An extremely mature and sensible young man without the arrogance!
Welcome back Rafa and may you stay healthy, successful and happy. #VamosKing

March 2nd, 2013 at 11:22 am

Great interview from Rafa,nice hes getting to a place where hes really enjoying his tennis again.

March 2nd, 2013 at 1:35 pm

Rafa is on fire!

March 2nd, 2013 at 10:44 pm

Bagel.

1st set Rafa 6-0

Vamos!!

March 2nd, 2013 at 10:46 pm

You want Roland Garros? From my cold, dead hands…..

March 2nd, 2013 at 10:47 pm

He just served a bagel to David

March 2nd, 2013 at 10:47 pm

Rafa’s is NOT of this planet………..he is not. Clearly his lay-off has brought a different dynamic, he is even better now on clay.

March 2nd, 2013 at 10:52 pm

Clearly Rafa has found his form, ha ha.

Isner just lost to Roger-Vaesselin, who will face Gulbis in the Delray final.

March 2nd, 2013 at 10:54 pm

Rafa missed you so much. Tennis was so boring without you

March 2nd, 2013 at 10:59 pm

Ferrer gets a game, yes, THAT is worth reporting tonight.

March 2nd, 2013 at 11:01 pm

And it’s not as if Ferru’s is playing too badly….he is stringing together some great points

March 2nd, 2013 at 11:05 pm

ferrer is showing a little more fight in this set

March 2nd, 2013 at 11:06 pm

The crowd are kind of getting behind Ferrer now, trying to will him to break and get into this match.

March 2nd, 2013 at 11:08 pm

Rafa is all over Ferrer’s second serve; he’s won ONE of 12. Meanwhile Rafa is winning over 50% of his second serves. That’s one of the key stats, imo. I thought that perhaps Rafa would revamp his serve while he was away/practicing. Perhaps he has? His fans would know better than me.

March 2nd, 2013 at 11:10 pm

I love Rafa’s dress btw. He looks gorgeous

March 2nd, 2013 at 11:11 pm

Defence to offence, Rafa’s on fireeee!!!!

March 2nd, 2013 at 11:11 pm

Rafa is playing great! But Ferrer is making some bad errors, too, like that last forehand straight into the net on bp.

March 2nd, 2013 at 11:13 pm

broken again!

March 2nd, 2013 at 11:13 pm

Okay, I am going back to hockey, but enjoy Rafa fans; it looks like Rafa is back, and with an improved serve too.

March 2nd, 2013 at 11:15 pm

Rafa’s making him make all those errors…..

March 2nd, 2013 at 11:16 pm

To some degree, I’d agree. But I think Daveed is not at his best, just my opinion. Maybe he’s in a bit of awe? :)

March 2nd, 2013 at 11:17 pm

Win it already Rafa!

March 2nd, 2013 at 11:20 pm

But that’s part of the package, no? It’s not just points played on court that subdue your opponent, it’s also how you assert yourself on THEM mentally…..

March 2nd, 2013 at 11:20 pm

GSM, Rafa!!!

March 2nd, 2013 at 11:22 pm

Rafa’s crying into his towel…..

March 2nd, 2013 at 11:23 pm

Congrats Rafa! You made my day. waking up on a Sunday morning was worth it. A masterclass performance.

Enjoy all rafa fans

March 2nd, 2013 at 11:23 pm

Nadal is back! I agree with Jane that Ferrer was a little off but Rafa didn’t give him an inch. Hope that he decides to play IW.

March 2nd, 2013 at 11:24 pm

Aww Rafa..don’t be so emotional..you make me cry too

March 2nd, 2013 at 11:25 pm

Are we watching the greatest come-back in tennis history?

Now please Rafa, temper your schedule carefully, don’t be greedy. Hell, I would not even mind if you miss Indian Wells.

March 2nd, 2013 at 11:26 pm

@Nadalista

I agree. Mental strength is an integral part of any sportsperson

March 2nd, 2013 at 11:26 pm

It’s a rare sight to see Rafa cry. I wonder if these 2 titles will be enough to get him back to No.4 sooner than expected?

March 2nd, 2013 at 11:28 pm

VAMOSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

VAMOSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WHAT A BRILLIANT PERFORMANCE RAFA!

WOW!

Did not expect that even in the slightest- a BRILLIANT PERFORMANCE BY A LEGENDARY PLAYER!

Too tired, it’s early here in the UK and i must go to bed now.

Yet, i am thoroughly pleased and elated for rafa.

The TEARS at the end by him clearly showed how much this win meant to him!

WELL DONE RAFA!

And also to my fellow rafa fans- our champ is slowly coming back to his old self! :-)

March 2nd, 2013 at 11:32 pm

Here is why Ferru was awful tonight:

He tried to implement the Novak Djokovic playbook against Rafa i.e. hit BH DTL, hoping to extract short BH from Rafa, instead of going with his bread and butter inside-out FH. He failed miserably because Rafa’s backhand was firing tonight, he was not dropping it short.

He only started making headway when he reverted to his OWN gameplan, but it was too late…..

March 2nd, 2013 at 11:32 pm

“But that’s part of the package, no? It’s not just points played on court that subdue your opponent, it’s also how you assert yourself on THEM mentally…..”

Yes, I fully agree with here nadalista – no doubt about it!

March 2nd, 2013 at 11:33 pm

Not sure about the sombrero look.

March 2nd, 2013 at 11:37 pm

Enjoy Rafa while you can, folks. He IS the greatest clay courter of all time,

March 2nd, 2013 at 11:41 pm

Majestic, Nadal. Life is made up of seemingly small emotions.

March 3rd, 2013 at 12:13 am

V A M O S C H A M P!
K I N G I S B A C K!!
Never doubted you, you are the best! Enjoy your win.
Congrats to all Rafans.

March 3rd, 2013 at 12:32 am

YAY!!!

March 3rd, 2013 at 12:34 am

With that win, Rafa will be just 90 points below Federer in the Race to London when the updates are done tomorrow………….

March 3rd, 2013 at 12:45 am

Just read a tweet : “Rafa says he is going to IW after seeing how well the knee has responded”.

March 3rd, 2013 at 12:55 am

^^^yes, heard the commies say Rafa confirmed he will play IW and skip Miami.

March 3rd, 2013 at 12:58 am

The Changeovertennis is slowly becoming the best match commentary provider in the business:

http://www.changeovertennis.com/liveanalysis-david-ferrer-vs-rafael-nadal-in-the-acapulco-final/

Their conclusion:

“There were all sorts of questions about Nadal heading into the Almagro match. All of them were answered. There were more questions about Nadal heading into this match, the first time the King of Clay would play a top 5 opponent, on said opponent’s favorite surface. And they were all answered in the most emphatic of ways. Rafael Nadal Parera was extremely impressive today – there wasn’t a facet of his game that didn’t stand out, really. He served well, returned well, blasted his FH well, hit his BH EXTREMELY well, and didn’t let Ferrer off the hook for one second. It was a ruthless performance by someone who wasn’t sure himself if he could reach these heights so soon after a 7 month absence.

In other words, Rafael Nadal is back, ladies and gentlemen.”

Ole, ole, ole………

March 3rd, 2013 at 1:04 am

Is this woman for real? She went and got Ferru to sign her protruding belly as well!

Who put her up to this?

http://instagram.com/p/WXqhW8PrGZ/

March 3rd, 2013 at 1:19 am

Nadalista yeah shameless hussy,some women will do anything to get an autograph from the top tennis players,and like Rafa Daveed is also too much of a gentleman to say no,right Courbon ha ha.

March 3rd, 2013 at 4:19 am