Rafatennis - Rome Masters 1000 - 8-15 May 2011

First topic message reminder :

"Obviously I didn't play at my best. I didn't play badly, just normal. But that is not enough against Djokovic." That's the true Rafa! Well, one of them had to lose their streak and it wasn't third time lucky for Rafa against Djokovic.

With a quick turnaround, we are straight off to Rome, with Rafa in a battle to keep his No 1 ranking and take it into the French. The tournament has already started and the draw could prove tough for him, depending on whether potential opponents can take their good form from Madrid onto Rome.

Rafa's first match will be on Wednesday.

Good luck Rafa - dust yourself down and come roaring back. Vamos!

I thought they might just be stickers that they stuck to their shirts?

Whatever anyway, it was crass and pretty disrespectful. It's one thing to celebrate your success, but another to do it like that.

They can't all be like the Nadal camp though :love:

Trouble is Wooffie Rafa has Bellucci his first match I believe...

Hi Rafateers; Group required!!!

I'm so disappointed in the way Rafa lost today; I don't think he ever looked as if he believed he would win. I'm a bit worried that Nole is in his head now. But, I'm sure he and Toni will sort it out; hopefully in time for Rome, bur definitely for RG.

Hey ho, on to Rome. You're quite right Haddie - Bellucci is Rfa's first round match. I'm trying not to worry too soon!!!

Night all; hopefully things will look better in the morning!

Good win for Man Utd today Wooffs - surely their Cmapionship now?

As sweet as Rafa is, I always had him down as the ultimate competitor...no measure asked or given, and friendship is left in the locker room. This is why I'm struggling to understand what has happened.

It's not so much the loss.....heaven only knows that can happen at any time...it's the negativity of Rafa, the fact he seems at times to just fall apart. It's a total mystery to me. The Rafa that won the US Open seems a totally different animal to the one we've seen in front of us for the last couple of months.

I know he got to 2 H/C Masters finals and he's won MC and Barca, and got to the final today.....in any other players books it's a great result...but this is Rafa....Rafa who just goes out there and leaves blood on the court if necessary.

Whatever it is, he needs to get himself sorted out, and quickly. I know he's winning matches, but it's his experience that's getting him through, we only see flashes of the brilliant Rafa, and it's not enough

Championship, I meant!

Yes he does have Bellucci first round. Its been virgin territory for him with his run to the SF, so we will see.

Its down to Rafa and his team now though. They've worked together to turn this man from a clay courter, to a champion on grass, to a winner on hardcourts. They've got used to Rafa's opponents playing in a particular way so all of them will just have to put the hard work in again for Rafa to succeed.

How you feeling now, Rafan?

Hello again to Denz and Angie

I think my head is spinning now!! Who'd be a Rafa fan??

Hi Woofs

I feel totally washed out now...this boy does get us worried. He's just posted on FB that he and his team are off for dinner. Hope he enjoys it

The only place I'm going is bed....I'm worn out and I never even watch ed the match

Night night all

Group

I'm ok. Still sighing a bit, but que sera sera, noh? Interesting to see from the Rome points spy thread that Nole could actually get to No 1 next week if he wins the tournament and Rafa doesn't get as far as the semi-final It has got that close, that quick. And that is despite Rafa's 6000 points from the three slams yet to come this year still in the bank! Whoddathunkit?! With the lead Rafa had at the start of the year he looked ok for No 1 for a while. But no-one could have predicted that one person would pretty much win everything major played so far this year. Novak's going to have a hella lot of points to defend in the early stages of next season! But I guess he'll be ok as more than likely the tournaments will be shared round...

Anyway, I've got to stop thinking points/rankings, as Wooffs said - my head is spinning! Nothing we can do, it's in the hands of Rafa and his crew. Vamos!

Night night to all and enjoy your dinner Rafa

I'm going to bed thinking positive and I refuse to panic about RG until at least this time next week after a tournament played on a "proper" clay court.

What that final really reminded me of was most Rafa/Novak matches on h/c pre-2010, with Rafa running around like a rabbit x metres behind the baseline. I'm thinking that Rafa has never had it that easy in Madrid in the previous two years that they've played there on clay. From memory in 2009 (although there was the lurking knee issue), he went 3 sets against Nando, then there was that very long SF against Novak and then he lost to Roger in the final. In 2010 I think the SF was 3 sets against Almagro and the final against Roger was close, although Rafa won in straight sets.

Rafa's obviously not playing 2008 brilliantly, but I'm not sure that it's all about to fall apart either, which is the impression you'd get from just reading Nadal News.

Morning everyone It was too late and I was too to visit last night.

Not sure what happened to Rafa last night, but he is human and like us other mortals, they have their off days. He really looked like he didn't want to be there last night. There wasn't even a hug at the net at the end

I had a bad feeling about the match from the start and even when he levelled in the first set I couldn't shake the feeling.

Madrid really isn't a good tourney for him is it but onward and upward and let's hope this gives him a kick up his lovely backside.

Good Morning all my luvverly Rafateers

Big (s) all round this morning. It wasn't Rafa's finest hour yesterday, but as Womble mentioned, Madrid isn't always a happy stomping ground for him.

There's no doubt that Nole is the best player in the world right now, and Rafa is right behind him. We know he'll take it as it comes...as he's said in the past....if a player beats him it's too good and you just congratulate him.

But.....and this is what I'm concerned about.....Rafa doesn't seem to have his game at the moment. It's as if he's not sure how to play any more. The team have tried to tweak his game to suit the different surfaces, and last year it really paid off.

This year has been different....yes he's got to finals and won tourneys.....but it's all unconvincing, more the fact that Rafa has hung in there, and his opponents have just wilted under his pressure on the court. I wonder if Nole's resurgance has caught them off guard.....if so It's taken them a long time to catch on to it!

Maybe a spell at No 2 would do Rafa good.....it may bring out the best in him.

Yers Drenzi I think I agree with that last remark. Rafa always played well at No.2. and liked it.. less pressure I think. Let Nole have his No.1. I think the novelty might wear off after a while. Its tough at the top because you have no place left to go.. enjoy the view Nole..for as long as it lasts. Because everytime you win... next time round you will have to defend it thats the bit that stinks.

Be aware rafateers who has turned up on another thread none other than Tenez

Yes...just saw that Haddie. Funny how a loss like that can bring some out of the woodwork - obviously there was nothing worth posting about before now, despite being a member for a while.
I suppose we couldn't retain this haven forever

I can tell you he has been banned from Centre Court Tennis Forum..

You know how one of Rafa's sayings is to be "with colm". Well, I've been looking for that colm since yesterday evening. Posting here, and reading others' posts helps. But I just found this wonderful post by Miri of Nadal News, which I thought would be good to share here.

"I’m going to try to write this without sounding judgmental and telling people to chill or whatever. I’ll probably fail.

Sport, like life, is full of ups and downs. One succeeds in both by dealing with the downs as well as you deal with the ups – don’t let either dominate or control your thinking. As we all know, Rafa excels at this.

A life with all ups becomes impossible. Without a few downs, the ups no longer have any meanings. Without new challenges, the drive to achieve falters and fails.

Rafa has had a pattern of ups and downs in his career. I think that he’s managed to keep his ranking so high and consistent while doing this has fooled a few few people, but his 2006 wasn’t as good as his 2005. His 2007, was a mixture. 2008 was impossibly good. 2009 was scary in that we all thought it all might end. 2010 was impossibly good. Right now, I’m freaking happy that, so far, we aren’t dealing with another 2009.

Rafa’s made the final of EVERY tournament he’s entered save two. For those two, it was his body that let him down (flu and muscle tear), not his tennis. 99% of the tour would kill for his record.

Yes, he’s found a new problem: getting past Nole. But that means he’s also found a new challenge: getting past Nole. Instead of fretting that he’s never going to master that challenge, I’m looking at his track record (never going to win on grass, never going to win a hard court grand slam, never going to win the USO) and thinking: he’ll find a way. It may take a while, it may not…but he will find a way.

In the mean time, I’m just going to sit back and enjoy the tennis he has to offer. While the outcome of today’s match wasn’t what I wanted, I enjoyed the thrill of watching some of the tennis produced today. I enjoyed the stress of wondering, “can he? will he?” To me, that’s what being a sports fan is about. It’s not about the easy wins. It’s not about the blow-outs. It’s that sweet, horrible, difficult, exhilarating, stomach-turning tension of… “can he? will he?” You have to live through some disappointments when the answer is “No”, but when it’s “yes”, it’s wonderful."

Isn't that just brilliant?

Absolutely brilliant, Rafan <applause>

And just the right injection of tone that I think is needed right now.

As is a ............. Rafagame!! So come on Rafateers!! Over to the Rafachat fred ... :run2: :run2: :run2:

Absolutelly bliddy wonderful.. Rafa said before how can you enjoy the wins if you never have any losses... how right he is and so are you.
Thankyou

You've got to love Miri - feel better already

Haddie-nuff wrote:I can tell you he has been banned from Centre Court Tennis Forum..

Hi Haddie,

I have been aware of this too. I know an awful lot about the goings on on CC Tennis Forum.

But I have to say that the policy on v2 is that everyone starts with a clean slate when they join here......so lets see how things go : )

Solerina

mmmmmm Somehow I dont think you will have to wait long. But hey hush my mouth

What a wonderful piece from Miri.....she's totally right, and you can bet that today, Rafa is head down and working hard.

As for that other person.....we'll see how long it lasts

Hey guys

Look ... I know we've moved on to another tournament, but sometimes its just interesting to read Rafa's pressers. So here's his Madrid post-final one.

Good Morning all my lovelies

A really good presser from Rafa....very heads up and positive. He knows that Nole is in the zone at the moment, and that he has to look at his own game again.

All I want him to do is compete well, which he didn't do on Sunday. If he plays well and Nole beats him....then it's too good and the worst that can happen is that he'll be No 2, which won't be a bad thing for him.

Nole is riding high on confidence and is playing as if his life depends on it.....but, he's got to keep it going....can he?

This is what makes any sport so watchable......it evolves with the generations and a new player can break through and make his mark at any time, while the old guard and their followers have to accept that Anno Domini is going to catch up with them.

The next few weeks between now and Wimbledon are going to be very very interesting.

It amazes me how all Nole´s fans insist that Nole beat an on form , on top of his game, King of Clay... well suppose it makes his case look better but I think we know ...dont we

My theory is anything that goes up that fast is gonna soon run out of gas...each win has seen him get smugger and smugger... sadly it doesnt suit him I was beginning to warm to Nole but what Ive seen over the last three wins ..nah !!!. pride comes before a fall methinks.

Well Rafateers

Feli has started his match against Llodra now and its on serve.

VAMOS FELIIIIIIIIIIIII !! <hot><phwoar>

Seems little Marc! is about to go out ... down a set and a break in the second.

Feli takes the first set in a breaker ...

Have just tried to find a stream for Feli...but no luck ....can watch Stan or Bellucci....but no Feli

BTW...for the real afficinados of this game, there is a challenger in Bordeaux this week

Well Denzy ... Feli was too quick for you anyway as he raced ahead with the second set and won it 6-1.

Come on Fer ... over to you ....

....well done Feli

Looks like Djoko is going to have a fight on his hands

http://eurosport.yahoo.com/tennis/

Should be fun

Lorenzi is a break up against Bellucci (predicted first round Rafa opponent) ...

Set down and 0-3 down in second set now ...

So Bellucci loses first round. Isn't it amazing how these players can be so good one week, and drop very quickly the next. Just goes to show how much talent and determination the top boys have to stay at the top week in, week out.

Amazing that for a one-dimensional moonballer, Rafa has managed to stay there for the past few years, or has it been a weak era

Oh Fer ... What are we going to do with you?

He was playing sooooooooooo well, in that match. A funny topsy turvy few games in the second but he stood there to serve for it. Was 40-0 ... and lost the game. Serve 3 df's. Head totally went. Then the set ...

Not that we saw the end of the set of course because Sky went to the Murray match and DID NOT PUT THIS ONE ON THE RED BUTTON.

Not that I'm or anything. And he loses the 3rd 6-4. <Dimples> was dreadful ... but gets away with it.

Feli last week, Fer this.

I was watching that one Woofs......his head just went walkabout....and as you say <dimples> gets away with it

Not bothered with Muzza....just not in the mood to watch him.

Oh...I don't know....sometimes it's not easy being a <fangirl>

It is pure t.o.r.t.u.r.e. Denz ...

Rafa starts tomorrow and is second on after Djokovic. So possible 1 pm start our time, but as Novak is playing Rafan's <squeeze> Kubot ... he could be on and off within the hour.

There are so many rumours afoot that Benito has dropped Novak ... or is it the other way around??

Morning all my luvverly Rafateers

Would Benito really drop another Golden Goose I can see Novak dropping him, as maybe with his new status, he could want someone to work exclusively for him.

I'm going into town soon, but hopefully will be back to catch up on the match....will try to report back

Morning all lovely Rafateers!!

Denz Well, you know your reports are always appreciated by those chained to their desks. Feli also plays today on the no. 1 court following Stan and a ladies match ... so possibly around 2pm our time.

I am not jealous of your afternoon's viewing ... all ALL!!

GOOD LUCK RAFA !!!!

Wish the commies would stop going on about Djoko He's playing great, we get it.

Oh so true

Whot is it??? I mean ... if we didn't have endure Feds Feds Feds Feds Feds Feds Feds Feds during a Rafa match ... now its him!!

As Cats says ... we get it.

Let me guess ... are they talking about if he can get to No. 1??

Oh Wooffie we have gone on from being No.1. .. his after winning Wimbledon Itll be a calendar slam next

They just mentioned the earthquake that was predicted for Rome today

And Rafa breaks.....

OMG - one just asked the other if he thinks Nadal is talented and if yes why??? Who are these people???? Haddie, have you got the same ones as me?

Well, I'm quite surprised that they're not saying about him being No 1 after Roland Garros to be honest, particularly given that he can claim No 1 here...:run2:

Anyway, good luck to Rafa, because regardless of what the others are doing, it is in his hands for this tournament at least. Vamos!

And talking of Rafa in Rome...this time last year me and Wooffs were lucky enough to be there, enjoying it. So I went for a perusal on NadalNews for a reminder of our reports. If you fancy reading them they are the first two items in this link

The thing that makes me the most is how I was neutral about the Novak/Nando match. No neutrality these days

Didn't they have enough time during Novak's match to discuss all this??

I see Rafa has a break!!

Speaking of breaks ... how many will it take for Novak to get to No. 1?? I mean ... enough!!

Lovely Rafan Rome ...

Blimey - earthquakes this year, volcanoes last year!

How is Rafa looking ladies?

Oh dear I see he just got broken back