on the club. Not easy for the players, I think, and for everybody.

So if we know everything about that, the situation is much better than in the best dreams that we thought.

Q. How close do you follow Mallorca traveling around the world?

RAFAEL NADAL: I try to see all the matches always. Not today because I had to come here very early to practice because I played early. But I sure try to see every match. When I am in Mallorca, if I have the chance, I go.

Q. Who did you want to win if they're playing Real Madrid?

RAFAEL NADAL: Always depends of the situation. But my uncle is the second coach of Real Mallorca right now. For sure the family is the first thing.

And after, if my uncle is not there, always depends. If Real Madrid plays to win the league and Mallorca plays for nothing, I want Real Madrid to win.

If Mallorca plays to be in the first division and Real Madrid plays for not much, I want Mallorca to win. So always depends of the moment, of the season.

Q. How close do you think you are to your top form, and how many games do you think you'll need to play before you're at your best?

RAFAEL NADAL: I don't know. I don't know where is my best level and what far I am from that. So I try my best every day. Sometimes you play well; sometimes you play a little bit worst. I can't say if I am playing at my best or not.

I think I am in the right way. We will see what's happen when I gonna play the next match.

Q. We're writing a lot about you going for four Grand Slam titles. Do you ever read any of the stuff that's written about you or do you deliberately try to ignore it?

RAFAEL NADAL: I never read a lot about me, so this is not an obsession. Seriously, the most positive thing that's talking about that is because I won the last three. The rest of the things doesn't matter, no, because I know how difficult is every tournament. I am not ready to think if I am ready to win this tournament or not right now, no?

So you have your job; I have my job. You can write what you think, and I gonna try my best every day to play well and to be competitive when I am on court.

But I never think about winning the four Grand Slams in a row because that's very far right now.

Q. You're a great fan of football. Do you also like Formula One? Did you watch Fernando Alonso when he was fighting for the championship in Abu Dhabi?

RAFAEL NADAL: I watch on the TV in Mallorca, yeah. Was tough day.

http://www.australianopen.com/en_AU/new … 29839.html

jaccol55 · 22-01-2011 15:23:12

Artykuł z dnia wczorajszego, więc nie występują żadne wzmianki o wygranym dzisiaj spotkaniu z ulubieńcem gospodarzy.

Passing Shots

There’s a sense of renewal to the first week of a Grand Slam. Each day, various potential futures briefly announce themselves, before packing up their racquets and heading to the next far-flung stop on the circuit, not to be seen again for months. That’s been especially true in Melbourne this time around. Walking to the far corners of the grounds in search of fresh faces and new talent, you can see the sport beginning to repeat its own history. Nineteen-year-old Grigor Dimitrov is the Federer-esque high-flyer, Bernard Tomic is the crafty, junky Andy Murray wannabe, Bojana Jovanovksi is the next Serb star, Ricardas Berankis has his nose to the same grindstone as Nikolay Davydenko.

Whether of not any of these futures comes to pass is still very much up in the air, and that's the reason we keep watching from one “generation” of players to the next. We want, in the accelerated way of tennis, to find out who does what with their lives. In this game, we get to find out much more quickly than we do anywhere else. At 29, Roger Federer is already a lion in winter. Venus Williams is on her last legs at 30. Caroline Wozniacki better hurry up and do something already before she turns 21. Rafael Nadal is entering the prime of life at 24. Notice that Nadal measured his age yesterday as “24 and a half." Everything is compressed in a tennis career, every month a precious one not to be wasted. As soon as you start, the end is in sight.

Time is a jet plane, someone said, it moves too fast. It takes the ridiculous acceleration of pro tennis to remind us of that fact and make it visible. The stages of the cycle play out through the first week of a major, as the future inevitably runs up against the present. Jovanovski gave second-seeded veteran Vera Zvonareva a run yesterday, before experience and polish won out. Stan Wawrinka showed Dimitrov what professional-level consistency looks like. Berankis, on the other hand, caught another vet, David Nalbandian, on a weary-old-man day when he couldn’t recover. On Saturday, the generational drama will play out in a high-profile way inside Laver Arena, when Nadal takes on Tomic.

I can remember when, six years ago, in this same round and on this same middle Saturday, Nadal was cast in the Tomic role. He was also 18, and he was playing local hero and Top 5 resident Lleyton Hewitt. You could see Nadal had the tenacity and the consistency, but the confidence to break open points wasn’t there yet. (As he was for Federer, Hewitt was a sort of litmus test for Nadal; Rafa played him close a few times before breaking through and leaving him in the dust.) Nadal lost in three close, arduous sets.

Rafa, now in a very different role, was in an expansive mood yesterday. The idea of playing the prodigy of the moment brought out his nostalgic side. In the process, he summed up the bittersweet element of getting older in tennis. The things you desired—wins, Slams, rankings, recognition—bring as much anxiety as they do happiness.

He was asked, “When you were a teenager playing against the best in the world on your way up, how did you did you approach the games? What was your attitude?”

“Is much easier when you’re a teenager, I think," Nadal said, warming to the opportunity to wax philosophical. "When you have 17 or 18, everything is easier. You play with no pressure. You can win, you can lose, everything is fine. That’s a different mentality. You can play more aggressive. For everybody is the same history I think, no?"

Nadal smiled and fiddled with the top of the water bottle in his hand. He kept going. “When you arrive, you hit all the balls like crazy and without think, without pressure. When you are there [raising his hand to indicate a high level] you start to think a little bit more about you have to play this shot, you have to play another shot, I can’t lose this match, I have to win this match for sure.

"That’s little bit more problems. When you are coming up, you [make the] quarterfinals, perfect; semifinals, fantastic; you play final, very good; and if you win, is unbelievable. You lose in quarterfinals, you say, ‘Well, is good. Is not my tournament,’ but you are going back very happy at home.

"So that is different view and different perspective of the game. So the pressure is higher when you are in the top. Seems like it could be different, but believe me, that’s what happen.”

Nadal kept smiling; his teeth virtually glowed out from his tan face. He took a sip of water. He’s on top of the mountain at the moment, and it’s hard to imagine him anywhere else in the immediate future. But he knows, perhaps better than the rest of us, that the moment will pass. As a tennis player, he’s learned that fact early.

“The day of today, I am lucky. I have 24 and a half. I won what I win, what I won in the past, and that’s more than what I ever dreamed.”

Nadal shrugged. He’s fulfilled his dreams, but he also says that 10 minutes before his next match, he’ll be nervous again. Life goes on, nerves go on. For tennis fans and writers, there’s always a new generation to enjoy coming down the pike, forming before our eyes. The price of throwing yourself into the center of the arena is that you only have one shot; life is fantastic there, but it's over fast. Nadal will be anxious when he faces the new generation. Knowing him, it will drive him to keep the future at bay a little bit longer. He knows time is passing too fast to waste a day.

http://blogs.tennis.com/thewrap/2011/01 … shots.html

Robertinho · 22-01-2011 18:02:46

Coś dla Anuli.

http://zyciegwiazd.onet.pl/245689,0,raf … etail.html

Ostatnio edytowany przez Robertinho (22-01-2011 18:03:23)

Serenity · 22-01-2011 23:32:34

AO 2011 - wywiad po zwycięstwie w 2 rundzie

Q. Were you aware of who your opponent was today? Had you ever heard of him?
RAFAEL NADAL: About him? I heard about him, but I really didn't know how he play. Yeah, my uncle was watching the match the other day. He knows what he do better, what he do worse.

But, yeah, I think he's young. He can improve. He has to improve the serve, because with his tall he can serve much better.

Q. What do you take out of today's game, if anything? Is there anything that you can take out of it for the rest of the tournament?

RAFAEL NADAL: I think I played a solid match. A few mistakes with the backhand, that's all. The serve, my serve improved a lot since the first day. I think I was serving very well today. To the right, to the chair umpire, the sun was there and was very difficult for some moments.

But in general, I think my serve worked really well, so happy for that. Movement good; backhand good; having a few more mistakes than usual. I have to play longer with the backhand. Maybe have to play a little bit more aggressive, more inside the court.

But in general I am happy.

Q. Seems possible that you might have to play a young Australian in the next round, Bernard Tomic. What do you know about him?

RAFAEL NADAL: I know him. He's very young. He has very good potential to be in the top positions in the future. Well, he's playing well. He's winning two sets now. We will see who gonna win the match.

But anyway, both opponents going to be really difficult in third round of Grand Slam. No one opponent can be easy. I have to play well if I want to win against both of them.

Q. Is there anything harder about playing someone who is a local identity, if not a favorite?

RAFAEL NADAL: Well, is good, no? I think is nice to have a young Australian coming well and having very good talent and very good future. So gonna be a nice match if that happen. So I'm excited to go on court and to try my best tennis, and for sure to try to win.

The crowd is always fantastic here anyway. If I play against local heroes, like I played against Lleyton a few years ago, the crowd was fantastic all the time. For sure the support is always with them, but always with very good respect for me, you know. I felt all my career very good here and the crowd was always supporting me, so for me is not a problem that.

Q. If you haven't have experience, it's not someone you played against a lot, what do you do to prepare yourself if you're a little unsure of the way he plays?

RAFAEL NADAL: If I play against Tomic?

Q. Yes.

RAFAEL NADAL: What can I say different? What can I do different? Practice little bit tomorrow, rest in the hotel, maybe going to the aquarium. I didn't go this year. I go every year. So that's all.

Q. So you're pretty relaxed about it?

RAFAEL NADAL: No, but I gonna be nervous, if you want, 10 minutes before the match and when the match start. But two days ago, before, if I start to be nervous two days ago, I have a big problem, I think (laughter).

Q. What did you think of Roger's match last night?

RAFAEL NADAL: Very nice match, I think. Very high level of tennis. I think Roger started the match playing very aggressive, very well. But always Simon is very difficult to beat, no? When he's playing well, he's fast. When the match is longer, he don't have mistakes. You need to play all the points really good to beat him.

Five set match, that's long time. You have to play well long time to beat Gilles. I think he had amazing comeback, two sets all. He had a good chance in the beginning of the fifth with Love 30, but I think Roger played very well the important moments, no? He played aggressive. He had good serves, very good cross backhands and good volleys.

Was a very good tennis match. Finally, I think Roger deserves to win because he was playing really well.

Q. Do you think it's harder these days for a young player to make headway in the game, to improve quickly enough to be at a standard to play the number of players there are in the game today, a young player, with so much pressure on them?

RAFAEL NADAL: No, I think always happen that. When I arrived, since like is impossible to be in the top, because in that moment, all the players was very good and very young: Coria, Nalbandian, Roger, Lleyton, Roddick. A lot of ones in the top.

And when I saw the rankings, I say, Well, I don't know how I can be there, no? But finally you improve every year, you improve every day, you're going to have your chance, no? And that's what I tried.

Finally I did in 2005. So when I started to play well, I improved little bit my level, I think I was able to go there. And for sure this is difficult, but I think is the problem of the best today is I think we are still young. Del Potro is young. Murray, Djokovic, Soderling, Berdych, hopefully myself (smiling). We're still young. Hopefully we can be there for a long time.

But the tennis is very hard sport and is really difficult have a very, very long career, no? So you always gonna have problems. One injury, three months out. Another one, one month out. Another one is tired mentally. So everybody has his chance.

Q. You experienced what it was like to be a teenager on the way up playing against the very best. How do you think Bernard will feel if he does play you? How do you think he should approach the match?

RAFAEL NADAL: What he needs to do?

Q. What he would need to do.

RAFAEL NADAL: Play very bad, please (laughter). That's what I can say to him, so...

I don't know what he has to do, no? The first thing, he has to play well.

Q. When you were a teenager playing against the best in the world on your way up, how did you approach the games? What was your attitude?

RAFAEL NADAL: Is much easier when you are a teenager, I think. When you have 17 or 18, everything is easier. You play with no pressure. You can win, you can lose, everything is fine. That's a different mentality. You can play more aggressive. For everybody is the same history I think, no?

When you arrive, you hit all the balls like crazy and without think, without pressure. When you are there (indicating at a high level) you start to think a little bit more about you have to play this shot, you have to play another shot, I can't lose this match, I have to win this match for sure.

That's a little bit more problems. When you are coming up, you play quarterfinals perfect; you play semifinals fantastic; you play final very good; and if you win, is unbelievable. So when you are there, you play quarterfinals, say, Well, is good. Is not my tournament, but you are going back very happy at home.

So that is different view and different perspective of the game. So the pressure is higher when you are in the top. Seems like can be a different thing, but believe me, that's what happen.

Q. How do you deal with the high pressure because everybody expects you to win every game? How do you deal with this high pressure?

RAFAEL NADAL: I think I am in a different moment of my career. That's happened to me in 2006, 2007 perhaps, but not the day of today. The day of today, I am lucky. I have 24 and a half. I won what I win, what I won in the past, and that's more than what I ever dreamed.

So my moment is different. I am very happy about what I did. That's give me a lot of calm. I have probably less pressure right now, last year's season, winning a lot. I have to work hard every day. That's what I do: keep practicing with humble, illusion, and motivation for sure, waiting my chances, trying to find my chances.

But I have pressure, yes, but for sure less than when I was playing in 2006 and 2007.

http://www.australianopen.com/en_AU/new … 25167.html

Serenity · 23-01-2011 00:10:23

AO 2011 - wywiad po zwycięstwie w 3 rundzie

Q. There were some difficult moments out there tonight.

RAFAEL NADAL: Sure, yeah, especially in the second. Yeah, he's a kind of player that is very difficult to play against. His style of game is not easy to play.

He's good, no? He's a better play, and I think he will be better.

Q. What advice do you have for him? He's a talented young player who is just starting his career.

RAFAEL NADAL: I can tell you what I did. What I did is work all the time, to work with humble, illusion and motivation to be a better player, no? That's the only thing that I can say for sure.

Q. Cilic played a long game. Did you watch it?

RAFAEL NADAL: I watched it a little bit in the locker room before I went on court. So, yeah, he was playing really good. Was a good match of tennis. Yeah, was real emotional in the end. He finished the match playing really well. Going to be a real difficult match, I think.

Q. Do you feel like you played well tonight?

RAFAEL NADAL: No, I don't think so. I didn't play well tonight. I played short. The movements wasn't the best. The position on court wasn't the best neither.

So the positive thing that the attitude was good all the time. That's true. Even with the 4 0, I keep fighting for the second. And for moments I did something good in the third. I went to the net more than before, so that's positive thing.

But I have to change a few things if I really want to have chances to win the next match, and I gonna do it.

Q. How long did it take you to understand his game? He doesn't play a very regular game.

RAFAEL NADAL: In general, the most difficult thing is he's a good player, no? So he won the first two matches against not easy players in straight sets. So is a difficult match. And is important victory for me. Even if I didn't play my best tennis, for me win in three sets, 6 2, 7 5, 6 3 is a very positive result for me. I'm very happy for the victory.

Is more important win matches when you are not playing your best than when you are playing your best, no? Yeah, is more difficult and the same time is have better value, I think, because when you are playing well everything is easier. When you're not playing that well, like today, the victory is more important.

Q. Talking about your attitude, if you play one bad point or a few bad points, how do you forget about those bad points?

RAFAEL NADAL: I have to play the next one, so... The only thing is try to not lose the concentration and just think positive to keep fighting all the time, no? So for that reason I was able to come back in the second and finally win without many problems.

If I lost that second set, if I don't fight for points after the 4 0, maybe we are playing right now.

Q. You weren't on court very long in the first two matches. Was it good to get a bit extra time and a bit of extra hitting and still get the win?

RAFAEL NADAL: No, is better win easier (smiling). But that's part of the game. Is impossible to win easy in this sport. All the players are really good. All the players are very competitive. That's normal, have a difficult matches like I have today. That's a normal thing.

Every day right now gonna be really difficult. The next match gonna be very difficult and I have to be ready to play my best tennis.

Q. You seemed to be sweating a lot early on, changed your shirt a few times. Were you feeling okay out there?

RAFAEL NADAL: I was perfect when I started the season in Abu Dhabi playing. I was playing perfect and I was feeling perfect physically. In Doha, I had that problem. I wasn't feel very well. Have fever and these things. Seems like after that my body is still not perfect. I am sweating more than usual. I am more tired than usual when I'm playing. That's what happen right now. That's the true.

Q. Was it a bit unusual having the crowd primarily against you?

RAFAEL NADAL: I don't feel that. The normal thing was he's young, he's from Australia. Normal thing is have the crowd behind him. But I don't feel a lot that tonight. I think the crowd was real neutral. The crowd was supporting both of us.

The crowd here in Australia is always fantastic. I played against Lleyton. He's an idol here. It was when I was a kid little bit more than a kid, but when I had 17 and 18. The crowd was fantastic. Very respectful with both of us. Supporting Lleyton for sure, but supporting myself, too.

Tonight have something similar. Is always nice go on this center court. Atmosphere is always nice I think.

Q. You said you don't have a fever anymore, but the body is getting tired. Are you concerned in the next week the body might not be ready for five sets after five sets?

RAFAEL NADAL: I don't know. Hopefully I gonna improve. I don't know. I don't know what's going on. I am doing all that I can. I am working, I am resting. I can't do more, no? If I don't feel perfect, it's not my fault. It's day of today. All I can say is keep fighting. I have the (indiscernible) here, my biscuits, for the problem maybe. If I eat more, maybe I am better next week.

Q. Do you think in the last year you have made more progress in your tennis game or in your English?

RAFAEL NADAL: I think in my tennis game for sure, no? Cannot be my English because I am not very inspired tonight. But I can

http://www.australianopen.com/en_AU/new … 22543.html

jaccol55 · 23-01-2011 18:07:59

Nadal still recovering from earlier bout of flu

Rafael Nadal says he is still not 100 percent after coming down with flu in Doha. "Seems like after that my body is still not perfect. I am sweating more than usual. I am more tired than usual when I'm playing," he said after a tricky three-set win over Bernard Tomic in the third round of the Australian Open.

Nadal is unsure how quickly he will recover as the tournament progresses. "Hopefully I gonna improve. I don't know," he said. "I am doing all that I can. I am working, I am resting. I can't do more, no? If I don't feel perfect, it's not my fault. It's day of today. All I can say is keep fighting."

http://www.tennis.com/articles/template … &zoneid=25

Serenity · 24-01-2011 15:52:07

AO 2011 - wywiad po zwycięstwie w 4 rundzie

Q. How are you feeling? Do you think you're fully recovered?
RAFAEL NADAL: Today I felt very good, no? I didn't sweat like the other days. So that's fantastic news for me. The better news is I played much better than the rest of the days.

I was able to play with high intensity, very good rhythm, playing more inside the court. So play more aggressive, changing rhythms with the slice and with the topspin, backhand. The serve worked better today.

So, in general, I think it was a very good match for me and very important victory. So very happy for everything.

Q. Do you have any idea as to why you didn't feel that good a couple of days ago? Is it a medical situation or just you didn't feel great?

RAFAEL NADAL: I think so. I don't know, no? I don't have more information than that, no? You see, I was sweating like crazy the other day. I play night session, too. So the conditions wasn't very different.

I say the other day, it's true, I playing better. When I play better, I play with a little bit more calm and with less anxiety. For that reason, I am anxiety less.

I say the other day, too, today in the practice, I didn't sweat like the other days, too. I sweat much less. Hopefully continue like this.

Q. Cilic just said he had some kind of trouble with the weather. How did you feel with the weather, with the cold? He said it was a bit cold for him. It suited you better than him.

RAFAEL NADAL: No, I didn't find that cold. Was normal condition. Is a night session. Not playing with the sunshine, so is normal conditions.

Q. I think he was saying that because it was cold and the ball wasn't bouncing as much.

RAFAEL NADAL: The ball is bouncing less?

Q. Yes.

RAFAEL NADAL: When is hot, the ball bounce higher.

Q. He was saying it was less.

RAFAEL NADAL: He must say the ball stays lower today.

Well, in general, I think is more positive for him than for me, no? I like the high bounce. And I think for my game is more positive if the bounce are higher. I can play with the topspin. Is easier for me to play. Seriously, for me, I don't know if he was a little bit tired of the other day, but I am very happy how I played. I played my best match here by far.

Q. We'd like to know, apart from winning, what do you enjoy most about being on court? Do you enjoy saving the breakpoints or hitting passing shots, hitting a winner?

RAFAEL NADAL: I enjoy the competition and I enjoy play well. I enjoy everything, no? I enjoy the moments that you have to do something to play well. You have to do something to change some situations. These kind of changes, mentality changes, I love that sometimes and other times it didn't work a lot and you can't enjoy.

Q. You've spoken before about the strength of Spanish sport generally. Is it special for you to play against David in a quarterfinal here?

RAFAEL NADAL: For me is not as special. For me is a very good news because one Spanish is going to be in semifinal, so that's fantastic for our country I think. Start the first Grand Slam of the season having one player in semifinal. That's good news.

I'm happy for him. He's playing good. He won in Auckland. He's in quarterfinal. Is going to be a very difficult match. I wish him all the best. Hopefully I can play my best tennis and have good chances to win. I don't know.

Q. You've seen a lot of him over the years, played against him a lot. You know each other's game pretty well.

RAFAEL NADAL: Well, we know each other perfect. We played a lot of times against each other. At the same time we practiced a lot of times, no?

I think he's a fantastic player for a lot of years being in the top positions. That's very difficult to do, and he did. So all the respect for him. I know gonna be a really, really difficult match.

Q. Is playing David going to be a tougher test of your fitness and your health compared to the match today?

RAFAEL NADAL: We will see. I don't know. Cilic is a great player. He's a very tough opponent. Before the match, I was scared seriously. Well, scared in a good way because I know how good he can play. Only match against him I lost 6 1, 6 3 in Beijing. I have no chances. Is true it was a different situation for me.

But these kind of players is very difficult to play. David will be something different. We know each other perfect. He's very good. He's No. 7 or 6 in the world. You are in quarterfinals. In quarterfinals you can't have an easy match.

Q. You played many times more than five hours per match. What was your reaction when you heard that yesterday Schiavone and Kuznetsova played 4 hours and 44 minutes in just three sets?

RAFAEL NADAL: Well, it makes it possible that there is not tiebreak in the third. Was a fantastic match, I think, no? Is good for the sport. Sure is a good show for the tennis world.

The worst thing, the winner can be a little bit tired. But I think she has today rest, no?

Q. Did you see any of that?

RAFAEL NADAL: I wasn't see. I wasn't see the match. But I heard about that. That's good. Is a good victory, and I congratulate Francesca.

Q. You were capable to come back after a long match with Verdasco and play well in the final. Many people were surprised. Do you think Francesca Schiavone can be strong enough to play Wozniacki, or you don't think it's possible?

RAFAEL NADAL: Why not, no? If I did, a lot of people can do it. We will see, no? Is very personal thing. At the same time, even the same person, you play a long match and you can be better or you can be worse, depending on the moment. For example, I played against Andy Murray here in 2007, I think. I played very long match in fourth round, Round of 16. I wasn't able to play in quarterfinals against González. It happened in 2009 against Verdasco, and I was ready to play a long final, no?

Depends of the moment. You never know.

Q. Do you find it distracting when everybody is calling out, I love you, Rafa?

RAFAEL NADAL: No, I feel fantastic (laughter).

Q. Are you able to block it out?

RAFAEL NADAL: No, I heard everything. But is nice (smiling).

Q. What about when the girls whistle at you and take pictures of you when you're changing your shirt?

RAFAEL NADAL: That's a very good feeling (smiling).

Q. Could you tell us more about this Armani campaign? Was it a good experience? What do you think of the pictures?

RAFAEL NADAL: Was a long experience, but very good experience, no? Is always nice to know different worlds. The fashion world is something that I didn't know before.

Yeah, was a good session of photos, long one. But hopefully the result are satisfactory, so... I worked very hard, seriously (laughter). So, yeah, was nice. A different experience and I enjoyed.

Q. Do you find you sexy on the picture?

RAFAEL NADAL: I'm not the right person to say. I always watch myself so so. But what do you think? Do you like it?

Q. Yeah, I do.

RAFAEL NADAL: I happy if I like it (smiling).

Q. You say it was long. How long were you one next to the other?

RAFAEL NADAL: Was different shootings. We talked enough about that in the past.

Q. Just a question about the Hawk Eye system. Is it difficult to know when to challenge and when not to challenge? How do you feel when you challenge and the result is that it's just in or just out or very close?

RAFAEL NADAL: That's part of the game, no? Is difficult to see sometimes. But sometimes is important point and you challenge. We'll see what's going on. When you see the ball, you are praying to have the positive result for you, no?

I think is a positive thing for the sport. I think the crowd enjoys the Hawk Eye. I think that's a good really good improve in the tennis world when the Hawk Eye came, no? I think is very positive and I enjoy because you have your chance. That's good.

http://www.australianopen.com/en_AU/new … 26192.html

jaccol55 · 24-01-2011 16:50:20

No Sweat

We talk about a player’s form going into a tournament and try to predict the future from there. There’s not a whole lot else we can do. But you only have to look at the Rafael Nadal of two nights ago and the one who came out to Laver Arena for his match with Marin Cilic tonight to see how misleading those measurements can be.

From the first game, this was a different version of Nadal then the sweaty, anxious one who had been run across the baseline by Bernard Tomic. It wasn’t noticeable in the way Nadal hit the ball on Monday so much as it was in the energy he exuded. On the third or fourth point, before many people had even begun to focus on the match, he was already berating himself for moving back to hit a forehand, and that was on a point he won. After the next rally, Nadal did something I’ve never seen him do. He looked back into the full VIP section behind him, smiled, and said something. He was in good spirits. A few minutes later he broke serve and jabbed himself with a very early Vamos!

On Saturday, playing a local kid on a big occasion, Nadal had been nervous. And he didn’t shake those nerves until he was up two sets. Today he took a more proactive approach. He looked looser and more confident to me, but he made a point of saying afterward that he’d been nervous again. Cilic had won their only meeting, in straight sets last year indoors. “He’s a very dane-herous player,” Nadal said. But then he always says that, doesn’t he?

They must have been the good kind of nerves, because Nadal was moving well for inside-out forehands—usually a sign of how his confidence and aggression levels are—and at 3-1 and deuce he made one of the longest successful scrambles I’ve seen him make. He came charging from the behind the court on the ad side to dig out a drop shot near the net on the deuce side, and then send it skidding for a crosscourt angle winner for good measure. Another positive sign for Nadal fans: On important points on his serve, he was taking the initiative. He still doesn’t do that on break points, but of course it’s harder to grab control of a rally when you’re returning.

“This was my best match of the year so far here,” Nadal said afterward. He said he felt much better physically, and that he was much less drained—just what the rest of the guys in the tournament wanted to hear, I’m sure. “I played with very high intensity.”

The match was something like a typical Nadal encounter with Novak Djokovic, except that Cilic is simply not as good. A lot of it came down to whether the Croat could keep taking high topspin balls and knocking them off. The Tomic match had been a lesson in how tough this is to do for an extended period. The teenager seemed to pile up dozens of winners, many of them of the jaw-dropping variety, yet he was unable to win so much as a set. Djokovic himself has played half a dozen matches against Nadal where’s hit him off the court for long stretches and still lost because he just couldn’t do it enough. Cilic has the height to play Rafa, but not the timing. He missed at all the wrong moments. But it was always going to be tough with Nadal moving this well.

Best for Nadal was his serve. He made 73 percent of first balls, which is a winning number for him. As always, what was most impressive was his accuracy to spots. He worked the 6-foot-6 Cilic body relentlessly, but he did it to both the forehand and backhand sides, which takes precision. He also made a lot of first serves on important points. When it’s clicking, Nadal’s serve, in its way, is as effective as Roddick’s.

Or, as Rafa put it afterward, with admirable simplicity, “The serve is very important.”

This match came to a peak in the same place as the Tomic match, late in a close second set. Again it was Nadal's serve in this situation that made the difference. At 5-4, he went down break point, 30-40. For one of the few times all night, Nadal went down the T. He got a forehand on the next ball and put it away to make it deuce. On the next point, he served up the T again, and got another forehand. What a pleasant, and jealous-making, thing to be able to do: To save your best serve only for when you really need it, and then nail it each time. Nadal would eventually hold for the set and make the rest a formality. On every point from 30-40 down, he had maneuvered the rally so that he got an early look at a mid-court forehand. That’s pretty dazzling stuff from a tennis IQ perspective.

I’ll finish with a favorite moment that’s apropos of nothing other than itself. Two games earlier, serving at 4-3 in the second and 30-15, Nadal made his way to the net. Cilic looped a tricky high ball; it was neither a volley nor an overhead. Nadal jumped and hit what I'll describe as a flip-down forehand volley crosscourt. It didn’t come off the strings cleanly, but it went in, and in the direction Nadal meant it to go. Cilic chased it but came up a step short.

The shot had been an improvisation, and one that most players, including many pros, would have botched. Svetlana Kuznetsova hit a very similar shot 15 feet out when she was down set point in the first set against Schiavone. Nadal’s went in, and landed an inch out of his opponent’s reach. There’s tennis IQ; this was tennis DNA. There’s no way you can teach that shot.

Which is a roundabout way of saying that, for whatever it’s worth, Nadal’s in good form again.

http://blogs.tennis.com/thewrap/2011/01/no-sweat.html

anula · 24-01-2011 16:55:50

Robertinho napisał:
Coś dla Anuli.

http://zyciegwiazd.onet.pl/245689,0,raf … etail.html

Doszłam już do siebie na tyle, że mogę napisać : dzięki.

jaccol55 · 25-01-2011 17:21:43

Bad Timing

The scene has played out the same way twice this week. A player is spotted in the tunnel leading into Rod Laver Arena before a night match. He’s there by himself, hopping a little, stretching a little, trying to stay loose. Frankly, he looks like he doesn’t know what to do. Everyone waits. The TV camera waits. The TV commentator who’s going to interview the players as they walk on the court waits. The public address announcer waits. Then a door opens and Rafal Nadal comes out of a room, presumably a bathroom, with his huge racquet bag over his shoulder and customary single Babolat in his left hand. The proceedings can begin.

Hold it, not quite yet. While the other player puts his bag down and walks out to meet the chair umpire for the coin toss, Nadal fiddles with various things, gets a tube of something out and sucks it down, takes a sip of something and then a sip of water, lines the bottles up just so, and for good measure wipes a towel over his arms, even though its hard to imagine what he’s done to start sweating at that point. While this is happening, the other player and the umpire say hello, then look at the court, then smile awkwardly. The player again tries to stay loose, but there’s really not much he can do. Finally, Nadal is ready. He runs out and starts jumping up and down in front of his opponent, who stares at his strings.

I first saw Nadal go through this routine on the Grandstand at the U.S. Open in 2003, when he was 16. He kept his opponent, the umpire, and the crowd waiting just as he does today. I remember thinking something like, “This is one willful kid,” There was something impressive about the way he went about his business on his own terms even then.

I’ve always been impressed, from a competitor’s standpoint, with the way Nadal controls the tempo of a match, even before the players take the court. It gives him a huge, if subtle, mental edge—“this match goes at my pace,” is the message. I’m not even sure how much of it is gamesmanship, and how much of it is just a ritual that he learned very early, and that he simply must perform now or risk thinking he’s jinxed himself out of the match. Nadal is a man of rituals and superstitions. This is a guy who, when he’s walking across the back of Laver Arena after toweling off, goes out of his way to step all the way through the Melbourne logo at the back of the court.

But I haven’t liked seeing those two players—Bernard Tomic and Marin Cilic—waiting in the tunnel for him, looking slightly forlorn. And as much as I admire Nadal’s competitive intelligence, I’ve never liked seeing his opponents standing out with the umpire, fiddling around, looking awkward. Tomic was asked about it after their match, and he said Nadal’s routine didn’t bother him, that the Spaniard just “has his thing.” No doubt there are other players who feel this way; Nadal was voted the winner of the Sportsmanship Award in 2010, which means his colleagues can’t be too annoyed by him.

That doesn’t include Robin Soderling, naturally. At Wimbledon one year, he refused to come out of the locker room until Nadal was ready to walk onto the court. Jurgen Melzer and Roger Federer, among others, have sat on the sidelines waiting for him to get his water bottles aligned before heading out for the coin toss. Cilic complained to the chair umpire on more than one occasion about Nadal's slowness on Monday. And Tomic took a conspicuously long time himself getting ready on the sidelines on Saturday. For a minute, it seemed that both players were never going to come off their chairs, and that the match would never be played.

Waiting it out is not really an effective strategy for combating Nadal’s tempo-control. If you’re sitting there twiddling your thumbs while he gets ready, you’re still playing at his pace. Is this unfair? A poll of the players would have to be taken to find out. How much do they mind it? Does it affect how they play? Do they wish they could invent their own, even longer pre-match ritual?

The next question is, What would you do about it, anyway? Do we want to start timing the coin toss, or the walk down the runway? What would the penalty be for going over those limits, considering that the match hasn’t even begun? If the players thought it necessary, I could see there being an unstated rule that when the chair umpire calls the two opponents for the toss, they have to be out there immediately.

Or I could see Nadal altering his rituals a little and taking less time, especially in the tunnel. Do what you need to do earlier. Eat your tube of whatever it is and sip your sips in the locker room. Have a lackey come out and put your water bottles in the right position for you before you get out there. When he was young and coming up, I admired Nadal’s willfulness and obliviousness to everyone but himself and his rituals. I still admire his competitive intelligence and ability to control his surroundings. But now that he’s No. 1, his pre-match stall session has started to seem like too much. It has started to seem like bad sportsmanship, from a guy who is a good sport in many other ways, and a guy I like for so many other reasons. There’s no need to make your opponents feel awkward before the match, Rafa. You know you can do that once it starts.

http://blogs.tennis.com/thewrap/2011/01 … ing-1.html

jaccol55 · 26-01-2011 16:22:00

The High and the Low

In his pre-tournament press conference last Saturday, Rafael Nadal said that it was “almost impossible” to win four straight Grand Slams. He said this even though he came to Melbourne as the owner of three of those Slams. It turned out that he was more than right. For the 42nd consecutive year, it was impossible for a man to pull it off.

Another thing we know is that Australia Day is not Rafa’s Day. Last year he lost under the fireworks here to Andy Murray. This time it was to David Ferrer. Both times Nadal was hampered by an injury. Ferrer was impressive, no doubt about it, but this result is nothing but a bummer. We keep coming up short. A Federer-Nadal final seemed to be a sure thing at the U.S. Open. Didn’t happen. A semifinal lineup of the Big 4 seemed to be a foregone conclusion when the evening session began today. Foiled again. The sense of deflation won’t go away soon. It may last through the rest of the tournament. There’s a hole in it now.

We’ve heard for years that Nadal’s physical style will make his career a short one. There’s been no evidence of that yet. But it has led to injuries at inopportune moments. In the two majors before his loss to Murray here last year, he pulled out of Wimbledon and was shredded by Juan Martin del Potro when he had an abdominal tear. Nadal may not pay as much as we think for his style in the long run, but it has already cost him. In this way he is the opposite of his rival Roger Federer in one more way. Nadal is the fragile one, the human one, the one who pushes too far, the one you watch anxiously, waiting for the worst. It can happen any time.

“That’s part of the sport,” Nadal said as he stared at his thumbs afterward, his red jacket zipped up around his neck. He tried to avoid talking about his injury, and never named it. He said he was tired of losing when he had a “problem,” and didn’t want to seem like he was making an excuse. Most of the time, Nadal looked down absently. But there was one moment when his eyes became fixed. He was thinking. It looked to me as if the defeat, the disappointment, was registering.

“If I can accept both the high moments and the low moments,” he said, “then I can play my best again.”

High moments and low moments. You have to accept the latter in order to savor the former.

High moments and low moments: Isn’t that what Nadal gives us, too? More than any other legendary athlete I can think of, even as he’s winning, he holds out the possibility of disaster. He plays matches on razor’s edges and always seems one lunge away from his next injury. With every mad scramble across the court, he seems to be taking a day off of his career.

The flipside is that while Nadal knows that disaster is possible, hope is as well—not just excellence, but hope, which is deeper. When he won the French Open in 2006, he thought back to that January, when he had been forced to pull out of the Australian Open. Because of that, it became the French title that meant the most to him. Nadal runs the gamut of emotions; for better and worse, we run them with him. We, or at least, I, run that same gamut every day of my life anyway. Nadal is not an athlete I look to for perfection, for something above the normal run of humanity, the way you might look to Federer. I look to Nadal for the human, for the striving, for the victory that’s tinged with the possibility of defeat every step, lunge, and swing of the way. There's a reason he can win three straight Slams and yet still say that winning four straight can't be done. That's just life.

High moments and low moments: One can't mean anything without the other.

Nadal knows this, and those of us who write about and follow him understand it better because of him.

http://blogs.tennis.com/thewrap/2011/01 … e-low.html

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Robertinho napisał:

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