This is how it should be - gracious in defeat.

Vamos Rafa - your time will come.

Kipling didn't know it then, but he had Rafa in mind when he wrote his poem, "If":

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master,
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son!

Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936)

Djoko said at the ceremony that to him he's not only the best player of all time, but the most respect as well. I couldn't agree with him more. Maybe next time Rafa! ;)

That well describes the special human being that our Rafa is ritb @ 11.42am

It was very nice of Djokovic to say that about Rafa at the ceremony - I am sure it would have meant a lot to him.

To be honest, I am glad we have February off before we can possibly think of another Nole-Rafa match, I have yet to shake off the exhaustion from yesterday's match!

One thing Chris Bradnam said on Sky during the match yesterday is that Federer is the most admired tennis player but Rafa is the most loved in the last 30 years or so. I'll go along with that.

I was very down yeaterday. Every time Rafa loses big matches like this, it takes me time to get over it butRafa's presser always wipes the gloom away and cheers me up no end.

My belated congratulations to Nole and his fans, I was too gutted yesterday to even write those words, but I'm learning from my hero, that it's only a game.

I am hosting a Swedish student at the moment and he sat and watched both finals with me never having watched a tennis match before, he is now gripped after watching the men's final. He even cancelled meeting his friend, because he couldn't tear himself away. Now he keeps asking me when is the next tournament. That's what Rafa and Nole did yesterday, they would have brought millions to the sport for the first time.

I do agree, people admire and respect Fed, even in awe with him, but they love Rafa. I love Rafa for his warrior spirit, his never say die attitude, his humility...
I trust that he'll be OK after this AO, and will come back strong and back to his winning ways. He's still young and fit, as long as there's no more major injuries, he'll still have some more good years ahead of him.

A quick story to share with you. I live and work in an African country and tennis here isn't a rage even though people watch it when it's on. Last night, in a queue at the office canteen, people were discussing the match. I listened in, not commenting and everyone was commending the players, in awe of how long the match had gone on for. And then someone said 'but that Rafael Nadal. He's just amazing'. There was a chorus of agreement. Even in Nole's astonishing victory, it was Rafa that these people remembered and admired, even in defeat. I felt emotional in that moment. The admiration, respect and love that Rafa evokes in people is amazing to behold. Rafa, Roger and now Novak really are a gift to tennis. Our sport is rich with courageous, inspirational athletes who give it their all day in and day out. Tennis fans, we're a really lucky bunch right now.

Rafa says:
"I didn't have mental problems today against him," Nadal said. "I had in 2011 all these mental problems. Today I didn't have. I compete with normal conditions against him, no?"

Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/tennis/01/29/australian.open.tur ning.point.ap/index.html#ixzz1l1ejtvh8


This is such good news and one becacuse it's difficult to get rid of nerves voluntaryily.

Storyteller, I am only now catching up with your posts which are so heartwarming and positive for Rafs's fans. I stayed off blogs after the match to get over Rafa losing.