Tennis

[fan]

Real Madrid superstars Iker Casillas and Cristiano Ronaldo in the back. Both Rafa fans, I presume. 

[Superstick]

Iker and Rafa are good friends. Not sure about Christiano, though...
On the top right you can see Carlos Moya, by the way.

[fan]

Iker and Rafa are good friends. Not sure about Christiano, though...
On the top right you can see Carlos Moya, by the way.

True. Funny story about Moya. He's from Mallorca just like Rafa Nadal. They've been friends for a really long time and even though Moya never reached the heights of Nadal, he was considered one of the best in the world at one point. He even held the NR. 1 ranking for like two weeks.

Anyway, back to the story. When Nadal was only 16 years old he had the privilige to practise with Moya and Moya admits today that sometimes Nadal won. He said this was always a huge wake up call for him, being the top 3 player in the world and at the same time beaten by a rising young talent. 

[Superstick]

True. Funny story about Moya. He's from Mallorca just like Rafa Nadal. They've been friends for a really long time and even though Moya never reached the heights of Nadal, he was considered one of the best in the world at one point. He even held the NR. 1 ranking for like two weeks.

Anyway, back to the story. When Nadal was only 16 years old he had the privilige to practise with Moya and Moya admits today that sometimes Nadal won. He said this was always a huge wake up call for him, being the top 3 player in the world and at the same time beaten by a rising young talent. 

.

Cool! I actually met Rafa once, very shortly. I was entertainer in a hotel on Mallorca, and I met a tennis teacher there. He was also quite a talent when younger, but decided not to go for a tennis career. Obviously all these tennis guys on the island know each other, and so he also knew Moya and Nadal quite well. One day Nadal was practicing at his tennis club, and so I met him (well, shook his hand and said hello). My friend told me this boy was going to be huge one day. I thought he was exaggerating. Now I know he wasn't. Now I wish I wouldn't have talked to this seventeen-year-old boy a bit longer. 

[fan]

.

Cool! I actually met Rafa once, very shortly. I was entertainer in a hotel on Mallorca, and I met a tennis teacher there. He was also quite a talent when younger, but decided not to go for a tennis career. Obviously all these tennis guys on the island know each other, and so he also knew Moya and Nadal quite well. One day Nadal was practicing at his tennis club, and so I met him (well, shook his hand and said hello). My friend told me this boy was going to be huge one day. I thought he was exaggerating. Now I know he wasn't. Now I wish I wouldn't have talked to this seventeen-year-old boy a bit longer. 

That's totally awesome. I'd sure like to meet Rafa one day. Your friend must have really known a thing or two about tennis if he predicted success for Nadal that early. 

[Superstick]

That's totally awesome. I'd sure like to meet Rafa one day. Your friend must have really known a thing or two about tennis if he predicted success for Nadal that early. 

I thought he was full of shit. I don't know if he really knew that, or was a bit lucky. And 'meet' is a big word. I shook his hand and said 'hola'. 

[Marko0190]

Novak

Djokovic

floors Nadal again in Rome final



Novak Djokovic continued his domination over world No 1 Rafa Nadal ahead of the French Open by claiming the Rome Masters crown 6-4 6-4 on Sunday as he stretched his unbeaten run this year to 37 matches.

The Serb, has defeated Nadal in all four finals they've played this year. He beat the Spaniard for the first time on clay in last week's Madrid Open final. Djokovic won his seventh consecutive title by flattening the five-times champion on the bigger points in another brutal duel.

After a rain-delayed start had given him a few extra hours to recover from Friday's draining three-hour semifinal win over Andy Murray, Djokovic broke the Nadal serve in the eighth game.

He faltered on his first attempt to serve out the set but broke Nadal again with a brilliant backhand crosscourt winner to take the set.

An anxious-looking Nadal fought back from 2-0 down in a fluctuating second set before Djokovic underlined his mental toughness, forcing the Spaniard into errors to break in the ninth game.

Djokovic saw his first three match points go begging – thanks to two backhand errors from the Serb and an unreturnable serve from Nadal – but he made no mistake on the fourth.

After whipping a forehand over the net, Djokovic saw a charging Nadal roll the ball into the net and then he promptly collapsed on to his back and let out an almighty roar to celebrate his victory.

 

[Rampton Hospital]

Unbelievable form From Nole!!!

He is the best player in the world by a mile atm, cannot wait to see if he can sustain these levels as the season progresses.  Nadal is not playing poorly at all, Djokovic is just untouchable.  This is exactly what happened when Nadal surged when Federer was on top, it makes for a great season.

As long as Andy Mummy's boy, shitbag Murray is humiliated time after time, i am happy!

 

[fan]

Another astonishing performance by Djokovic.

Nadal didn't play bad in any of these recent matches, but Nole is simply one step above everyone else this year. I wonder how long he can keep it up since his current confidence is above all limits. It was an entertaining match to watch. Nadal had quite a few chances in the second set, but Djokovic was too strong.

Rafa shouldn't be disappointed at all. I have never seen him reach 5 consecutive Masters finals and it would be unreasonable te expect him to remain untouchable, even on clay. Nadal's view on the matter:

"I am not disappointed with my performance, my level. He is doing amazing things. He is very tough mentally and physically, every week. He played very well but this week was very positive for me. I finished better than I started, which is not what happened in Madrid," said Rafa Nadal after the match.

Roll on Roland Garros. 



VAMOS!

[Superstick]

Wow, Djokovic did it again! I didn't see the match, we had more important things going on in the Netherlands... 
Very curious to see what will happen during the French Open. Hopefully they can both make it to the final, and then play over five sets. I still tip Nadal as winner for Roland Garros. No idea why, just a feeling. 

[fan]

I love this pic. A look at the French Open Complex.

[fan]

Days before the matches start at Roland Garros, the second Grand Slam tournament of the year 2011...

[jplpool]

There's too many pictures of men in this thread.

[fan]

Let's make it a 6, Rafa. But this year, considering the form, it's going to be harder than ever. 

[Marko0190]

Tomorrow it will be interesting to watch match between Troicki and Murray, if Murray does not give up because of injury.
COME ON TROICKI!


Today Djokovic win his 41st straight victory since the start of the year, putting him one behind John McEnroe's record.

 Novak Djokovic 6-4 6-4 6-2 Richard Gasquet