Years ago if people had told me he would win 14 GS i wouldve laughed and said which leg are you pulling,his achievements are amazing,an all time great,and hell you know what thats good enough for me,no matter what happens next….

January 10th, 2016 at 4:02 pm

No one should mock Rafa for continuing being positive. He is not being delusional. It’s the best attitude to have. It’s a vital something Djokovic learned from Rafa and embraced as his own starting point of each day. Being positive creates opportunity for positive things to come.

As a great champion, Nadal has reaped much success from that great attitude in approaching aspects of his life.
And I believe Andy Murray would be even better if he could get away from the opposite – his inclination to be negative – being down on himself in so many matches.

January 10th, 2016 at 4:46 pm

No one should mock Rafa,i wasnt actually aware that anyone was?….

January 10th, 2016 at 5:16 pm

@Gypsy Gal…..Did you happen to watch his match yesterday? I was amused that he actually interacted with the fans. I asked if anyone knew what it was about and Pauley said the fans were heckling him. I read his interview and he said that a fan in the audience was going to be his new coach and go to Australia with him and then he could beat Novak. Rafa was laughing. I am reading between the lines and thinking maybe the fan said he needed a new coach??? Whatever was said by the fan Rafa reacted to it in a jolly way.
I believe he lost the seriousness of the match because he knew he was whooped. The loss yesterday reminded me of the time DelPo just gave him a thrashing and he was chatting to the umpire about his opponent’s play. He seemed rather happy after the match, I guess he was thankful he made his 99th career final.

January 10th, 2016 at 5:49 pm

It’s a relief to hear the positiveness still glow from rafa..in 2011 when he lost 7 straight match to novak,everybody doubted him whether he’ll be able to beat novak again..and he did..this time i still believe he will beat novak again when time is right..this loss,this suffering and this humiliation will only fired him up..not drowned him..he’ll get his 15th or 16th soon..if not this year than next year..we’ll see..

January 10th, 2016 at 9:41 pm

Although, I do like him. But I have to say that he is talking alot like Fed nowadays.

January 11th, 2016 at 3:13 am

For Rafa fans, he is in Sydney and with Monfils represents World against Australia, team is Hewitt and Kyrgios, they are playing in fast4 tennis format, it is sellout 20.000 plus people in Allphone Arena, Worlds team captain is Mats Wilander and Australia captain is Pat Cash, should be fun, first match is Monfils vs Kyrgios.

January 11th, 2016 at 3:38 am

Standing ovation for Rafa, nice words about Hewitt. This is really nicely organized farewell tour for Hewitt.. Perth, Sydney and Melbourne AO. One thing I noticed with Rafa, when you watch and listen to him outside official matches, he looks and sounds like a shy boy.

January 11th, 2016 at 4:55 am

He is extremely shy.

January 11th, 2016 at 5:02 am

I will miss Hewitt, hopefuly he will coach somebody in the future, he’s a realy nice person

Rafa is a shy oy off court, but a devil on clay :)
His girlfriend is also beautiful and modest

January 11th, 2016 at 5:11 am

Hewitt is Kyrgios mentor and Australia DC captain after AO, he will be busy enough.

January 11th, 2016 at 5:25 am

Nice to hear this :)…He could have a realy good influence on Kyrgios, as this guy has plenty potential

January 11th, 2016 at 5:31 am

Well, if you do not have self belief, it is better not to play. Rafa is an indefatigable warrior who never gives up despite the adversity stacked up against him. He knows the challenges associated with playing Novak especially on hard courts where he has such an imposing record more than any other Tennis player presently in the planet. So, the odds are against Rafa. But still he is a personification of confidence and spouts a never say die attitude which only has taken him to great heights in this sport where he is considered as one of the Legends.

January 11th, 2016 at 5:57 am

basically rafa wants to be in a position like 2011. Beat everyone get thrashed in final by djokovic. It’s not embarrassing to be a runner up i guess.If rafa gets 7 runner up this year it’s still better then last year.

January 11th, 2016 at 7:54 am

nitesh. And you know that joker is going to reach all the finals?

January 11th, 2016 at 10:37 am

Michael nice post,unlike his fans especially me ,Rafa is so good at turning negatives into positives,he doesnt go on about whats been and gone,he focuses on the here and the now,and the future,a nice positive attitude,hes an all time great with a golden slam and 27 maters,so indeed why shouldnt he be positive,his career isnt exactly one of a failure ;))….

January 11th, 2016 at 12:44 pm

The writers at the Changeover pointed out that with Rafa we had gotten used to him coming back and quickly winning a lot, and that with his recent injury/illness issues, it makes a lot more sense for the road back to take longer this time.

January 11th, 2016 at 1:51 pm