The elusive question ... Will Rafa do Madrid?

The rumours started in Miami as to whether Rafa would turn up to the new Madrid tournament in the Caja Magica (the Magic Box), a new, state of the art stadium heralding the change from Madrid hosting the Masters Series tournment in November on indoors hard to a tournament in May on Rafa's favourite red stuff.

The problem, you see, is that Madrid is "at altitude". Now, excuse my ignorance but I've been to Madrid a couple of times and this little known fact has somehow escaped my notice. Without trolling the internet for medical explanations of this, my thoughts go to the Mexico World Cup of 1970, played with the emphasis being that it was "at altitude". From memory, I think this means that the air is thinner, thereby, if you are of a sporting persuasion breathing becomes affected and recovery after physical exertion renders more difficult. As I've just eaten steak pudding, chips and gravy for tea, you will notice that this is not something that I have personally ever experienced. Anyhow, playing "at altitude" is considered by the Rafateam as something that might affect Rafa's pre-French Open physical conditioning as it won't provide him with valuable practice and playing into form as the conditions and subsequent tennis are so different. Could Rafa's recent US malaise be because of a differing of opinion between him and Uncle T as the veritable UT favours withdrawal whilst Rafa, ever the patriotic Toro wishes to play in his adopted first city?

Anyhow, the most signifcant clues that the lovely Rafa will delight his Spanish faithful by turning up at the event were given at yesterday's post match presser ...

Q. About the sets that you never lose. If you never lose a set, you lose only one set in three tournaments. In Roland Garros how can you expect to possibly lose three sets?

RAFAEL NADAL: Every tournament is completely different, no, so it doesn’t come nothing before. So right now I’m focus on Madrid, you know. Yeah, Roland Garros is after two or three weeks, so, yeah, first Madrid. Later in Roland Garros we will see. Important thing is play well. If I am playing well, I gonna have a lot of chances to have good results in both tournaments. But you never know what can happen, no? Tennis is always like this.

Q. Are you happy to have to play in Madrid now? Because it’s another important tournament for you. Is it not too much in a row before the French Open?

RAFAEL NADAL: That’s the calendar, no? I have to play. Sure playing in Spain is always special motivation. The only thing is playing in altitude. The last tournament of Roland Garros is completely different conditions than Madrid and Paris. Believe me, because I played there and I know. Gonna be a really difficult tournament, no? But, yeah, maybe I would love don’t have the tournament in altitude before Roland Garros. I prefer have, for example, another tournament with similar conditions than Madrid before Monte-Carlo — before Roland Garros. But that’s the calendar, and I gonna try my best there to have a good result.

Is it me, or is anyone else having ever increasing difficulty in understanding what the hell Rafa is saying. But forsoothe ... he always adopts a "positive, mental altitude".