Rafael Nadal: When You Have Difficult Times You Come Back With More Passion Than Ever [Video]

Rafa is incredible. If there is a player who can take the fight to him it can only be Novak. But unfortunately of late he is not able to reach the last stages of tournaments which is quite disturbing. I expect Novak’s fireworks atleast in Rolland Garros. Let us hope for the best and let it be a Novak Vs Rafa final for the Tennis fans to feast on. For Nature’s sake, let it not be Ferrer Vs Rafa final or even Roger Vs rafa final.

May 20th, 2013 at 12:37 am

Vamos King. The great Rafael Nadal. Stay healthy!

May 20th, 2013 at 3:35 am

Hear, hear Michael :) For the sake of us neutrals, I do hope the tennis gods are listening.

May 20th, 2013 at 4:06 am

Margot, I do not believe in God in whatever format. But as you say if the Tennis Gods can help us, I do not mind praying to them for a Novak Vs Rafa final at Rolland Garros. This is needed for the Sport especially on clay courts which are becoming rather monotonous not able to sustain spectator’s interest. Nadal’s dominance is fine and it is pleasing to his fans. That being said, as neutral watchers, we all vouch for competition. I am not saying this just because Rafa is dominating. He deserves every bit of adulation that he can get. It seems he is a man made for Tennis. Even during the prime days of Roger, he was not so dominant. There was Rafa always who was giving him tight competition even in Wimbledon and other Tournaments. Roger was not winning easily. That is not the case today. We know the result even before the match begins and that is definitely not good for this sport.

May 20th, 2013 at 4:49 am

Vamos Rafa!

May 20th, 2013 at 6:28 am

. Roger was not winning easily

Hahaha. check the statistic from 2004 until Australia 2007 and tell me if you believe what you said.
Safin and Nalbandian, probably, had more talent than Djokovic and Murray BUT their poor work ethic,their professionalism, their taste for the joy of living (is respectable choice), their little mental toughness, believe that talent is enough, is a big lie and eventually pay the consequences.. I’m sure if these two had had the necessary dedication to tennis, in a dream Federer had won those majors in their golden years, and Nadal had not been No. 2.
Roddick? See Wimbledon 2004 and 2009 and ask how to lose a grand slam final.

May 20th, 2013 at 10:12 am

What does Rafa mean when he uses the word ‘illusion’? He uses it a lot. It sounds negative but not in the context that he uses it. Is it a spanish word, or just something lost in translation?

May 20th, 2013 at 12:46 pm

“Even during the prime days of Roger, he was not so dominant. There was Rafa always who was giving him tight competition even in Wimbledon and other Tournaments. Roger was not winning easily.”

Yeah well, I just want to remind you that he has 7 Wimbledons, and until Rafa started making finals there, no one gave him an ounce of trouble. Roddick had a glimmer of hope for a set, but that hope was never anything more than an illusion (if Rafa won’t mind me borrowing one of his pet words).

He also owned Halle for just as long (during the years he didn’t skip the event).

May 20th, 2013 at 12:50 pm

“his is needed for the Sport especially on clay courts which are becoming rather monotonous not able to sustain spectator’s interest. …That being said, as neutral watchers, we all vouch for competition.”

I respectfully submit that the adrenaline junkies and Short-Attention-Span-Theatricals who also happen to fashion themselves tennis fans do not speak for all of us.

Just because the surface is slower, that does not make the game itself any less artful, and in fact, in some cases, it makes it more so. When did some of you all start watching tennis?
Last week sometime?

o.O

Another commenter/writer put it this way recently:

“if it’s not a long, close 3-setter, it’s a dud, and then if it is a long, close 3-setter (or 5-setter, in a Major), then it’s evidence of the slowing of the surfaces/morphing of tennis into a boring war of attrition, etc. etc”

I mean, really. What happened to appreciating the greatness in front of you? If, as Brandon said yesterday, Boris Becker and Bjorn Borg can do it, why do some fans feel they have better perspective on the sport than these great champions?

Or are some people just … happier … to whine and moan and groan and complain and never be satisfied?

Also? From 2004-2007, Roger won pretty much everything there was to win (save a certain Slam and set of European Masters 1000s). There were people complaining then that tennis was boring because “there’s no competition”. It was just a different set of people.

*sigh*

May 20th, 2013 at 1:15 pm

Let us all appreciate Rafa for his efforts and hardworking.Naturally, he’s a born Tennis player

May 20th, 2013 at 3:03 pm

@WTF: I think the word he wants is motivation. I’m not a Spanish speaker so I don’t know if it’s an exact translation, but from the context whenever he uses it I think that’s what he means.

May 20th, 2013 at 7:56 pm

Steve 27,

In Wimbledon 2006 and 2007, Rafa did gave Roger some competition. It was a tough five setter in 2007 at the Green lawn. Relatively speaking, Roger was not winning so easily as Rafa is managing to do currently on Clay. Just look at the record of Nadal on Clay. Nine consecutive Monte Carlo finals, eight consecutive Rome finals and his record at the French is there for all to see. So, what is evident is that Rafa is winning everything in sight except for 2009 and 2011 thanks to Soderling and Novak. It is becoming a kind of rewind year after year and that looks certainly boring. It is good for Rafa and his fans ofcourse. But as a Tennis enthusiast I wish to see some competition and Rafa struggling to win clay court tournaments. The only answer to this is Novak.

May 21st, 2013 at 12:31 am

M,

To put things in perspective. I am not deriding clay courts. I see it as a natural court for Tennis. It is the Rafa’s overwhelming dominance which must be contained in my opinion to sustain spectators interest. There is no doubt in any one’s mind that Rafa is a generational player, one of its kind. He is a unique player and he is already one of the GREATEST. But that doesn’t mean he should be let out to win everything in sight. There must be some competition to upset his applecart. The answer is Novak.

May 21st, 2013 at 12:35 am

It’s not his fault he’s too good on a surface and other people can’t dominate as hard on some other surface.

It’s completely up to other people to step up and take it to him. The hardcourt season is longer than the clay season, so if someone could dominate on that surface like he does on clay, they should have an even more fruitful season every year than he does.

May 21st, 2013 at 11:52 am

If Roger or Joker was winning the majority of the clay court titles, everybody would think that was just peachy. I doubt very seriously if the matches would be considered boring. Rafa Nadal is anything but boring. His tenacity, fight and mental toughness is amazing. Vamos, Rafa bring on another boring French Open title. Rafa, you da MAN!!!!

May 21st, 2013 at 11:28 pm