three tight sets; not bad considering rafa was playing terrible! in the end it is a testament of the exceptional player he is! nadal wasn't playing well and del potro took advantage, who can blame him! it's all about taking advantage of an opponent's weaknesses! chances like that don't come every week!

Rafa wasn't "playing terrible" this just shows the tremendous pressure he puts on himself.

Ok, now that he confirmed that there's a reason why he's not playing well I'm starting to be worried... I know it's personal and all, but I hope it doesn't last too long.

Rafa needs to rest for a few days and he'll be again "old Rafa", I have no doubts. He had an amazing run since the start of the year and the clay season is about to start. Guess who is going to dominate again?

hahahahahahhaha rafa doesnt know what a disaster is until hes made FORTY SEVEN UNFORCED ERRORS AND SMASHED A RAQUET.

Me too, Alba. All this week he played terribly and was not at his best by far. It was a crushing blow though losing the match against Del Potro. Oh well, it's clay time. Let's hope we'll celebrate more this time than mourn...

deuce, you're right! he does put tremendous pressure on himself, but that's the nature of him! that's the makeup of his personalityi meant "terrible" compared to what i'm use to seeing from him!

I couldn't watch Fed-Nole match cause I was working :( I know the game just ended a few minutes ago but if somebody has a link to watch Federer smashing his racket or the highlights of the game I would love to see it :)

Jayhu - it's clay time but if he's having personal issues... the court makes no difference, that what's worries me most. Well, let's hope he can solve the "personal problem" soon and all the best for him. After all he's a human being and this is obviously giving him a hard time.

Alba- yeah about these "personal issues," I read in other posts that his parents might be divorcing or he's splitting up with the GF. The hair loss thing is just preposterous. Does anyone know which websites are they getting these stories from. I would surely like to read them.

Same here Jayhu! I tried to google it but just found some random forums with the same rumors we are discussing here, so nothing remarkable. The hair loss made me laugh. It sounds really stupid to me. I don't see Nadal worrying for something so banal. It has to be a real trouble, which makes me worry even more...

If fed said he played bad in a tourney because of his personal problems, he would be torn to pieces by fellow rafa fans here. Its funny to see the irony. I hope his problems arent so big and he probably will be able to dominate clay even if he doesnt play his best lol

If you'd read the full text of the post match interview, what he meant by "personal" was too vague, considering the language barrier. We wont know if he just want to finish the questioning, he doesn't want to answer the question, he's tired of the same question, or he meant "shut up, I answered it already!"

jayhu: It's other blog sites along with vamosbrigade.com that have been pulling their hair out trying to figure out what he meant. Peter Bodo made a teaser of it in his blog and others say that Bodo heard it from Cheryl Murray. It's amazing how just 2 words can start all sorts of rumors by OVERanalyzing. A tennis press conference is just that...about tennis!! It isn't a psychology session or a lie detector test. Just let him be and quit making mountains out of molehills!

fan4tennis - I made and off-the-cuff remark that I wondered if he broke up with his girlfriend. Hardly the stuff of scandals. And his remark WAS about tennis, because he said that it was why he didn't play well. In my opinion, that makes it 100% relevant.

agf25agf and jayhu-

It's funny what you said about the language barrier, and you are right (that could mean trouble and lead you to overanalyze things)... but when I read that he said this: "Always is a reason because you are not playing at your level during the tournament. Always is a reason, but it's personal." I had no doubt that he meant "personal" because in Spanish "personal" is written and spoken the same way than in English... so there's no possible language barriers for this concrete word at all.

So if you really are INTO interpreting "languages", what does he mean by "personal' then, EXACTLY?
Enlighten us please!

I'm not into interpreting languages: I'm Spaniard. Is that enlightening enough? I was just trying to help but forget what I said.......

LOL Alba. I think you pwned agf. :D

You never know, Cheryl................... ¬¬
LOL

Ok, u can dig Rafa more than I do... OLE!

Actually, by "personal" Rafa means private...private issues. It's the typical mistake of a Spaniard cos by personal we mean private most of time. I hope this helps! :)

Sorry for lost match. I wanted to watch my favs in final. Nole & Rafa....
Ajde, vamos!!!

No, I am calm. I am happy about myself, about everything this year, yeah ... I don't know. Always is a reason, but it's personal."

In this context the "it's personal" remark doesnt mean anything, especially after saying in the same sentence that he is happy and that he doesn't know...doesnt know what? Why he couldnt adjust to the conditions?.
So in my opinion all Nadal is saying is that when you lose there is always a reason and that reason is specific to the player..ie "personal". Another words Nadal may have lost like Federer because he could not get his feel throughout the entire tournament, while another player may have lost because he wasnt feeling well etc.

I made and off-the-cuff remark that I wondered if he broke up with his girlfriend. Hardly the stuff of scandals. And his remark WAS about tennis, because he said that it was why he didn't play well. In my opinion, that makes it 100% relevant.
cherylmurray , 4/4/09 12:18 AM

Rafa said that to you or Bodo said that to you Cheryl?

As a Rafa-fan thru and thru, I was disappointed that he lost but i realised that he had not been playing his best throughout the tourney. But i must also admit that I cannot expect Rafa to win everytime......it just does not happen that way.....and this is not his best surface......and i still feel that he needs to sharpen his game.

However, with that being said, i do believe that there IS something going on with Rafa. Whatever,it is, i just hope that he is bale to ride the storm and play his best tennis during the caly season.

"I think I played really bad all the time. That's the true of the match."

How is this statement not unsportmanlike and not taking away credit from your opponent?. Is this what you call a humble champion? You Nadal fans are really good clowns. Please make me laugh some more.

Nizz catch Torres! I don understand why Rafa is considered so humble

why is only a line from his post match interview has been highlighted??? he gave credit to del potro....he congratulated him...nd yeah he was right when he said his loss was an "amazing disaster"...losing after being 3-0 ahead in the deciding set is a disaster....labeling his comments as "unsportsmanlike" IS WRONG........he really did play bad all the time??? anyone following his game closely could make that out...

Well even dats de case wid Feds post match interviews being posted here .. a single line and den stating him as arrogant ..

max.............then thats wrong no??? either give the full picture....or dont...why glimpses of an interview r being posted nd then twisted to someone's pleasure???

Well u gtta tell dat to de ppl who do tht!~ And dats why I particularly said "Niz Catch" :D