Trophy scenes ...

Champion!!!

Sweet Sixteen ...

Congratulations Rafael Nadal.

I must admit that after watching Rafa's early matches, I didn't hold much hope of anything happening for him in New York. He'd not had a particularly successful Toronto or Cincinnati and his first three matches in the US Open compounded his shaky US hard court season. In the match against Mayer, I couldn't stay up to the end and went to bed after he lost the first set thinking that if I wake up tomorrow to see that he'd lost, I wouldn't be surprised. There was no engagement even from his box which made me think, "Do they know something we don't?". It was horrible. But he did survive that match and then he found his form. Or should I say, then the roof was opened ...?

Look, I don't know about you but Rafa is so precise about his tennis and everything around him that did the roof being closed throw him off? He mentioned it in his pressers - the noise, that he couldn't hear the ball. We all know that indoor tennis doesn't suit him at all, but when the sun came out and the roof got opened ... then we saw the real Rafa Nadal.

I was at first a bit nervous about Dolgo as he's a tricky player, but I needn't have been. When Russia's so-called "Next Gen" candidate stood before him, he gave the kid a lesson. Whilst all around him seeds were being decimated and the media frenzy of a Rafa/Rog semi-final was rising to a crescendo, Juan Martin Del Potro stood in the way of that. I'd initially been thrilled that JMDP had come through his match against Theim because I thought he stood a much better chance of beating Smugly than Theim ever would. You see, I didn't want to see a Raft/Rog match, not in New York, not anywhere. I can't stand it. And I simply couldn't have bared it if Smuggles had won. But I got my wish and then copped onto myself that JMDP had beaten Rafa the last couple of times they'd met, and he gave him a massive fright once in the Davis Cup and and in the first set in Indian Wells in 2013.

When the match got underway and Rafa was unable to contain Delpo in that first set, my droopy eyes called and I went to bed. I couldn't stand the stress anyway. I again braced myself to wake to the news that whilst everything had opened up for him in this tournament, he still wouldn't have had that final piece of luck and made it to the final. When I stirred at 4 am and went to look at the score ... I punched the air with delight.

Rafa was in the final ...

Safe in the knowledge of the scoreline, I could happily enjoy watching the match on Saturday and it was that match that proved Rafa's worth. His tactical genius again came to the fore to entirely change the match around from the second set and frankly, that was his match of the tournament. That's why he's back at world No. 1 and that's why he was in the final. A purely awesome display. After his quarter final defeat Rog - in that so called "gracious" way of his - said that he wasn't taking it too badly as Juan Martin had a better chance of beating Rafa than he did. Well you were wrong, matey.

Kevin Anderson came through the depleted other half to be Rafa's unlikely final opponent. I didn't discuss my thoughts on the match beforehand because head and heart told me he should win - but yet I feared the jinx. I know Anderson is a serving tree, but Rafa usually can handle them. I didn't also think he'd be one of those players that would have "the match of his life" against him either - because I don't see him as having the weapons or the arrogant attitude. Whilst I can't say that I particularly enjoyed Rafa's tactics in the first set, he knew exactly what he was doing. And taking away a player's major weapon with none of the aces and being pushed to deuce in all your service games took it's toll on Anderson and the match was effectively won after that long first set.

Of course much has been said about Rafa's draw, not facing any top seeds, no Murray, no Prince of Darkness, yada, yada, yada. But who cares? Who cares in the media and the tennis forums when he is absent from a Slam through injury? Who cares when other players have a joke of a draw or win a Slam facing injured players. Exactly. So for once watching him in a final relatively stress free was an absolute dream. He faced the players put in front of him, he beat them ... he won the US Open.

Bravo Rafa.

I'm testing my memory, but I don't think we saw him again after last year's USO. And 12 months ago I would never have believed that he would reach three of 2017's Slam finals and win two of them, have a stellar clay court season, La Decima and become world No. 1 again. Truly amazing. I do think the inclusion of Carlos Moya to the team has re-invigorated and given fresh impetus to Rafa, so if Toni Nadal does take that anticipated public step away from Rafa to concentrate on the Academy, then thanks for everything Toni, but Rafa is in a new, final chapter of his career and we like what we see.

Thank you Rafa, for bringing back something for us fans to cheer about this year. We know nothing lasts forever, but what a joy to see these twilight performances again. Edberg and Becker are talked of as "greats" with their 6 Grand Slam titles, McEnroe has 7. Off clay, Rafael Nadal now has 6. Add his un-rivalled 10 French Open titles to the mix and what does that make him? A truly, truly great player whist he remains a totally wonderful human being. Awesome again Rafa ... a true great. Congratulations on your third US Open title and good luck for the rest of the season. Vamos!!

Rafa's Decima comes home...

The 10th title of @rolandgarros is in #RafaNadalMuseum. ¡Thank you all! We are waiting you in Mallorca. https://t.co/OgaWhMdDkV pic.twitter.com/oTamQYX7Ex

— Rafa Nadal (@RafaelNadal) June 13, 2017

El Primero ...

Loved him then ... love him now ...

La Decima ...

Just a fantastic documentary on Rafa's quest to win his historic, 10th French Open at Roland Garros. Click on the link here and simply enjoy ...

Paris trophy pics ...

Champion ...

Boy and Men teams ...

Au revoir, Toni ...

10 out of 10, Rafa ...

"OK Fates, next time get you act together better. Over to you ..."

The last sentence, from my last post. The beauty of writing this is that for this clay court season, Rafa didn't need the Fates.

He was just that damn good.

Some weeks have past since that historic 10th win at Monte Carlo, followed by the 10th win at Barcelona and here we are now, some days after the even more historic 10th win at Roland Garros. I don't really know that I can add many more platitudes to the countless words that have been said, and I don't know that I even want to try. But the tennis Rafa played at the French Open this year was nothing short of miraculous. I loved it when Rafa used to crush his opponents, absolutely loved it. And I loved having that feeling back again in the matches that he played. That semi-final match he won against The Prince of Darkness in Madrid ... he was having him. And wasn't it good to see? There was a bit of hype over Dominic Thiem before the semi-final due to his victory over Rafa in Rome. No chance. Crushed him. I initially would have rather Rafa played Murray in the final than Stan, a former French Open winner and someone who can do it on the day if he has that arrogance about him and the wind is blowing in the right direction. But there was none of it. Absolutely annihilated him with a Smugly scoreline. Rafa ... you were a perfect 10.

I think in reality though, I'm just so happy for Rafa to have this achievement, won in the right way by playing some of the best clay court tennis of his career. No-one is more deserving. He has single handedly elevated the tournaments and tennis played on clay courts. I remember when it was just considered a rough brand of tennis, littered by a number of European specialists that never won anywhere else and that the Tour was just grateful when it was all over and they could move on to historic Wimbledon then back onto the hard courts. All of that was, of course, until Rafa.

I think he brought an artistry to it. He taught me to appreciate the footwork, the movement, having the time to play your shots on the red dirt. Because he was so dominant, and so unusual in his younger days, it made people sit up to see what was happening on this surface. Then, of course, it brought out the competitiveness of the rest of the players. Suddenly one of the ultimate challenges in the sport was if you were able to beat Rafael Nadal on the gruelling clay courts of Europe. He made them make themselves get better, which raised the profile and the interest of the tournaments and actually put the French Open back on the tennis map again. All this, was because of Rafa.

I'm glad that he stands alone ahead of Sampras in the Slam count. He deserves to be. And I'm glad he achieved this spectacular achievement of a historic 10 victories at one single Slam, something which is not likely to matched or equalled in a very, very long time. He deserves that too. It's good to know that he can enjoy the twilight years of his career never wondering, "what if" or "I wish I could have ...".  He just did.

And for Roland Garros itself, so long the place where I felt Rafa didn't get the appreciation or accolades from the crowd that he deserved, it took for him not to be the champion for them wanting him to and then be the Champion once again. They handled the occasion beautifully. The banners in the stands, the montage made of his victories and most lovely of all, a replica trophy to mark his Decima awarded to him by his Uncle Toni. It was just absolutely perfect ...

Due to the standard of tennis Rafa has exhibited during the Spring, how he seems healthy and confident, you do wonder if there's more in him yet. But all that is to come, I'm still basking in the now. So bravo on La Decima, Rafa ... and finally maybe clay court titles DO count.

VAMOS!!!   

Because he's just simply fabulous ...

Getting a bit back to normal ...

Hello.

I intermittently come back to my little blog and think to myself, "Is this what you want your last post to be?  Is this what you want your last ramblings to say after all the years of expressing your thoughts?" In short, the answer was always "no". I started my little blog quietly years ago without telling anyone I was doing it because I just wanted to capture something in words and pictures of Rafa's career as it evolved along the way. The intent was that I'd always have something to look back on and a record of something that I'd emotionally invested so much in along the way.

But in recent times, the emotional investment has took it toll, the mojo wasn't there and it was time to take a step back. But there were times last year when I did think about changing the last post ... you know, when he had that lovely Monte Carlo victory, or when he finally led Spain out at the Olympics carrying the flag, or when he added a fantastic Doubles Gold Medal to his Singles. But I didn't make the time.

But after Rafa had done the complete unexpected and made it to the final of the Australian Open, I found myself back here yesterday, reading my last posts. I wrote about "the new normal", a very different Rafa that we'd have to come to terms with along with the post I wrote after last year's first round exit at the very same tournament. I still stand by a lot of what I said in that AO post, and there was a bit that I found myself re-reading a few times ...

"I just think though that he has to be deserving of that one time where the Fates collide in favour for him. And whilst I have that thought ... I'll keep watching. Just."

I didn't watch today though. I couldn't put myself through it. I still abide by the thought that the Fates will collide and I thought that perhaps this Australian Open final was where they'd do it. But because he was playing Smugly, I couldn't watch - and more to the point - I could bear to listen. I dibbed in and out of Livescores, and shook my head with disbelief that the fighter in Rafa still had enough to make it go to a fifth. What a guy! When I registered that he was serving for 4-2, I wished with all my heart that Rafa had a serve that you could trust and when I saw the scoreline back at 3-3, I wasn't shocked in the slightest. Rafa said he lost a bit of speed today, and losing that break lost him the match. I'm gutted, but that's the sport.

But after all these years - and particularly the last three - to be able to comment on Rafa having a Grand Slam final appearance is great. It's a positive step in the right direction and I hope it lifts him for the coming season. He'll still face his challenges - his 5 set matches against the likes of Zverev and Dimitrov proved that - but the raised arms on Friday showed the joy of what it means to be back in the finals of a Grand Slam. Getting a bit back to normal ...

OK Fates, next time get your act together better. Over to you ...