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Post by The Chloe on Jul 27, 2003 17:25:19 GMT -5
It's his first ATP title, yes.
After the USO he's going to play Palmero before the indoor season... so it's a challenger this week, then a break, Long Island, USO, Palmero, indoor stuff ;D
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Post by Layla on Jul 29, 2003 18:32:52 GMT -5
Ok, I have to get into the whole hair discussion, deep as it is.  I think his hair looks gorgeous off court, I wouldn't want him to cut it for anything. It actually looks like he could be posing for a shampoo commercial. On-court is a different matter though. I don't think a thinner hair-band would work because he was having trouble keeping his locks in place as it is. Every now and then he had to stop and carefully nudge every separate strand that escaped back behind the hairband. LOL, it was quite funny. I hope it doesn't become one of those obsessions, like Rusedski and his socks, or the way Clement always readjusts his glasses between points. He really is weirdly unphotogenic. He looks so much better in person. And I don't believe the ATP site which claims he's only 182 cm tall, while Carlos is supposed to be 190. To me, he seemed taller than Carlos, but maybe he's growing so fast, the ATP site can't keep up. He won the first round in Segovia today against Robin Vik, but it took him 3 sets!  That's a bit surprising given that he hadn't dropped a single set against much, much better players until he ran into Moya in Umag. I think that week of rest will do him good. He's young, but there's no reason to overexert yourself and burn out too early. |
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Post by The Chloe on Jul 29, 2003 19:35:03 GMT -5
Rafael is definately taller than what his stats read... a few months ago he was just shy of being level with Portas, and that was back in Barletta which I *think* was late March or early April. Entirely possible he's gotten taller since then. Moya *was* about an inch taller last time they played, though. I'll dig up my pictoral evidence later, lol
I'm not surprised to hear about the headband quirk... apparently for a couple of his matches he had an even more irritating one... apparently he was adjusting his undergarments between EVERY point. This has led to Riley Finn calling him "G-String"... this wasn't a match that I saw, but I do hope he's gotten over that habit as it's not a very appealing one.
Today's struggle could have been a couple things... for one thing this is his first match on hardcourts since February. For another, he's been playing every week since Wimbledon.
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Post by Layla on Jul 30, 2003 20:10:14 GMT -5
LOL, no I didn't notice him adjusting his underwear.  Segovia is a hard-court challenger? I had no idea.  I really should pay more attention. |
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Post by The Chloe on Jul 30, 2003 20:13:05 GMT -5
LOL, no I didn't notice him adjusting his underwear.  Segovia is a hard-court challenger? I had no idea. I really should pay more attention. I had no idea until the other day when I saw pictures from it. I just assumed he was playing on clay again, but am glad to see otherwise. |
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Post by Layla on Aug 2, 2003 16:24:09 GMT -5
Rafael made it into the final of that challenger, where he will face Tomas Zib.  What are his results on hard courts so far? |
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Post by Layla on Aug 3, 2003 10:15:02 GMT -5
Nadal just won the Segovia challenger 6-2 7-6(1).  Well done, now he's going on a well deserved break! |
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Post by The Chloe on Aug 7, 2003 20:58:30 GMT -5
A belated YAY to his win  |
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Post by Layla on Aug 8, 2003 16:02:07 GMT -5
And a lovely pic of Nadal from the official Umag site to celebrate it. ;D  |
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Post by The Chloe on Aug 8, 2003 23:14:55 GMT -5
wtf is he pinching his face for? lol
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Post by Kiro on Aug 26, 2003 2:48:49 GMT -5
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Post by Ilhame on Aug 26, 2003 8:33:58 GMT -5
Nice to see he earned himself a thread here Congrats on the 1st doubles title  |
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Post by RogiFan on Aug 26, 2003 9:13:06 GMT -5
Kiro, where do we click for the pix? Who else was at the party?? Our other faves??  |
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Post by Kiro on Aug 26, 2003 10:19:05 GMT -5
Kiro, where do we click for the pix? Who else was at the party?? Our other faves?? you must be thinking of Rogi, right? ;D I went to search for more pics about the party, yes Rogi was there!  He's one of the NIKE stars so why not:D Oops, I'd better post Rogi's pic to his thread ;D |
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Post by TennisHack on Aug 27, 2003 19:36:43 GMT -5
Awww, LMAO:
THE MODERATOR: Nadal's friend is going to translate.
Q. I want to find out, you think you're ready for a Grand Slam title now or you need a little more time?
RAFAEL NADAL: He doesn't think he's ready to win.
Q. He needs a little more time?
RAFAEL NADAL: He might never win it, but he's going to try to win it this year. He's going to work hard and try to win.
Q. He plays El Aynaoui next. What are your thoughts about the match?
RAFAEL NADAL: He says El Aynaoui plays better on hard courts. He played against him in Bastad this summer and beat him in three sets.
Q. Beat him in three sets?
RAFAEL NADAL: Rafael beat him in three sets. He's a very dangerous player, serves very well, big forehand. He's playing his best tennis the last couple of years.
Q. Did doing reasonably well at Wimbledon, does that help playing well on other surfaces besides clay? Does that give you more confidence for playing here on hard courts?
RAFAEL NADAL: He said he likes all kinds of surfaces. He prefers clay court. But he doesn't mind.
Q. How do you adapt your game for hard court? Looks like you're pretty close to the baseline when you return, take the ball pretty early.
RAFAEL NADAL: On the clay, he returns -- he backs up on the court more, tries to hit harder, a little bit more aggressive.
Q. Can you talk about the reception you've received? You had a lot of young fans and people wanting autographs.
RAFAEL NADAL: He says it's nothing special. Just normally in the Grand Slams, there's more people to ask, but it's not that many people. Nothing more special than other tournaments. There weren't many people there asking him for autographs.
Q. Did you set any goal coming into this event, what you wanted to do?
RAFAEL NADAL: He said that his goal is to play match by match. He's been three weeks without competing. He was coming to this match a little, you know, lack of matches. But he's just looking forward every match, match after match.
Q. What areas of the game are you working to improve?
RAFAEL NADAL: He says he's trying to work on everything, but especially on the serve and volley.
Q. What is wrong with your fingers?
RAFAEL NADAL: He had like a cut, and they taped it. The tape made another cut when he was playing.
Q. He plays left-handed. How could he cut himself?
RAFAEL NADAL: It's on the left.
Q. Has your soccer-playing uncle helped you deal with all the attention and pressure you're getting?
RAFAEL NADAL: He always gets the same question. He gets along very well with his uncle, but it's nothing to deal with pressure. Just a regular relation.
Q. How has Carlos Moya helped your career?
RAFAEL NADAL: He said living in Mallorca, it's a small place. Being able to hit with him, being Top 5, he's got a higher level than Rafael. It helped him a lot practicing with a better player than him to improve his game.
Q. First time to New York?
RAFAEL NADAL: In vacation he came with his family, but never play.
(This is a partial transcript)
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Post by Kiro on Aug 27, 2003 21:58:49 GMT -5
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Post by The Chloe on Aug 28, 2003 22:52:27 GMT -5
I was there ;D
I wasn't supposed to stay that long, but there was no way I was going to have gone all the way to NYC and back and not seen him, so I shelled up another 42US just to see him on Wednesday... not that I'm complaining!
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Post by The Chloe on Aug 28, 2003 22:55:24 GMT -5
My pictures turned out better than those ones, btw ;D
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Post by Kiro on Aug 31, 2003 9:06:50 GMT -5
;D  Title: Alex Lopez Moron (L) and Rafael Nadal (R) both of Spain display their trophies Subject: SPO,TENNIS, Caption: Alex Lopez Moron (L) and Rafael Nadal (R) both of Spain display their trophies after beating Thomas Shimada of Japan and Todd Perry of Australia during the Croatia's Open final double tennis match in Umag on Sunday 27 July 2003. EPA PHOTO/EPA/ANTONIO BAT Date Created: 2003-7-27    Caption: Rafael nadal of Spain returns backhand to his opponent Carlos Moya of Spain during the Croatia's Open semi final tennis match in Umag on Saturday 26 July 2003. EPA PHOTO/EPA/ANTONIO BAT www.champion-images.com/ |
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Post by Kiro on Sept 10, 2003 12:28:22 GMT -5
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Post by The Chloe on Sept 13, 2003 17:06:29 GMT -5
Anybody who is a fan should check out my 22131232 paragraph orgasm in my USO rambles thread - I feel like Patty Mac, the Spanish version  |
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Post by The Chloe on Sept 14, 2003 14:12:06 GMT -5
Nadal is the top seed at St-Jean-De-Luz, a 125K challenger coming up this week. The field also includes Santoro, Enqvist. Gasquet, and some others. Potential fetus matchup in round two  Check stevegtennis for details. |
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Post by RogiFan on Sept 14, 2003 16:18:15 GMT -5
Rafa d Feli in Albacete 61 64 to win the title!! Felicitaciones, Rafa!!
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Post by RogiFan on Sept 16, 2003 21:50:07 GMT -5
Becca, I'm continuing here for stuff on Rafa. I believe he's playing Basel Swiss Indoors this year -- they already talked about Rafa in the Swiss tennis mag... his name is on the site too... s be good! Maybe Mrs. B. will get a chance to see him play! FUN!
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Post by The Chloe on Sept 16, 2003 22:00:24 GMT -5
Basel is indeed on his list of events... it is listed as the last event that he'll play this year, but I wouldn't be surprised if he found something to add on there From: www.rafaelnadal.com/page4.htmlRafael will play Palmero next week, then Moetz, then Lyon, then Madrid, and finally Basel. Madrid is just as assumption atm, mind you. I'm |
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Post by RogiFan on Sept 16, 2003 22:03:37 GMT -5
Basel is indeed on his list of events... it is listed as the last event that he'll play this year, but I wouldn't be surprised if he found something to add on there From: www.rafaelnadal.com/page4.htmlRafael will play Palmero next week, then Moetz, then Lyon, then Madrid, and finally Basel. Madrid is just as assumption atm, mind you. I'm ... you were saying? Rafa's one busy kid!! Corretja will be in Metz also. |
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Post by The Chloe on Sept 16, 2003 22:38:38 GMT -5
Um... I have no idea how "I'm" appeared at the bottom of that post |
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Post by The Chloe on Sept 18, 2003 21:00:06 GMT -5
Rafael retired crippled after the first set  He hurt his upper leg, or ass, or something Richard hit him *part of that is made up* |
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Post by Ilhame on Sept 22, 2003 14:45:07 GMT -5
I think the part where he hurt his leg or ass is made up ;D |
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Post by The Chloe on Sept 23, 2003 0:44:01 GMT -5
Well.... as long as it's clear that Richard really did beat him up!  (such a dirty smiley) |
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I think his hair looks gorgeous off court, I wouldn't want him to cut it for anything. It actually looks like he could be posing for a shampoo commercial. On-court is a different matter though. I don't think a thinner hair-band would work because he was having trouble keeping his locks in place as it is. Every now and then he had to stop and carefully nudge every separate strand that escaped back behind the hairband. LOL, it was quite funny. I hope it doesn't become one of those obsessions, like Rusedski and his socks, or the way Clement always readjusts his glasses between points.
That's a bit surprising given that he hadn't dropped a single set against much, much better players until he ran into Moya in Umag. I think that week of rest will do him good. He's young, but there's no reason to overexert yourself and burn out too early.
I really should pay more attention.
What are his results on hard courts so far?
He's one of the NIKE stars so why not:D
Check stevegtennis for details.
He hurt his upper leg, or ass, or something