Rafatennis Part II - Roland Garros 22 May - 5 June 2011

First topic message reminder :

So here we are then folks...the second slam of the year, with so much riding on it.

Will Novak get that No 1 that he so craves? Will Rafa get title No 6 to equal Bjorn Borg's records? Will Roger step back up and prove a threat and will Murray follow up his good form on the clay of Monte Carlo and Rome with a good run here?

The draw is out and Rafa faces John Isner in Round 1. Robin Soderling is in Rafa's quarter and Andy Murray in the same half.

Rafa has been in Paris for a couple of days already on the promotion trail with appearances at Armani and the Nike store. He's also been at the tournament site practising with Gilles Simon.

Good luck Rafa and vamos!

And we call ourselves Rafateers!!!

I blame the French, Wooffs

After all...if Rafa had started on Monday, we could've had another fun filled day watching livescores at work tomorrow

As it is - with everyone out and about (though maybe midwife Denz will be in?) we'll just have to think and worry, and me with my ancient mobile phone will just have to check for the score when I think it should be over!

I've just watched Rafa's presser on the RG site. He said he didn't play well. He said he's practising well but it's not transferring into matches. He didn't blame the wind - he said it has to come from inside himself - if he's playing well the wind is no problem, if he's not then it's like a hurricane. He ended up saying "I'm not happy, but I'm here". Hopefully when Womble arrives he'll be happy and there.

Feds on Lenglen again tomorrow - and the big match of the day (Djokpo) is the last match on PC. Djoko already has 3-0 H2H - I expect him to make it a fairly easy 4-0 tomorrow.

Vamos Rafa, keep colm and carry on!

Night night lovely Rafateers

Morning everyone

I was feeling a bit better this morning, saying to myself that Rafa loves these scraps and perhaps it's what he needs to relight the fire in his belly, but then I read Rafan's post quoting him saying he wasn't happy and now I'm

Thing is, I think anyway, at times he is the Rafa we know and love, getting impossible balls back, hitting stunning winners, but then he goes walkabouts and you're left thinking, what the ?? was that Rafa. But then, we have all been there, getting down on anything and everything and nothing seems to be going right. Life is full of ups and downs and you savour the ups and deal with the downs and move on. I always like to think during downs 'This too will pass' and eventually it does.

At the end of the day, these guys are playing out of their skins and still not getting past him, so there are positives. And he finally won a tie breaker!!

Am I the only one that is going to be around on Saturday I'll have to rope in Andy fans to keep me company.

Good Morning all my luvverly Rafateers

Had a peaceful night and all are doing well...the bags under my eyes are looking better

I will probably be about on Saturday...am working in the morning, but hopefully will be able to watch Sat afternoon

As usual the Dame has hit it on the head....Rafa is just not "there" is he? I agree that he's just below par....he takes on too much, does not have enough time off to recharge his batteries, and is paying the price for it. He's not been right since he lost to Feds at the end of last year, and has been playing catchup ever since.

This part of the season is full on and pretty relentless, and yes it's the same for everyone...but you look at Nole...after years of being there or thereabouts, he's found his mojo. He's got so many goals to chase...mulitple slams.. being No 1 and just really enjoying the fact he's going out on court feeling pretty invincible. A couple of years ago that was Rafa.

Now he's been there and done it and the problem is staying there, remembering how it felt to be the best. I know Feds did it for years, but everyone is different and maybe it doesn't affect Rafa in the same way.

He is trying...and he'll hate not winning this title, and worse...Wimbledon, but you can only push yourself so far, and if the body cannot respond then there's very little you can do about it.

But he's not finished yet....so let's not look any further than tomorrow...I daren't!

Vamos Rafa!

Rafa was up and down , but a great fight back, I thought he would lose that set when it was 5.2....

Wooffie...."He just isn't 100%. He's not fully there mentally, he's not fully there physically, I don't think he's fully motivated, his game, tactics and decision making aren't there at 100%. He's just off. I think he's tired, and tired of it ... and I think its the strain of keeping himself going that's wearing on him"

I don't think the loss @ the OZ affected him mentally, because he was on a career grand slam moment and was playing some brilliant tennis, but the effort involved to get into that position was tremendous. You could see in his eyes the deflation of hope as he sat down, out of the match due to injury, just looking around and thinking what could have been,but it was all taken away in a moment of judgement.

With all that effort, he must be thinking, can I ever do that again, all that concentration, will power and determination.

I don't think he has the energy to do that ATM, whether its mental energy or physical, but I see no reason why he could relax a bit this year, take it in his stride and regroup for next years AO and begin again.

He might not have the hunger levels this year as previous, but even if he loses this FO, and Wimbledon, I would view it as hiccup rather than a downward trend.

Its a lot to ask of someone to play top level tennis, week after week, slam after slam, in what I think is the strongest line-up of players for a good 30 years.

Jubbahey wrote:Wooffie...."He just isn't 100%. He's not fully there mentally, he's not fully there physically, I don't think he's fully motivated, his game, tactics and decision making aren't there at 100%. He's just off. I think he's tired, and tired of it ... and I think its the strain of keeping himself going that's wearing on him"

I don't think the loss @ the OZ affected him mentally, because he was on a career grand slam moment and was playing some brilliant tennis, but the effort involved to get into that position was tremendous. You could see in his eyes the deflation of hope as he sat down, out of the match due to injury, just looking around and thinking what could have been,but it was all taken away in a moment of judgement.

With all that effort, he must be thinking, can I ever do that again, all that concentration, will power and determination.

I don't think he has the energy to do that ATM, whether its mental energy or physical, but I see no reason why he could relax a bit this year, take it in his stride and regroup for next years AO and begin again.

He might not have the hunger levels this year as previous, but even if he loses this FO, and Wimbledon, I would view it as hiccup rather than a downward trend.

Its a lot to ask of someone to play top level tennis, week after week, slam after slam, in what I think is the strongest line-up of players for a good 30 years.

It makes you wonder how draining it is to be number 1 and break those records all the time, makes me respect Roger and pistol Pete a lot more, those streaks at number one (year after year) were truly phenomenal. I doubt they will ever be repeated again.

I believe he has just lost form and some confidence. The hunger and motivation, I think are still there and I bet you, he wants to maintain his ranking, after all that is what he has been chasing with Roger dominating other surfaces for years. Nole I think is a shock to the system, it's like he has to fight all over again like with Roger. I believe he may have gotten this number one rank, a trifle too late (with his type of physical game). He was never as competitive in the other slams other than the FO and this new edge there with wimbledon, AO and USO titles is a bit late.

Morning Rafateers! morning Jubba and mm !

I can only just quickly pop on by at the moment cos of work, but just to say its been good to read the mixture of posts today, not just from the Rafateers.

Q. Well, you were saying that usually your first rounds are not really good, but let's have a look at 2011. Would you say that to start 2011 the starting of the year is like the other years or worse or better?

RAFAEL NADAL: Well, I lost two sets sometimes, but not the match. You know, I don't like these comparisons between years. I don't know if I'm going to win a sixth time. We should talk about the present. We should talk about the problems I have today and the solutions I have to find. We have to think about this. I know exactly what I have to do. I have to improve day in, day out.

You can't go from 0 to 50 or from 0 to 100 or 15 to 30, 30 to 45. It's each point that counts. You have to go up little by little if you can. If you can't, then go back home. That's the thing.

If I can't do this, I'll go fishing in Mallorca, but each day I see some type of improvement, okay. I've reached the third round. I'm still here in front of you. I'll do my utmost tomorrow so that my practice is like yesterday's, which was very positive. I practiced really well.

Maybe today was not really prepared for this type of match. However, my warmup was really good this morning. It really is a good sign, you know. Playing well is one thing, but if my practice is bad and I play badly on the courts, then I would say I have to change something. But my practice was good, and I didn't play that badly, that poorly.

So to start with, that's my starting point. Then I will continue and try and improve, so the next match I play it's going to be better and so on and so forth. This is what I've decided to do. I will try and stick to this. I will do my best, as I said. If I can't do this, I will go back home. I will say, Okay, I've done my best. Back home.

Rafan brought up Rafa's press conference last night, and its always good to read what Rafa has to say.

I'm undecided about whether he should be so frank ... but that's Rafa. He does know his problems, but its a mental/confidence thing to get his legs, body, mind to doing it on the court like he can.

Thanks for that Wooffs - the RG site only seems to put up a snippet of the presser video, so that transcript went into far more detail; an interesting read!

That's Rafa for you...says it like it is...no flannel...no messing about.

So Rafateers, we'll take it in the same way...if Rafa plays well, we'll cheer him on....if he loses we'll be but take heart that he's gone home to regroup, have a break and go fishing.

Whatever it takes...we'll still be here Rafa

Hello all and it is indeed good to hear from some non-Rafateers - we're all a bit "too close".

I love those comments from the press conference, particularly about going fishing. He's just so balanced and grounded.

I've also questioned whether he should be so frank in public. I'm all in favour of being honest with yourself and your team about being nervous in TBs or whatever, but why tell the rest of the tour that, particularly when Novak is going around as though he can walk on water ?

As a bit of light relief (about Feds' match) I'm just about this commentary on the BBC Live French Open text:

"On the red button, John Lloyd and Andrew Castle are trying to find something negative to say about Federer's performance. It's difficult, and they haven't done too well so far. "He's got a hair out of place," says Castle"

Now...I know for a FACT that Roger nevah has a hair out of place

Afternoon Rafateers

I like the following from the Rafa interview:
RAFAEL NADAL: Oh, sure. Sure, the conditions affect, but is better find solutions inside myself than outside. If it's wind, it's wind. The problem is if you are playing better or worse, you know, if you play good, seems like is much less wind. If you are playing bad, seems like a hurricane ...

I think after his professional playing career he will make a great coach (if he is that way inclined), after dinner speaker, sports writer etc.

The problem for Rafa is 2010. He set the bar so high that he was almost bound to 'fail' this year. And yet look at his results in 2011:

Q-F-F-W-W-F-F

Most players would give their right arm for those results as they're all high level tournaments. Its only Nole who has stood above him, and as we know Rafa's form is nowhere near his best whoch makes his results actually quite staggering.

I suspect he's being too hard on himself and allowing himself to over-analyse the losses. His movement has become slower because he's thinking too much, his shorts are going mid-court because he's thinking too much. He doesnt look happy and his energy levels are suffering too. All because there's too much going on 'up top'. Uncle T needs to get into Rafa's head and put some perspective into place. He just needs to relax and roll with the punches, everyone loses but he's not losing that much!

I think he'll overcome these nervous gremlins and start to play more on auto-pilot again. And when he does we'll then see just where Nole's game is at.

It's funny Lydian, because I remember saying something similar in 2009 - even after the comeback from the knees he never got knocked out before the quarters - most often it was the semi (one of which was the USO) and reached the final in Shanghai 1000. Then was part of the DC winning team that year. Again - they were results that most players would be delighted with, and as you said this year it has only been Djokovic that has stood head and shoulders above him - and even that was fairly close in Miami.

Maybe Rafa is feeling the "pression" but I hope that the last two hard matches will remind him what he can come through - that he can fight and win and build confidence. I just hope above all that the next match is easier and that I finally get to see a live match on Monday!

Indeed rafanready, he needs an easier match given his 7 hrs on court already. I suspect him and Toni will be doing a LOT of talking right now.

The problem has been his 2010 results and previous clay domination. It cant go on forever and as he adjusts to that we'll still see him wins slams...winning every tournament doesnt matter. No one remembers all the tournaments Lendl won, just the 8 slams. Nadal at some point needs to focus more on the slams and selected big tournaments, he doesnt have to win all the Masters either. Losing is ok if it allows you to win the big ones - i.e. lose the battle, win the war!

lydian wrote: ... No one remembers all the tournaments Lendl won, just the 8 slams. ...

Here is an interesting comparison:

When Rafael Nadal was 24 years 3 months and 10 days he held aloft his NINTH singles Grand Slam title and achieved the career slam.
When Ivan Lendl was 24 years 3 months and 3 days he held aloft the FIRST of his singles Grand Slam titles.

I think one of the things about Rafa, Nore, is that he "matured" early - and that's why a lot of people think he won't go on until such an age as some others - ie past his late twenties. He's only a year old than Djokovic and Murray, both of whom seem to be maturing right now! Of course I hope for many more years...:prays:

I hope Stan can take the next set and stretch this match out so I can get home in time for most of the Djoko/Delpo match! Just a couple more hours boys!

Dammit! Tsonga breaks. I really am the kiss of death

Good evening Rafateers. I've stopped mid-packing to say I'm off to Paris tomorrow. Hopefully, Rafa will have won by the time I get there.

I've decided that I'm going to try and support "with colm". He's going to try his best and if that's not good enough this year, so be it and roll on the grass court season.

I'll report in from Paris when I get a chance. Vamos !!

Lovely Womble

I thought you would be travelling tomorrow. All I can say is that you enjoy every single moment of your experience. Rafa can only do what Rafa can do, but you will be there supporting him and as a lover of tennis and such a massive supporter of Rafa, its all there in your storybook.

Oh my ... if you get the chance to give us an insight and update of what your FO experience is like ... fantastic for us!! It would be brilliant if you can find the time to give us a flavour of what it is all like.

Just enjoy yourself, enjoy cheering on Rafa, and .... VAMOS!!!

Good morning all my luvverly Rafateers

Womble hopefully by the time you read this you will be in Paris, and so will Rafa...cos he will have won his match

Have a lovely time, enjoy the experience, and if you have to hang off the railings to cheer Rafa on, then I'm sure as a fully paid up member of the Rafateers, you will do so

Hope to hear from you soon .......Vamos Rafa!!!

Hi everyone

Wonder what today will bring us? Hopefully a nice stress free match (just went looking for this and see we have new smilies - still no bubbly though).

Have a great time Womble - can't wait to read your report.

(from twitter great pic)
Alexandra Willis
Vamos....#frenchopen #chatrierisacoolcourt http://twitpic.com/53liq9

Evening all

Well I never saw a ball of Rafa's match, but judging by the scoreline, he either played really well...or his opponent didn't turn up to play

So anyone out there who watched it, I'd appreciate your take on the match

Rafa looked great today ladies, I really liked his aggression looks like he is back on form. Good for him. I want another epic encounter with Nole this time in a grandslam and in 5 sets. Of course I am a Novak fan, but what could be better for the game and for the fans to see the greatest clay courter of all time and world #1 duke it out with #2 and the hottest guy on tour novak in the final of a grandslam? Lets hope they both make the final, and then turn in a real all time classic for our mutual enjoyment. Vamos Rafa (till the final that is)

Thanks socal...am glad to hear he was so much better. Oh well only another week of torture

Good evening lovely Rafateers!!

<gulps deeply> <feels a bit sad> ... but I am very proud of my team for reaching the final of the Champions League, but you cannot take anything away from what a superb team Barcelona are. But one of the comforting things is that they do everything in the right way and are Champions in every essence of the word and that's what makes it more comforting to lose to them.

And on to our own Champion.

Obviously missed the match cos I was tucking into fine nosh and watching someone vocally singing "Don't Cry for Me Argentina" instead of doing it with their feet, but the reports seem to be a bit more positive from what I've read. Obviously Rafa should be strutting his stuff against this kind of opponent and it seems our Bank Holiday dream of RafaFer is missing one essential ingredient.

Anyhow ... enjoy your Bank Holiday weekend Rafateers and all who come by calling ... Vamos!!

evening Rafa fans how is everyone?

Been out most of the day, but managed to catch Andy's match. Thought he hit the ball absolutely beautifully, just a shame about the ankle Hope it's OK. He looked devastated when it happened, on the verge of tears, but to battle through that to then blitz the other guy completely was massively impressive. So proud of him

So how did Rafa do? Straight sets again, but lost serve too, his serve seems to be really struggling at the moment. Ljubicic could be a tough match if he plays well I think...

Evening MFC

I'm just starting to watch Rafa now. I've read the stats on Rafa's match and his serve seemed to be OK, in at 73% 60% or so points won on his first and nearly 80% won on his second ... so that's an encouraging stat.

Not sure that it good news on Andy. Talk of ankle ligament damage??

nah just twisted I think, here's his BBC column, and no mention of ligament damage, though he says he'll prob have a scan on it tomorrow. Where're you getting the talk of ligament damage from?

From other chat threads, MFC, that's why I put a ???. And his RG press conference showed him very subdued, "I don't know if I'll be playing the next match, I don't know if I'll be 100% fit, maybe I will be ... you never know with these things, they can go away quickly, I can recover faster ... and that's what I'll do."

From Twitter:
Tennis X News
Andy Murray: "I Don't Know If I'll Be Playing the Next Match" [Video] http://bit.ly/kCWI4Y

ah but that interview was straight after the match when he would have been very sore still I think. He seemed much more positive in his BBC column. Obviously if he has ligament damage he needs to pull out and rest for wimbledon, but I don't think that's the case (at least I hope not). Anyway I guess we'll know more tomorrow...

Well true. We're only speculating. He will know how he feels tomorrow.

Good afternoon all lovely Rafateers!!

How are we today?? Its chucking it down up here but at least Womble is having glorious sunshine on Suzanne Longlong today. 8)

I watched Rafa's match last night and he was much improved. It was almost like he was using the match to practice some things, but I hope he takes heart and its at least done something for his confidence. If he can turn a good performance in against Looby, maybe, just maybe it will be something for him to build upon.

I'm sorry I missed out on the conversation on here on Friday, because there were some very good points being made. And as you know, I'm a fan of Rafa's pressers cos he does wear his heart on his sleeve, so have a good read of this and I would love to hear your opinions.

For me, the biggest thing that came out is ... tiredness. He obviously talks a lot about the Players Council but that he's tired of fighting, and that it seems anything the players do now will not benefit them but the next generation. He talks again about not having an off season, that tennis is as much mental as physical and you need rest from it. He talks about not being able to go home, not having time to practice things in the off season because its 2 weeks and then bang, you're back to work. And speaking of work, what does Rafa say the tour is like for him now ... its like work, and he says tennis should be about passion. And doesn't that sum him up right now? Who else thinks this clay season has been like him just turning up for work ... and where is the passion?

He played with heart and passion the last clay season because he wanted a title, because he wanted to get back to winning ways. He cried his eyes out on winning the French because of what it meant to him to have it back again. And he took that momentum through the rest of last year ... but I think he just didn't have the time to rest from it all, to re-charge his batteries and now it seems like a bit of a chore for him to turn up for work each day and just do it.

So I think we just take it a match at a time and see how he does. Vamos Rafa!!

Good evening Rafateers

At last tomorrow I can watch a live Rafa match He's up second on PC, after a ladies' match.

It does seem that poor old Rafa is a bit fed up with it all at the moment. His comments about being tired of fighting for stuff for the next generation and that he feels like he's been on the tour for 100 years is a bit of a shame. Just find that passion for another few weeks Rafa - skip the DC and have a holiday.

Vamos!

A very quick greeting from Paris, Rafateers after a long day on Court SL and, yes, the weather was great thanks, Wooffie. Against all my expectations Montanes vs Fognini was a really good match, although I can't see Fabio being able to do much against Novak. I never thought I'd say this, but on that basis, Go Roger !

I'm on SL again tomorrow so I will also be hoping with MFC that Andy's ankle is up to it and will be following Rafa live scores so in one way, it will be just like being at work. I'm on PC Tuesday and Wednesday so really hope Rafa makes it to the QF. There will be nothing like the 2nd week of a grand slam to give him back his passion for the game.

Lovely Womble!!

Well, I'm sure we were all thinking of you because you got some good matches on SL today. The Fognini vs. Montanes match (and I have to say that Fognini's behaviour hasn't gone done very well today), plus the Schiavone/Jankovic match and then Daveed and Monfils.

I was wondering if you might have a chance of Rafa playing on SL tomorrow as his match is with Looby ... but its not to be. What I am reading though is that Troiki has a bit of an upset stomach so might not even make the match with Andy. Good news for him if his ankle is still rather tender.

Thanks so much for taking the time out to give us your reports, and we would love to hear your updates from tomorrow.

Go Rafa!!

COME ON RAFA!! You can do it!!!!

Looks very overcast in Paris today.

Good afternoon, Rafateers

All ready to watch tennis. Just heard that Djokovic has a w/o to semis - Fognini withdrawn! Nice rest for him

VAMOS RAFA!!!!!!

Hush your silly mouth John Lloyd.

Hello Angie Fognini tried really, really hard to play ... didn't he?

Hi Wooffs
Rafa breaks!

Disappointed by Fognini - didn't expect him to win or anything, but afetr his antics against Montanes, thought he might at least annoy Djoko!!

Well ... he's annoyed ME, Angie.

Rafa still to set on fire yet, but he's being steady.

hello rafa fans

Fognini is a bit of a tw@t to be honest. I know we don't know the extent of his injury, but it's a slam QF, and he's pulled out a whole day before the match, not looking particularly upset. One in a lifetime opportunity in all likelihood and he's not even giving it a go. Really poor when you compare to Murray who's given himself every chance of playing.

Rafa looking pretty good so far

Hello MFC

Fognini is an embarrassment.

And right now ... I wish Rafa could go home, rest up, and take the dead look away from eyes. I just think he has lost his passion for the game.

his forehand is in danger of breaking down woofs. At least he's hitting a few more backhands, but the passing shots are still missing. It's odd really, he just hasn't quite got going this clay court season IMO. Ljubicic holds well for 5-4

Hi everyone

Watching Rafa but it's painful at the moment

He is a complete shadow of himself, MFC. I'm finding it really rather upsetting and just wish he'd do what's best for him right now.

Hello lovely Cats