lopez who???????? on grass !!!!!! .... Rafa must have saved himself from injury ... hope he is fit and fine for Wimby :)

This is the 1st loss of Rafa that I can honestly say that I am not unhappy. Go home and rest Rafa. Be ready for wimbledon!

Not to take anything away from Lopez, I can honestly say that Rafa had played one match too many, he wasn't prepared to give his all, and for once I'am not too unhappy about it either. He needs to rest his body and his mind for Wimbledon. As it is he'll only have a few days off before he travels back to London to start training for the big one.

Rafa has never done well at Queens because of his successful clay run, he won it in 2008, but performance at Queens has absolutely no impact on Wimbledon.

i echo what phoenix says. i honestly don't mind that rafa lost this match. i like feli a lot, so i can't begrudge him the win either :P. seriously though, rafa got a few matches in on grass, isn't injured and has 0 points to defend at wimbledon. he's also now got a couple of days extra rest, so no complaints from me at all here

I agree with everyone else and echo their sentiments. This is one loss that I can definitely live with just fine. Rafa was tired and needed to get some rest. I was wondering if I might pull out of Queens when he won RG. However, when he decided to play, I assumed that it was because he felt that he needed some matches on grass under his belt.

Rafa needs to go back home to Mallorca, rest, relax and have a few days to enjoy his great win at RG. In no way do I think this will mean anything for Wimbledon. All of the top players are out at Queens. It's all icing on the cake from here on out, because Rafa can only gain points at Wimbledon.

I hope that Rafa gets to go fishing on his boat, enjoy his time with friends and family and soak up some sun in his beloved Mallorca. I am sure he will be fit and ready for Wimbledon.

Sorry, I meant to say that I wondered if he (Rafa) might pull out of Queens. I can't pull out because I was never in it!

Come on Feli ... beat old smelly feet!

"Rafa has never done well at Queens because of his successful clay run, he won it in 2008, but performance at Queens has absolutely no impact on Wimbledon."

Although I cannot quite agree on this point - after all, having won it in 2008 "never done well" seems out of joint, plus nadline has rightly pointed out in other threads that Rafa is the ONLY person to win RG-Queens-Wimbeledon on the trot, something he sadly cannot manage this year - I am CERTAIN that Rafa will not be smarting after today's result. He needs a break after his astonishing efforts on clay.

Being a worrier, as I have confessed in the past, I suppose I am am a mite concerned to see his grass-court streak snapped (his first loss since age 21), and to a fellow Spaniard at that, but I am sure that nobody - least of all Feliciano Lopez (and well done to him) - wants to bump into My Guy on the lawns of SW19 in the coming few weeks.


VAMOS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

from Rafa's post match interview:

?He played well, I think,? Nadal said. ?I think his serve was very good, and, you know, from the baseline he has very good slice, and with the forehand he can have a very good shot. I just congratulate him.

?I think I played for moments very good tennis, very good forehands. I played much better than the previous days with my forehand. That's a very positive thing.?

Nadal reported no problems with the leg injury that was treated on Thursday, but withdrew from the doubles citing a right hamstring strain. He plans to return to Spain for a few days of relaxation before preparing for Wimbledon.

Hope Rafa will be ok. He needs to rest his body, Wimby will be even more demanding than RG. I wish him all the best! Rafa please enjoy your time at home and get fresh and ready to rule the grass! VAMOS RAFA!

One of the RAREST times that RAFANS are SO HAPPY about RAFA's LOSS and WITHDRAWAL (fr. doubles)!......... He deserves to REST and CELEBRATE his achievements on CLAY!....... It's too much pressure for his body and (mind) to take!... HOME is the best place to unwind!

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha.

This is brilliant.

And to think you were fighting to become one of the TT writers, eelesino. Goodness gracious, this site would have deteriorated to the pits with your mature writings.

Once you start winning the big tournaments, the losses in the smaller ones dont hurt you:-)

I bet we wud have been very concerned about todays's loss had rafa not won RG.

Hope he gets good rest as we do want him to lift his 8th GS at WImbledon

RAFANS would rather see Rafa defeated than injured! At least we know he'll be back at Wimby!
We're excited to see his pics relaxing in Mallorca!
VAMOS RAFA!

Nobody has said that, actually, Lopez has a brilliant serve and volley game, ideally suited to grass, he was very impressive against Dimitrov. I've only really noticed him as a backdrop for Rafa on clay!
3 of these 4 finalists are all wily old men, only in tennis terms of course! Perhaps 3 setters suit them better. Rainer and Dudi just went at it lights out every point. It was exhausting watching. Doubt if they could've kept it up for 5 sets!

I am relieved and very happy that Rafa lost! He gets to go home, Celebrate his win and his birthday and gets to get some well needed rest, mental more than anything!
This the best thing that could have happened and I am not saying this because he lost and his out of doubles. Bloody brilliant!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have never seen Rafa fans so happy with such a loss, but we are because it feels mighty right!

It really is no surprise Rafa underperformed at Queens. We should not underestimate the mental effort of the RG tourny. The pressure for him to win was enormous and he admitted (rare for him) to feeling nervous before his matches. He played the match of his life to lift that crown again and it is only normal once the adrenalin wore off for him to feel flat. He managed to stave off Denis the Menace but an on-fire Lopez was a bridge too far. At least he showed up to honour his committments - last year Federer pulled out of Halle in advance citing emotional fatigue after RG!

haha TRUE, this is quite brilliant no single Rafans get disappointed with this loss instead we are all happy. It is so strange, but we are sharing the same thoughts/feelings. Aside from winning streak that has been ended, there is nothing that caused an "upset" because I for one want Rafa to have 1 week break at least in between tournaments but Queens is scheduled to be played right after RG. Look at Soderling, he is taking a good rest after that gruelling 2 weeks of play at RG. No bad feeling about this loss HONESTLY.

It is Rafa's dedication that makes him play contineous tennis without a break, only loss/injury can prevent him to stop playing, now that he lost the match, he has no other choice but to take the much needed rest and celebrate his clay success.

Vamos Rafa.

I am really pleased to see my fellow Rafa fans in the same good spirits as I am. By now Rafa is back home where he belongs. He will have some much earned down time to just take it easy. Now at least he can really take in what he accomplished during the clay court season. A staggering achievement!

We will see Rafa take the court for his first match at Wimbledon, healthy, fit and ready to play! What a wonderful moment that will be when we get to see him back where he belongs. I am looking forward to a great tournament for Rafa and feel very good about his chances!

I think Rafa lost on purpose so that he could watch some footy. Lol.

He certainly wasn't that bothered by the loss!

Rafa made a wise decision in pulling out from the doubles. He has a hamstring pull so he should rest well and then starts his preparation for Wimbledon. He can moves well on grass, so I think no problem where movement is concerned. He needs to up his level on his serves and returns though. He should be fine for Wimbledon, only thing is should he reach the final, he really must up his level a few notches to deal with the challenge in order to win the tournament.

Really loves Rafa, for his spirit and his passion when playing the game. I re-watch some of his matches this clay season. I think I love his Rome tournament more than any other tournaments, except of course that RG final. His match against Hanescu especially, such a master strategist this Rafa! And that match against Gulbis, how he fought and won in the end and the joy he shown after that, leaping into the air followed with fist pumps. What a joy to behold!

deuce - I did mention somewhere in another thread that it seems that the S & V players are doing well this time at Queen's. Maybe the faster surface at Queen's suits their style of play. I noticed many of the new batch of youngsters can't deal with S & V players. To me the likes of Nole/Delpo/Cilic/Simon and a few others couldn't deal well with S & V players. Rafa and Murray are better as their passing shots are excellent. I see Simon for example, couldn't handle Llorda's S & V game at Lyon last year.

Well, I for one AM disspointed that he lost to Feli, what can I say? I had wished to see more of him and would have liked him to win Queens as well, this would have sent a clear message to his opponents to be in Wimby... I guess I'm spoiled :)
Not to mention the atp points that go begging...
But of course, having lost, it's good to see that he's back at home enjoying his well earned rest.

Shireling, I think we are all disappointed that he lost! I would have loved if he won and that would be a real joy after great clay season. But he lost and he was not feeling well on the court and we all know how much it means to Rafa to enjoy playing tennis. This time around he was not enjoying it, he was out of focus and he was I could almost say suffering while playing and that is not the real Rafa. This is why I think it is better for him to have some time off and to enjoy the time with his family and friends. It will have a very good impact on his mental state and it does mean a lot to him to rest his body in order to stay away from possible injuries...

Vamos Rafa! Go for WIMBY!

Feli has not played at the same level he did yesterday against Nadal, he actually pulled all the stops yesterday against Rafa. His serve was on fire, but today he is playing well below his level yesterday.

I am pleased that Rafa is able to have a few days to relax before Wimbledon starts. He's been going full blast since March, and because he won 4 big titles in a row, he's played more matches than anyone else recently, so he deserves a rest. I honestly feel he would have happily pulled out after the Istomin match, but he did not want to let Queens down, especially as he pulled out last year.

Now I'm tipping Fish for the title.

VAMOS RAFA!

As far as Rafa and Queens, I agree with your comment that Rafa probably would have preferred to pull out after the Istomin match, but decided to play out of respect for the tournament.

Shireling,

I think we are always disappointed when Rafa doesn't win, however, if it was going to happen, much better to see it happen at Queens than at Wimbledon. Rafa was obviously tired and struggling and then that hamstring pull, which was his body's way of telling him - enough!

Rafa has been keeping his eye on the prize and scheduling accordingly. The prize now is Wimbledon. Nothing is worth risking the chance to play there again, especially since Rafa had to withdraw last year. Queens was his chance to get valuable match play, to get the feel for grass again. Once he had that little twinge with his hamstring, then it was time to leave. He got through the match with Feli, but just wasn't going to push himself.

Rafa can only gain points for every round he plays at Wimbledon. With a win he will pick up 2000 points. Wimbledon is the prize and Rafa needs to be healthy and ready to play his best. Sometimes you need to see the big picture.

von, if you go to the home page, down the bottom to the right is an email address (info@tennistalk.com) which i believe you can you to contact the appropriate admin.
i think sometimes posts that are too long or out of line/topic get edited. i remember in the past they also had some space issues and few glitches and sometimes posts reappeared but mostly not. don't worry too much about it. let's just enjoy the tennis.

Homos: thank you for the information. I've decided to just post on the tennis that being played and leave the samantics alone.