WE LOVE OUR RAFA ~ NADAL THAT IS

Rafa Nadal

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Part of the Match between Spanish Rafa Nadal and Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu


Nadal into Aussie Open quarters after Mathieu injury

Sun Jan 20, 6:54 AM ET

Rafael Nadal strolled into the quarter-finals of the Australian Open after his fourth-round opponent Paul-Henri Mathieu defaulted with a calf muscle injury on Sunday.

The Spanish second seed was leading 6-4, 3-0 at the time the French 23rd seed pulled out after dropping service in the third game of the second set.

Nadal will now play Finland's 24th seed Jarkko Nieminen in the quarter-finals on Tuesday.

Mathieu had sought courtside treatment from a trainer for the left calf muscle injury and decided not to aggravate it further when he went behind two service breaks in the second set.

Nadal had been in control of their evening centre court match and had wrapped up the opening set after a service break in the third game.

"I was enjoying the match," Nadal said. "I was playing my best tennis since arriving in Australia.

"I'm happy to be in the quarter-final, but not like this way.

"I feel very good and I will have extra practice tomorrow to make up for my lost match time.

It was Nadal's seventh straight victory over Mathieu and the second in a Grand Slam, after beating him in the third round of the 2006 French Open.

The Spaniard, who has advanced to the quarter-finals without dropping a set, is bidding to match his best Australian Open result which he set last year when he reached the last eight for the first time.

Nadal has the possibility of claiming the world number one ranking off Roger Federer at this year's tournament.

Federer could lose the position he has held with a record 207 consecutive weeks if he fails to reach the semi-finals and Nadal goes on to win the title.

The Swiss star, as defending champion, has so many rankings points to defend here while Nadal, a quarter-finalist last year, has relatively few points to carry-over.

Federer won three of last year's four Grand Slams for the third time in four years, but Nadal has his measure on the red clay of Roland Garros, winning the last three French Opens.

Should Nadal get past Nieminen in his quarter-final he will face the winner of unseeded Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga or Russian 14th seed Mikhail Youzhny in the semis.

Source
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Rafa writes a daily blog post for us at the Australian Open and it is translated for us who are Spanish-challenged. Here is one written prior to the match with Mathieu:

19 January 2008.- Hi everyone.I am writing to you on another day from Melbourne, where we are seeing a really interesting tournament. I carry on with my daily routine without paying much attention to what is going on in other matches. It is important to maintain this, or at least that's what I think, in that you always have to look at, and be centered on the next match.

In my case I have been thinking all day about the match tomorrow against Mathieu. A very good player, and one with whom I have had difficult and hard matches even though the statistics show 6-0 in my favour. I still remember the match two years ago in Roland Garros, which was a key match and I really suffered in order to beat him. So I spent the day as peacefully as one can on a rainy day during an Open. The annoying thing in this case is not for those playing on the covered courts, but for the rest of the players due to play, or in my case, the ones training.

When I got up in the morning at about 10 am, I saw that it was raining, and with this you get up with a different mood. I had arranged to train on one of the outside courts but... in the end I trained an hour with Youzhny on the covered training courts that they have at the tournament. It also rained last year and we had to do the same. One hour of training and back to the hotel afterwards.

But talking of the rain, it is incredible how it affects the tournament and I think that few people realise the very negative consequences. In the case of this tournament, it doesn't have too much affect, or better said, as much as in other Grand Slams. This is the only one for the moment that has a retractable roof and allows, in case of "emergency" (as we call it) to play and carry on with the competition.

At Roland Garros, Wimbledon and the US Open there is no roof and when the rainy days come, like what happened to us in Wimbledon, it breaks up the draw at a personal level, and becomes unbearable to be waiting hours and hours until it is possible to play. Martyrdom (we would say in English "crucifying") You already know that Wimbledon is renovating the centre court and it will be covered as from next year if I am not mistaken. The same thing happened at the US Open 2 or 3 years ago, and it was a disaster. It is good that this tournament has covers.

As for the rest, today I also didn't go to the Aquarium, and I think it will be as difficult for me to go if I carry on, as much as if I am knocked out (the latter is obvious). I went back to my room and spent practically the whole time on Internet looking at things and on Messenger, watched another episode of "Prison Break" and Play with Rafael Maymo, my physio. Very peaceful.

The last thing I want to comment about to you is the unfairness (injustice) of making the players play at such late hours. I am writing this early in the morning (it is 2 am), and Hewitt and Baghdatis are still playing (and what is still left to play) . I think it is criminal. My question is, "what other sport is played at this time?" I think it is unfair and wrong. Not for me, but for all of the players. Those two, at the way that it is going, are going to finish at around 3.30 if it is quick. If it is slow then it will be around 4 or 4.30 am!!!

A hug to everyone, and let's hope I write to you tomorrow after having won. It will be difficult, I am telling you now.

Saludos

Rafa

Source ~ You must register to get to the Fan Page (a tab at the top of the page). It is free and worth every penny of it! : )

Here are just a couple of the questions from fans with Rafa's answers:

Question: Hello Rafa, I would like to ask you about your physical condition. Particularly about your muscular volume. I am a Physiotherapy student, I am 23 years old and I go to the gym, and the truth is that we have a similar build. My question is if you have control over the muscular volume that you develop, and if you have an upper limit in order to not lose speed and agility. Of course I have also noticed that your left arm is more developed than your right arm. Is this deliberate? Thank you and lots of luck.

Answer: Hi Samuel. If I tell you the truth, I don´t work out and much less to develop my physique. That is just the way I am, and apart from that I play tennis. Perhaps it is for this reason that my left arm is more developed. But believe me, I don´t work much on my body.

Question: Hello Rafa. I am Paolo, I am 9 years old and I love to watch you play tennis, most of all when you win. I live in Cayo Vizcaíno (Florida), and I hope to be able to see you here in March. I have vacation during that week, so I will go to see you. I would like to invite you to my home to play a game of tennis with "Wii", as I think that is the only way I could beat you at tennis. Could you be my coach if one day I become a professional tennis player? Good luck in Australia, I look forward to seeing you in Cayo Vizcaíno. (Paolo Moreno)

Answer: Hi Paolo. Thank you for the invitation. I won´t promise you anything, I hope you understand, right? If one day you dedicate yourself to tennis, I am sure that you could even play against me. I don´t know if I will ever be a coach. But you can count on me to give you some advice, okay? Look after yourself and many thanks. I hope that you will cheer for me and all the Spaniards in Miami!

My comment after Rafa's most recent blog post and his answers to fans' questions:

I am so surprised with Rafa's modesty every time I see him talk or read his words. I would think it would be so easy to get "full of yourself" with all of the adoration that we all have for him and the attention he generates, but no, not Rafa ~ he remains as natural as if he didn't reap all the attention. That in itself makes him Number 1 to me. He makes believing more than make believe...to know that just being himself and comfortable with that makes him all the more adorable and worthy of our love.

Rafa is so special to write to us daily and answer these questions.

And Bee and Ines help those of us who are Spanish-illiterate or Spanish-challenged. Rafa makes me want to learn Spanish!

What a Wonderful World with the love that Rafa generates.

RAFA




Bless us all.