Thursday 31 October 2013
Take that!
Well he made a bit of dog's dinner trying to put him away in the end, but Rafa finally came through 7-5, 6-4 against Jerzy Janowicz.
And I'll credit Rafa for finding a way and the tactics to beat a giant with a bomb of a serve and the flattest, hardest groundies he can muster ... because precious few others in the tennis media world will. Rafa fired at his body so much in order to try and tie him in knots, and it worked. Get him into an actual TENNIS rally and Rafa worked him till the UEs came. So we're supposed to cream over someone bombing down aces are we?? And think it's great because someone can hit a forehand at 90 mph? Well, listening to those Sky Sports clowns commentating tonight you would think so. Unless - of course - that sort of play is against anyone but Rafa.
For the sake of my own sanity, I muted the commentary after the second game of the second set and instead, listened to a bit of Bublé whilst I watched the match ... because I simply couldn't bear to listen any more to Barry "Fedtard" Cowan, and Andrew "SmugTwonk" Castle. If Janowicz had been playing that sort of tennis against Federer, there would have been panic in the voice of Cowan. And would Castle have been laughing his head off if serve bombs had been played against Murray? I think not. And with the slow demise of Federer, then "the former World No. 1" - as he's now come to be known instead of being Djokovic, the World No. 2 - is the commies latest poster boy.
I can't stand it.
I never thought I'd ever say this, but the stress of being a Rafa fan has really hit home with me this year. And a lot. But what I resent more than anything else is being totally unable to do one of the things that I love the most, and that is to watch Rafa in a calming manner with studio pundits and commentators just REPORTING OBJECTIVELY ABOUT THE MATCH WE ARE SEEING UNFOLD BEFORE OUR EYES.
To Marcus Buckland at SkyTennis. I don't want to hear any more about the length of time it takes Rafa to do his routine before he meets his opponent at the net. I don't want to hear about his fecking water bottles. I don't give a monkeys about whether Federer will return to No. 1. And to the commies. Why do you have this self reserved glee in your voice retained only for Rafa if he's facing a difficult opponent? Do you want me to pass you a packet of my heavy duty TenaLady to help you when you pee your pants because an opponent is playing well against Rafa? Do you need to have the "awwwwwwwwwww" in your voice when Rafa's opponent can't sustain his good play for anything other than one set? Do you have to bring the hoppity glee back into your tone if said opponent then strings one or two shots together to get a break back? I've had enough of it!!
It's just wearing thin now. To the point that I want to put my foot through the telly, just like when they start the ridiculous fawning over Fed and trumpeting "multi-Slam" winner Murray like he's the Greatest Evah candidate that walked upon a tennis court.
GAAH. I shouldn't really be writing this post right after a match such as that, because what I should be concentrating on is Rafa's performance, how clever he was to ride the storm, how good he is at working out and finding his way past a very tricky opponent ... an opponent who's actually playing on his best surface against Rafa on his worst, and yet he's still not good enough to take a set off the World No. 1.
And breathe.
I want to be able to watch a match featuring Rafa like any other fan of any other player seems to be able to do. Yet I can't.
But I'll always have Michael Bublé ...
Wednesday 30 October 2013
Rafa's pre-tournament presser ...
I know I'm a little late in posting this, but I've often enjoyed reading Rafa's pressers. They do, mostly, contain the same rah-rah-rah, but then blame the quality of the questions asked. I think this one is a good one, and you can read it in full here, or in the Rafa's pressers box to the right on the Blog.
I just wanted to pick out what he has to say about the Year-End No. 1 ... because I love how balanced he is about is. That's why we love Rafa, that's why when he leaves tennis he'll go without a care in the world. Because he's not eaten up with ego, unlike two of his most notable contemporaries. Anyhow, here's what he had to say ...
Q. You have the chance here to make sure that you can finish as No. 1 for the end of the year. What would that mean to you? And also, here, Paris, it's one of the few Masters 1000 tournaments you haven't won yet. Does that give you extra motivation?
RAFAEL NADAL: The easier question is say yes. The real question is not. The real question, when I go to play in every tournament I play with the same motivation. Even if I won two, I won five, or I won zero. Because at the end, every tournament is important for me. I try to play with my high intensity in every tournament.
Sometimes the results are positive; sometimes the result are not that positive. I'm excited to be back in Paris. Paris is a very special city for me. Probably more special city of the world. We'll see what's going on.
Talking about the No. 1, seriously, I will answer this question for the rest of the week. It really don't worries me. Seriously.
It's something during the whole season I say the same: My goal is not to be No. 1. My goal is be healthy finish the season. For very positive circumstances I am here today being the No. 1 of the world.
But that doesn't change my feeling from the beginning, that what make me happy is go on court ever day with a feeling that I am healthy, with the feeling that I am playing well, and feeling that I can lose and I can win against everybody.
That happened for most of the tournaments this year, so the season is done for me. I did much more than what I thought. We'll see. I going to try it finish well here and in London. If I am able to play well and I finish No. 1, great.
If not, doesn't change the season as being one of the best of my career without any doubt. I enjoyed probably more than ever to play tennis the whole year. Very emotional matches this year for the situation that I had last year.
So the thing that worries less to me is the numbers on my ranking today. I have been in the top 2 for, I don't know, eight years, nine. I don't know. Seriously, that's not going to change my career, finish No. 1 this year or not if I will be better or worse player at the end of my career.
Rusty progress ...
Rafa came through against Marcel Granollers today, but it wasn't any pushover. Marcel hung with Rafa throughout the whole match, and wobbled at the point when the lesser players mostly do, the business end of the set, when he was serving to get 6 games under his belt first. That of course invited Rafa to break him on both occasions where he then came through serving for the first set and then the match.
Rafa was still a little match rusty today, I thought. His serving stats were OK, but he converted less than 50% of his break points and was pretty high with his unforced errors. That will need some improvement, but then it's not as if he won't know it.
Still ... it's ker-ching with points in the bag, so that's good.
He's facing Jerzy Janowicz tomorrow, who was one of the break-through players at this tournament last year - and a potential banana skin. *giggles* So yes, he will have to improve. The thing is, should he get past this match then his draw has opened up a little bit ... so fingers crossed. *unjinx*
Tuesday 29 October 2013
Rafa's daily dose ...
"After morning practicing ... walking down the streets of Paris!"
Awwww ... and he looks much better than he did in Asia. Feds also got one of his staff to tweet that he was walking around Paris too. No doubt aimlessly, like he's been on the tennis court.
Shame ... :-/
Rafa's Paris Masters campaign starts in earnest tomorrow against Marcel Granollers. Now before I've seen Rafa strike a ball, I think that he's got a fairly tricky draw with potential banana skins along the way. So ... will I be too disappointed if he doesn't do great here? No. Although I'll hate it if he eventually doesn't. *giggle*
We have to still remind ourselves that it's still *ker-ching* in the points bag for every round he gets through, although the Prince of Masked Darkness (hands up who can't *wait* to see what a tosser he makes of himself again on Halloween?), will be absolutely determined to win in Paris as I believe he would even pay his taxes to Serbia if it meant retaining the Year End World No. 1.
So lets prepare ourselves for Bercy's stupid Bongo Man, the whistling, jeering, booing, *knowledgeable* Parisian crowd, and let's hope Rafa's mate Goofy takes the Metro from EuroDisney to go and cheer his man on. And no, Goofy doesn't = Feds. :D
VAMOS!!
Sunday 20 October 2013
Hold the Basel ...
As you'll all know by now, Rafa has withdrawn from Basel. And I do genuinely feel sorry for those fans that have bought tickets on the back of him being there, but sadly, this is something that we've all, more or less, had to encounter over recent times.
I actually think it's a wise decision of Rafa's. And to be honest, I raised my eyebrows when he committed to going in the first place, and more so recently as I thought he looked tired in the Asian swing and couldn't really understand the sense of playing 3 hardcourt tournaments in succession. I know it will probably make things very tight between him and the The Prince of Darkness for the Year End No. 1, but for once, Rafa has very sensibly put his body and health first over a potential tennis accomplishment.
Very wise - in my opinion - although you would not think so considering the furore over Rafa this past week.
What I'm talking about are so-called articles from Fedtards Pacquin and some Argentinian bloke (whose name evades my memory), with a little dose of Juan Carlos Ferrero thrown in for good measure. Now then, I'm making comment about articles that I haven't actually read, and I'm not going to, because I've read enough bilge about Rafa to last me a lifetime, thank you. But from Twitter this week, I get the gist that Rafa is once again under the cosh because he's either greedy for money, has royally shafted a wickle old tournament director, refuses to support a countryman's tournament and thereby not saving the Spanish economy ... and he probably pulls out the whiskers from kittens with a pair of tweezers and bares his famoos ass in Burton's shop window too.
My point being ... has there ever been a player like Rafa whose every move, word, action and raise of the eyebrow is so poured over and scrutinised and commented on and criticised ... even when the guy is not playing!!
Basel's tournament director fell out with Federer earlier this year over money (I believe). Federer therefore tripped over his bottom lip and took his curling tongs home and said, I'm not playing ... so there. No doubt the TD went courting Rafa's management and I'm sure he accepted to play for a hefty fee. Feddie is now turning up anyway, but all the money the TD has spent in promoting Rafa has now left him with egg on his face and the man has been "let down". So Rafa is criticised for being a money grabbing 'ho, for letting a TD down, upsetting fans, ruining a tournament and not keeping his word. But had he have played and say at some point before the end of the year broken down, then the critics would be at him for not managing his schedule correctly, for moaning about the number of hardcourt tournaments and yet playing three on the bounce, that wear and tear on his knees is all his own damned fault ... see, either way, the most talked about player in tennis can't win.
And over in Spain, we have Juan Carlos Ferrero - the tournament director of Valencia - desperately vying with Basel to have the top players come play at his tournament. So I can just imagine how he felt to find out that Spain's No. 1 superstar had opted to play in Switzerland and not the land of his birth. I used to once really like JCF - I thought him a very classy player and very classy man - but I'm changing my opinion. There's this oft mooted grudge that JCF still apparently holds about Rafa in that he was passed over for this young upstart in the singles of the Davis Cup final of 2004. And you perhaps wonder if there's not more than a tad of jealously considering that JCF was once a Slam winner and World Number 1 and yet has never had any of the amount of adulation that seems to be held in Spain for Rafa. And it's this scab that JCF is seemingly prepared to pick, ie. Rafa cares more about the money on offer in Switzerland that what he does about competing in Spain. That Rafa's presence in Valencia would be a fantastic boost for the Spanish tournament, tickets sales would rocket, Rafa would therefore get the depleted, dire Spanish economy moving again ... but no, the selfish creature prefers to take his bat and ball and go and play elsewhere.
Give me strength.
Rafa makes more than enough of a contribution to the Spanish economy by the taxes he has to pay for continuing to live there. Unlike some I could mention - Djokovic - who beat their chest and swear (literally) to Serbia whilst living in Monte Carlo and evading paying tax. And he's certainly not the only one. Yet Rafa still continues to be criticised regarding tax, and if anyone has served his country well in the Davis Cup ... then you can look no further than him. Who was it that turned up just days after winning every single match he played in the US hardcourt season in order to make sure that Spain didn't drop out of the world's elite in the Davis Cup? Indeed ... and in spite of Rafa turning up in the capital of Spain, to play for Spain it didn't seemingly make that much of a difference to the Spanish economy considering the number of empty seats there were around the place.
This is what I mean about Rafa. Damned if he does, damned if he doesn't. There's always someone around to have a petty snipe at whatever he either chooses to do or not to do. Everyone wants a piece of him, and he's criticised for giving it. And then when he makes a decision to benefit himself, he's criticised for that also. When he wins it's because he's a cheater, a liar and a doper, and even so-called respected newspapers weave doping in tennis into their Rafa Slam-winning articles - but in a responsible way, obviously ... :-/ When he loses people dine out on the name of his victor for months. When he's injured, he's not injured. When he utilises advancements in medical science that are approved by WADA he's masking other sinister activity. When he's polite, respectful and good mannered, it's all fake. And let us never forget how meticulously he lines up those water bottles ...
So you see, even this hardened blogger is just becoming a little word weary of it all and in a lot of instances now ... I just choose not to.
I look forward to seeing Rafa play in whatever tournaments he chooses to play for whatever reasons he chooses to play them because folks. simply put ... he really is that good.
Friday 18 October 2013
Sunday 13 October 2013
Shang-hi and bye ...
... but by the state of this blog, you'd think it had never happened anyway. Lol.
I've still got matches I recorded from this week that I haven't managed to watch yet. Don't think I'll bother. I said last week that the Asian Swing is my least favourite part of the schedule - and I'm sorry for all my Asian readers cos I know it's your chance to see Rafa at a reasonable time - but I just don't think it will ever sit well with him. He loses all the colour from his face at this time of year, and I lose my colour for watching.
However, Rafa got a final, a semi-final and the World No. 1 ranking. Not a bad couple of weeks' work when all is said and done. ;)
So what's next? Rafa back in Europe, a week off and then he enters a crazy indoor period. Back-to-back tournaments in Basel, Paris and the WTF.
I'm not really sure what the logic is for introducing Basel into his schedule because it will be bad enough doing Paris and then the WTF straight on the hoof. I know that for Rafa points make prizes, and it will all add to his assault for the Year End No. 1, but I'm still a little doubtful about all of this. I'm also wondering if he'll even show up in Paris to be honest, even though it's a Masters and he's obliged to.
All I hope for Rafa though, is that his absolutely stellar year doesn't end with a wan face and a whimper in the grim indoors. And that he holds something with No. 1 etched on it.
Sunday 6 October 2013
Not to be, me old China !!!
Ah well ... Rafa lost a match and won back the Number 1 ranking.
I'll take that.
Anyone else found it funny that the Prince of Darkness seemed to be holding a knob in that trophy. Quite apt I thought.
Saturday 5 October 2013
HE'S THE KING OF THE WORLD !!!
WooHoo!! *wave*
No, I've not dropped off the face of the universe. It's just that (a) I really don't like this leg of the Tour; (b) the time difference means that I can never watch it live; and (c) I can never work the time difference out anyway!!
Is there anything more to say about this man? Bear in mind he missed Australia, one of the 500s he won in South American never counted cos he was given a points penalty, the joy of the Indian Wells victory was offset against the withdrawal from Miami and the clay season is something he can never gain points on because of his own superlative talent. And when Wimbledon came and we thought, way hey! points to be gained here ... Disaster!! But his hardcourt season has been both amazing and a joy and days into month 8 of his return after spending 7 months away ... he's back where he belongs.
You are an utter marvel, Rafa. None of us could have expected this, none of us even dared to dream it, yet look at you now.
He always has been and always will be our Number 1. But congratulations Rafa. No-one is more deserving.
And when the Prince of Darkness walks out last to enter the court in tomorrow's final, enjoy the walk, Djokovic cos Rafa is better than YOU!!
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