Vamos Rafa

May 10th, 2010 at 11:08 am

what a great experience for dolgo jr !

rafa knows he’s winning the whole thing. very confident.

May 10th, 2010 at 11:16 am

I think Rafa is feeling huge relief and mucho confidence with his wins in MC and Rome, but he’s smart enough to know he’ll need to play one game at a time. I’d love to see Rafa sweep this whole clay court season. It would make all the heaps of abuse piled on since last Fall worth it. As Fed fans know, there’s nothing like seeing your fav rise from the ashes.

May 10th, 2010 at 1:01 pm

i am a fed fan, but how can you not like rafa. A gentleman and a sportsman. Cant imagine rafa ever disrepecting a tournamnet the way Roger did wirh Estoril after he lost.

May 10th, 2010 at 1:55 pm

Marty?

what’s your point? seriously.

I watched the Estoril match on livestream and Federer shook Montanes hand, plus the umpires, waved to the crowd and exited with honour. Are you trying to make something out of nothing? The only thing Fed did “wrong” was lose the match in “unfederer like fashion.

May 10th, 2010 at 2:18 pm

Nadal will not win Madrid. You heard it here first.

May 10th, 2010 at 4:21 pm

marty’s point is that federer’s talent makes people overlook his often poor sportsmanship. the petulant outbursts about hawkeye wimby 08, and the crybaby poor-loser display oz 09, just a few examples of things that someone like murray,djoker,and just about everybody else would be flamed for. this stuff is even unacceptable behaviour for a teenage player let alone a veteran no.1. yet federer seems immune.

May 10th, 2010 at 4:54 pm

What about Nadal wanting a tournay directors to change an umpire in 08′ who dare to give him a time violation when he was n. 1?!
Give me a break, nobody is perfect. There is not a single player on tour who hasn’t display some egocentric stuff in some period.

May 10th, 2010 at 5:40 pm

@ guy…what about Nadal’s time-wasting tactics in Wimby 08 so that the match would be played under poor lighting conditions. And then because of his superior eyesight due to him being younger than Fed, he managed to defeat Fed

May 10th, 2010 at 6:30 pm

This tit-for-tat thing with Fed/Nadal fans is ridiculous.

That said, what is disrrespectful is the way Fed fans write off these tournaments as unimportant the minute Fed loses. I find this ‘nothing matters but the Slams’ attitude very distasteful. Whatever happened to being TENNIS fans??

As for Rafa, he’s taking it one match at a time. He’s learned the very hard way that no result or outcome can be taken for granted. Vamos Rafa!

May 10th, 2010 at 6:54 pm

@dc………….now you fedfans are using the age excuse??If the light is that poor for fed, tell him to quit.

May 10th, 2010 at 7:14 pm

How or why is the ball faster because of the altitude can anyone explain to me?

May 11th, 2010 at 4:57 am

guy,

you are obviously in a confrontational mood right now. Marty was talking about Estoril and Fed did nothing wrong in terms of sportsmanship.

Name me ONE player who is ALWAYS exemplary and you find ONE.

May 11th, 2010 at 6:52 am

*WON’T* - *find ONE*

May 11th, 2010 at 6:53 am

Rafa and Federer remind me almost of Federer and Pac-Man in boxing. Federer and Mayweather are master tacticians. Pac-Man and Nadal go out and just fight, refuse to play mind games. This is a pretty half-baked comparison, but I’m throwing it out there.

May 11th, 2010 at 9:23 am

I agree with guy. I have been shocked by some of Federer’s poor sportsmanship– breaking a racquet in Miami, “You guys are killing me right now” with Hawkeye, etc., and still he gets sportsmanship award time after time. It’s voted on by the players I think but I have to wonder. (I don’t think the Estoril thing is a big deal though.)

May 11th, 2010 at 9:33 am

Peter: I’d say it’s exactly the opposite… Pacquiao, just like Federer, is there to box (or play), whereas Mayweather and Nadal are there to wait, counter, and spoil.

May 11th, 2010 at 2:38 pm

some of these comments are interesting. anyway in my view, rafa ‘ll live to be the greatest tennis player if not troubled by injuries. just consider rafa and fed’s age and u’ll realize rafa has achieved more than what fed achieved at thesame age, maybe he even won nothing. beside , rafa has more years ahead of him. fed was no.1 when rafa was up and coming and took the mantle when fed was still on top form. fed regain no.1 due to injuries suffered by rafa. rafa all the way!

May 11th, 2010 at 4:59 pm

Both Nadal & federer are the greatest. They give life to the Tennis !!!

May 11th, 2010 at 5:15 pm

What did Roger do in Estoril that was considered unsportsmanlike? Just wondering if someone could enlighten me.

May 11th, 2010 at 10:42 pm

The Fed just is too much with his ego, that is the problem, he just can’t lose without acting out. It does take away from his great tennis for sure - he says things nice but there is always some underlying smug “read between the lines” crap going on there…
I really think he is a poor loser for being so respected in his sport.
RAFA ON THE OTHERHAND - is a sweetheart, always respectful, and so respectful to Roger, I just don’t see it going both ways.
Rafa is one of the most respectful players you will ever see, lose or win - he always gives his opponent respect. VAMOS RAFA!!!!
GO OUT THERE AND WIN ROLAND GARROS - YOU ARE THE KING OF CLAY!!!!

May 17th, 2010 at 2:23 am