Rafael Nadal may be Spanish and the King of Clay, but he is none too happy about this week’s clay court Masters event in Madrid. The Age recently provided the full laundry list of Nadal’s complaints (click here for the original article):
- On the altitude: “(It’s) a serious problem so close to Paris. It would be better if Rome were the last event before Paris since the altitudes are similar.”
- On the hype of Madrid becoming the 5th Major: “There are four Grand Slams, not five.”
- On the brand-spanking-new, multi-million euro “Magic Box” complex: “The facilities here are good, but things are a little disorderly. . .I trained on Friday and had a lot of bad bounces on the courts.”
- On the tournament’s experimentation with sponsor-friendly blue clay: “Orange is the perfect colour, I’m totally against blue. . .The colour is historical, clay is red, not blue. Tennis not only is show-business, it has more value than that – including history and tradition.”
I believe these comments were translated from Spanish, which would explain the fluency of Nadal’s complaints. He may be a humble guy, but Rafa’s not shy about speaking up (click here.)
Nadal could also be feeling a tad fatigued after winning three clay tournaments in three weeks: Monte Carlo, Barcelona and Rome. He hinted earlier in the year that Madrid was a “maybe” on his schedule – so the tournament should be grateful he even showed up.
Nadal has Novak Djokovic in his half of the Mutua Madrilena draw this week. Roger Federer and Andy Murray are the top seeds on the other side.
Click here for U.S./U.K. television schedules.
Nadal, not bright eyed and bushy tailed – photo via AFP
Tags: ATP, Mutua Madrilena Masters Madrid, Nadal, tennis
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If this event isn’t mandatory then why play it? 3 clay titles is awesome enough, I’m sure Madrid will understand he doesn’t want to get burned out before the French.
Hi jfk! I think Rafa hates to skip any clay tournaments because he’s so worried that the calendar may change to be even more hard-court dominant. I think the one thing Rafa doesn’t quite have a handle on yet is his scheduling – still figuring out how much is too much.
But all signs point to the fact that Rafa does not have huge ambitions for Madrid.
Absolutely agree with everything Rafa said!
There’s too many of these 5th Slam pretenders around – at least let it run two seasons before floating that word about. Not to mention how disrespectful that is to Rome and Monte Carlo, and even Hamburg – a tournament with history dating back to the late 19th century.
Also I’m sorry – but European clay is red; I don’t mind, in fact I quite like the distinction provided by American green clay.
But we already have far too many tournaments played on blue courts – must we now also now add events played on different surfaces to that group?
It was like when the Aussie Open went blue – granted its a hard court event, and I must agree it looks a whole lot better than the green, but I quite liked the distinctiveness – for one thing it made the venue instantly recognisable; kind of quaint too.
Hola, TopSpin!
Yeah, I think Rafa’s pretty much on the ball with everything he said. I do find it interesting how grouchy he is about Madrid in general, though. Especially the complaints about bad bounces and a disorganized feel – something tells me that Ion Tiriac and Tournament Director Manolo Santana are not too happy with their golden boy right now.
Hey u all
Know this isn’t related to above post but do wanna know about ur perspective on the news that Rafa has gone for a hair style change before Madrid. not really confirmed the news, just heard.
Any way would not like the Madrid tournament to impact Rafa’s chances at RG. But can the altitude thing have so much impact on Rafa’s game at RG? i mean if its about getting settled with the atmosphere , Rafa is likely going to have few easy opening rounds at RG and by than he would have adjusted.
So is Rafa being extra cautionary or is there real trouble?
cant just tell….
Hi raf-fed!
I did see the new haircut – it just looks like a trim. Not that big a deal – no shaved head, luckily.
In terms of the altitude, Roger was saying today that the ball bounces higher in Madrid, making spin more important. That shouldn’t be a problem for Rafa, who already has the most rpms on the tour. Roger said he will play a more “attacking” game this week, probably because the conditions would favor Rafa even more from the baseline.
I don’t think Rafa’s necessarily worried about his health – he just doesn’t understand why the last major tournament before Roland Garros is in conditions that require such an adjustment to playing style. But all players will need to adjust, so it shouldn’t hurt him more than anyone else.
Hallelujah! Blue clay! Blue clay! Blue clay!
Youtube has spoken. I might actually be able to find the ball for once. Red clay makes it friggin hard to see the ball when you haven’t got your own HD plasma screen or home cinema.
Ha! Dootsiez, I never though of it that way. You’re right about the visibility problems – and the crappy quality of the broadcast feed (at least the one we get on Tennis Channel) doesn’t help things, either.
Still, I just picture Rafa covered in blue clay like a muscular smurf and think. . .oh, no!
Is it really blue clay? That’s just… well… wrong. Clay is orange, and not only in Europe. Here in South America, too.
Now, about Rafa sounding like an grumpy 80 year-old, I’m not too worried. He sometimes has these fits, and they usually don’t hurt his game. I find it endearing, he’s a very good-natured kid, even his occasional grumpiness is quite sweet.
In the States we have the green clay, which really isn’t very photogenic! I prefer the rich, red color of red.
I think Dootsiez has a good point about the ball being easier for us to see on t.v. against the blue, but I’m with you – red is beautiful!
Rafa’s grumpiness is awesome – I wish he’d speak up more! Maybe with age – Roger’s become more honest/irritable with the press in recent years.
im afraid he (nadal) cant speak more.He is obviously has a limited english vocabulary!