Rafael Nadal of Spain celebrates winning set point in his men's final match against Novak Djokovic of Serbia during day fourteen of the 2012 Australian Open at Melbourne Park on January 29, 2012 in Melbourne, Australia. Photo by Mark Dadswell/Getty Images AsiaPac
Rafael Nadal of Spain celebrates winning set point in his men's final match against Novak Djokovic of Serbia during day fourteen of the 2012 Australian Open at Melbourne Park on January 29, 2012 in Melbourne, Australia. Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images AsiaPac
Australian Open 2012
Final
Novak Djokovic SRB (1) defeated Rafael Nadal ESP (2)
5-7, 6-4, 6-2, 6-7(5), 7-5
Length of sets in minutes respectfully:
80, 66, 45, 88, 74
Match Length 5 hours, 53 minutes
~ a record for longest Grand Slam Final Match in history
Match ended at 1:45 a.m.
Sunday January 29, 2012. 7:30 p.m. Australian day and time
which was
Saturday, January 28, 2012, 3:30 a.m., USA EST day and time
Rod Laver Arena
Rafa's Presser after semifinal match - Unlisted
The * Final match can be seen as a replay 7:05:52
The Tennis Channel will reair the Final Monday - schedule.
The homepage says it begins at 7:00 p.m. USA EST, but the schedule at the link reads different times at 1:00 p.m. and again at 5:00 p.m. Maybe the the 1:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. times were set before the match length was known.
The Tennis Channel will likely reair the Final another time this week.
Rafa will always have my admiration for the person that he is.
He is gracious in victory and defeat on the tennis court.
Last year, I noticed that his sliced backhand didn't help his score. And today in the Final at the AO 2012 versus Novak Djokovic, I thought every time he used it - "Oh, no!!" And much of the time Rafa went on to lose that point. I wish he would stop using it when it isn't reaping good things. And it isn't working when Rafa plays Djokovic. I don't understand why he continues to use it in these cases. It only gives Djokovic time to think what he is going to do as it slowly comes through the air to him. Rafa plays with such heart, works so hard, so I would like to see him win easier whenever possible. I hope his coach, Uncle Tony, or Rafa, himself, will watch this match and notice the sliced backhand and how it is failing to give Rafa a point way too many times.
Furthermore, set 1 and sets 4 and 5, Rafa played with tactics that were working (on the baseline, taking the ball early) and sets 2 and 3, he moved back from the baseline and it didn't work so well.
TV and Commentators that grate
* ESPN commentators, Chris Fowler and Chris McKendry for me personally made me mute the volume most of the match during ESPN's broadcast of the Final.
Years past ESPN's Brad Gilbert annoyed me in a similar way. But Fowler and McKendry were beyond bearable for me.
The Tennis Channel's commentators Martina Navratilova and Bill Macatee were good. Usually I don't care to listen to Justin Gimelstob, but his role of analysis for the AO 2012 matches, was a fine fit for him.
Sandy Roberts, who led the AO 2012 Awards Ceremony, treated Rafa better than he did the year Rafa won in 2009. The 2009 AO full Final Match.
The Spaniard threw everything at world number one Djokovic in the Australian Open final but still came up agonisingly short to lose 5-7 6-4 6-2 6-7 7-5 in the early hours of Monday at Rod Laver Arena.
With a break in hand and two points from taking a 5-2 lead in the fifth set, Nadal missed an easy backhand down the line with the court wide open and an exhausted Djokovic rose from the abyss.
Having appeared on the verge of collapse, the 24-year-old Serb broke back and went on to complete an astonishing victory and condemn Nadal to his third successive grand slam final loss to Djokovic.
It was also Nadal's seventh successive loss to the Serb, all in finals.
Nadal apologized at his post-match news conference before ripping open a sachet of energy formula with his teeth and sucking it dry before taking questions. "Fine," he quipped after being asked how he felt following the five-hour 53-minute match.
"No, I'm tired, sure. Physically it was the toughest match I ever played ... I am tired."
While Nadal rued his missed chances, he also chose to look on the bright side. "(I had) very real chances to have the title and to win against a player who I lost six times last year," he said.
"But I didn't. I never put him in this situation during 2011, all of 2011, so that's another positive thing for me.
"I didn't have mental problems today against him. I had in 2011 all these mental problems. Today I didn't have (any).
"So that's another positive thing. (I) probably never say that many positive things after I lose."
Final Pictures
zimbio
daylife
Championship Match Statistics
USA TV Channel ESPN2 is beginning broadcast at 3:00 a.m. USA EST
The schedules are posted on the AO website daily the day before play.
Remember Australia is a day ahead of USA EST.
See my sidebar for Australian time
Schedule
TV
The Tennis Channel
Airs both in High Definition and not High Definition
The Tennis Channel reairs matches of Rafa many times
ESPN2
Airs both in High Definition and not High Definition
ESPN2 sometimes reairs matches of Rafa, or at least parts of them.
Live Stream on Espn 3
and
www.australianopen.com/live
(except Australia, Europe, UK, Japan, New Zealand)
Rod Laver Arena and Hisense Arena both have retractable roofs.
❧❧❧❧❧❧❧❧❧❧❧❧❧❧❧❧❧❧❧❧❧❧❧❧❧❧❧
Women's matches best of 3
This knowledge can help you judge when Rafa's matches will begin.
For example, women's matches can be over in an hour or hour and a half.
Australian Open 2012
Round 1
Rafa Nadal defeated Alex Kuznetsov
6-4, 6-1, 6-1
Monday, January 16, 2012, Australian Time
Round 2
Rafa Nadal vs. Tommy Haas
6-4, 6-3, 6-4
Wednesday, January 18, 2012, Australian Time
See Most Popular tab to see highlights of Rafa's Rounds 1 and 2
Round 3
Rafa Nadal defeated Lukas Lacko
6-2, 6-4, 6-2
Friday, Jaunary 20, 2012, 11:00 a.m. Australian Time
which was
Thursday, January 19, 2012, 7:00 p.m. USA, EST Time
Match stats
Round 4 - Round of 16
Rafa Nadal defeated Feliciano Lopez
6-4, 6-4, 6-2
Sunday, January 22, 2012
which was
7:00 p.m., Saturday, January 21, 2012, USA EST
Quarterfinal
Rafa Nadal defeated Tomas Berdych
6-7(5), 7-6(6), 6-4, 6-3
Tuesday, January 24, 2012, First night match, 7:30 p.m., Australian day and time
which was
Monday, January 23, 2012, 3:30 a.m., USA EST day and time
replay of the match at ESPN3
Transcribed interview with Rafa after Quarterfinal match at the Australian Open 2012
NOTE:
Rafa Nadal (QF score: 6-7(5), 7-6(6), 6-4, 6-3) vs. Roger Federer (QF score: 6-4, 6-3, 6-2)
I have another post: Rafa Nadal ~ Australian Open 2012 ~ Quarterfinal Pictures.
I have another post: Rafa Nadal ~ AUSTRALIAN OPEN 2012 ~ RAFA NADAL ~ Semifinal Pictures
I did this to post many QF and SF pictures. I have too many pictures on this post.
Semifinal
Rafael Nadal defeated Roger Federer
6-7(5), 6-2, 7-6(5), 6-4
Thursday, January 26, 2012, 7:30 p.m., Australian day and time
which was
Wednesday, January 23, 2012, 3:30 a.m., USA EST day and time
Semifinal
Novak Djokovic defeated Andy Murray
Thursday, January 26, 2012
6-3, 3-6, 6-7(4), 6-1, 7-5
Live Streaming
Espn 3
also available are matches already played
sportlemon
Australianopen.com
TV
TV schedule in different countries around the world
The Tennis Channel
Airs both in High Definition and not High Definition
The Tennis Channel reairs matches of Rafa many times
ESPN2
Airs both in High Definition and not High Definition
ESPN2 sometimes reairs matches of Rafa, or at least parts of them.
so ESPN3 Live Streaming is better choice,
if you want to watch a particular match all the way through.
Pictures
From Zimbio ~
Rafael Nadal attends Bacardi Limited 'Champions Drink Responsibly' event at Encore, St Kilda on January 12, 2012 in Melbourne, Australia
Practice session January 10, 2012 in Melbourne, Australia
Practice session January 12, 2012 in Melbourne, Australia
Practice session January 14, 2012 in Melbourne, Australia
More Pictures
Daylife pictures of Rafael Nadal
Rafa Nadal pictures ~ uk.eurosport.yahoo
Australian Open Website
Rafael Nadal of Spain celebrates defeating Alex Kuznetsov of the U.S. during their men's singles Round 1 match at the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne January 16, 2012. Photo credit: Reuters.
Rafael Nadal of Spain celebrates a point in his first round match against Alex Kuznetsov of the United States during day one of the 2012 Australian Open at Melbourne Park on January 16, 2012 in Melbourne, Australia. Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images AsiaPac.
Rafael Nadal of Spain wipes his face in his first round match against Alex Kuznetsov of the United States during day one of the 2012 Australian Open at Melbourne Park on January 16, 2012 in Melbourne, Australia. Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images AsiaPac.More Round 1 Pictures
zimbio
daylife
uk.eurosport.yahoo
Round 2 Pictures
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - JANUARY 18: Rafael Nadal of Spain serves in his second round match against Tommy Haas of Germany during day three of the 2012 Australian Open at Melbourne Park on January 18, 2012 in Melbourne, Australia.
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - JANUARY 18: Rafael Nadal of Spain plays a forehand in his second round match against Tommy Haas of Germany during day three of the 2012 Australian Open at Melbourne Park on January 18, 2012 in Melbourne, Australia.Round 3 Pictures
More Round 3 Pictures
uk.eurosport.yahoo
daylife
Day 6 Practice Pictures ~ January 21, 2012
zimbio
Round 4 Pictures
Rafael Nadal of Spain celebrates winning a game against Feliciano Lopez of Spain during their men's singles match at the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne January 22, 2012. Photo credit: ReutersMore Round 4 Pictures
daylife
uk.eurosport.yahoo
zimbio
Quarterfinal Pictures
I posted many quarterfinal pictures at another post Rafa Nadal
and also pictures may be found at the following links ~
daylife
zimbio
uk.eurosport.yahoo
Semifinal Pictures
Rafael Nadal of Spain celebrates winning his semifinal match against Roger Federer of Switzerland during day eleven of the 2012 Australian Open at Melbourne Park on January 26, 2012 in Melbourne, Australia. (January 25, 2012 - Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images AsiaPac
Articles regarding the semifinal
daylife
Ask Rafa ~ send a question to Rafael Nadal
Rafa answers question at Elmundo in Spanish
Australian Open Twitter
#Rafa
#Nadal
@RafaelNadal
#AusOpen
If you want to get Rafa at the top of the social leader board on Twitter:
add #Nadal to your tweet
Rafa's Babolat-sponsored forum
This is the Nike Rafael Nadal website:
Join Us at Facebook
RAFA-NADAL-BRING-BACK-LONG-PANTS-SLEEVELESS-TOPS
Rafa on facebook
Nadal doubts that he will win the Australian Open
Nadal finds passion to knock over Djokovic
Rafael Nadal fears for battered knees
Australian Open Roger Federer Downplays Rift Rafael Nadal
My opinion: the writer of this excerpt is a Federer fan, and not a Rafa fan, as I am. I think Rafa was being honest. And his only possible desire to take back is that the reporting will spin and blow up what he said and what his words simply meant - his truth).
Excerpt here ~ from the article
Nadal and Federer, despite their healthy respect for one another, have butted heads on several issues for a while.
Nadal thinks there aren't enough breaks in the schedule for players during the season; Federer takes his own mini-breaks during the campaign and thus has never agreed with the Spaniard's observation.
Although Nadal, reportedly, backed former Wimbledon champion Richard Krajicek to become the next head of the men's tour, Federer, according to reports, didn't.
Nadal was obviously simmering.
But for Nadal to air his grievances against Federer in public was wrong, as he duly noted. Interestingly, though, he didn't take back what he said, that Federer essentially didn't want to look like the bad guy as the players sought changes to the game.
"You know, what I said," Nadal said in a news conference. "I feel sorry for say[ing] that, especially to you. Because when I say that, I have to say him personally. But that's it."
Later, Federer classily took the high road.
"I have no hard feelings towards him," he said. "It's been a difficult last few months in terms of politics within the ATP, I guess, trying to find a new CEO and chairman. That can get frustrating sometimes.
"He's mentioned many times how he gets a bit tired and frustrated through the whole process, and I shared that with him. It's normal. But for me, obviously, nothing changes in terms of our relationship. I'm completely cool and relaxed about it. He seemed the same way, or at least I hope so."
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