Wooffie's Rafa Ramblings: 2014

Wednesday 31 December 2014

Into 2015 we go ...

*walks in and blows an almighty layer of dust off blog*

Hola! *waves* Well, it's been a very long time since I was last in here. I've said this a million times, but tennis loses its sparkle for me when Rafa's not around and as nice as it is to post half naked shots of him in various shades of pink shorts ... it doesn't really compensate for the tennis, does it? Well ...

It's funny, but even after Rafa's tumultuous 2013, I'd kind of lost my appetite for carrying on with this blog at the start of the year and my posting was erratic to say the least. I'd half felt like giving it up. And that's not because I'd lost any of my enthusiasm for Rafa, it was because I just couldn't face the next bout of media scrutiny as they sat and waited and watched (and hoped and prayed it felt like) for Rafa to lose all he had gained and to debate the precise month when the No. 1 ranking would be gone and stating - FACT - that this would be the year that Djokovic disposed of him as French Open champion.

I felt like I wanted to back off and not get immersed in it ... but when the tennis started I couldn't help myself and I think perhaps it may be the same this year. Don't expect any match by match or tournament by tournament reports ... I don't know if I'm up for that yet. But with Rafa due to play in two days' time at Doha ... let's just see how it goes. I may just feel compelled to write the odd rambling, I may use this blog like an on-line diary of supporting Rafa and watching how it all develops ... as it was in the early days of me writing this blog when no-one knew I was doing it and precious few ever read it. LOL

In amongst the injury issues, the mental reaction to losses, a poor (by his standards) clay season and an arrogant, buffoon-like serving tree from Australia, there were two highlights of 2014 for me. One was obviously Rafa overcoming his personal adversities and triumphing for his 9th French Open and the second was neither Smugly nor the Prince of Darkness winning at the US Open. Hard luck Suckers! But as I was watching Rafa in his last competitive match of 2014 in Basel playing some 17-year-old with the commentators absolutely wetting their pants at seeing this great Champion humbled by a youngster - in spite of them knowing full well that he'd been out for 3 months injured, that he was about to go for surgery to have his appendix removed - well, you'd think they were witnessing the second coming and literally just reveling in Rafa's defeat. And that was then followed by internet trolls saying he'd only turned up for the money ... so you do ask yourself, why do I do this? What is all this for? This is nothing to do with tennis and why is it always negative when associated with Rafa?

But there will be times over the months of 2015 when he'll hit a running forehand down the line; when he'll stand and yell "Vamos" with his two handed fist pump; when he'll end a rally with a delicate drop shot or take an overhead out the sky with the dexterity of a gazelle ... and that will remind me why.

2014 showed us that nothing can ever be taken for granted with Rafa any more. Not his body, not his general health ... and not even the clay season. Rafa once said a few years ago that he was currently having his time in the sun, until it was the turn of someone else. There have been some shifts now in tennis and Rafa has had to deal with a lot since he made that statement. So I enter 2015 with no talk of "comebacks" or ranking, and I think we just have to accept what will "be" for Rafa from now on in. He says that his goal for the New Year is just "to be happy". So let's just be happy for whatever comes his way, and not sweat the bad stuff if it doesn't. And press the mute button to ON.

Take care all. Have a great time tonight and Happy New Year! VAMOS!!

Saturday 30 August 2014

Raw ...

Le sigh ... bored, bored, bored, bored, bored!!

I'm sitting here on a Saturday afternoon, looking at grey skies with fine rain falling. The event that I'd planned to go to today is, in fact, happening next weekend not this, and I didn't have a back up plan. So I've been out and mooched a bit, started my latest craft project, touched up the paintwork of my bedroom skirting boards ... and watched some Rafa videos.

Raw. That's the word that sprung into my head as I watched a couple of these videos - you know the kind. The ones with blasting music and where a number of clips of Rafa playing great shots and celebrating wildly are put together. So it led me to look up a definition of the word "raw" and here's one that I found ...

"... devoid of elaboration or diminution or concealment; bare and pure."

That's Rafa's tennis, huh? What you see is what you get; nothing fancy, just sheer hard work and effort, but with oodles of skill. No frilly flouncing, no arrogant flicks. No staged trick shots, no pirouettes. And the dichotomy that is Rafa is that whilst his tennis is devoid of elaboration, how he feels it and celebrates it most certainly is not. And it's those displays of passion, the outpouring of feeling, the cries, the fist-pumps ... that's what makes him the package that is so great to watch on a tennis court. Raw.

I've barely watched a stroke of the US Open and couldn't tell you any results. I only tuned in yesterday because I happened to catch on to Feli's match and fancied watching a bit of eye candy. And as it's the weekend, I looked at the schedule today but thought, "Nah! There's not a single match I want to watch". Ten years ago I wasn't watching either because I couldn't bear to either see or hear Smugly march on unchallenged. And fast-forward on ten years and yet nothing has changed. And the fawning and expectation is worse ... not Betterer.

You see, I've loved this game for around 40 years now. And my interest was held with it because there was always someone I wanted to watch play it. I started off liking Jimmy Connors, and whilst I never did get enchanted by Borg, I totally adored his greatest rival, McEnroe. I enjoyed the tennis of Gerulitis, and then we had Edberg and Becker, and cheering on whoever played against Lendl. Sampras won the US Open young, and then we had Agassi, and that great rivalry commenced. Agassi's comeback story had me enthralled and I even cheered Sampras on when he became the Greatest Of All Time at Wimbledon. But the turn of the 21st century brought us serve tennis, and the slowing down of Wimbledon which served Federer so well. Don't ever let that fact evade you readers; no-one benefited from slower Wimbledon courts more than Smugly. And the dawn of that era brought the first of his Slam titles ... and me rushing for the "OFF" button.

And here I am again not watching a great tournament because there simply isn't anybody playing in it that I like to watch. Because I like my tennis raw.

There are things that I'm not missing though. I'm not missing the stressing and I'm not missing the obsessing. And in a funny sort of way this latest injury period once again has helped me to realise that there is a life outside of tennis matches and life will go on when "that" day comes. And I kind of met yet another enforced absence from the tour with a roll of my eyes this time; like it's expected, like it's par for the course when you follow Rafa. I also don't miss being angry about it all the time. Being angry about what is written about Rafa, being angry at abject and poor commentating of his matches. Being angry at the joy in commies' voices if Rafa is having one or two difficulties in matches or if he faces defeat. I remember writing an angry post one night after Rafa played [the next big thing that has never come to pass] Janowicz in Paris last year. When you couldn't take the glee out of the commentator's voice because he was being blasted off the court in the first set ... until Rafa came to take it and the match. And I don't miss the feeling that you'd think 2013 never happened ... perhaps the greatest season of Rafa's entire career, yet he barely even got acknowledged as being #No. 1 because of it. That he'd reached all of those finals, won all of those trophies, won 2 Slams ... whilst the ITF awarded their World Champion title to Djokovic, the ATP continued with it's love-fest and worship of Federer and this country thought nothing else happened in tennis outside of having a British winner at Wimbledon. No, I don't miss that. Any of it.

But coming across a couple of fan videos posted on YouTube today reminded me of what I am missing. That amazing, passionate, raw tennis. There are many highlights of Rafa's career that I hold up there as personal favourites. That incredible first Wimbledon title, the first hardcourt Slam in Australia. The total demolition of Federer in Paris in 2008. And right up with them I have Rafa's US hardcourt triumphs of 2013. On courts where he's not supposed to win, on courts where he'll "never" be Champion. But on courts where I think Rafa played some of the most stunning, aggressive and attacking tennis of his entire career. It was awesome. And that's what I'm missing from this year's championships.

We don't know what sort of Rafa will come back in late Autumn. Whether it will be the 2009 version or that of 2013. We may see another chapter of Rafa's story being written with elusive wins in Shanghai, Paris and the World Tour Finals. Or we may not. Years ago I always had a feeling that we perhaps wouldn't see Rafa beyond 28. I didn't know if his body would hold up or whether his soul would give up first and he'd go off to enjoy that life that has always been waiting for him in Mallorca. I now think that while ever he has a chance of playing for Spain in the 2016 Olympics, he'll keep on going. But I think that I have to be more reflective when supporting him. There is a life beyond watching Rafael Nadal. There probably will be more enforced periods out of the game, there will be defeats, there may even be [whisper it] a period when he's not the French Open champion. But when he's on ... he's on. And that's raw ...

Saturday 23 August 2014

La Furia de Pan ...

Over on VamosBrigade, "Lillian" posted this utterly amazing video that I'd never seen before of a youthful Rafa on his way to his first French Open victory back in 2005.

The semi-final that year was the first time I'd ever seen him - and I stayed tuned because he was twonking Smugly - and I do remember thinking, "What the hell is this??"

Rafa may have lost some of his early antics and celebrations, as players do mature and move on ... but it's nice to have the memory back every now on then. That's what made him R.A.F.A.

Hope you enjoy it.

Shower time ...

OK, so I'm sure we'd rather be seeing Rafa in New York ... but I don't mind getting in lather over these pics. Phwoar!!!

Rafa finally accepts the Ice Bucket challenge ...

Pity he didn't do it with his shirt off ... but hey, ho.

Monday 18 August 2014

Rafa withdraws from the US Open ...

Rafa announced his withdrawal from the US Open via his Facebook today ...

"I am very sorry to announce I won’t be able to play at this year’s US Open a tournament on which I’ve played 3 consecutive finals in my last participations. I am sure you understand that it is a very tough moment for me since it is a tournament I love and where I have great memories from fans, the night matches, so many things… Not much more I can do right now, other than accept the situation and, as always in my case, work hard in order to be able to compete at the highest level once I am back."

See you in Asia. *wave* ...

Wednesday 30 July 2014

Rafa is out of Toronto and Cincy ...

"Disappointed for not being able to compete in Toronto and Cincinnati due to a wrist injury on my right hand. Sad also for the fans in North America who always support me. I expect to be well for the US Open. Thanks all for your support."

When I started to see the news breaking on Twitter this afternoon, I felt strangely detached. Bear with me, but this is why I felt the need for a little sabbatical earlier this year. I just needed to take a step back from the stress of it all. Even when he's winning, it's stressful. And after seemingly being knock out in training and talking publicly about being healthy and happy, Rafa faces his latest injury blow with damage to his wrist done in training yesterday.

It's just the latest of a long, long line of setbacks. There's no need for people to churn out the old cliches of how a stellar year for Rafa is never maintained the following year after, as his body (or his mind) breaks down and he becomes absent from the Tour yet again. Shit happens. Yeah, shit does happen. And a lot of it to him.

2,000 ranking points gone and the start of the speculation that will run and run as to whether he'll even make it to defend his title at the US Open. All we were debating over these past few days was whether the sleeveless look would make a return in New York. Never mind the shirt ... will he even be there? I feel another sabbatical coming on.

I read some debate recently about the outstanding record of Rafa's of having won at least one Slam title for 10 years. Yes it is amazing, but of course it was caveated that he's won the FO in 9 of those years and if he continued to win "just" the French Open in future seasons that it wouldn't be a record to hold in such high esteem. Yes of course ... let's never forget that Clay titles don't count. I wonder if Smugly had have won on grass for 9 years and then kept adding to it, if that achievement would have been dumbed down? We all know the answer, don't we? But where I'm going with this is to think that Rafa - with his various absences through injury - has still managed to win 14 Grand Slam titles, make what? 6 other final appearances and be the joint 2nd on the all time list ... he's just amazing.

Tennis loses it's sparkle for me when Rafa isn't there. I don't enjoy the sport, I don't particularly like any other players, I want them all to lose. I watch - cos I've always watched tennis - out of habit. All part of the ride on the Rafarollercoaster. A few too many dips on it though, that's all I want to say.

We wish you luck in your rehabilitation, Rafa. Be strong, be brave, be RAAAAAAAAAR.