well done rafa on a nice win. congrats! keep it up. one match at a time.

VAMOS!!!

I don't think Rafa was as devasting as he could be, maybe I expect too much but I feel he needs to get in the groove more for tougher opposition. I feel his serve could be more reliable.

However I'm pleased he didn't spend too long on court and I hope he gets a lot of practice in before his next match.

Vamos Rafa!

I think we can't always expect master class performance from Rafa on clay all the time. I think his serve and his backhand needs a bit more work. Nieminen won one of his game by constantly attacking Rafa's backhand until it broke down.

I think Rafa plays better than his 2008 and definitely better than his 2009 for a start. Gasquet should be real test for him, as Gasquet seems to be playing well lately. I just wonder what happens to Rafa's backhand? Can we see that AO 2009 backhand again? I really hope he can find it back asap.

Yes, let's see all the improvements we can have... as Rafa's claycourt season is the preparation ground for the grass season and for the US Open... as back in '08 and in '10.

match recap: it's a great time of the year

i feel no one(except nole) will have enough confidence in their abilities to even think about beating rafael....and if rafa stays fit,not even nole will have a chance.....just stay fit rafa...VAAAAAAAAAMOS!!!

^^ during the clay court season only

plenty who can beat him on hards

^^^^Plenty who can beat Rafa in hards?

Name them.

My boy......doesn't he look juicy in yellow?

Rafans, we have a crisis....Rafa conceded 4 games, FOUR!!! I think a Congressional hearing is in order. Bad, bad Rafa.......!!!

I love this quote from the Telegraph:

"Spring does not officially start on the Côte d?Azur until Prince Albert rises from his seat on a Sunday afternoon in April to present Rafael Nadal with the trophy at the Monte Carlo Country Club."

Now that, is funny........

http://blog.oregonlive.com/tennis/2011/04/rafael_nadal_man_of_letters. html#incart_mce

Me thinks Douglas Perry is a bit of a w......e, he is now sounding like a Rafa groupie and yet not so long ago he was unashamedly worshipping at Fed's altar and trashing Rafa.

Notwithstanding, I like this new write-up and the challenge to come up with a title for Rafa's upcoming auto-biography


C'mon Rafans....give it a go. Here's my take:

"Are you ready...are you ready for love!! "

(for the philistines out there, this happens to be the title to one of Sir Elton John's songs, the greatest singer/songwriter alive)

I didn't get to see the match, since it started at 4:30 am my time! The tennis channel is replaying the matches in the afternoon, so at least I will get to see it. I can't complain with that scoreline. It looks like clay is a tonic for whatever may be troubling Rafa, like his serve!:)

I wanted to read the comments of those who watched the match to get a sense of his form. I don't care if Rafa is not at his very best. That will come. The point is to win these first few matches. He will only get even better.

Great start, Rafa, king of clay!

Plenty can beat Rafa on hard? I say plenty can also beat Fed, Nole and Murray on hard last year. I counted, all four lost to quite a few players on hard court last year. So far this year, Rafa had lost to three players on hard courts; Fed to two (Rafa and Nole) and Murray to four. Only Nole didn't lose to anyone on hard courts so far this year. Rafa has been to two Masters final back to back, points wise, he's no.3 in the race (incl his 40 points from DC match won), so he's not bad on the hard courts!

Yes rafaisthebest, I'm a bit concerned about Rafa conceding 4 games that's at least 3 too many.

I like the mean ruthless Rafa, but this was only his first match on clay and Nieminen had already played one match so he had a head start.


Vamos Rafa!

Plenty can beat Rafa on hard... might take on that is:

Plenty MIGHT beat Rafa on hard on a given day, but only a few actually manage to each year between July and March. Most of them have not come close to winning the US Open, nor the Australian Open, nor a number of hardcourt tournaments. It is only in comparison to grass and clay that Rafa is not as superb a player on certain types of hardcourt.

nadline

novak djokovic,andy murray,davydenko,roger federer,juan martin del potro

All of the players mentioned above are capable enough to beat rafa on hards...provided they are at their best.

luckystar

Who said rafa is bad on hard courts...he is just much more beatable...

Currently he is amongst the top 2 hard court players in my book

In a field of 100, vrael, I would call that a handful certainly not plenty. So you've got the other 3 in the top 4 plus Davy and Delpo and I stil have my reservations about Delpo beating an all singing all dancing Rafa with no issues, add Davy to the list.

"an all singing all
dancing Rafa with no issues".....thats the rafa who is almost unbeatable on all surfaces nadline...but the truth is that he wont play a 100% everytime he steps on the court throughout the year and hence he is very much beatable on hards(his least favoured surface).....the way rafa plays...its impossible to expect a 100 % everytime he plays tennis....and when he is below his level he is very much beatable by a few in the top 10....

I said "plenty" because he also loses to players like bagdatis and GGL on hards..roddick as well..these players wont beat rafa on clay,even when rafa isnt playing at his usual level....

in an ideal RAFA WORLD....he is untouchable....but its not an ideal world...thts my point

^^^^I see.

plenty = a few

it is these few that make the difference sometimes

and it is the same for the other two top three players although lately less for Nole and increasingly more of them for Roger

vrael, what you said about Rafa applies to others too. If Delpo is not playing well, many others can beat him too: Verdasco, Roddick, Rafa, Fish, Fed, Nole, Murray, Davy, etc and etc. So the key to beating the top players is catch them when they're not playing well. If Rafa is playing his best tennis on the hard court, he's also hard to beat, eg during his AO 2009, USO 2010 and the Beijing Olympics. I should add that Rafa is getting very hard to beat nowadays even on the hard courts. Nole with his winning streak still had to go the distance to beat Rafa, and Nole had beaten Fed in straight sets on two occasions so far this year (AO and Dubai), and he had beaten Murray in straight sets in the AO final.

^^ yes i does apply to everyone...even more so for roger and murray these days....

*it

Saw the highlights of gasquet's match...he is looking good too...would be good practice for rafael tomorrow..

I did get to see Gasquet's match against Garcia Lopez and he is definitely looking good. He should give Rafa a nice match tomorrow! I think that I will try to stay up to see it live. It will start at 2:30 am my time! Now that the tennis is in Europe, it will mean a lot of late nights.

...would be good practice for rafael tomorrow..
vrael
, 4/13/11 10:16 PM

Whoa I see you're getting pretty cocksure. I thought it was Roger's fans who were the arrogant type.

@nadline -

people who can beat Rafa on hard include Fed, Djokovic, Murray, Davy, Delpo.
People who can beat rafa on clay- no1 unless the allmighty himself picks up a tennis racket.

numero

Yeah i get arrogant when the clay season arrives...pardon my cockiness...u can always chose to ignore

I finally got to see Rafa's first match when the tennis channel replayed the tennis. It was so good to see him back on the clay. He's like a different player when he comes back the red earth. No serve problems anymore! It's true that Nieminan didn't have any real weapons to trouble Rafa, so this was his chance to get used to his favorite surface and get his legs under him. He even looks more confident, the body language is great!

I am going to stay up even it kills me to see Rafa's match with Gasquet. It's supposed to start at 2:30 a.m. my time, so this will be a test but I really want to see this match live. I expect Gasquet to give Rafa more of a match. He has looked good recently, so we will see how Rafa handles him.

Talk about the pot calling the kettle black - a Fed fan calling Rafa fans arrogant! Now that's funny! No, we are just happy that he's back to where he feels best again! Considering his record on clay, I don't think it's arrogance at all, just confidence in our guy.

i had the same time problem during indian wells and miami Nny....its a PAIN.

@nadline -

people who can beat Rafa on hard include Fed, Djokovic, Murray, Davy, Delpo.
People who can beat rafa on clay- no1 unless the allmighty himself picks up a tennis racket.

atul1985 , 4/14/11 4:47 AM


atul, thanks, I get the point. But far too much is made of Rafa's losses on h/c much more than any other player in history and his record is amongst the best. This kind of drip, drip talk of Rafa not being good on h/c is how he'll be remembered that he was only any good on clay.

Sampras didn't win much on clay, nor did McEnroe and Borg didn't do much on h/c but you don't hear any of their achievements being qualified by their lack of success on this or that surface. People are confusing Rafa's personal best on different surfaces with his overall performance against other players.

When they talk of Sampras winning 14 GS they nerver ever say but none of those was on clay.

vrael,

I had a great time with IW, because I am in southern California and even Miami with only three hours difference. Now it's back to the usual nightmare of either staying up till all hours or waiting for the replay on tennis channel.

nadline,

I am so glad that you brought up the fact that Borg was never called a one-dimensional player, even though he never won a hard court slam. McEnroe did win the USO and Wimbledon but not RG.

I was around to see Borg when he played in the 70's and early 80's. Even since then over the decades, not once have I ever heard him referred to as only a clay and grass specialist. His six RG titles were never demeaned with this nonsense of, oh it's only clay! He is still considered one of the greatest players ever, along with the likes of Laver, Sampras and now Fed and Rafa.

Borg left the game after he was beaten at the USO again by McEnroe. He didn't keep trying to win the way Rafa did. Even Lendl kept persevering and lost the USO three times before finally winning it. He had to beat both McEnroe and Connors to do it, too!

I have never understood why Borg is regarded so highly and his achievements have not been diminished or tarnished in any way. He was my first tennis love and I revered him. However, there weren't any Fed fans back then, so maybe that has something to do with it!

i feel bad that i was never able to watch the likes of borg and McEnroe play live......i wasnt even born then.....

but i am glad that iv got the chance to witness the rafa-roger era of tennis.....:D

NNY

the rafa match will be aired around 2.30-3.00 pm IST....perfect time for me....i better go buy those instant popcorn packs....iv got to get prepared for the match,no?

I feel for you guys, but Europeans are in the right time zone for once, we have to endure unsocial hours during the USO and all the US tournaments like Miami and I/W, the AO and the Asian swing. I've been known to sit in bed with my laptop watching Rafa play in the middle of the night many times.

vrael,

It's a little after 1:00 a.m. and I am still up! Yes, you better get your popcorn and be ready for the match. I am still awake, so it's all good.

nadline,

Yes, I know that Europeans have to bear their share of late, late nights for Rafa. We all make our sacrifices, but it's worth it. For the next few months, I will be staying up late when I can or relying on the tennis channel and espn.

Last year at this time my cable provider didn't carry the tennis channel, so I only had livestreams. Now if for some reason I can't stay up, at least I will be able to see the match later on. Thank God for the tennis channel!

you will have to wait a little more NNY....but i am sure u will enjoy the rafa-gasquet encounter...its all WORTH it

read an article from p.bodo...he thinks roger can beat rafa at monte carlo....does he know something i dont??

going to watch meelosh v ferrer...will be exciting

Rafa will play after this match,hoping ferrer wins it quick

VAAAMOS

vrael,

I am so glad that you mentioned the Pete Bodo article! I read it earlier and had some things to say to him about it! He loves Fed, pure and simple. The guy is hoping desperately that Fed can give Rafa his first loss at this tournament.

Did you read how he said that the pressure is off Fed because he's now #3 and Rafa will be feeling it and has doubts! Doubts! On clay! Is this guy kidding or what?

i know bodo loves federer...but out of all tournaments on the tour...he choses to write that federer has a good chance to beat rafa at MONTE CARLO...he can be right...it might happen too....but its very very unlikely

I like reading what steve tignor writes....much more balanced and interesting in my opinion :)

I rarely read Bodo. It's not good for my health!:)

I do like Tignor and go on the site mainly to read his blogs. He is also a much better writer.:)

apparently gasquet is one of those few who have taken a set off rafa at MC....in 05 i guess

lets see what happens today...very different conditions today...much heavier and cooler

I haven't seen the full match, only highlights. I sort of felt like Rafa was playing a little shorter than usual which I thought might pose an issue if he played a more consistent player than Nieminen. On positive notes, its only his first match on clay, hopefully he will improve and show everyone who's the real king:-)

Pete Bodo is strange if he really thinks that way. I mean Rafa has been defending his clay points year after year. Even in his worst year 2009, with family problems and knee issues, he still managed to win three clay titles in a row in three consecutive weeks, why doubt him now when he's fit and healthy. It's not like his ranking was not under threat before, in 2008 he had to fight off Nole to defend his no.2 ranking for the whole of the clay season and he successfully defending it at Hamburg, beating Nole in three sets. That year Nole also win the AO, IW and even Rome. So all these are nothing new for Rafa.