April 29, 2009

Rafa Nadal has booked a place in the third round of the Rome Masters Series 1000 tournament after a convincing win over Andreas Seppi, in an hour and 20 minutes of play.

The Spanish ace looked comfortable throughout his first match on the Roman clay as he picked up points with ease against his Italian opponent. It didn't take long for the 22-year-old to claim a 6-2 6-3 victory, as he dominated the match from the first serve and rarely loosened his grip to allow Seppi in.

'El Matador', as he is famously known, displayed a combination of power, skill, and accuracy to back-up a great gameplan that saw his opponent be stretched all over the court in chase of angled shots.

The World No.1 one will next play Swedish Robin SODERLING, who beat Victor CRIVOI in three sets: 6-1, 6-7(2), 6-1 and who he’s played against twice before. 

• The first time they faced each other was at the 2006 Roland Garros first round, which Rafa won comfortably in straight sets: 6-2 7-5 6-1.
• The second time around Soderling put up a fight before going down in 5 sets: 6-4 6-4 6-7(7) 4-6 7-5 at the 2007 Wimbledon Championships.

Vamos Rafa!

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THE VOTES ARE IN – TIME MAGAZINE REVEALS THE WORLD’S MOST INFLUENTIAL PEOPLE OF 2008

TIME Magazine, one of the world’s most recognized publications has revealed today the top 100 most influential personalities of the past year.  

Amongst the proud nominees were famous thinkers, artists, leaders and revolutionaries from all over the world who - in one way or another - have had an impact in today’s society.

This week’s issue (which will be on the stands on Friday, May 1) also features our one and only, Rafa Nadal. The No.1 tennis player in the world was voted 60th overall, beating sporting legends such as Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps (72nd), Tiger woods (106th), and Alex Rodriguez (134th).

NBA star Kobe Bryant and Filipino pound-for-pound king, Manny Pacquiao were the only 2 athletes to beat Rafa, coming 9th and 22nd respectively.

"Moot", a 21-year-old college student and founder of online community 4chan.org, emerged as this year’s most influential person in the world, beating heavyweights such as US President Barack Obama, Vladimir Putin, Oprah Winfrey and the Dalai Lama.

Congratulations Rafa!

Photo: Rafa at the Kids Village yesterday.