THANK YOU NIGEL PARRY FOR THE BEAUTIFUL PHOTOS OF RAFAEL NADAL

Number 1 professional tennis player in the world
It's official as of today

You would think he was a model, right?
No, he's just naturally sexy.

and he is just delightful to see

and see

Rafa is even better on court
when you get to watch his sexuality
come through playing his sport.

If you copy these photos, give credit to the photographer.
It is only right.

Credits to Nigel Parry
New York Fall Fashion magazine
nymag.com/fashion

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Photos in slideshow format
Enjoy

Here is the article to go with the photos:

The Beefcake in the Backcourt

Another way in which ripped, raffish Rafael Nadal and his cardigan-wearing Swiss rival aren’t anything alike.

Source: nymag.com/fashion/08/fall

Photos: Nigel Parry

• Article by Ben Williams
• Published Aug 17, 2008

Take your time. It’s okay. That photo of Rafael Nadal on the back cover of this magazine is undeniably … what’s a polite way to put it? Arresting. The mussed locks curled just so above the shoulders. The biceps curved like a particularly ripe aubergine. The shadows playing across the deeply grooved abs. All demand extended scrutiny.

When you’re done, ask yourself this: Would Roger Federer ever pose for a photo like that?

Federer and Nadal, in many ways, are perfect foils. All-court finesse versus baseline power, fluid grace versus relentless will, Swiss precision versus Majorcan passion. And that opposition extends to their sense of style. Even if you’ve never watched a minute of their epic matches, a single glance at, say, the photo of them posing at net before the Wimbledon 2008 final would tell you all you needed to know. Federer wears a herringbone-patterned cashmere cardigan, emblazoned with a royal RF logo, and loose white shorts; Nadal is in a sporty sleeveless Nike-emblazoned top and shorts so long they’re practically Capris.

Male tennis fashion has mostly been conservative, built on frequent returns to the preppy classicism of Lacoste and Perry. Federer, who has an interest in high fashion—Anna Wintour famously attends his matches, features him in shoots, and throws parties for him—has flirted with that tradition like no player before. (At previous years’ Wimbledons, he has arrived at Centre Court in a white blazer.) So it’s perhaps appropriate that the year in which Nadal finally conquered him—the Spanish player assumed the No. 1 ranking last week—was also the year in which Federer’s look tipped over into full-blown prissy self-parody.

Nadal has made a point of saying “I don’t have anything to do with the design” of his clothes. Yet he’s managed to create what might be the most original look in men’s tennis history: sleeveless tees, shin-length pants, and bandannas tied with a cheeky flourish. Most tennis style revolutions have happened in the women’s game, from Gussy Moran’s lace-trimmed panties to Serena Williams’s skintight catsuit (see the time line here). Precedents for peacocking are pretty much limited to Björn Borg—known for his body-hugging outfits, headbands, and, for the time, prominent logo display—and Andre Agassi, who turned denim shorts, blond highlights, and garish color choices into a marketing tour de force.

And now here’s Nadal. His has been called a “pirate” look, but the interesting thing about Nadal’s style is that it’s so feminine—a thinner, less physical player could not pull off those clothes. Maybe that’s why he’s been greeted with the kind of moral outrage—“Abominable!” “Infernal!”—usually reserved for the latest female player to show too much skin. Debate over the pants in particular, and Nadal’s habit of reaching back to loosen them between points, has trespassed on the familiar terrain of comfort versus sex appeal. Are they too tight? Is it one of his many elaborate on-court rituals (Nadal’s own explanation)? Or are his butt muscles just too big?

Men’s tennis has always been a modest, gentlemanly affair, its sex appeal limited to handsome faces and wolf-whistles during between-game shirt changes. Not so with Nadal. Not only is he more muscular than any player before him, he’s also more willing to be ogled. Which brings us back to those photos.

Thanks New York Fall Fashion magazine.

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My Number One ~ Rafael Nadal
Uploaded by eighteen year old xandanadal from Romania

Go to atptennis.com to see their congratulatory video

of Rafael Nadal becoming Number 1

It is totally worth a link jump

Just look over to the right on the page

And be sure to enlarge the size of the video

New Ranking

1st Nadal , R. 6700

2nd Federer , R. 5930

3rd Djokovic , N. 5105

4th Ferrer , D. 2865

5th Davydenko , N. 2700

6th Murray , A. 2415

7th Nalbandian , D. 1975

8th Roddick , A. 1845

9th Blake , J. 1825

10th Wawrinka , S. 1695

Full ATP Ran

Next Stop
www.usopen.org
The schedule of play for the first day
of the US Open Qualifying Tournament
will be available on Tuesday, August 21, 2008

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