Here Are The Highlights From World Tennis Day (Nadal, Djokovic Included) [Video]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x58UwPuXKSw&feature=youtube_gdata_player
Here is the singles match with Rafa and Delpo. Even though Rafa lost I was very impressed with him. He played really well. #VamosChamp4IW

March 5th, 2013 at 11:33 am

Thanks Tom – great to see all of these players and also that they’re having fun.

March 5th, 2013 at 11:49 am

“As with most exhibitions, the matches were short on real drama and competitiveness, but long on tweeners and tons of fun.”

Wish Tom had written that before all the whiners went off about how horrible it was for Rafa to play in an axho after just coming back.

So nice to see the players goofing off and just having fun while playing their fave sport!!

March 5th, 2013 at 11:56 am

Overheard at MSG. “This Rafa guy is popular”. “Yeah. He’s won slam things.” “Really, how many slam things?” “I think 2”.
Hilarious!
Some folk are not very well informed! Lol

March 5th, 2013 at 11:58 am

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edtkOeMujRo&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Rafa fans. You will enjoy this video. Kind comments from Delpo.
Rafa says he missed his fans more than they missed him.
(That is not true Rafa, you have no idea!)
#VamosChamp

March 5th, 2013 at 12:09 pm

http://www.tennis.com/pro-game/2013/03/djokovic-nadal-continues-prove-critics-wrong/46689/#.UTYspldX62s

World No. 1 Novak Djokovic says that he isn’t surprised that one of his primary rivals, Rafael Nadal, was able to crush No. 4 David Ferrer, 6-0, 6-2, in the Acapulco final.

“Rafa has proven so many people wrong over the years,” Djokovic told a small group of reporters at the LA Tennis Challenge, where he partnered idol Pete Sampras for the first time in doubles. “In the end he comes up blistering, always fighting so hard and coming up with unbelievable results. To be honest, I did expect a bigger fight from Ferrer, but I am sure he tried his best. But on the other side, I’m not surprised knowing how good Rafa is on clay and in general.

“Yes, he did have a seven-month break from injury, but he then came back a few weeks before on his favorite surface and I guess it’s proof that he feels great and I’m sure he’s building his confidence. It’s great for the tennis world that he’s back because he’s a great champion and is very popular and it brings a lot of good to the sport.”

March 5th, 2013 at 12:39 pm

^ Nole, awww – very nice comments about Rafa!

Also – how cute is that little girl with Delpo!? Jealous of her volleys and overhead smashes. O_O

March 5th, 2013 at 12:44 pm

Agreed Jane, and thanks for that link nadalista!

Perfect way to promote Youth Tennis (if you happened to notice the little girl’s shirt). Ben Stiller is such a huge actor in NYC and the rest of USA. I think both guys did an awesome job of tennis plus pleasing the crowd, as after all, it was an exho.

March 5th, 2013 at 12:49 pm

That little girl stole the show! great pickin Delpo!

March 5th, 2013 at 1:07 pm

If Bodo losing his touch? This can’t be him writing a complimentary blog about Rafa, can it?

http://www.tennis.com/pro-game/2013/03/kid-garden/46696/#.UTY34FdX62t

“…….but in some ways you really need to be around Nadal—I mean, physically near him—to appreciate the 26-year old, 11-time Grand Slam champion’s still child-like enthusiasm for the game. At proximity, you can really feel the relish with which he competes, and even the sincerity with which he declares his passion for the game.”

March 5th, 2013 at 1:24 pm

^^should be “Is” not If………

March 5th, 2013 at 1:26 pm

https://www.facebook.com/NadalNews/posts/148665365295023
Rafa is a basketball fan boy as well!!

March 5th, 2013 at 1:59 pm

^no Bodo had always been a great tennis journalist, his numerous awards prove it. He just doesn’t always drink Rafa koolaid.

March 5th, 2013 at 2:01 pm

skeezer, so if you say something positive about Rafa, then you’ve drank “rafa koolaid” according to your repeated use of that phrase?

March 5th, 2013 at 2:09 pm

Bodo is not great…

Although I also liked this article. Nadal just made it so easy to be happy for him last night.

March 5th, 2013 at 2:22 pm

Steve Tignor is by far a more superior writer!

March 5th, 2013 at 2:30 pm

Tignor isn’t bad, but the Rafa bias stuff is a turn off. He writes like he is Rafa’s PR.

March 5th, 2013 at 2:57 pm

I loved the Vika/Serena exho,that guy with the bushy hair has been present at alot of Vikas games just lately,i think hes Vikas boyfriend from hip hop group LMFAO(whatever that means),quite excentric looking,and some women are attracted to that kind of man.

March 5th, 2013 at 4:01 pm

@alison

Bit of trivia…he is Berry Gordy’s Son(Redfoo)

March 5th, 2013 at 4:23 pm

Skeezer wow no kidding eh,come to think of it you can see the likeness,except for the hair,im a bit of a hippy chic anyway,so i like a man sometimes that looks a little bit excentric and different to your usual stereotypical type.

March 5th, 2013 at 4:33 pm

^He and Vika seem quite smitten with each other too,by the looks of things^.

March 5th, 2013 at 4:40 pm

Well done Real Madrid beating Man United 2 – 1.

March 5th, 2013 at 4:44 pm

Giles,

I thought you are Barcelona fan, no?

March 5th, 2013 at 5:26 pm

How about some props for Tommy Haas who was also at the L.A. exhibition?

March 5th, 2013 at 6:06 pm

Nadal Federer in quarters at IW

March 5th, 2013 at 6:28 pm

Fedal quarters in IW!!

Americans need Fedal as long as they are still around:) Not many played under US soil.

March 5th, 2013 at 8:35 pm

Bodo has many awards and that’s proof he is a good writer?

Yeah right, Hitler was elected by a popular majority that proves he was a democrat.

March 5th, 2013 at 10:43 pm

Bodo got those awards over 30 years ago. And it shows.

March 5th, 2013 at 11:03 pm

At least he has them and earned them. Geez u guys only give respect to the young?

Even more IDIOTIC is comparing him to Hitler!

March 5th, 2013 at 11:12 pm

I do think Tignor is the better writer per se; I mean excepting content, he’s just got better style and syntax imo. Occasionally Bodo writes good ones; he’s almost more of a provocateur from what I have seen – his articles can be more contentious. Perhaps he’s more argumentative and Tignor more creative?

March 5th, 2013 at 11:17 pm

Bodo is an A-class writer. Tignor pales in comparison to him.

It does not matter when Bodo received his awards, the point is, he got them for his well-earned writing skills, which we as amateurs are incapable of doing.

How many on these blogs have gotten such awards, or any type of award for writing? I doubt there is even ONE. quite amusing.

Bodo’s critics are those who are from a section of fans who are angry he’s not writing what they’d like to read about their fave players. In other words it’s not Bodo’s perceived style and grammarial inadequacies that’s the problem, it’s what he says and about whom.
Utterly amazing!

March 5th, 2013 at 11:45 pm

Tignor is just a better writer, as such, content not included.

March 5th, 2013 at 11:55 pm

“Bodo’s critics are those who are from a section of fans who are angry he’s not writing what they’d like to read about their fave players. In other words it’s not Bodo’s perceived style and grammarial inadequacies that’s the problem, it’s what he says and about whom.”

Deserves a second post. Furthermore, Bodo praises and critiques most every player at times, he is not on a PR joy ride for any player.

March 5th, 2013 at 11:57 pm

@jane,

Re; your view on Tignor. I get that ;)

March 6th, 2013 at 12:02 am

Bodo has got the cajones to dig deep and ask the questions some fans like to avoid, and it’s what they fear deep down, while Tignor does a good job of allyaing those fears and lulling them into a state of wishful thinking.

Let’s face it, how many of us like to hear the truth? I give credit to those people who are uncaring about who thinks what of them, but has the guts to go ahead and say it like it is. For me, tht’s Bodo.

March 6th, 2013 at 12:04 am

skeezer, for me it has nothing to do with content or fandom; I just gravitate towards his more poetic style of writing. He’s written about music and popular culture as well as sports, and to me it shows! For example, who else writes about sunsets at tennis tournaments? Love it! :)

March 6th, 2013 at 12:12 am

Bodo appeals to the tabloidy great unwashed, Tignor appeals to the more cerebral.

March 6th, 2013 at 1:21 am

“Even more IDIOTIC is comparing him to Hitler!”

You should know, that’s the underclass you inhabit.

March 6th, 2013 at 1:23 am

Wog boy. Me? Barca fan? Nah. Have always supported Real Madrid and luv CR7!!

March 6th, 2013 at 3:01 am

^^^ That’s mean you were going for Barca cause it was against Milan few threads back?

Agree about CR7.

March 6th, 2013 at 3:20 am

^^^or cause Nole is going for Milan;)

March 6th, 2013 at 3:24 am

^^^or both?

March 6th, 2013 at 3:25 am

“Geez u guys only give respect to the young?”

It has nothing to do with age – most writers improve with age. It’s just signifiant that his last award came in 1981 and his work hasn’t garnered much attention since.

“he is not on a PR joy ride for any player”

LOL. All except one, whom he has NEVER lampooned like he has the others, and whom he has written an e-book about and plugs at any opportunity (like the whole summer/fall of 2012).

@Jane – “I do think Tignor is the better writer per se; I mean excepting content, he’s just got better style and syntax imo.”

Exactly. Regardless of content or whom he supports he’s clearly the better writer. Jon Wertheim is also excellent.

“Occasionally Bodo writes good ones; he’s almost more of a provocateur ”

Agree again. Occasionally he writes a good piece but more often than not these days he seems to enjoy polemics and watching fans react. His pieces contain more snarky content than the others.

The only person who is worse is Matt Cronin. Just look at his “headline” pieces at tennis.com. All cherry picked quotes designed to inflame various fans. He should sub for the National Enquirer.

March 6th, 2013 at 3:44 am

Wog boy. You have a good memory! Going for Barca absolutely nothing to do with which team Nole supports. It is childish to even suggest it. I like the Spanish teams! They are superb! :-))

March 6th, 2013 at 3:53 am

Just light hearted joke, to ease the tension before IW.

March 6th, 2013 at 4:37 am

^^^One more thing, according to documentary I have seen few nights ago, I don’t think Barcelona and its fans consider themselves to much of the Spanish club.

March 6th, 2013 at 4:41 am

^^Maybe so but the fact remains that they are.
Btw who do you support?

March 6th, 2013 at 4:51 am

^^Outside Serbia, Liverpool FC. Huge respect for Real as the best European club ever … they beat my club in 1966 Brussels final:(

March 6th, 2013 at 5:06 am

^^^I have to add Ajax from 70s, best football I watched, was lucky enough to watch 1973 European Cup Final Ajax/Juventus (1:0) on Belgrade Marakana Stadium, 100.000 people. I was going for Ajax in that match … sorry mat4 but they played by far the best football at the time and maybe one of the best teams ever.

March 6th, 2013 at 5:29 am

^^^ You seem to be quite a football fanatic! :-)

March 6th, 2013 at 5:42 am

^No, not really. Those days were different, I was very young and it was sort of social thing to go to watch football and enjoy few drinks after the match and tease each other. In those days you could go with family, my first match was Yugoslavia : England around 1965/66 and my father and uncle took me to the game, I felt so important, I was with two people that I adored and I was watching England, I was just a kid sitting with 60.000 people. I don’t even remember result, I think it was 1:1.
My sport #1 was always basketball and then boxing,loved it then and love it now though I stoped watching first football, then basketball and boxing. Tennis and Rugby league are good enough for me now.

March 6th, 2013 at 6:35 am

@WB:

I watched that team too — I collected the Pannini stickers then, so I remember well Cruyff, Rep (he played for St Etienne later on), Kroll, Neeskens, Haan…

But I was really too young to root back then and to enjoy good football, so I wasn’t disappointed when they lost to Germany in the final 1974. I liked also Beckenbauer, Breitner, Muller, Hoeness,

March 6th, 2013 at 6:40 am

mat4,

I was in high school then and use to skip school to go with mates to watch football, it was always day matches, they didn’t have lights for night matches then like FO today;)

I think Rep scored against Juventus and if my memory is right it was header, but that was long time ago hundreds of bottles of plum brandy ago:)

March 6th, 2013 at 6:52 am

But I liked boxing more: hopefully, there is youtube so I could rewatch all those great matches from the seventies: Clay vs Foreman, Fraser vs Clay, Norton vs Foreman… But the best heavyweight I have ever watched was a Cuban amateur — Robert Balado. Unfortunately, he died in a car accident.

March 6th, 2013 at 6:55 am

Of the middleweights, I liked Mike McCallum, Marvelous Marvin Hagler, and recently, Joe Calzaghe.

March 6th, 2013 at 6:59 am

mat4,

In the last twenty or so years I didn’t watch much of boxing apart of Russian/Australian Kostya Tszyu, as new immigrant/emigrant (as Colin prefers to call us and he is right) I was working 24/7 because of various reasons, boxing became circus long time ago and tennis,as the only one on one sport, “closest to boxing” (Agassi) took over me and over all the other sports and it was something noble, if I can say, in tennis that didn’t exist in other sports or was gone from the other sports, that just made me tennis fan. Nole came much later;)
I still live in those times of boxing when we were waking up 2am in the morning in Belgrade to watch Fraser, Ali, Norton. Those times are long gone, but I guees that is life.

March 6th, 2013 at 7:16 am