I have to say that the only two people who I can see spoiling a Roger-rafa party in the final are Ferrero and Cilic (if he has recovered sufficiently).

Ferrero? LOL.

Why not? :) After ljubo's heroics, why cant i back an old sentimental favorite of mine?? Just you wait and watch Ricky! Rafa will probably have it easy but if he meets ferrero, that will be his toughest match en route.

of course you can back Ferrero

but there's a difference between backing Ferrero and saying he is the only threat to Nadal. The latter statement is utterly false. The biggest threats to Nadal are Nalbandian (round three), Karlovic (round four), and Isner/Tsonga (quarters).

Nadal would MUCH rather play Ferrero than either Isner or Tsonga.

okay okay you win.. but based on tsonga/isner's recent form and nalbi's injury, i still think in that quarter rafa will meet ferrero (and maybe even struggle), especially since he is on real good form in clay.

"Isner's recent form" as in "one of the best players on tour"?????? LOL.

I am with Ricky here. Isner just played Rafa for the very first time. Now he has seen that "junk" on Rafa's ball, as he so succinctly put it. I bet he will be more prepared should they meet again. The ones who immediately stood out to me once I saw the draw were Nalbandian, Karlovic and of course Isner or Tsonga. Those are the real threats to Rafa.

Of all of those the only one with any recent form is John Isner. Miami plays faster than IW so if Isner keeps his appointment Rafa will have to be on his toes from the off. Anybody can do it on the day but Isner is the Miami man most likely to, in my virew.

BTW isn't Tsonga famously the only Top 10 player that Rafa has beaten in an ATP tour event since all his problems last year?

nadal is screwed. that's my opinion on the matter :P :P

i'm kidding. hopefully he'll at least defend last years points. anything else is a bonus

hey come on, Ricky says isner is going to do well. Surely that is reason enough for us to know that he won't right? Ricky has made a habit of picking out one player and jinxing him right off! :) Just joking.

Anyway, i have a gut feel that Ferrero is going to do well, and i will stick to that in spite of Ricky twice laughing Out loud on my face.
Not only that i have been getting this feeling that all those repressed players of the federer era is going to start coming good again now that the ATP tennis is less top heavy..

Sib69,

I think Rafa will be fine. This time he is only defending 180 points, so he has chance to pick up points. At IW he was the defending champion. We know that Rafa is playing his best tennis now. It's just a matter of him getting his head on straight and playing the big points with that old mental toughhness. Knowing Rafa, that loss against Ljuby will only make him want to win even more.

He has some early challenges, but so do all the top players these days. The talent is so deep among the men, that in a best two out of three tournament, some of them can break through with a surprise win. Look at what happened at IW!

All I want is for Rafa to keep playing well. If he does that, the rest will take care of itself.

I think he'll defend his points for sure. I mean Nalbandian? Seriously? No t a problem for him. Taylor Dent. DEFINITELY not a problem. Ferrer/Karlovic, no big deal. I think he can definitely defend his quarterfinal points.

He was playing really well in IW and I think losing when he did will make him want to go all the way in Miami even more.

agree wid naative and amor.... rafa will probably do well and will be more motivated to improve this week. if he regains that mental toughness,, FEAR EVERYONE becoz rafa's level of play is scary rite now, just lacks that customary 'rafa toughness' :P

I would not dismiss Nalby as a given for Rafa to beat. Nalby can be a tough cookie when he wants. It's been almost a year I think since his hip surgery so much of last year was in recovery.

Is very true that Rafa only needs to reach the quarterfinals to equal his points for last year. I believe the same holds true for fed. With the exception of the few clay tourneys coming up that he won last year, Rafa can start making up points from there on out.

Such a shame. I am in Florida and can't get down to Miami to see some great tennis! *SIGH*

Nativenewyorker: you're right. if rafa plays well, the rest will take care of himself. he played a couple of terrible games in that match with ljuby (and a shockingly bad tiebreaker) but on the whole, he played really, really well all week. well enough to win the whole thing had he not played that one bad game at 4-4 in the 2nd

and rafa will also more than likely move back up the rankings if he either goes one round further or murray doesn't win the whole thing. even if murray gets to the final and loses there and rafa loses his first match, he'll still move back up

i don't think miami conditions have ever suited him as well as indian wells though. aren't the courts a bit faster than he usually prefers?

@sib69
In miami, the courts are faster. and the courts there are more dead than at indian wells, so nadal's topspin isnt as effective as it is at iw.

@Ricky

just found this news.. any idea if this is just a rumour?

French Open could move away from Roland Garros in Paris

The French Open could be forced into a "heartbreaking" move away from Paris in the next few years due to problems with the infrastructure at Roland Garros.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/tennis/8580652.stm

Sib,

I don't mean to come off sounding glib by any means. This is not going to be a walk in the park! In fact, I believe you are correct when you say that the courts at Miami are faster. IW has always been a great tournament for Rafa, in part because the courts suit his game so well.

It is true that if Rafa can go one round further than quarterfinals, even if Murray wins Rafa will be #3 again. Murray won in Miami last year, so he has 1000 points to defend. Rafa is only defending 180 points. This is his one opportunity to pick up points, because after this he will be defending a ton of points.

fan4tennis,

I am certainly not dismissing Nalby out of hand. I know that he has given Rafa fits in the past. But I just am not sure if he is really in good shape. Also, I like the way Rafa is playing now. He has a more aggressive game than the last time he played Nalby. The only reason I am being cautious is because of Rafa's questionable mental strength and toughness. He still doesn't have that ferocious will to win that got him through lots of matches. But I do believe that he will get it back.

I think that after the disappointment of IW, where I got my hopes up and finally thought Rafa would break win, that I am just trying to stay calm and not make myself crazy worrying about Rafa's opponents. There are no easy paths to victories these days.

Don't feel bad. I live in California, in a suburb north of L.A., and I didn't get to go to the desert to see Rafa play. But at least he was in my time zone for once, so I didn't have to stay up until all hours to see him play.

I say, let's bring it on!

Vamos, Rafa!

I don't know what I wrote in that second paragraph, but it didn't come out right! I meant to say that I got my hopes up at IW and thought Rafa would break THROUGH and get the win!

@FIG

This site says it as well. http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE62L2U420100322?type=sportsNews

@tj600,
I just hope it doesn't happen!

yeah thats been rumored for a long time now. I doubt it will happen anytime soon. Hopefully never.

I don't like at all seeing Nalby in Rafa's early rounds...Rafa had some mental barriers when playing him in the past, since Nalby just knew how to find the way to deal with Rafa's game...it is going to be mental rather than physical demand on Rafa...his calmness and his confidence will have to come out, especially for this one...but seeing him play last week I am sure he can secure a win and from there on it is going to be much easier path for Rafa...

nice to have nalby back on tour, but "looming Large?" lol...only time he looms large is if he steps on a scale.

he's not a threat--yet.

and nadals draw is the easiest. here's why: 1) he's nearly got his entire game back. only a dip in confidence at the end of the match against ljubie. and nadal will fix that. who else in his draw? troiki? no. rafa owns all his spaniard mates. tsonga? no. the tall guys? karlovic? no. isner doesn't move well enough and querry can't bother rafa, the level rafa was playing at IW. roddick won't trouble nadal; nadal won't lose twice to ljubie. nole, sadly not up for rafa, the way nole played at IW.

really can't see a realistic obstacle to rafa reaching the final. unless he sabotages himself. maybe someone from the other half, making to the final could challenge rafa but i doubt it's federer, murray or cilic, even if one makes it to the final. fed is not up to speed, murray is still a head case and cilic is unreliable.

a surprise winner coming through? who. maybe soderling, who has no problem taking it to rafa but soda is up and down.

i pick rafa to win miami. not trying to kiss up to the rafans on this forum, but simply and opinion from watching IW and looking at the draw objectively.

"only time he looms large is if he steps on a scale." -- comment of the year so far. And it might hold on until the end.

His loss in the SFs not withstanding, Rafa is playing VERY well. If he keeps up that level, I can see him in the finals, probably opposite Fed. Which would be GREAT.

That said, his draw isn't exactly a walkover, although it could have been worse. I have feeling a lot of the top seeds will be falling by the wayside early on, much like we saw in IW. Don't think Rafa will be one of them though. :)

why they are not in the same half?
Murray in Roger's half , Nadal in Djokovic's.................again?
is it going to be in the clay season where Rafa according to the old ranking should be ranked 1 when the ranking was measured by tournment record. the funny part his ranking wouldnt be positivley effected even if he defened all the clay season so he might end up facing Federer in all of them which is seriously redicolous!
this ranking system has a major disadvantage which the hisotry of achivements for a specific player doeasnt count : he might be ranked 5 before one of the masters on clay.if DP did play in the last master his ranking could be much worse: check this out Murray ranked 2 in Rome while Nadal ranked 4: this is a joke!
he won 4 or 5 of this master ..............................seriously !

Nalby is not back to his top form yet, so I think if Rafa were to face him in the third round, Rafa can beat him. After last year's IW victory over Nalby, I don't think Rafa fear him any more. I think if Rafa is playing well and aggressively, he can beat those that he meets in his half and reach the final. Fed's half is more interesting as Fed/Murray/Cilic are not playing well at IW, so we really don't know whether they'll do well here at Miami. The only one that I think can still do well is Soderling. Its difficult to predict the finalist in this half; maybe Fed but hoping that it is Cilic.

I would be over the moon in Juan Carlos Ferrero digs deep into Miami, I hope he is fit, he looked like the walking wounded in IW, leg stapped, foot strapped, treatment for blisters on both feet, this is understandable after all the grueling matches in South America, 3 finals and winning 2, Good Luck JC, he is a great champion and one of the most popular guys on the tour, on sky they said in terms of popularity they get many many emails about this guy

Rafa is playing well, he just has to be mentally strong and get rid of the nerves.

Cilic went out in the 1st round at I/W, why so much faith in him?

Ricky, according to the title of this thread, I assume that you think the top three have a smooth run to the SF, would be grateful for your analysis on the other quarters.

Maybe it is my habit of not giving short shrift to any player facing Rafa when I said that I would not dismiss Nalby. I still think he can be a tough cookie when he chooses. Maybe I say that about all players because you never know what will happen on any given day concerning a player's form. We've all seen top ranked players lose to much lower ranked players because they 'lost' their form on that particular day. I wish I could be as confident as you zoey (and by the way, nice to see you again!) but I will do as i usually do and take it one match at a time.

The fact that Miami plays different, courtwise, than IW, means to me that how Rafa played in IW is no indication other than he has more matches under his belt now (which is what he said he needed in an interview before IW) and being a rhythm player, that is what will help him.

As I've mentioned on the other thread, Rafa didn't play badly at Miami all along. He reached the finals on two occasions - 2005 & 2008 - losing to Fed and Davy respectively. He reached the QF in 2007 & 2009, only in 2006 he lost early. Judging by his form at IW, I don't think he will perform badly in Miami.

Concerning Cilic, I think he lost early in IW partly because 1) he couldn't deal with the windy condition & 2) a bit of exhaustion on his part due to playing in so many tournaments (Chennai/AO/Zagreb/Dubai/Davis Cup/IW). In fact he has the most no.of wins to date, his win/loss so far is 18-3, so he has been playing 21 matches so far! With the early loss at IW, I believe he has a bit of breathing space before Miami starts so it may be good for him. I think for him to reach the QF is not unreasonable, of course most likely he has to get pass Baghdatis and Verdasco first.

I think Isner and Nalby will be the biggest threats but before that Rafa has to face the big serving Taylor Dent and given his recent recoed against big serving tall guys, I am very afraid.

Being a Rafa fan these days is bad for the blood pressure!!

Being a Rafa fan is ALWAYS bad for the blood pressure Nam--lol. But I wouldn't have it any other way! I love his fighting spirit and his will to win and his desire to win!

Being a Fed fan in 2009 is the worst for blood pressure.. I vomitted when he played Soderling in FO final and also got a fever after watching the Wimby final last year...

Nam, I lnow what you mean. This time I'm going to try and relax, because whatever will be will be, but I hope Rafans will have a smile of their face in the end. Rafa badly needs a trophy.

Vamos Rafa!

nadline,
I think you're new here so welcome. I guess you will have to learn that Ricky puts Nadal first and other players get less attention. Shortly after the draw was announced this article was posted yesterday. There is a blog about the whole tournament with predictions under blogs. His fav got this special article since Ricky was so concerned about Nalby who may not get out of the first round so go figure.

chr18, thanks for the welcome. I shall check the blog to get a more rounded assessment of how things may turn out.

You're all pussies! Being a Murray fan is by FAR the worst! I spend my life bhind the sofa......

yeah, what is it about Rafa? Even when he was at the height of his success, summer 2008, i was always nervous, somehow Federer never looks vulnerable but Rafa always does. To my eyes, anyway.

Even when Fed loses, like last week to Bagdatis, you get the feel it does not hurt him...he will bounce back but Rafa , every time he ran across the coirt last week, i was terrified he would hurt himself again.

I just want him to play for a looong time and be happy, dont care about his ranking or slams etc.

I don't worry about Rafa. Whatever will be will be. Of course he needs to take care of himself and all that but worrying endlessly about potential injuries will not help him, if anything it'll only impede his progress on court and cause doubt in his mind about his capabilities. Mental recovery is sometimes harder and takes longer than physical recuperation but I think he's well on his way on both fronts.

deuce,
Is that kind of language necessary? Besides, if you spend your life behind a sofa, it doesn't exactly make you manly, does it?

All Nadal fans tennis writers who like Nadal are delusional right now. They are only seeing what they want to see out of him. This is my take on IW loss. He played his azz of in the semi but could not win so as everybody says he played excellent but could not win, why? because Lubicic did not surrender. One year ago Nadal would have won this match 6-2, 6-3 but no more because his opponents are not easily surrendering to him any more and fighting harder and harder which was not the case a year ago and before. I never imagined that Almagro will have a match point against Nadal (injured or playing with one leg, I dont care). Almagro blew it but that proved a lot to me. Btw I am not undermining Almagro talent here, he is a great talent but does not play consistently, if he is fit and confident he has the weapons to beat Nadal or anybody, but he usually easily gives the match away to Nadal but not last time. So my take is Soderling changed Nadal career, people used to think he was mentally the toughest and lower ranked players gave away the matches but not anymore. I have to add , it wont be easy for Fed to win anything outside GS now, because everybody opponent of his wants to play life of their match and get a W agaisnt him so both are screwed in a different way.

vmm...that is massive exxageration dude. talk to me after the e. clay season!

vamosrafa: I am not saying Rafa will not win any masters tourneys or GS, I am saying it is not as easy as before, including on clay. Yes, Rafa is still the king of clay and we will get many answers there.

Deuce what can I say.. I have to agree with you there. You take the cake where Muzz is concerned although I wish not. And I'm quite sure FFT would agree..all of us having spent time with you behind that dreaded sofa! Did you keep my spot while I was away?

vmm,

You are making a lot of faulty assumptions in your comments. Soderling didn't destroy Rafa's career. I am not willing to give him even more credit than he deserves. There was already a lot going on in Rafa's life. We know now that he was playing while talking oral anti-inflammatories and getting injections for his knee problem. He was already in bad shape and shouldn't have played Madrid. It was going to catch up with him sooner or later. Soderling was the one who did it. But to even pretend that this is what caused Rafa's problems, is just illogical on its face.

As far as players not surrendering to Rafa anymore, just where did you get the idea that anyone gives Rafa anything. You mean the way Fed just handed that 2008 Wimbledon win to Rafa? Do you mean the way Verdasco gave Rafa that semifinal win at the 2009 AO? You know the one I am talking about, the one that set a record for longest match ever at the AO. It's pretty insulting to argue that Rafa has made all his opponents just bow down and surrender to him. Rafa has fought for everything he has gotten in tennis.

I don't understand even bringing up Almagro. He is not even relevant to a discussion about Rafa. Many times great players can be beaten by a lesser player in smaller tournaments, when it's best two out of three. So Almagro having a match point against Rafa means nothing. Fed has lost to lesser players, so what!

It's not going to be easy for anybody to win grand slams or masters. With so many young, talented players, nobody may dominate tennis for a while.

Nativenewyorker: I never said Fed or Verdasco gave matches away, I was especially talking about lower ranked players like Almagro. There is a reason Almagro was brought up. Not sure if you were observing all tennis matches closely but I had seen Almagro playing very well coming into playing Nadal but when faced Nadal he just disappointed and lost straight set demolition against Nadal but in the last match he looked like he believed he could win, that was the diff. Well Nadal still wins many tournaments but it wont be as easy as before and he will have to work even harder than before which is not good.

About Soderling, you may or may not agree but he is the only man going to get the credit for stopping Nadal at French open and nobody else. Well nobody cares if Nadal was injured or tired, he was beaten, that's all matters in the short term to give belief to other players and in the long term nobody remembers which state Nadal was in the match. After all it was Nadal to blame himself to be in which ever state he was in that match. If he was inured or tired, it was because he played too much, it was not like he had some bad luck and stepped on a tennis ball during practice or accidentally turned his ankle during a match or something, right.

Nativenewyorker: I never said Fed or Verdasco gave matches away, I was especially talking about lower ranked players like Almagro. There is a reason Almagro was brought up. Not sure if you were observing all tennis matches closely but I had seen Almagro playing very well coming into playing Nadal but when faced Nadal he just disappointed and lost straight set demolition against Nadal but in the last match he looked like he believed he could win, that was the diff. Well Nadal still wins many tournaments but it wont be as easy as before and he will have to work even harder than before which is not good.
vmm
, 3/24/10 4:07 AM

vmm, you are absolutely right. with your second post, i agree as well. the fact that soderling beat nadal at the fo when ppl thought it was impossible, will give other top players belief that they can beat nadal(they wont care or remember what state he was in)

Make no mistake, having more belief that you can beat someone can have a positive effect when you play that person. Before, the reaction to playing nadal by players like almagro or robredo would have been "aww sh**, im out" Which means they would have lost the match in the locker room. Now more ppl are more confident and positive when they play nadal, which means he will be challenged more. (similar thing for fed.)

Shouldn't the title to this thread Federer avoids Nadal.............?

yeah, what is it about Rafa? Even when he was at the height of his success, summer 2008, i was always nervous, somehow Federer never looks vulnerable but Rafa always does. To my eyes, anyway..............

Nam1 , 3/23/10 8:51 PM


I am the same, but I know that the reason I never get nervous about anyone else is because Rafa is really the only player that I care about whether he wins or loses, so I get very nervous when he is playing, whilst with other players, I can relax.

I enjoy the recordings of Rafa's matches far more than the live ones because I already know the results. If Rafa gets to the final, I'm going to miss it because we are going on holiday to Spain over Easter. But I don't mind too much because I'd rather he won and then watch the recording than watch it live. Sometimes if I miss a Rafa match I try not to find out the results until I watch the recording, but I get so agitated when he drops his serve or is behind, that I think - blow the suspense- I check the results, and then enjoy the recording.

agree with both NAtive and vmm for certain reasons. Vmm is right to a good extent, rafa has developed hat reputation that used t induce so much fear in a lot of players. I remember listening to the commentators saying " 90% of his opponents have already lost the match in the locker room) ...soderling's win did open up the gates for many. That said, NAtive's reference to rafa's OZ open wins , combined with rafa's wins over roger in rome 06, over coria in rome 05, nalby in indian wells 08, moya in chenai 08 really were matches that make you say ' HE EARNED THEM, PULLED HIMSELF OUT FROM THE JAWS OF DEFEAT"... as i said we shud wait for the clay season to end. This is the circuit where rafa' corrosion started and this might be the place where his revival re-starts !!!

Carrie, I must give you credit for doing so and being satisfied with watching the recording of Rafa's matches...I wish I could do so! Unlike you, I am one of those lunatic fans who believe has an impact on the outcome of the match (silly, I know and also does not seem to work lately :(...) and I somehow feel like I betrayed him if I did not watch it live...I am usually inclined to change my working schedule, to miss some important social events or to even ask for a day off to watch Rafa playing and then I would spend next few days (and even nights) working hard to catch up. That is mainly why I love AO and North America tournaments as they make it easy for me to do the planning (I simply do not sleep every second night :-) There were cases, of course, (and there will be!) when I was not able to watch his matches live and then I would assign some of my friends to sms live score results to me... in those situations, I recall having trouble focusing on whatever I was doing while waiting for the sms to arrive...the life of us Rafa fans is indeed very complicated...:))

I never watch replays when he lost the match. I simply ignore those matches because they turn out to be too painful :(. But in cases when he won, even if I saw it live, I would still enjoy watching recordings over and over again to observe carefully his shots and to be able to analyze his game and make my own assessment of the form he was in...are we fans nuts or what? ;)

nastashao, like you I never watch recordings of any mathes that Rafa lost. I did bring myself to wtach the OZ SF just to see how well he was playing before he had to retire. I always plan things around Rafa's matches but as I am going to have to miss the end of Miami, I have consoled myself that if the gets to that stage, I'd rather he won and watch the recording than watch it live and be nervous throughout. The thing is, even when things start off looking like it's going to be plain sailing, it ends up in tears like Doha and I/W.

If only Rafa knew what his fans go through, I sometimes watch difficult parts through my fingers. There is nothing like watching a recording of a match that Rafa won ugly, like the Nalbandian match at I/W last year. I wasn't able to record it because it wasn't live on SKY, and they didn't show the final set in Match of the Day; the company I usually buy DVDs from if I couldn't make my own don't have any matches in the early rounds, but they very kindly shopped around and got it for me, and I really enjoy watching it.

We will be in Spain over Easter, so I might be able to watch some tennis anyway.

Vamos!

Carrie, lucky you...I envy you for having the means through that company to get DVDs of Rafa's matches...there is no such thing here, but we do have Sport Club channel which broadcast most of the tourneys and matches live and I get to see almost all of it...I love that channel!

I believe you will be able to watch Rafa's matches in Spain...if not, just enjoy your holidays there while I'll be here watching it live and being nervous enough for both of us :)

And I do know what you mean when saying that even when it starts as he would convincingly win, it becomes a nerves breaking match...for that reason, now when I watch Rafa play no matter how good might be I do not relax until the umpire says; game, set and match NADAL!

VAMOS!

Deuce, yes we are probably but I think fans of all players experience the same thing when their fave plays. I always think of something Rafa said awhile back(maybe 2 years ago) that any match is never over until that last point is played. That is why he never gives up. I look at his matches the same way and like he says, take it one match at a time and try not to underestimate any opposing player regardless of their rank. Anything can happen on any given day.

It's funny, last year we were just setting off, very early in the morning UK time, for the airport to go to Aruba, when Roger smashed his racquet in his match against Djoker. So I always miss the end of Miami because of going on holiday. Last year I didn't care, because Rafa had already lost.

Natashao, I usually make my own DVDs with a recordable DVD player, so I've got stacks of Rafa's matches on DVD which are home made, and it's great. I don't know which country you live in, but if you check on the internet, I'm sure you will find providers of DVDs for your region - this is the company that I use:

http://web.me.com/tennisvideos/Site/Welcome.html

nadline,

We go on holiday every Easter as well, so I also tend to miss Miami. It is very difficult to find time to go on holiday, because the tennis calendar is so busy.

natashao, check on the internet for DVDs for your country.

I have changed my pen name because I couldn't sign on as yesterday as my laptop was causing problems, so I decided to register under a new name, but now it's been repaired both names are working so I am going to post as nadline from now on.

Thanks, Nadline...I'll check this one out...

It is good to see some debate here about Rafa's RG loss and its effects, and also our reactions to him as fans, both in general and since his post-RG return. For once, we have a thread that has not descended into acrimony between partisan so-called fans.

So, if I may give my two cents' worth...

Native, RS beat Rafa at RG fair and square. Top players lose, you know - what is interesting is (a) hearing how they rationalise the defeat and (b) seeing if they learn from it and come back stronger - which is what champions do. We cannot deny that Rafa blogged after the Hewitt match, the round earlier, that he was coming back to his best. Yes, he kept schtum about physical and family problems - but you leave these behind you when you get out there on the court and do your stuff. I have said it before and I make no apology for saying it again: you do not feel your injuries when you're ahead. Robin, having recently linked up with new coach Magnus Norman, didn't let Rafa get ahead. He had a plan, he executed, credit to him - exit Rafa. We have to suck it up.

RG was the first time Rafa lost two clay events running since before his assault on the upper echelons of the game in the latter part of 2004. It was also the last significant clay event of the year. I would have wished for Rafa to get back out on the red stuff as soon as possible but he had to wait for DC finals after the regular season ended. Eleven consecutive games against Thomas Berdych was enough to tell me that he still speaks fluent clay and I bet he can't wait for the season to open up in a few weeks' time.

vmm, for me the Almagro match in Paris is significant only in that it showed a champion's ability to win even when not playing his best. Rafa does not excel (by his standards) under a roof, having won precisely two of his near-40 haul of singles titles indoors. Nothing more than that. He made the Paris SF that time and after taking DC he also had MPs in Doha. Not shabby.

Now, where does this leave us - or, more importantly, Rafa? For sure his opponents may have that much more belief now, but so did the players after Roger Federer lost two weeks running to the lowly Guillermo Canas on US hard courts this time three years ago. But he held on to the top spot for almost eighteen months after that, and has got it back since Rafa's problems came to a head at and after RG. The challenge for Rafa is to show he can overcome adversity and make his mark as a true champion. Perhaps he may never top the rankings again, though in truth this does not seem to be an end in itself for him. But I believe he'll regain RG and more besides in the times ahead.

carrie,
Hey you blew your cover in that 3:32 p.m. post talking to your other screen name. How many other names do you have on here? I hope you're not homos for your sake.

remi: of course we kept a place, right on the corner of bhind the sofa so you could peep round...
f4t: yes, I know, all fans suffer horribly, my post was slightly tongue in cheek! But at least Rafa has many slams so u have known joy! With Andy, well I won't go there!

chr18, I did. When I first posted as nadline and you thought I was new, I laughed my head off, so I though I'd get some fun out of it, but then I blew it. No, I had trouble logging in because something went wrong with my cookies and I couldn't remember my p/w for carrie so I signed in again, but someone recovered them for me, so I thought I'd get some fun out of it. I'm surprised that you didn't realise I was a Rafan with a pen name like that, and enjoyed you telling me how biased Ricky was towards Rafa.

No other names, I couldn't even keep this going for 24 hrs.

nadline,
I did realise you were a Nadal fan but I'm not mean to his fans if they seem reasonable.

haha this is hilarious. actually i think it's the 1:04 pm post that gave it away!

rafa seemingly cant even have PAIN-free practive sessions, lol...inflammed wisdom tooth is his new prblem ,but surely not a grave one if its under control :D he will get it removed after miami i think .

chris18@10.32 23?03: "....it doesn't exactly make you manly..." prithee sirra methinks you are a time traveller from 18c Regency England, surely a noble citizen of 21st c. van Dieman's land would nerey bespoke such outlandish blandishments? I bite my thumb at you sir.

I think Rafa will be able to go through a match with pain killers, and I won't really blame his team, they can't know everything about what's hurting him especially his teeth, he should stop eating too many cookies.

tj600, I didn't notice the slash between tall and bulky, nevertheless, everyone seems to tailor make their reservations about Rafa's inability to beat anyone. How about 6'4" Scotsmen who have a birth mark on the back of their leg, or players who are the eldest of 3 brothers, also players with dual English and American nationality (Blake); the list could go on. Why not just lump all the players from the Balkans, and Scandinavia, just in case another Scandinavian who is shorter than Rafa comes along. Frenchmen, that's another obstacle - the list could go on and on.

Vamos Rafa!

tj600, do you see any glimmer of hope for Rafa, has he got anything going for him at all, it sounds very desperate for him as far as you are concerned.

So who on earth did Rafa beat to be No2 for 4 consecutive years, and No1 for 46 weeks?