May 31, 2009

Rafa advanced to the fourth round of the French Open for the fifth consecutive year by beating Aussie Lleyton Hewitt on Friday afternoon.

Rafa, now 44-4 in singles matches this year, made quick work of the world's former No.1 player, scoring a 6-1, 6-3, 6-1 straight sets victory.

Facing Rafa in today's fourth round of action is Sweden's Robin Soderling. Soderling, who is playing in his sixth French Open, will be making his first ever appearance in the fourth round of a Grand Slam event. 

HEAD-TO-HEAD ANALYSIS

Rafa has never dropped a match to the 23rd-seeded Soderling, earning a perfect 3-0 record against the Swede.

The two last clashed at the 2009 Masters Series Rome, Rafa delivering a comprehensive 6-0, 6-1 beating to Soderling in the round of 16.

The pair have battled twice at a Grand Slam event, including a well-documented, dramatic five-set match at Wimbledon in 2007. Rafa prevailed after losing a two-set lead in the round of 32, 6-4, 6-4, 6-7, 4-6, 7-5.

It’s no secret to anyone that Rafa and Soderling aren’t the best of friends, (like you could have seen at the Wimbledon match) “I’ve said ‘Hi’ to him about seven times since I started playing professionally and he never answers back. I’ve asked other players and it seems I’m not the only one,” said Rafa two years ago after the Wimbledon encounter.

Despite that though, Rafa still respects Robin and no matter what happens, he “will never say anything bad about any player. If I ever have something to say, I would say it to them [personally].”

TODAY’S ORDER OF PLAY

Play starts at 11:00

Fernando Gonzalez vs Victor Hanescu

Followed by

Dinara Safina vs Aravane Rezai

Followed by

Rafael Nadal vs Robin Soderling

Vamos Rafa!

May 30, 2009

America's 'Men's Fitness Magazine' have selected 'The 25 Fittest Guys in the World' for their 2009 June/July issue. And you may ask, who got the No. 1 spot? Drum roll please... Rafa Nadal!

The magazine's editor Roy Johnson was quoted saying that: “To put it very simply, these guys live life. They pursue excellence in their careers, and succeed by being smart, fit and passionate about their pursuits. The actors don’t just get fit for a film project . The athletes don’t just get fit for a season. Every guy on the MF 25 does what it takes to win; they represent the best among men.”

You can read Rafa's full interview here

FITNESS

From: www.mensfitness.com

Why Rafa? Because of those guns, for goodness' sake. Or gun, really. The left one. It's a boulder. A cannon. A WMD. Because of his stamina, his physique. Because of the way he plays. The way Mike Singletary or Ray Nitschke or Lawrence Taylor would play if they played tennis. He's a Champion. Six Grand. Slams. Thirty-three tournament wins...No longer just a "clay" guy, he's now a man for all surfaces. 

Because he's been No. 1 for 37 weeks since August 2008. Because he wants to stay there. We love that. Because he loves his national soccer team. Loves it with the passion you'd expect from a Spaniard. Loves it like a fan. And seems to love life like a fan.  Whatever you do, do it confidently. And he does.

Because of the latest Greatest Match in the History of the Sport, his four-hour, 48-minute victory over Federer in the Wimbledon Finals last summer. It was a convergence of the sport's greatest on its greatest stage. His victory signified a real-time passing of the torch. Because when he wins, we feel drained. And empowered. We feel as if we were there. Or wish we had been. For all those reasons, Rafael Nadal, the best tennis player in the world, is the 2009 Men's FitnessFittest Guy in the World.

ROLAND GARROS: Rafa set up a fourth-round clash at Roland Garros against Robin Soderling (who beat 14th-seeded Spaniard David Ferrer 6-7, 7-5, 6-2, 7-6 yesterday), after blasting past Australia’s Lleyton Hewitt in straight sets 6-1 6-3 6-1. He he probably play that match on Sunday. 

May 29, 2009

Rafa had a relatively busy day yesterday. After his usual one-hour training session, the world No.1 spent the afternoon at a promotional event for the Balearic Islands (who he represents) as part of a campaign that invites people to travel to their 4 beautiful destinations.

Now it’s back to business for Rafa as he takes on former World No.1 Lleyton Hewitt in round three at the French Open tomorrow.

“Always, it's a very tough match to play against Lleyton. I have to play well to have chances to win, so that's what I want (to) try," said Rafa after his second-round victory.

"I like [him] a lot as a person. I have had the chance to know him these years I have been playing and he has always been very nice to me, and I am very thankful. Maybe the only exception is when we played golf last year in Miami and he literally killed me... Since them we haven't played again and I am really looking forward to that. But seriously now, tomorrow it will be a great match, I am sure, and I am really excited about this one," concluded on his blog .

Rafa respects and admires Lleyton Hewitt  It goes back to the Davis Cup final between Australia and Spain in 2000. Inside a seething arena called Palau Sant Jordi, Hewitt scrapped and clawed his way through two thunderous singles matches on clay while a 14-year-old kid, having carried the Spanish flag into the opening ceremony, sat courtside with his jaw to the floor in awe. The kid was Rafa.

Hewitt has no recollection of Rafa being there, but the current world No. 1 watched every point as Hewitt (19 then) fought his way past Albert Costa in five sets on day one.

It’s been 9 years since that day and now, the Australian former world number one is one of the few players on tour without a negative record against Rafa. The pair are locked at 4-4 in their head-to-heads encounters, although all three meetings on clay have resulted in wins for Rafa, including a fourth-round clash at Roland Garros in 2007.

"Over five sets it probably makes it a bit tougher than beating him in a best-of-three-set match on this surface. But I've still got to go out there and worry about my game and not his," said Lleyton at a press conference. "I'll go out there and play my game and hopefully I can have one of my best matches.”

"He's obviously an unbelievable athlete and he always believed in himself, and I think that's why he's been able to have great success at a young age," said Hewitt.

ORDER OF PLAY

11am

Aravane Rezai vs Michelle Larcher De Brito

Followed by

Fernando Gonzalez vs  Josselin Ouanna

Followed by

Rafael Nadal vs Lleyton Hewitt

Vamos Rafa!

May 29, 2009

Rafa Nadal has set up a fourth-round clash at Roland Garros against Robin Soderling (who beat 14th-seeded Spaniard David Ferrer 6-7, 7-5, 6-2, 7-6), after blasting past Australia’s Lleyton Hewitt in straight sets 6-1 6-3 6-1, in a little under two hours.

"For sure it was my best match here so far," said the champion.

"I felt much better today and a win against Lleyton is always a great win. It was an amazing result."

"It's tough against him," admitted Hewitt. "You have to start well as he is such a great player when he's in front. He goes for his shots and dictates all the time so it gets harder and harder”.

"He's hitting the ball extremely clean and he has that heavy spin. He makes you rush, he hits passing shots on the run and makes you try harder."

THE MATCH

The four-time defending champion converted 7-of-13 break chances and posted a 76 percent success rate on his first serve. Conversely, Hewitt was limited to just one break of serve in three opportunities and fell to 4-5 lifetime against Rafa, which includes losses in each of their three French Open matchups.

Hewitt put up most resistance in the second set when he retrieved a break of serve, showing his renowned fighting spirit after falling behind early on.

But Nadal was soon back in front, producing one of the shots of the tournament with a forehand winner down the line at full stretch to break serve again

Vamos Rafa!

May 28, 2009

"I am writing [these words] after the Champions League final. All of us  staying here have watched it here at the hotel lobby and the first thing I want to do is congratulate all the Barcelona team. What a fantastic team. The closest thing to perfection!!!. And I say this first since it looks like this is the only thing people were really caring today was about the football match. Sure I wanted to watch it, you know I love football and I watch a lot but it was kind of funny to have questions in the press conference about me wanting to change the match today to play earlier," said Rafa on his blog today for Times Online. 

The World No.1 is scheduled to practice at 11:00am at Roland Garros today, where he plans "to continue to try to improve things". After that, he will be present at a promotional event for the Balearic Islands' Government, where he will get together with the International media at 4:00pm.

ATP'S SOLVING THE RAFA RIDDLE

Paul Macpherson from ATPworldtour.com has written a great article that explains in detail the challenge Rafa is facing as the defending champion at this year's French Open, and also analyzes how the other top-3-contenders compare to the Roland Garros champion. 

"Rafael Nadal is a man accustomed to getting what he wants or, more to the point, taking what he earns. There is nothing he wants more than a record-breaking fifth consecutive title at Roland Garros, where he is one of the hottest favourites in Grand Slam history." 

Vamos Rafa!

May 27, 2009

After a day’s rest and a ‘full-on training session’, Rafa will return to his beloved French Open clay courts today in the last match of the day. The World No.1 will face Russia’s Teimuraz Gabashvili in the second round of the tournament, in front of hundreds of fans who will be waiting for him at the Suzanne Lenglen stadium.

Yesterday afternoon, Rafa trained for a couple of hours under a dull Paris sky, and prepared himself for his second meeting against the Russian. The pair met for the first time at the beginning of the season at the Miami Masters Series event, which Rafa won in straight sets: 6-2, 6-2.

Against Gabashvili, Rafa expects to play better than he did in the first round because he felt “he was standing around more than usual, and that extra hundredth-of-a-second [wasted] could change things [drastically],” said Rafa, “I’ve played short, without a real game plan and without consistency. I have to [make sure] I play more inside the court and that my shots hurt more.”

“I trust and hope [my presence at] the tournament is long, so that I can adapt, get better and have a better feeling,” concluded Rafael.    

Now, let’s not forget that today is also a very exciting day for soccer fans, who like Rafa, will be following closely tonight’s Champion’s League final between Manchester United and Barcelona.

Rafa of course, is very excited about it and as he shared with his fans yesterday on his blog, he hopes he can watch it “on-site after my match,” depending what time he finishes. Otherwise he will watch it “at my hotel with my team and other players staying there as well”.

And for those who are wondering, Rafa will be supporting Barcelona. “I like ManU a lot and I always play with them at Play Station but Barcelona is Spain so I will cheer for them.”

ORDER OF PLAY

11:00am

Dinara Safina  vs   Vitalia Diatchenko

Not before 12:00

Christophe Rochus vs Fabrice Santoro                     

Followed by

Robert Kendrick vs Gilles Simon

Followed by

Nadia Petrova vs Maria Sharapova

Followed by

Rafael Nadal vs  Teimuraz Gabashvili

Vamos Rafa!

May 27, 2009 

Rafa Nadal can now watch the final of the Champions League (between  Manchester   United and Barcelona) feeling very proud of himself. Not only did he successfully beat Teimuraz Gabashvili in the second round of Roland Garros, but also, achieved an incredible feat this afternoon.

The World No.1 only needed 2 hours and 17 minutes of play to go past the No.72 in the world in straights sets: 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 and claim his 30th straight victory at Roland Garros beating Chris Evert's record of 29 successive wins at the home of claycourt tennis.

“I’m very happy about my 30th consecutive win at Roland Garros but [to be honest], I come here to win matches. I’m excited about this record but the important thing here is to play well and to be here [to play the final] on the second Sunday,” said Rafa after his match.

"I played better today than [I did] the first day - won in three sets so that's good and I am happy to be in the third round," he added.

When asked about the rain and whether he was worried it could have interrupted play. Rafa clarified that the only thing worrying him “was having a day off. I wanted to continue playing because of the rain, not because of the soccer match. I’m very professional [when it comes to those things].”

“I’m here to play at Roland Garros, not to watch the Champions League final,” he said, “but of course, I’m very happy that I will get to watch it now,” he said smiling.

“Am I happy with the win? Well, I have played better, I’ve had a better feeling [before] but I’ve won in 3 sets, and I’m very happy to play the third round. The next match is going to be real hard for me because I think I will be playing Hewitt and he’s always a difficult opponent.”

THE MATCH

Rafa grabbed an early break to take control of the first set from his 72nd-ranked opponent.

Using a sledgehammer of a forehand, the Russian stuck grimly to the task in the second set until 4-4 when he finally cracked dropping serve to love as Rafa turned up the pressure and then galloped away to a two sets to love lead.

The rest was a mere formality as the world No.1 ran out a comfortable winner chalking up his ninth straight sets win in a row at Roland Garros.

In the third round, Rafa will go up against former world No.1 Lleyton Hewitt, a player he has beaten twice already at Roland Garros in 2006 and 2007. The Australian was a 6-4, 6-3, 6-1 winner over Andrey Golubev of Kazakhstan.

“Lleyton is a great player and I know I will have to play my best if I want to have a chance to win,” concluded the defending champion.

Vamos Rafa!

May 26, 2009

FIRST ROUND MATCH AGAINST MARCOS DANIEL

"The first match is always difficult. I was a little nervous because this tournament is very special to me, but I feel good.”

“In sports, in a tenth of a second you have to catch the ball and everything can change in a game. You need to be present there, on time. If you play well, you have the feeling you'll be on top of the next ball, but today I was a bit short in my shots. I was not precise. It wasn't neat and clear during this match, so this is what I need to improve.”

NEW PINK NIKE OUTFIT

“I knew these colours since the moment some months ago Nike showed us the proposed clothing. I like pink, and I specially like this outfit very much. The whole combination I find it really nice. We wear a lot of pink in Spain and I think it is a nice colour. If you look at my website it is also pink for this tournament”.

ABOUT ARRIVING EARLY IN ROLAND GARROS

“Some people ask why did I arrive so early to Roland Garros. Well, I arrived already on Wednesday night so that I could get a good practice on Thursday where I played an exhibition match here in Paris. I like to come early to tournaments.”

HIS FUTURE KIDS

“I would like them to do whatever they want to do, meaning if they decide to become tennis players I will support them. But the most important thing is that it should be their decission. Not sure I will be their coach though...”

WHAT MAKES RAFA ANGRY

“Bad education of people (Meaning bad manners). Not sure I get to lose my temper but close.”

RAFA’S BLOG FROM RG: Ever wonder if Rafa has a facebook account?, If he does his laundry? Well, read his exclusive daily blog for Times Online and get to know Rafa better.

NOTE: Rafa is due to play again on Wednesday against Russian Teimuraz Gabashvili. 

May 25, 2009

Rafa Nadal trained for a long 2-hour period yesterday in company of Argentinean Sergio Roitman as part of his preparation for today’s first-round encounter against Brazil’s Marcos Daniel.

It will be the beginning of Rafa’s biggest French Open challenge as he attempts to become the first man ever to win Roland Garros five times in a row.

The match is scheduled second on Center Court (Philippe Chartrier) in what will be Rafa’s first encounter against the 31-year-old Brazilian.

As Rafa put it yesterday “it won’t be easy” for either of them…

“Easy is never the right word to describe [the situation]. He will come into the match a bit tired and I am the kind of person to never play well in the first round. The first round is always difficult for me,” said Rafa at a press conference. “[Against] Dabul, I didn’t concentrate enough, didn’t take it seriously and he came out and played real well,” continued the World No.1 in regards to his (one set, 7-5) loss at an exhibition match over the weekend.

Marcos Daniel is a qualifier whose best result at this tournament was achieved last year when he reached the second round. So far, this year, he’s made it into the quarterfinal of the Belgrade Open and won a couple of challenger tournaments in Marrakech and Zagreb.

The World No.1 also took the opportunity to tell the press how he feels about the challenge he faces coming into the French Open as the defending champion and about the possibility of making history again.

 “I don’t think about winning a fifth title at all”, “[The] records and [historic achievements] are just for you to look at at the end of your career, not when you’re still playing,” then he continued “ If I lost here it wouldn’t be a tragedy and [want it or not], it will happen someday. Let’s just hope that it won’t [happen] this year, [but if it does] I will have to face it calmly, the same way I face my victories.”

“[Tennis or any sport in general] is not designed for you to win all the time,” concluded Rafa.

Vamos Rafa!

ORDER OF PLAY

Dinara Safina v Anne Keothavong

Followed by

Rafael Nadal v Marcos Daniel

May 25, 2009

Top-seed Rafa Nadal looked his usual self in the first round of the French Open, beating Marcos Daniel of Brazil 7-5 6-4 6-3 for his 29th straight win on the Roland Garros red clay, equalling the record set by Chris Evert between 1974 and 1981.

Rafa, who is the four-time defending champion here, needed two hours and 22 minutes to make it to the second round of the French Grand Slam tournament, where he will play Teimuraz Gabashvili on Wednesday.

"The first match is always difficult. I was a little nervous because this tournament is very special to me, but I feel good," Rafa said before walking off centre court.

“I didn't play well with my legs,” he said at the press conference. “In sports, in a tenth of a second you have to catch the ball and everything can change in a game. You need to be present there, on time. If you play well, you have the feeling you'll be on top of the next ball, but today I was a bit short in my shots. I was not precise. It wasn't neat and clear during this match, so this is what I need to improve,” then he continued, "But it's been like that for the last four years (in the first round). And I have won in three sets, that's a positive...I hope to continue improving in the next match."

Daniel on the other hand sounded a bit more frustrated about the match, and wasn’t too happy about playing on Philippe Chatrier because “Rafa is incredibly fit," when you think he’s done with a point, “Nadal goes on, and on, and on.”

“I really like big courts, but only when I play against mere mortals,” joked the Brazilian. “It’s just that Rafa shoots balls that nobody can hit back.”

“The man who wants to win against him has to have a great backhand and try to open him up a bit, but who could do it?... On hard courts there are many players who could, but here?...”

THE MATCH

Daniel's most powerful weapon is his service and he used this to keep the match competitive but in the end Rafa’s experience and booming groundstrokes were enough to make the next round.

Daniel was matching his illustrious opponent with some fierce winners and deft touches at the start of the match, but he was finally broken in the ninth game.

The Brazilian continued to show his qualities as he took a 3-1 lead in the second set. But going a break down seemed to have fired Rafa into life as he won four games in a row and then took a two set lead.

The third set was far easier for Rafa, and although he was broken for a third time in the match, he had no problems closing out the match 6-3.

Vamos Rafa!