In honor of Rafael Nadal reportedly returning to the practice courts today, I’m posting this interesting series of videos from an interview Rafa did for the BBC’s HardTalk show in January, 2008. I’d never seen it before and it’s interesting to hear Rafa talk about some of the controversial issues (funny how little things have changed.)
Part 1: Uncle Toni is “very strict.” Also responds to rumors that his body is breaking down.
Part 2: Rafa addresses accusations of locker room intimidation and “time wasting.” Also, does he have to hate Federer to beat him?
Part 3: Rafa talks about doping, match fixing, and his ambition “to be happy.”
And finally, some highlights from Rafa’s last big win, taking out Novak Djokovic at the Madrid Masters in an epic semifinal:
Looking forward to seeing Rafa back on the courts and back in the media! He will return to competition at the Rogers Cup Masters event in Montreal, which starts on August 8.
(GTT out of office: I’m on a little vacation this week so posting may be a bit haphazard!)
Tags: BBC, Djokovic, Madrid Masters, Nadal, rogers cup, tennis, Video of the Day
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Q: Where does [your whole image] come from?
RAFA: *shrugs* From Nike.
Oh, Rafa.
Rafa returning to practice makes me happy. It hasn’t really been that long since we last saw him, but it feels like ages, doesn’t it?
I hope he’ll be strong in Canada.
Ooops – I failed!
To celebrate Rafa’s return, I should have said “feels like ages, NO?”, instead of the boring “doesn’t it”.
We all make mistakes, no?
I am so happy to see Rafa back playing
It was interesting to see these interviews. Rafa is a truly nice guy, and I like that he doesn’t feel it necessary to hate his rivals in order to compete. But, I think he’s a bit disingenuous about how his delaying and fussy habits affect his competitors. In Strokes of Genius, Wertheim notes how Nadal made Federer, the umpire, and others wait a full minute at the net before the coin toss at Wimbledon 2008, while he arranged his water bottles and pursued other rituals, thus striking “a psychological blow” before the match had begun. Interestingly, this year at the Madrid finals, when the umpire was standing at the net for the coin toss, Federer waited in his seat while Nadal went through all of his rituals. Nadal kept glancing over towards Federer, waiting for him to get up first. Finally, Nadal got up and walked to the net, at which point Federer got up right away and followed. I simply don’t buy the idea that Nadal is unaware of making other players wait for him.
It’s also not clear to me that he kept the promise he referred to in Part 1 above that he would speed up his game. The Madrid semi-final with Djokovic was over 4 hours because both of them take an extraordinary amount of time getting around to serving the ball. (I counted over 20 ball bounces before one of Djoko’s serves!) So, while I like Rafa and look forward to watching him play again, I’ll take some of his “modest guy” statements with a grain of salt!
uh-uh-uh-uh-uh lk28..credit where credit is due.
You say Rafa “didn’t keep his promise he referred to in Part 1″?
I beg to differ. He DID stop fixing his socks before serves! Baby steps darling, baby steps. “Can be very difficult, but always try to improve, no?”
LOL
Hha! Okay, I’m going to have to watch out for the socks, Mim! I did like that Rafa said he’d try to improve that – could be a pretty big challenge for him, though!
LK28, I too, remember that section from Strokes of Genius. It was really interesting, especially to read that Mirka made a little comment like “oh, hurry up” in the box while everyone was waiting for Rafa. And that Roger admitted to playing some mind games with Rafa during the Madrid final – personally I’m surprised that Rafa finally got up first! It’s a really subtle but interesting part of their matchup.
I don’t mind the “time wasting” that much when it’s Rafa vs. Roger or Novak vs. Roger, because Roger evens things out, pace-wise. It kind of adds to the drama. But I agree when Nole and Rafa faced each other in Madrid, it got out of hand! Even watching the vid of the tiebreak, you can see that the time between points is longer than the points themselves, and the person who made the video even cuts it here and there to save time
Also, Roger vs. Roddick in Wimby was one of the longest (games-wise) finals in history, but moved along at a nice clip – I think it was about the same length as the Nole/Rafa Madrid semi, no?
Oh well, just being picky – very happy that Rafa will be back in the mix soon!
Hehe, FreakyFrites, did you see the Water Bottle point? Rafa makes an amazing backhand cross court shot, jumps up in the air in celebration, inadvertently knocks over his water bottles, crowd and commentators gasp, Rafa stops mid fist pump, takes time to VERY CAREFULLY align the bottles back, when finished spins on his heels with a fist pump, and heads back to the court, applause continues. I remember rolling over in hysterics when one of the commentators gravely whispers: “All we can do is hope the wheels don’t start coming off…”
I too am beyond delighted that Rafa will be back soon. I wish him the best. Will you be attending any of the American hard court tournaments this year FreakyFrites?
Hilarious, my identification code is “I”m yowling” LOL! Polar opposite to how I’m feeling right now. XD
Hehe, how CUTE is he when he states that his Uncle Toni is strict? He gets a “little boy” look when he speaks about him. LOVE the Nadal dynamic.
Rafa is very intelligent. Although he’s communicating in a language he hasn’t mastered (and I selfishly hope he never really does
) the subtleties in his answers speak volumes about how shrewd he really is. Like the “Nike” answer Suki was referring to. Brilliant.
I really admire Rafa for (well many things but I’m focusing on one thing in particular this time)..ahem…I really respect how Rafa speaks out and speaks up for what he believes in. I thought it was a very touching gesture when he gives his “opinion” on the players on tour “fighting” and giving their all to win. Vouching for Potito (gosh I love that name), like he stuck by Reeshard Gasquet (publically and vocally), is a very noble thing to do. But I’m not surprised, he’s known for being a very fair and stand-up guy. Especially when it’s an athlete vs The Man. Will never forget how he protested unfair pay to the other players at the AO.
He has such poise and carries himself with such dignity for a man so young. It’s amazing.
Thank you FreakyFrites for this awesome tribute post for Rafa. You rock! The Madrid Semi-final was an absolute EPIC. Definitely match of the tournament. One of the matches of the year! Rafa and Djokovic where beating the stuffing out of each-other. I don’t give a whipping-forehand that they took extra time between points. They gave us thrilling tennis, extreme rallies, rising drama, and a complete and utter roller-coaster ride. I’ll take it any day. Heck, I used the “extra time” to try and bring MY heart-rate down during that match. What a classic!
Vamos Rafa! So great to see you back on court! *does fist pump*
May your ambition “to be happy” stay alive and be fulfilled! Wishing the same for all tennis lovers around the world <3
So what if Nadal is back?He wants his ass kicked again by Murray or Soderling?Goodluck.Anyways,dont care much about this guys so any more good stuff besides this FreakyFrites?
time wasting?In my opinion it is equal to gamemanship =cheating.Look where it has brought those who resort to that sort of thing.Karma.
WOOHOO RAFA IS BAAAAACK!
I can just feel the shivers rippling across the tennis world.
YES! Thanks a lot Freaky I (unlike certain scaredy sour pusses *points at above post*) actually APPRECIATE your posts. SO keep it up and blog about what you like on YOUR blog!
WOOHOO RAFAAAAAA! VAMOS! Happy dance/happy dance.
btw I agree with everything you said Mim in your post. Yay Rafa Yay tennis! And Freaky you are SO right there is no need to HATE somebody to want to beat them when and you don’t have to beat somebody to want to hate them. Okay not making sense. Overwhelmed with Rafa induced happiness. Will stop now. Yipeee!
ONe last thought: Rafa is so HOT when he’s just sitting there talking andstuff! High fives everbody!
(Rolleyes at the above post!Afraid?whose afraid of this weak in the knees dude?certainly not Soderling and Murray and Delpotro and other lower ranked players.Hahaha!And btw….i don’t need to blog to say what i want.Why dont you go ahead and BLOG all about your Nadal?Accept the fact that not a whole lot is so into this guy,no?lol
Oh believe me kc i don’t give a “whiping-forehand” that SOME ppl aren’t into Rafa.(borrowing the forehand thing from you Mim hope you don’t mind
)
What i don’t get is why you’re obviously on a post about Rafa, saying you don’t care about Rafa? Are you lost? Confused? Or just trying to be negative and trouble making? Or are you just plain freaking out?
You don’t see me going on posts about Fedderer saying I don’t care about Federrer.
Why do you insist on bringing a negative vibe to this thread?
Many people are happy and xcited about Rafa’s return. So why can’t you let them be without farting in the group hug?
As for being afraid of Rafa…well, I’m not going to get into that. We all know
While we’re at it, i thought I’d go all Fedfan and post some stats of Rafa vs the above players you seem to like mentioning:
Rafa vs Sod: 3-1
Rafa vs Del Potro: 4-1
Rafa vs Murray: 7-2
Murray and Del Potro, of course they want to compete and beat Rafa, of course they want to win. That’s the POINT of the sport! But regardless of believing in themselves (as they should, Rafa proved that you must in order to beat the very best consistantly and successfully) the both of them have all the RESPECT and ADMIRATION for Rafa. Of course the youg-uns do! He’s a great inspiration and role model!
Anywhooo, I’m done talking to you about this. I don’t like fighting on boards and I think it’s disrespectiful to Freaky’s blog.
To leave on a POSITIVE note: VAmoS RAFA! Vamos tennis! Vamos success and heart!!