rafa was very angry with himself after he got broken in the first set...but the great thing about him is that he channels his anger in a positive way.....he won comfortably after a slight hiccup..:)

Andy next,will be the most competetive match rafa has played on clay in a while and i feel andy is going to bring his A game tomorrow...would be the first real test for rafa

Expecting a win nevertheless...VAAAAMOS

vrael, players often get broken when they are playing in a lot of wind...the toss gets blown around and placement ends up not being as good. I'm actually surprised he was only broken once.

i knew it was windy cheryl,and rafa double faulted to give away his service game...wind certainly had a part to play in it..

Hope Rafa keeps rolling on until he bites that trophy.



Vamos!

just read some of the things andy said after his win today...he actually beat rafa in the clay court practice match they had...thinks that he can beat rafa and match his level if he brings his best to the table and intends on winning the match...but will have to play one of the best matches of his life to pull it off.....

I must say he sounds more positive...good for him....david haye is certainly helping him.

that's a great attitude for Andy to have, exactly what he needs...

just don't tell him this ;-), but a practice match is not where you'll get your competitor's best goods

but it sounds like we are going to have a very competitive match tomorrow and that Andy wants to have a strong clay season, good for him.

"Kuerten believes Nadal's dominance has not helped but hindered the development of other clay court talent. "It has not benefited, I think exactly the opposite. His dominance has so astonished [everyone] that it has meant that all tennis players have stagnated on a level lower than him." - ATP.com

..........never really looked at it that way!! What do you guys think?!

its not as if rafa has forced them to stagnate at a level below him...he is just a phenomenon...the best ever on that particular surface and everyone is just unlucky to be competing with him on clay

NNY, how did you feel when you looked at the result and saw how well Rafa did against Ljubi.

Kuerten has eaten some sour grapes, I bet if he had achieved what Rafa's has on clay he would think it was a good thing. What does he want Rafa to do, to deliberately lose? I think the opposite is the case, rather than stagnate, they are all striving to come up to Rafa's level.

Sky asked viewers the same question, whether Rafa's dominance on clay was good for the game and every email they read out said it was. All works of life have people at the top that everyone wants to be like and emulate.

No one ever said Federer's dominance was bad for tennis, infact it took ages for most tennis commentators to accept Rafa as a challenge, they only wanted him to be a claycourt specialist. They couldn't wait to crown Federer the GOAT and in fact despised Rafa for bursting his bubble. They wanted only Roger to be winning GS titles and love trotting out his 16 GS titles and how many weeks he spent at No 1 and wanting him to break Sampras's record. When Rafa became No 1, many said it would only be for 2 weeks because they wanted Federer to keep the rank for ever as if it was his private property. I never heard anyone say that Federer being at No 1 for so long stagnates the game.

Federer's level spurred Rafa on, and also made other players try harder until they (some of them) were able to defeat him once... Rafa's level has spurred on Federer over the years too...
I think that hard is it might be trying to beat Rafa on clay or at least play very competitively (and many have) would motivate rather than stagnate.

nadline,

I posted on another blog after I saw the results! Needless to say, I am thrilled. Augustina was kind enough to post links to the highlights of the match. Now I just have to figure out if I can get up at 6:00 in the morning to see the semifinal!

I agree that Kuerten is full of sour grapes! What about Borg? I was around to see it back then and I don't recall anyone saying that his dominance on clay was bad for other players! Why is it that when it's about Rafa, then it is something bad? No one would have ever said something so ridiculous about Borg. It's just a shame that he feels the need to put a negative spin on Rafa's greatest on clay.

Exactly nadline. I see those commenting negatively about Rafa are those older than him, or those who are already retired. They clearly prefer Fed over Rafa. I don't see Rafa's peers commenting negatively about Rafa.

Fed's dominance of the tours should be viewed as stagnating the sports of tennis, if Rafa's dominance on clay is being viewed that way. What's up with all these old timers, first Laver, now Kuerten, so they are simply not happy that Rafa has his own legacy on clay and may also challenge Fed's legacy in future?

Nadline, i agree with you! I dont know what it is about Rafa but his detractors (not including Keurtin in this category coz I dont think he meant any malice!) hate Rafa for being able to excel on ALL surfaces and beating Federer on the way, without being sidelined with permanent knee injuries like they were hoping!!!!

Nowadays it is so wierd, bcos no one really mentions Rafa's knees anymore!!! You mostly hear people refer to him as remaining injury free but NOT actually mentioning his knees............oh how much things have changed!!!

VAMOS!!

I think most older tennis players don't like Rafa because he doesn't have the typical physique and etiquette of the tennis players from previous eras. Roger on the other hand is loved by most all of them.

At first, I didn't know what to make of Guga's comments, but it does sound like sour grapes. No one ever came out and said that Roger's dominance has stagnated the game, only that he was so "sublime" and "masterful", etc. just two of the thousands of adjectives they used to describe Federer's domination of the game. Now that Rafa's on top, its not good for the game. Give me a break.

And to Murray believing that because he beat Rafa in a practice match that would mean he can beat him in the SF. LOL. I guess its slim pickings all around for Murray and you have to take your victories where you can get 'em. LOL. I am glad Murray is playing well again but seriously doubt he can beat Rafa. It might be close, and Murray may push him hard, but I fully expect Rafa to win.

número, what physique are you talking about? Do you think player like Borg for example doesn't have a muscular physique?(may not be as muscular as Rafa but still muscular nonetheless). And what ettiquette are you talking about? Rafa is well loved and well respected by his fellow colleagues and they voted for him for the Stephen Edberg Sportsmanship Award last year.

To me all these old timers are probably embarrassed that the one they wanted to call the GOAT was and is so often beaten by this same boy/guy Rafa who plays unorthdox style of tennis. That made them seem foolish in the first place, and so they're trying to find fault with the boy/guy Rafa and who knows, they may be secretly wishing for Rafa to go away and stop their further embarrassment.

Most tennis players did not look like rugby players before....or act like them.

On court etiquette refers to spitting and then using your shoe to kick clay over it to cover it up (you did watch the match with Ivan right?), not to mention de"wedgie"ing yourself before every point. Haven't seen any professional athlete do that nearly as much. If your excuse is obscessive compulsive disorder then he should get help.

Imagine a news anchor with a horrible acne problem : Who could pay attention to the news if everybody was focusing on their skin "situation"? Similarly, Rafa's barbarian-like mannerisms take away attention from his prowess for tennis.

número, that's your personal opinion. Anyway Rafa is not the only one spitting, it's the red dust that may get to the mouth and if you're breathing through your mouth, you get the dust into your mouth. If Rafa is that bad, how come he's having more and more fans by the day. Please don't talk about fans liking his biceps only, for many are not taken in by his physique but his unique way of playing the game and his warrior spirit. Also many commentators like him too, and who cares except some of you, about Rafa's OCD or whatever. I don't even care how Fed looks on court, I just want to watch a tennis match, so Fed may be a vain guy and cares how he looks on the court but I don't even bother to look at his face. So, Rafa being the rugged guy that he is, looks untidy and sweaty and comes with all his tics but all I care for is how well he plays his game. The tennis match is more interesting than the looks of the tennis players, though sometimes from their gestures, I can more or less guess how the players feel about the match.

And stop singling out Rafa about his physique. I suspect you only watch him on the tv screen. In person, he's slimmer than he appears on tv; and have you seen Verdasco, Tsonga? They both are as muscular if not bigger size than Rafa, they're taller and broader than Rafa too. Monfils also added some muscles, especially on his biceps. It's just that he's much taller than Rafa that you failed to notice his more muscular physique now. I must say Rafa has the best well proportioned figure, with solid limps to match his solid body. Just look at Tsonga and Monfils legs, I sometimes wonder how the legs can support their heavy bodies.

All these observations were done during the changeovers, shirt changes or whatever and also watching them practice for your info., just in case número you think I'm contradicting myself.

numero,

If the men's tour is becomming too corrupted with ruggednes perhaps you should watch WTA and marvel at the latest model from Venus or Sharapova

Actually Verdasco has a much bigger chest than Rafa but he proves that muscles alone don't make you a great player.

I wasn't singling him out as such, rather surmising why many of the former greats of the game don't really take to him so much. I mean Gustavo was pencil-thin so maybe he's a bit jealous of Rafa. Who knows for sure.

Rafa's "barbarian-like mannerisms"? What is this, the middle ages, for heaven's sake?

numero, stop taking it out on Rafa just because your man lost again. It's not his fault that you so cranky these days.

@numero, 4/16/11 12:23 AM
---I think most older tennis players don't like Rafa because he doesn't have the typical physique and etiquette of the tennis players from previous eras---

Yes, Rafa is different: he has a perfectly proportioned body - he is an underwear model - and he doesn't despise his rival(s).

Actually I like Guga but after I read his comment about Rafa, sorry to say that I immediately loosing my respect to him. Absolutely he is just jealous. Most players spitting on clay courts because it's allowed. Instead of swallow the dust, you better spit it out. Breaking rackets in the court is much worse than tagging your pant in my opinion..

A lot of the veterans feel inadquate in comparison to Rafa because his style is unique and they can't relate to that because they can't do what he does and they know in their heart of hearts that had they met him in their hey day he would have swatted them all aside, whilst Roger plays like them so they feel, maybe, they would have had a chance.

Never before has a player been a threat on all surfaces like Rafa, beating the 'best' h/c players on their own turf and dominating on clay and infact now seen as one of the best grass court players in his era, beating the best grass court player of his time. Guga thought he was right up there on clay, he now looks like a midget next to Rafa's achievements, that's what's bothering him.

Rafa's looks alone is enough to make them jealous.

I don't think Kuerten sounded jealous or anything - its just an opinion. Besides, this whole Rafa swatting players aside goes both ways, it'd be hard to see Rafa beating Laver in the 60s with a wooden racquet based on the way he plays - it is impossible to compare players across generations.

@samprallica, 4/16/11 1:44 PM
It's hard to believe that Rafa wouldn't have find the way to beat Laver! Rafa has been capable of beating everybody!

From the beginning of the days when young Rafa was challenging Roger, which happens to have started right from their first match and never let up... i.e. since Miami 2004! ... people everywhere have been making more than was realistic of Rafa's physique... contrasting it to Roger's elegance etc. Of course this was added to by Nike's decision to have Rafa wear sleeveless shirts exposing strong upper arms and shoulders.

However, while Roger has not been quite as muscular as some of the other players mentioned earlier in this thread... Roger is plenty muscular... just less so in his arms. He has a very broad and muscular upper body as we've seen in occasional shirt changes and shirtless practice sessions.

So a lot of exageration in the name of something else... namely one part of a package of slurs on Rafa ... because ... at the bottom it was all I think because Rafa happened to be the player who challenged Roger so much from the start and all along... the (spoil)sport.

If Rafa happened not to have noticeable arms and shoulders... something else would have been picked on.

Incidentally, in the last few matches I noticed that Andy also picks the back of his shorts... I don't recall whether he's always been doing it. For what it's worth... which is: nothing: trivial details that matter not a wit.

Numero's digs at Rafa are as old as dirt. I've been reading them for years now, and unfortunately alot of Nadal fans buy into these jabs as if they really mean something. You can't defend Rafa against this kind of guy. What he says doesn't have to make sense, it just has to create a little havoc amongst Nadal fans. He's like a neglected kid in a sandbox who doesn't have the skills to make friends, so he throws sand at them instead. He's neglected here because Roger isn't the topic at
hand.

well, it's certain that a spaniard will be the winner in the finals :) last year also two spaniards in the final (nando). hopefully we get a good match and of course, i hope to see rafa win. it'll be important for his confidence and momentum. he seems to place a lot on MC which is a little disconcerting but i guess it's clay and a history-filled tourney and start of the clay swing.

really, really pleased to see murray did his homework and took it to rafa. hope he gets his confidence and pride back. he was yelling in the 3rd set out of frustration but he seemed more positive on court to me for the most part which is a great change, or at least a start. just hope he doesn't go back to his old habits. maybe a break from a coach could give him the space to work things out in his head. maybe a blessing in disguise.

i don't buy into this revenge against ferrer for ao. rafa was injured and ferrer himself said it wasn't a real win. there's no bad blood and rafa will not have revenge in his mind because he knows that's the wrong way to think. anyway, good luck rafa. i hope you go in with all guns blazing to a confident ferrer, give us a good match but please take the tile!

the barca draw is out. rafa's first match, 2nd round should be ok. hopefully he'll be sufficiently rested by then and coming off an MC title win.
http://www.atpworldtour.com/posting/2011/425/mds.pdf

vamos rafa! good luck in the final! give your fans something to celebrate please!