WIMBLEDON JUNE 21 - JULY 4, 2010

UPDATE:

Wimbledon
Semi Final
Rafa Nadal defeated Andy Murray
Friday, July 2, 2010
6-4, 7-6 (6), 6-4

Pictures of Rafal Nadal in the Semi Final Wimbledon Match July 2 , 2010

FINAL
Rafa Nadal versus Tomas Berdych
Sunday, July 4, 2010
www.atdhe.net

Click post title to go to Wimbledon Website


The following online free links show live Tennis
(and they don't jump from match to match like NBC does, when multiple matches are on - which won't be the case July 2 - but good to keep in mind for future.)

Online free streaming:

Sort of duplicate information....
http://espn.go.com/espn3
(When NBC is airing Wimbledon this site won't air the match, but www.atdhe.net will and they also will show more things, such as interviews and without commercials.)

www.atdhe.net
www.fromsport.com

Quarter Finals
Rafa Nadal defeated Robin Soderling
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (4), 6-1

NOTE:
Roger Federer (seed 1) lost to Tomas Berdych (seed 12) in QF
6-4, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4

Round 4 - Round of 16
Rafa Nadal defeated Paul-Henri Mathieu
Monday, June 28, 2010
6-4, 6-2, 6-2

Round 3
Rafa Nadal defetated Philipp Petzschner
Saturday, June 26, 2010
6-4, 4-6, 6-7, 6-2, 6-3
Round 3 Pictures

Round 2
Rafa Nadal defeated Robin Haase
Thursday, June 24, 2010
5-7, 6-2, 3-6, 6-0, 6-3

Round 1
Rafa Nadal defeated Kei Nishikori
Tuesday, June 22, 2010 6-2, 6-4, 6-4

Fan Support Sites ~ Great sources of information

Read Rafa's Blog from the Timesonline at...

vamos brigade

Rafa's Babolat-sponsored forum


Quarter Final Wimbledon pictures...
Rafa Nadal

Rafael Nadal of Spain reacts during his Quarter Final match against Robin Soderling of Sweden on Day Nine of the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club on June 30, 2010 in London, England.

Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images Europe

Round 4 Wimbledon pictures...
Rafa

Rafa pictured at practice June 29, 2010...
Rafal Nadal

Round 3 Wimbledon pictures...

Rafael Nadal of Spain in action during his match against Philip Petzschner of Germany on Day Six of the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club on June 26, 2010 in London, England. Photo by Julian Finney/Getty

A detail of Rafael Nadal of Spain's watch during his match against Philip Petzschner of Germany on Day Six of the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club on June 26, 2010 in London, England. Photo by Julian Finney/Getty

Photo by Julian Finney/Getty

Rafael Nadal of Spain in action during his match against Philip Petzschner of Germany on Day Six of the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club on June 26, 2010 in London, England. Photo by Julian Finney/Getty

Rafael Nadal of Spain receives treatment during his match against Philip Petzschner of Germany on Day Six of the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club on June 26, 2010 in London, England. (June 25, 2010 - Photo by Julian Finney/Getty

Rafael Nadal of Spain changes his shirt and lifts a towel during his match against Philip Petzschner of Germany on Day Six of the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club on June 26, 2010 in London, England. Photo by Julian Finney/Getty

Rafael Nadal of Spain reacts during his match against Philip Petzschner of Germany on Day Six of the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club on June 26, 2010 in London, England. Photo by Julian Finney/Getty


Rafael Nadal of Spain reacts during his match against Philip Petzschner of Germany on Day Six of the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club on June 26, 2010 in London, England. Photo by Julian Finney/Getty

Rafael Nadal of Spain reacts during his match against Philip Petzschner of Germany on Day Six of the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club on June 26, 2010 in London, England. Photo by Julian Finney/Getty

Specific picture links of Round 3...

Rafa getting treatment - Grimaces

Rafa reacts

Rafa reacts - another one

Round 2 Wimbledon pictures ...

Getty Images

Spain's Rafael Nadal reacts after winning against Netherlands' Robin Haase, on the fourth day of the Wimbledon Tennis Championships, at the All England Lawn Tennis Club in southwest London, on June 24, 2010.

AP Photo

Rafael Nadal of Spain reacts as he wins a point from Robin Haase of the Netherlands, dur ng their men's singles match on the Centre Court at the All England Lawn Tennis Championships at Wimbledon, Thursday, June 24, 2010

AP Photo

Rafael Nadal of Spain reacts after defeating Robin Haase of the Netherlands, in their men's singles match on the Centre Court at the All England Lawn Tennis Championships at Wimbledon, Thursday, June 24, 2010.

Round 1
Photo by Clive Brunskill

Wimbledon_Tennis_Championships News
37 pictures

Rafael Nadal of Spain celebrates a point during his first round match against Kei Nishikori of Japan on Day Two of the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club on June 22, 2010 in London, England.

Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images Europe

TV Schedule
United States (pdf)

Online free streaming:

http://espn.go.com/espn3/index#
www.atdhe.net
www.fromsport.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Fan Support Sites ~ Great sources of information

Read Rafa's Blog from the Timesonline at...

vamos brigade

Rafa's Babolat-sponsored forum

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

www.tennischannel.com

I MAKE NO PROMISES....
Watch online at NBCSPORTS.com
and ESPN3.com

TV Schedule - Check This Out
http://www.tennis.com/articles/templates/ontv.aspx?articleid=787&zoneid=7

M= Men W= Women D= Doubles

Tuesday, June 22
7:00 am - 9:30 am Wimbledon (M/W): Early rounds ESPN2 [Live]
9:30 am - 12:00 pm Wimbledon (M/W): Early rounds ESPNU [Live]
12:00 pm - 2:00 pm Wimbledon (M/W): Early rounds ESPN2 [Live]
2:00 pm - 5:00 pm Wimbledon (M/W): Early rounds ESPNU [Live]
7:00 pm - 11:00 pm Wimbledon Primetime TTC [live]
11:00 pm - 3:00 am Wimbledon Primetime TTC [Repeat]

Wednesday, June 23
7:00 am - 9:30 am Wimbledon (M/W): Early rounds ESPN2 [Live]
9:30 am - 12:00 pm Wimbledon (M/W): Early rounds ESPNU [Live]
12:00 pm - 2:00 pm Wimbledon (M/W): Early rounds ESPN2 [Live]
2:00 pm - 4:30 pm Wimbledon (M/W): Early rounds ESPNU [Live]
4:30 pm - 7:00 pm Wimbledon (M/W): Early rounds ESPN2 [Repeat]
7:00 pm - 11:00 pm Wimbledon Primetime TTC [live]
11:00 pm - 3:00 am Wimbledon Primetime TTC [Repeat]

Thursday, June 24
7:00 am - 9:30 am Wimbledon (M/W): Early rounds ESPN2 [Live]
9:30 am - 12:00 pm Wimbledon (M/W): Early rounds ESPNU [Live]
12:00 pm - 2:00 pm Wimbledon (M/W): Early rounds ESPN2 [Live]
2:00 pm - 4:30 pm Wimbledon (M/W): Early rounds ESPNU [Live]
4:30 pm - 7:00 pm Wimbledon (M/W): Early rounds ESPN2 [Repeat]
7:00 pm - 11:00 pm Wimbledon Primetime TTC [live]
11:00 pm - 3:00 am Wimbledon Primetime TTC [Repeat]

Friday, June 25
7:00 am - 9:30 am Wimbledon (M/W): Early rounds ESPN2 [Live]
9:30 am - 12:00 pm Wimbledon (M/W): Early rounds ESPNU [Live]
12:00 pm - 2:00 pm Wimbledon (M/W): Early rounds ESPN2 [Live]
2:00 pm - 5:00 pm Wimbledon (M/W): Early rounds ESPNU [Live]
7:00 pm - 11:00 pm Wimbledon Primetime TTC [live]
11:00 pm - 3:00 am Wimbledon Primetime TTC [Repeat]

Saturday, June 26
7:00 am - 12:00 pm Wimbledon (M/W): Early rounds ESPN2 [Live]
12:00 pm - 3:00 pm Wimbledon (M/W): Early rounds NBC [Repeat]
5:00 pm - 7:00 pm Wimbledon (M/W): Early rounds ESPN2 [Repeat]
7:00 pm - 11:00 pm Wimbledon Primetime TTC [live]
11:00 pm - 3:00 am Wimbledon Primetime TTC [Repeat]

Sunday, June 27
5:30 am - 8:30 am Wimbledon (M/W): Week 1 Highlights ESPN2 [Repeat]
12:00 pm - 3:00 pm Wimbledon (M/W): Week 1 Highlights NBC [Repeat]
7:00 pm - 11:00 pm Wimbledon Primetime TTC [live]
11:00 pm - 3:00 am Wimbledon Primetime TTC [Repeat]

Monday, June 28
6:30 am - 10:00 am Wimbledon (M/W): Early rounds ESPN2 [Live]
10:00 am - 1:00 pm Wimbledon (M/W): Early rounds NBC [Live]
1:00 pm - 6:00 pm Wimbledon (M/W): Early rounds ESPN2 [Live]
7:00 pm - 11:00 pm Wimbledon Primetime TTC [live]
12:00 am - 4:00 am Wimbledon Primetime TTC [Repeat]

Tuesday, June 29
7:00 am - 10:00 am Wimbledon (W): Quarterfinals ESPN2 [Live]
10:00 am - 1:00 pm Wimbledon (W): Quarterfinals NBC [Live]
1:00 pm - 7:00 pm Wimbledon (W): Quarterfinals ESPN2 [Live]
7:00 pm - 11:00 pm Wimbledon Primetime TTC [live]
12:00 am - 4:00 am Wimbledon Primetime TTC [Repeat]

Wednesday, June 30
7:00 am - 10:00 am Wimbledon (M): Quarterfinals ESPN2 [Live]
10:00 am - 1:00 pm Wimbledon (M): Quarterfinals NBC [Live]
1:00 pm - 7:00 pm Wimbledon (M): Quarterfinals ESPN2 [Live]
7:00 pm - 11:00 pm Wimbledon Primetime TTC [live]
12:00 am - 4:00 am Wimbledon Primetime TTC [Repeat]

Thursday, July 1
7:00 am - 12:00 pm Wimbledon (W): Semifinals ESPN2 [Live]
12:00 pm - 5:00 pm Wimbledon (W): Semifinals NBC [Repeat]
9:00 pm - 11:00 pm Wimbledon (W): Semifinal Highlights ESPN2 [Repeat]

Friday, July 2
7:00 am - 12:00 pm Wimbledon (M): Semifinals ESPN2 [Live]
12:00 pm - 5:00 pm Wimbledon (M): Semifinals NBC [Repeat]
8:00 pm - 11:00 pm Wimbledon (M): Semifinal Highlights ESPN2 [Repeat]

Saturday, July 3
9:00 am - 2:00 pm Wimbledon (W): Final NBC [Live]

Sunday, July 4
9:00 am - 3:00 pm Wimbledon (M): Final NBC [Live]

Click post title to go to Wimbledon home page


Rafael Nadal

Photo credit: N. Tingle / AELTC


The page with Rafa's draw on it (see the bottom)


Fan Support Sites ~ Great sources of information

vamos brigade

Rafa's Babolat-sponsored forum

Source: www.wimbledon.org

Rafael Nadal is back at Wimbledon and loving every minute of his return to the place where he won what he calls "the most important tournament in the world" in 2008.

Nadal was unable to defend his Wimbledon title last summer because of knee problems, but any concerns about ongoing ability to play tennis at the highest level have been dismissed by his storming run through the clay court season - a run which brought him the titles in Monte Carlo, Madrid, Rome and then his fifth Roland Garros title in six years.

And how has that demanding spell left him as he prepares for Wimbledon? At the Queen's Club tournament immediately after Paris he lost early as he renewed acquaintance with grass. "I was the first week for me on grass after a lot of matches on clay," he said. "I tried my best but I had a little bit of a problem with my leg, so I was scared to run at 100 per cent. But now I am fine, I am perfect."

"This tournament [Wimbledon] is very special," he added. "This is true for everybody because it is the nicest tournament in the world. For me it was always a special ambition to play well here. I did that for three years and finally won. So to be here brings back very nice memories. It is always a pleasure to be at this very beautiful club. It is a very personal satisfaction to be here after a 2009 season which wasn't easy."

Asked what was most important as he prepared a new assault on Wimbledon, Nadal insisted, "Everything is important. If you are fresh like ice but playing bad, you're going to lose. If you are playing very well but are too tired, which is what happened to me at the US Open in 2008, you gonna have the chances to win a few rounds but finally you gonna lose. The clay season was a hard one for me this year, but I am not very tired and I hope to be ready to play well on Tuesday in my first match."

Following his early defeat at Queen's Nadal seized the chance to fly home to Mallorca for a short break. "I went to a party with friends, I played golf, I go to the beach." It was perfect, he claimed, except for indifferent weather on the last two days.

Now comes the opportunity to repeat what he says was "one of the most emotional moments in my career" when he defeated Roger Federer in the 2008 final. "I worked hard all my life to improve my tennis on surfaces other than clay. Winning the most important tournament in the world on the most difficult surface was very important for me."

As for improving on his already impressive total of seven Grand Slam titles, Nadal said, "I go day to day. I am not thinking about 16 Grand Slams and these crazy things, just about the first match here . I have seven [Slams] and that's more than I dreamed of five years ago. So I am already very happy about my career. But four months ago people were saying they didn't know if I would have another time at the top.

"Four months later, everything has changed. In your career you have a lot of good moments and bad ones. The important thing is to have enough motivation to keep working all the days with humility and trying to be a better player than before. I am going to try to continue doing this."

Rafael Nadal:
I-walk-to-the-courts-every-day-it-feels-like-im-at-home

Relentless Rafael Nadal focused on reclaiming his lost crown

Neil Harman

The comment was delivered under his breath, but spoken just loud enough that you suspected he wanted you to catch it.

Andy Roddick was practising with Rafael Nadal on No 15 Court at the All England Club. His backhand approach was placed on a sixpence, but Nadal was to it in a flash and the forehand pass caressed the inside of the line. “The lower it goes, the better he hits it. This is f***ing weird,” Roddick said, his admiration not the least bit forced.

Contriving winners from impossible positions has long been Nadal’s forte. “I love that shot,” he said yesterday.

It is why he has won seven grand-slam tournament titles, the latest of which, in Paris a fortnight ago, rounded off another season of clay-court tennis in which he had been irresistible. It is one of the reasons you want to watch him play, to gawp at his superhuman abilities, his breathtaking intensity, to try to work out how he makes the shots he plays. And yes, it is weird.

The 24-year-old world No 1 has returned to Wimbledon to play for the first time in two years — he did have a couple of hits last year, but his knees were not strong enough and his focus had been all but wrecked by the upheaval in his parents’ marriage. He knows that he is capable of a second back-to-back Paris-London triumph. The last man to do that is the one who won the title in his absence last summer, one Roger Federer.

A Federer practice session tends to be an opportunity to relish what he can do with a racket and a ball: to spin it, caress it, to treat it lovingly. Nadal bursts forth and explodes into his shots from first to last, as if it is the real thing, because to him it is. “I like to play like it is a match — to do this is what I have done all my life,” he said. “You are then ready when it is time for the match. Except if I have some small injury problems, this is the way I am.”

There was the 15-minute session in steady drizzle at Queen’s Club, West London, on Monday of last week, when most players may have lived in dread of doing themselves a mischief. Nadal asked for the net to be put back up. Wasting precious court time is not in his DNA.

“Those 15 minutes can help me adjust and feel the surface that bit better the next day,” he said. “It can be the difference because on grass you have to remember all the time. The surface is not fresh in your mind like the hard courts or the clay.”

Which brings him neatly to those most fresh memories from Wimbledon, a tournament that not so long ago was anathema to Spanish players.

They dreaded it. I recall phoning Alex Corretja, now in Andy Murray’s coaching camp, when he had withdrawn from the championships, to be told that he was about to go shopping with his wife in Barcelona — and if that is a better way to spend a Saturday afternoon, he must have hated Wimbledon.

“It’s a new generation now, but it was hard for the Spanish players to have the motivation before,” Nadal said.

“When I first came as a junior, I loved it. This was the finest club in the world, for sure, that is easy. I had the hope and desire to win.

“For me it was a big surprise to be in the final in 2006. I was lucky with the draw and when I reached the final, it was not with a very good mentality. I did not conform to the situation. I was happy enough to be in the final [he lost 6-0, 7-6, 6-7, 6-3 to Federer].

“The next year I came back I had such a difficult draw — Söderling, Youzhny, Berdych, all very hard players on this surface, and then I started to believe I really can play well here. I was ready to win that final but I lost [to Federer again, 7-6, 4-6, 7-6, 2-6, 6-2], which was a very difficult moment.”

And so to that glorious Spanish summer of 2008. He dropped only one set en route to the final, crushing Andy Murray in the quarter-finals and playing like a man possessed. The final, of course, is a novel in itself. What images, one wondered, stuck in his mind?

“There are two,” he said. “The first is when I had a serve for the match in the fourth-set tie-break. I had a slice to the backhand of Roger, he returned the slice so-so in the middle of the court and I played that shot [he motions a forehand arc] to the backhand.

“It was amazing because when I saw the ball there in the middle of the court to my forehand, it is one of my best shots. The ball was a little low, but as I was touching the ball I was thinking, ‘I am the champion of Wimbledon.’

“No time had that happened to me in any match. I played not a bad shot but not very good — probably I played at the limit of a good shot. I thought, ‘I will play to the backhand’, because sometimes Roger, he misses the backhand.” Not this time.

“The second moment I am on the floor like this [eyes wide open, arms up], I have no control of that. I have won Wimbledon. Very emotional.

“Everybody knows how important the final was for me. If I lost three in a row, two times being very close to winning, it’s going to be very hard for me. At the same time I think I deserved it, I fought a lot when Roger comes back from two sets down. In the fifth I am still fighting until the last ball.”

The same was true of Roddick last year, a story Nadal watched unfold at his apartment in Majorca, where he had retreated to be at one with his family. It is the only match of the tournament he could bring himself to witness, but it stayed with him. He said that to lose three finals to Federer, having been so close, would have been hard for him to accept. Imagine Roddick’s state of mind.

“Andy deserved to win the title because he is a big fighter and plays so well on grass, but when you see that moment, two sets to love over Federer [he takes a big breath], when you have the chance to win and maybe are too nervous to win, it is hard,” Nadal said.

“Even after he lost the second, then the third, he came back unbelievably in the fourth with a great mentality. But he is still remembering his very big chance in the second set and being two sets up with the serve of Andy is almost the match.”

A year on and Nadal and Roddick had just walked off court together yesterday, drenched in sweat. Only a few moments earlier, completing an astonishing rally, the No 1 flung himself to score with a backhand volley. “Calm down,” Roddick shouted. But this is Nadal. He can’t. He is then deep in conversation with Toni, his uncle.

“I was happy because I had a good practice with only one bad game, but in that there were seven straight serves outside the court [faults], so I was a break down and 30-0 on his serve and Toni and I are saying that is the only thing that cannot happen on this surface because that is the set all the time,” Nadal said. “That is the grass. You have to be very focused all the time.”

Nadal is back. Let the championships begin.

Source: Timesonline