Rafa's website will shut down for a few weeks. The website will be rebuilt and soon we will have a new look for www.rafaelnadal.com.

Rafa will personally be posting on his facebook page these upcoming weeks, so don't forget to check it out. 

Thanks to all of you for your support and the best of luck to Rafa.

Rafa´s team

Video credito: rtve.es

Rafa Nadal continued the excellent form he showed at the Abu Dhabi exhibition tournament to register a 6-3, 6-3 win over Italy’s Simone Bolelli in the first round of the Qatar ExxonMobil Open at the Khalifa Tennis Complex yesterday.

"My only ambition is to play better. Ranking-wise, number one or number two doesn't matter. Fitness-wise, I'm 100 percent now and I'm hitting the ball harder," said Rafa after the match. "I'm also happy that I officially started the season on a winning note. I hope to sustain the momentum."

In doubles, Rafa and Marc Lopez lost against Fyrstenberg and Matkowski, 6-4, 2-6, 3-10.

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Rafa arrived to Doha, Qatar this Monday and attended a promotional event with Roger Federer, launching the 2010 ATP World Tour.

Photo credit Crosnier/QTF

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Abu Dhabi, January 2, 2010

Rafa Nadal got 2010 off to a perfect start as he beat Robin Soderling 7-6(2) 6-4 in the final of the Abu Dhabi exhibition tournament this afternoon.

Rafa started the match on a high note and comfortably held serves to push the opening set into the deciding tie-break. With a dominant performance, he won the set by 7 points to 3.

The second set saw a service break in the sixth game when Rafa got the better of the Swede. However, Soderling bounced back immediately and broke the world No.2 to get back on serve. Finally, in the eleventh game, Nadal broke Soderling's serve one more time to begin 2010 with a title.

After the victory, Rafa took a minute to recognize Soderling's efforts. “I want to congratulate Robin for everything he achieved last season. He has an incredible potential and it makes sense to see him amongst the world’s top 10 players”.

“It is very important for me to begin the season winning. It’s been a real a difficult battle to win a tournament in the last six months and it’s never easy to compete against the best in the world all the time, but I will be giving it my all this year. For the moment though, it’s very important to start off the year with a title,” said the champ at the trophy ceremony.

Soderling, who’s enjoyed a wonderful few months, also took the opportunity to praise Rafa. “I’ve played three good matches at this tournament but Nadal played really good today and got a well deserved victory.”

Rafa now heads to nearby Doha for the official curtain-raiser on the men's tour with the Australian Open less than three weeks away. He will participate as the second seed of this event, where he reached the quarterfinals last season. 

DOHA DRAW

Rafa will face Simon Bolelli in the first round of singles at the ExxonMobile Qatar Open. In doubles, he and friend Marc Lopez will face Fyrstenberg and Matkowski. 

Vamos Rafa! 

Abu Dhabi, January 1st, 2010

Rafa Nadal has started the year in style with a straight sets victory over David Ferrer and set up a final clash against Robin Soderling at the Capitala World Tennis Championship in Abu Dhabi.

The world number two beat his fellow Spaniard 7-6, 6-3, in his semi-final match this afternoon, and will now face a man who he’s lost against in their last 2 meetings. While this is supposedly a friendly exhibition tournament, it also serves as a warm-up for the Australian Open later this month, so it is almost guaranteed there will be no compassion between the pair.

Most recently, Soderling beat the Rafa in straight sets at the ATP Tour World Final, and previously to that, their last meeting was in Roland Garros.

"I'm very happy to get a winning start to the season and it's all good preparation for Australia, where I hope to defend my title," said Rafa.

"I feel fit and well. Last year was difficult because of the injuries I had but I'm looking forward to 2010 and hope I can continue this form."

ORDER OF PLAY

The final match will be played second at 5:00pm (local time) after Ferrer takes on Federer in a third place play-off, which will be decided by an extended tie-break should neither player win in straight sets.

Vamos Rafa!

Abu Dhabi, January 1st, 2009

Spanish tennis player David Ferrer will be Rafa’s first opponent of the year when they meet this Friday afternoon at the Capitala World Tennis Championships in Abu Dahbi.

The exhibition tournament (which marks the beginning of 2010) started on the 31st of December and finishes on the 2nd of January. Roger Federer, Robin Soderling, Stanislas Wawrinka, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (replaced by David Ferrer) and Nikolay Davydenko are the 6 players contesting in this event.

RAFA NADAL VS DAVID FERRER

Ferrer, who had to replace Frenchman Jo-Wilfried at the last minute yesterday, beat Nikolay Davydenko 2-6, 6-2, while Robin Soderling beat Stanislas Wawrinka 7-6 (7-4) y 7-6 (7-2).

Rafa’s semi-final match is scheduled second after Roger Federer’s match against Soderling, which begins at 3:00pm (local time).

Vamos Rafa!

Mallorca, 29 of December, 2009

Rafa Nadal has completed his last training session for the year in Mallorca before flying to Abu Dhabi this afternoon. The World No.2 trained for nearly 2 hours on Monday with one of his best friends, Carlos Moya and even played a set, which he won 7-5.

After the training session, Rafa said he was very “happy” with the work he’s done during December despite not having any time to rest after Spain won the Davis Cup title a few weeks ago. “Before travelling at the beginning [of the season] you always feel a bit lazy, especially when I haven’t had much time for myself as I’ve been training all the time”.

“I did get the chance to be with my friends for a couple of days and I’ve spent some time with my family, so I’m really looking forward to the beginning of the season where I hope to regain mi level of competition bit by bit,” said Rafa to a Mallorcan TV Channel yesterday.

“You always have to take one day at a time and I really hope that both the exhibition tournament in Abu Dhabi and the tournament in Doha will give me the practice and confidence I need to play the Australian Open at the highest level.”

EXHIBITION TOURNAMENT

The Capitala World Tennis Championships, begins on the 31st of December and goes till the 2nd of January. Rafa will begin his 2010 campaign on Thursday, 1st of January against the winner of the match between Jo-Wilfred Tsonga and Nicolay Davydenko.

In the other side of the draw, Roger Federer, Robin Soderling or Stanislas Wawrinka could play him in the final.

Video: IB3 - Uploaded by Meriko100

Mallorca, December 25th, 2009

Spanish Channel, IB3 will be showing this evening 25th of December a special show dedicated to Rafa Nadal. The documentary, called “The Past in not forever’, will be broadcasted at 9:10pm (local Spanish time).

The show is a summary of the 2009 season told from Rafa’s point of view. It was filmed by IB3 after they followed the champ around for a whole year and it shows his most human and intimate side, inside and outside the tennis courts.

Part 1: Enlace abajo

Part 2

Part 3

!Vamos Rafa!

Videos IB3: Patxy270180

Mallorca, December 24, 2009

In behalf of Rafa Nadal and the entire RN.com, we’d like to wish you all a very safe and happy Christmas.  May your homes be full of blessings and bring your loved ones closer together.

Thank you for your continued support throughout Rafa’s career, and we look forward to seeing you all during the 2010 season.

Mallorca, December 22, 2009

As of January 2010, Rafa Nadal is to be Quely’s ambassador for their international expansion plans.

Rafael Nadal, currently number 2 in the ATP ranking, and, without doubt, the best Spanish tennis player of all time, is to become the face of Quely throughout the world, thanks to an agreement that the tennis player and Quely will be presenting in public at our bakery in Inca this coming Monday, December 21st. 

For Quely, a family run company founded in 1853 that manufactures biscuits, bakery and chocolate coated products, it is a source of pride and satisfaction to be able to count with the assistance of Rafa Nadal for these ambitious plans, a new stage in which we hope to publicise our products with the aid of the best person to recommend them, a champion with great human and sporting qualities perseverance, tenacity, respect, hard work, and humility, someone who has consumed our products ever since he was a little kid.

Both Rafa Nadal and the team at Quely would like you to be able to share with you what will definitely be a very special moment in the history of Quely. 

Date of the presentation: Monday December 21st. 2009

Time: 13:00

Address: C/ La Balanguera, nº 1,  07300   Inca