Wednesday 6 June 2012

Nadal Untroubled

We're into the SEMIS! Despite facing on of his best mates on tour, Rafa's successfully reached the French Open semifinals once more not only to extend his unbelievable record to 50-1 in Roland Garros, but also to  become the 6th player to reach 50, or more, wins in Roland Garros- along with Vilas (56), Federer (54), Lendl (53), Agassi (51) and Pietrangeli (50) as Greg Sharko has just stated on his Twitter account. Incredible, isn't he?
In today's match it took Rafa only 2 hours and 46 minutes to edge Nicolas Almagro's amazing run in Roland Garros as he smoothly overcame him in straight sets, 7-6 6-2 6-3. Nadal's next opponent is either Andy Murray of Great Britain or his fellow Spaniard (yes more Spaniards!) David Ferrer who're still playing their quarterfinal match. So far they're tied at one set all and 3 all in the 3rd . Nevertheless, it's pretty hard to predict who's closer to be playing Rafa on Friday. We'll just have to wait and see how it goes!
Vamos Rafa!



Monday 4 June 2012

Bagels on the go


Yes, yes, ruthless Rafa has switched on his "crushing mode" once more! Despite considering Juan Monaco, or Pico as many prefer, as one of his best friends on tour, it's absolutely different on court, where only one guy leaves the field victorious. Rafa's determination to make his 1st win as a 26 year-old a remarkable one, and his thirst for a 7th French Open title and a new world record, was pretty obvious as he grounded Monaco into pieces in less than 2 hours, 106 minutes precisely. Not only did it go smoothly in straights, but Rafa also finished by a DOUBLE BAGEL, making that a total win of 6-2 6-0 6-0. Even though the score illustrates quite well the fact that it was a one-sided match, it's undeniably true that Monaco had had an incredible run at the tournament and entertained us all by his sterling performance.


In the quarterfinal, Rafa is facing his long-life friend and his countryman Nicolas Almagro, who's currently the world number 13th. In their previous meetings, Rafa showed absolute dominance, holding a perfect record of 7 unreplied  wins against Almagro. In spite of the fact that the predictions are most likely to be on Rafa's favour, Almagro will be no breeze! Nevertheless, Rafa's got all the requirements and is ready to rock! Vamos Rafa!

Saturday 2 June 2012

Nadal Bl Masry is BACK to business!

Hola Rafans! At the very first beginning, please accept my sincerest apologies for being away such a long time. Although I shouldn't really be searching for unacceptable excuses, I can only say school life is an endless nightmare! Nevertheless, since it's finally over, partially over to be honest, I decided to start my first post-return post with a brief of Rafa's latest achievements and, of course, I'd be honoured to wish him a very blessed 26th BIRTHDAY!
Let me just remind you that Rafa had finally reversed the "huanted-by-Nole" curse after beating him TWICE IN A ROW in his beloved Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters and in Rome, just a few weeks ago. Despite suffering a 7-streak loss against the Serb, Rafa had finally overcome the mental-challenge and could tear Novak into pecies. Not only did the "King of Clay" claimed Monte-Carlo's and Rome's Trophies, but he also fascinated the whole world as it was his 8th straight Monte-Carlo title! However, Rafa had also showed pure talent and excelled in mastering Barcelona over his fellow Spaniard -David Ferrer- in the final, extending the Spanish-dominance on Barcelona. After excluding Madrid form the "Clay Glory", as obviously the blue clay has been far-less-than-expected pleasure to Rafa, we could say that Rafa set off to Paris with much self-confidence and absolute determination to chase history once more.
Here are a few pics with the Trophies! :)

Rafa with Monte-Carlo's Trophy


Rafa with Barcelona's Trophy
  
Rafa biting Rome's trophy after finishing Nole



The Clay Emperor then switched to Paris, France not only to defend his to-be-owned title at Roland Garros, but also to set a new record by winning a 7th French Open! (Hopefully he won't let us down!)
In his 1st round Match, Rafa faced Simone Bolelli of Italy, whom he successfully beat 6-2 6-2 6-1. Later on in the 2nd round, Nadal played the Uzbekistania Denis Istomin and after leading 6-2 6-2 Rafa ended Istomin's hopes by a bagel! The 3rd round haven't been mush different either as Rafa has smoothly edged the world number 192, Eduardo Schwank,  6-1 6-3 6-4 to book his spot in the 4th round, where he's facing Juan Monaco of Argentina, without dropping a single set in the tournament.
Celebrating Rafa's 26th Birthday, I'd love to mention that I'm extremely pleased and proud of all the Rafa fans on Twitter for trending #Happy26thBDayRafa worldwide as well as sending him wonderful wishes which will hopefully quench Rafa's thirst of motivation.  Feast your eyes on what Benito Barbadillo- Rafa's agent- uploaded on Twitter! (@benitopb)



Rafa celebrating his 26th Birthday! 
Vamos Rafa!






Thursday 29 December 2011

The return of the king

Rafa biting Mubadala's trophy last year
It's been long, long and long, but it's finally time to get back to our loveable Tennis! 
After eons of waiting, we're finally awarded a few hours of pure Tennis before the official start of the 2012 Tennis Season as 6 of the top players in the world, including Djokovic, the world #1, Nadal and Federer, who had been dominating tennis for more than half a decade now, are competing in Abu Dhabi's Mubadala for a quick warm up before the 2012 season. Despite being an unofficial tournament, Abu Dhabi has successfully attracted the attention of the world's best every year.
As for Rafa, who's already won it last year, is back in hopes to bite the trophy for the 3rd year in a row. Although I'm sure that Rafa has got all what it takes to be achieved, I'm afraid Djokovic and Federer wouldn't just keep watching. Yet, if Rafa beats Ferrer tomorrow and Djokovic beats Federer, it'll be a perfect opportunity for Rafa to dismiss his Djoko-barrier which has lasted way more that what it should. However, if both Rafa and Roger reached the final, a Fedal will definitely be the best New Year's celebration! Let's just enjoy the semifinals and see.
Here's tomorrow's schedule:  [Local timing, GMT +4 in case you wonder]
3pm Semi Final 1: World  Federer vs. Djokovic
Followed by:
5pm Semi Final 2: World  Nadal vs.  Ferrer
Enjoy and Vamos Rafa!

Thursday 6 October 2011

Nadal Finished Raonic, Giraldo Next!

Just 2 days after his win against the Japanes Soeda, Rafa managed to reach Tokyo's Quarter-finals as he swept the young Canadian, Milos Raonic, in straights.

Although, it eventually went to Rafa in straights, the 1st set was a bit tight with each player holding his service games. But it ended at last when Rafa managed to claim the break at his lonely break-point of the set leading 7-5, also having the advantage of serving 1st in the 2nd set.


The 2nd set was relatively fair, somehow, Rafa got the break he needed and held his service games.  Not only to spot his point in Tokyo's quarter-finals, but also being a step closer from defending his title. The whole match lasted about 1 hour and 30 minutes, pretty much like Rafa's 1st match in Japan, 2 days ago.

Rafa's quarter-final match will be against world no. 53, the Colombian, Santiago Giraldo. Santiago has already had quite a good run in the tournament. So far, he has reached the quarter-finals beating the Russian Dmitry Tursunov in straights. Until now, the Colombian hasn't dropped a set in the tournament. Nevertheless, I am sure he knows pretty well, that playing Rafa is definitely something else! So, let's just wait and see what's going to happen.

The match will be played just after the Fish-Tomic match, which will be played 1st on Centre Court at 12 noon (local time, it's GMT +9  in case you're lost).

Vamos Rafa!

Wednesday 5 October 2011

Rafa Ready To Defend Tokyo

After a year from capturing his title at Tokyo, Rafael Nadal is back in Japan seeking his 4th title of the year. Although Rafa arrived last year in Tokyo with higher spirits, as he was leading the ATP's ranking with 6 titles, 3 of which were Grand Slams and another 3 ATP masters, I believe Rafa's keen on winning even more than he did last year.

The defending champion began his quest to defend his title yesterday, 4th of October, against world no. 118, the Japanese Go Soeda. It took Rafa about an hour and half to finish him in straights, 6-3 6-2.

Rafa's 2nd match at Tokyo will be more challenging as he faces the Candian Milos Raonic. There only meeting has been at the same tournament last year and Rafa managed to take it in straights. However, I believe it'll be quite challenging for both players, as Milos has got a great serve that might annoy Rafa. The match is scheduled 2nd on Centre Court just after  Ebden and Ferrer's match (at 12:00 noon local time).

Vamos Rafa!

Sunday 11 September 2011

Six Down One More To Go!

Rafa after beating Murray
           The Semi-finals have been thrilling in the US Open, from the first point of Djokovic-Federer (1st SF match), till the last point of Murray-Nadal (2nd SF match). From the moment we, tennis fans, knew the fact that the "Fantastic Four", Nadal, Federer, Djokovic and Murray, reached the Open Semi-finals we knew it would be thrilling, but did we expect it to be that thrilling?

 Nadal's road to the Semi-finals has been extremely amazing. Rafa didn't lose a single set from the beginning of the tournament till the semis. However, Rafa proved that straights aren't the only way of showing his excellent performance. In the Semi-final Rafa has dropped a set against Andy, however, I believe that Andy really deserved that set. He, too, was playing very well, especially in the 3rd.

The beginning of the match was a bit tight, as both players held. Afterwards, Rafa was up 40-0 on Murray's serve, but Andy wouldn't willingly give up, would he? He tried to hold, but, thankfully, Rafa succeeded in breaking on the 3rd break point to lead 4-3 with the advantage of the break. The rest of the set went quite normally with both players holding. On 5-4 Rafa held to win the first set 6-4.

Murray started the 2nd set with quite a strong start as held his serve and had more than a chance to break Rafa's serve. Anyhow, Murray's attempts to break Rafa at the beginning of the 2nd set weren't successful as Rafa managed, by a way or another, to save 3 breakpoints and hold to 1-1. Later, Murray hit a brilliant winner to lead 2-1, but it wasn't long since Rafa aced his way to make it 2 all. Sooner Rafa's attempts to get the break succeeded to lead 3-2, followed by an easy hold for Rafa. Eventually, Rafa got the double break, held and wrapped the 2nd set 6-2 in 45 minutes.

With Rafa being up 6-4 6-2 and being a single set away from the final, Murray refused to lose, not in straight sets at least. And that was pretty obvious, Andy started the set holding to love. Then 40-0 on Rafa's serve, facing 3 opportunities to break, Rafa tried to hold but Andy couldn't just waste 3 breakpoints. Murray was now leading 2-0 in the 3rd set, but, fortunately Rafa broke back at once, held (after saving 3 breakpoints) and took it to 2 all. Both players held afterwards, Murray was now leading 4-3. And, unfortunately, Andy got the break, held and the set was Andy's, 3-6.

It was now time for Rafa to play a 4th set for the 1st time at the Open, Rafa and Andy both held their initial service games. The 3rd game was quite a tough one for Rafa, as he faced more than a  breakpoint, anyhow, he could finally hold and lead 2-1. Soon enough, Rafa broke to lead 3-1 then held his serve and was now only 2 games away from his 3rd Grand Slam final of the year. And when it was 5-2, Murray couldn't hold, as Rafa broke to make his way to his 2nd straight US Open final.

It was a pretty match, Murray couldn't be blamed, Rafa was too strong! Nevertheless, both players showed us some magnificent shots. And as I can say, it was an ideal Grand Slam semi-final. Nadal's final opponent is Novak Djokovic, whose records have been absolutely unbelievable this year. Will the next hours reveal another three to one match between those rivals? And will it be like Wimbledon's? Or it will be the same as last year's US Open? Well, I guess nobody can ever tell what's going to happen and untill then, the only thing we can do is waiting. WAIT, WAIT,WAIT.... I know waiting is sometimes intolerable, but is the only thing we can do right now, so be patient and we'll see how this is going to end.

Vamos Rafa!