So Is Rafa Skipping Madrid? Or Not? Skip? No?

This here is the culprit - from his presser after the loss in Miami:

Q. 40 some unforced errors and the whole tournament was kind of iffy. Are you going to take a break?

RAFAEL NADAL: Two days, three days, yeah. I have to adapt to clay another time. I have to be 100% ready mentally, physically. The most important thing, playing well, so for Monte-Carlo, Barcelona, Rome, and Madrid maybe.

Times Online did a pretty good rubdown on why he would and what will happen if he misses it.

There is no doubt that the world No 1 will play in the two Masters 1000 events in Monte Carlo — starting on Monday week — and Rome, in between which he will return to Barcelona, where he is a four-times champion and has lost once in 22 matches. It is the newly repositioned Mutua Madrileña Masters in the Spanish capital, staged for the first time on clay at the Caja Mágica — with three arenas, each of which fold into one — that is holding its breath as to Nadal’s participation.

Though he will not say so publicly, the 22-year-old is worried that a tournament staged at 650 metres above sea level does not offer the most suitable preparation for his fourth defence of the French Open, which begins in Paris six days later.

TennisTalk takes a dip in the speculation pool too:

It is not clear whether Nadal would actually miss Madrid, which ends six days before the start at Roland Garros. But there has been no shortage of unsolicited advice to the world No.1 to cut back on his events, especially after a listless defeat in Miami against Juan Del Potro.

As it stands, Nadal is signed on for four tournaments in five weeks before Paris. Of those run-up events, the 22-year-old is defending titles in Monte Carlo and Barcelona.

I say skip Rome, but that's just me. In any case he needs to skip one of those events, and if I did not misunderstand, he cannot miss Madrid.

The Soul Of Rafael Nadal

From Down The Line we get a link to a Rafa's interview by L'Express.fr.

Such a poignant, revealing interview. How does the French do it? Here's the article translated to English.

Some choice quotes:

Rafa On...


A landscape that creates the dream

I was 4 years old when my father raised me on a fishing boat to take me to the other side of the island. The land to the sea .. There is nothing more beautiful. When I stopped tennis, I buy a boat to spend the rest of my days. This will be a motorboat. I love the speed.

A meeting that you hope

Roger Federer. Small, I was a dream: I was at the foot of a huge mountain and I looked at the top. When I beat Federer in January, in Melbourne, in the final of the Australian Open, I felt excitement animal. But then I felt an emptiness and a loneliness indescribable, as if I had no other purpose. For me Federer is still the No. 1 worldwide. I want to meet again on the court. I know it can beat me.

A revolt

Success will not change my life. My room is still the same, my friends are guys I met at school, my girlfriend is a friend of my sister. Holidays in Monaco or St. Barth I'm not interested.

Rafa Answers For Once, And The World Shakes

So everyone's talking about this.

Q. Would you prefer to go out with a girl that is in tennis, that is a tennis player, or any other girl? Just has nothing to do with it.

RAFAEL NADAL: It is not -- I don't have any preference, you know. Prefer go out with nice and funny girl. Doesn't matter if is player or artist.

This is from the presser yesterday - and looks like it's shaking things up in the Rafanatics/Rafisca/Rafana obsessive world. Oh yes, there is a video recording the interview too!



The whole video is worth watching by itself - fully animated Rafaexpressions! The part of The Question (and The Answer) is at the very end. Frankly? I read and watched the video yesterday and didn't think much of it. But you tell me, Rafanatics!

I did wonder though.. Nice and fun? I can be nice. In fact, I can be verrrrry nice to you, Rafito. And I'm definitely funny, just ask my readers.

*points guns to readers' heads*

Just sayin'. In case. You know. Ahem.

Yep, definitely going out with her because she's nice and funny.

Presser transcript here.

Video by luneworld.

Caption This: Eat Your Heart Out

Rafa: "Watch it. I'm the choc chip cookie monster. Don't mess with me. My cookie will break you in half."

Er, in case you didn't know, this is the context:

At his press conference after his quarterfinal win over Juan-Martin del Potro, Nadal shows up with two chocolate chip cookies and starts to eat them as he talks.

Q. I'm surprised to see you eating cookies. Are they chocolate chip cookies?


RAFAEL NADAL: Yeah.

Nadal says "Yeah," but his smile says, "So? What about it?"

Q. I was wondering if you have things like that quite a bit? I always think athletes have a very regimented diet and don't indulge. 


RAFAEL NADAL: Not me. (Laughter.) 


Long pause, Nadal flashes what you might call a s--- eating grin.

"My opinion, you can eat everything. Well, before the match maybe don't have five cookies or one steak, but my opinion, you can eat everything in the right time. If I eat right now, 20 cookies, maybe I gonna have indigestion tonight. If I eat two, three cookies, maybe it's OK.

Maybe not for the stomach, no, but for the head it's better. (Laughter.) In the end, the important thing is to be mentally okay.

*Source

Roger On His Rafa Problem

"I don't have a problem on clay," he says. "I have a Rafa problem on clay."

Roger Federer, in an interview with LA Times.

Ain't that the truth. Big of him to admit as much.

"I Know Rafa's Weaknesses"

Serbia Davis Cup captain Bogdan Obradovic said he knows Rafael Nadal weaknesses on the court.

NO! Really?? *gasp*

JJ's A Rafaelite?

Rafanatic she is not (well maybe she is, but we'll never know will we?) so she's a Rafae-lite? Get it? Geddit?? HA! Oh shut up, self.

JJ takes offense to Roger taking a hit on players who never won a grand slam yet granted the number 1 ranking on WTA. She thinks Rafa is a better role model. For everybody, y'all.

 

She said she could not understand why Federer felt the need to hit out at women's tennis while his great rival Rafa Nadal, who took over from the Swiss as world number one, was so "humble".

"Why should he even care? I don't like putting my nose in other's business.

"I mean, one thing I like about Nadal is that he is such a great champion, he is so humble, always has kind words for everybody, he is a role model for everybody," said Jankovic.

"Federer is a great champion, I don't want to get in a fight with him but why does he care, I really don't understand. Why does he need to do that?"

Uh-oh. She also expresses her opinion about Roger's criticism of Nole's retirement in the Australian Open.

"I'm almost in favour of saying, you know what, if you're not fit enough, just get out of here," the Swiss said.

To which JJ says:

 

Jankovic said Federer should not criticise fellow players. "I don't think it's nice to attack other players.

"If he retired, he probably had his reasons, he knows better. You cannot attack someone when you don't have proof, when you don't have a piece of evidence.

"There is no reason to offend him that way."

Hmmm. I'm kinda on Roger's side in this one. To have a world numero uno who has never won a slam does not make a good impression on WTA does it? Bad publicity. About everything. And Roger is one of the ones who I think deserves to say something about Nole's retirement. He trained in Dubai in the off season so the heat doesn't defeat him in Australia. Sure, many (and I do mean many) players retired in this year's AO, but Nole has retired so many times (7 in all, 3 in slams) in his short tennis career it really does leave something to be desired. And why is JJ asking why Roger cares? Why can't he care? Tennis is his passion, it's his life. 

Methinks she should've stayed quiet and work harder to win her first slam. And when she does, go over to Rodge and ask him if he's got anything to say then.



*Source

Rafa On Dancing (He's So Lying, You Guys)

Hola Rafa. 
I really love how you move out there on a tennis court. Sometimes seems as if you were dancing. So, what about on a dancefloor? Are you a good dancer? Do you like to dance or you prefer to be leaned on the pub bar? The best of luck for this year. Thanks for all. Besitos. Reyes, Alicante, Spain. 

No, I am not a very good dancer. I move fast but that's about it, I suppose. I don't lean either because I am always moving.

I refuse to believe Rafa's not a good dancer! I mean, shake your hips, swivel it 360, good enough, no?

Okay yes, the post is a total excuse to post the dancing picture of Rafa. It's a slow day.

Cookies & Cream, Sweet Popcorns, and Lanvin

What is your favourite dessert, ice cream or lolly? Camilla, Sydney

RN: Ice cream. Vanilla ice cream with cookies.

When you go to the movies do you eat popcorn or something else? Brandy, Memphis

RN: I LOVE sweet popcorn. You know which one I mean? Not the salty one, the sweet one. Too good to be true.

Could you tell me that what kind of aftershave/fragrance you usually use? Zsuzsi

RN: I use Lanvin parfums

You have been at Roland Garros for your birthday for a number of years now, how would you celebrate if you were at home? Christie

RN: You are right. I wouldn't know what to do :-). I suppose I would do the same thing as I use to. Go out with my friends after something at home with my family.

Tell you what. I will spray Lanvin perfume on, er, discreet places and pop out of an ice cream cookies & sweet popcorn birthday cake. I'll send myself to your house, don't you worry about the details. Just be there and be appreciative.

You can bring your amigos:

Feli Lopez,

Iker Casillas,

and Nando Torres.

 

Seriously, Rafa. Bring them all. I wouldn't mind a whit.

Now, sisters, tell me. With men like these, how does Spain not rule the world?

Rafa The Great

"What Nadal has done on clay over the past three years is nothing short of remarkable.
To be as dominant as he has been, winning 100 out of 101 matches! That's one of the greatest achievements in the history of tennis,and I don't feel like it is recognized to the extent it deserves." - Pete Sampras

"But it's unbelievable how he puts so much pressure on an opponent. They must think, "What I got to do, hit three lines to win a point?" We can learn from that and put it in our tennis." - Ana Ivanovic

"Actually I walked up to Rafael Nadal. And he is probably my favourite tennis player to watch and I walked up to him and I was like, 'I just want to meet you and don't want to take a picture or anything, I just want to meet you.' And I told him, 'I watch you all the time when you play tennis and I love watching you play tennis.' I told him good luck. That is probably the only person." - Michael Phelps

“He beat me when he was just 14-years-old. I consoled myself
thinking that I had lost to a future Grand Slam winner.” - Pat Cash

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="190" caption="Rafa at 14?"][/caption]

"What he did to (Roger) Federer in the final of Roland Garros, isn't something any other tennis player in the earth would do. Rafa destroyed Roger at France and later earned the Wimbledon title, which is far from his favorite surface. I believe that was an extraordinary effort. Nadal definitely deserves to be #1 in the world." - Lleyton Hewitt

"We feel very proud with having the number one and although it is impossible to reach his level we will try."
- David Ferrer

I remember that when I lost to Fernando González in Australia, having had to retire because of cramp in the fifth set, Nadal came over to me in the locker room. I was shattered, in a very bad way, and he put his hand on my shoulder and said: "Don't worry about it, the same thing happened to me two years ago when I was your age."
Things like that fill me with pride and I really value them." - Juan Martin del Potro 

Aussie Open Quotes

From BBC UK.

"I was completely worried about that. I thought I lost the power with the new clothes. C'mon."

Rafael Nadal sees the funny side when asked if he was worried he might not be able to win in his new non-sleeveless shirts.

"The problem is you can't go in the locker room and just take it easy and take a cold shower. You can't. You know, you're stuck out there. It's the worst feeling, you know. So, I don't know, it's rough."
Roger Federer describes the desolation after losing another five-set final to Nadal.

"Hopefully not too big. I'm not a big fan of receptions. I'd like to sneak out the back door at the airport tomorrow."
Mahesh Bhupathi on the reception he expects back in India after winning the country's first Grand Slam mixed doubles title with Sania Mirza.

"I did most of it."
Mike Bryan.

"You cleaned."
Bob Bryan.

"I cleaned out the garage, dusted it all, put down the carpet and mirror, got the equipment."
Mike Bryan, as the brothers have a domestic over who can take the credit for their new home gym.

"All I know is Serena usually picks up the bill."
Mike Bryan makes plan for an all-American celebration in Melbourne.

Curtain's closing on AO. What a great ending to the tournament.

 


*image credit: Quinn Rooner/Getty
   


 

 

Honey, You Make It So Damn Easy

I am a dental hygienist, I know you are very fond of chocolate and wondered, do you have any fillings in your teeth? Eileen, UK.


RN: Like everyone else, I suppose. Not because of chocolate.

 

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="381" caption="If it's not because of chocolates.. then...?"][/caption]

I have a world of comments for this one, but I'll leave it to you Rafanatics.