Today’s recommended reading:
Rafa Nadal’s Second Mountain - by Shane Ryan (grantland.com)
There’s a common theme — when Nadal is the underdog, playing against him just gets harder and harder. With the 2012 major season less than a month away, one of the game’s great champions will be digging deep to reach the top of that second, legend-making peak.
Today’s must view:
Nadal’s Masters 1000 Record from the ATP World Tour Uncovered series:
Articles:
- Heroes and Zeros: Baker’s Revival, the Spaniard’s Complex, Petko’s Luck - by Chris Oddo (tennisnow.com)
- Deconstructing Barcelona - by Tom Tebbutt (lovemeansnothing.ca)
- Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal in talks to play exhibition match in Belgrade - by Romana Cvitkovic (tennisgrandstand.com)
Videos:
Photos:
- jgirl4858 has uploaded some photos from Miami to flickr.
Rafa does social media:
- Rafa shared a photo of himself looking rather happy, snuggly and satisfied after a “good physical practice”. An? CC? I think this is your territory.
Tweets about Rafa:
WHY NOT? Rafa Nadal announces his new website with a t-shirt created by Nike & McCann. yfrog.com/khuj8vmj
— enric jove (@enricjove) April 30, 2012
Buenos días, empezamos con un Monty q juega Manu. Ayer estuvo con @RafaelNadal y esta motivadisimo! yfrog.com/h4o0tvblj
— Toni Colom Barcelo (@colomtoni) April 30, 2012
(Click on the yfrog links in each tweet for a Rafa pic.)
Random:
- Andy Murray interviews his brother Jamie - because it’s funny
The person by the RAFApedia.com site sent along these videos from the final.
Today’s recommended reading: The Persistents - by Steve Tignor.
We tend to take Nadalâs wins on clay for granted, as if itâs automatic for him. And we can probably forgive ourselves for doing this when a guy makes it feel so automatic. On closer inspection, though, his win over Ferrer is a reminder that it isnât, even for him. Rafaâs forehand can still go off, his serve is up and down from one week to the next, and he can get pushed around and even made uncomfortable on clay. âHe didnât let me play my best level in the first set,â Nadal said of Ferrer, who took a page from the Djokovic playbook by pushing Nadal into his backhand corner and taking his own backhand on the rise for crosscourt winners. Yet Nadal won again.
Ferrer did the normal thing; he hit the ball freely and well until the crucial moments. Then he didnât hit it as freely or as well. Nadal went in the opposite direction. He hit his forehand poorly until the crucial moments. Then he made it work. Thatâs abnormal, but so is winning a tournament for the seventh time.
Articles:
- Cuando ‘todo’ no basta - by Ginés Muñoz (elmundo.es). Here’s the mangle.
- On Facebook, Inés shared a wonderful archive from the 2003 Barcelona tournament - the last time Rafa lost there.
- I have no problem with Nadal - Federer - via ESPN
Videos:
- Short clips from both Ferrer and Rafa’s post-Barcelona final pressers.
- raficionada has uploaded more Monte-Carlo videos to her YouTube channel.
Rafa does social media:
- On Monday, Rafa shared a really, uh, arty* photo of himself headed home.
* I’m trying to be kind.
Random:
- Pay a virtual visit to the Barcelona tournament.
[caption id=”attachment_33057” align=”alignright” width=”150” caption=”Photo by REUTERS/ Albert Gea”]
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Looks like, maybe, just maybe, a new official Rafa website is on the way. There’s a contest on the home page now to win a signed t-shirt and be the first to know about the new site. Enter now.
Articles:
- Racquet Reaction: Nadal d. Ferrer - by Hannah Wilks (tennis.com)
- Nadal Beats Ferrer For Seventh Barcelona Crown - from the ATP
- Nadal suda ante Ferrer pero se proclama heptacampeón del Conde de Godó - from rtve.es (Includes video of the last game. Mangle.)
- Rafael Nadal beats David Ferrer to win Barcelona Open - from the BBC
- Rafa Nadal prolonga su idilio con Barcelona con su séptima victoria and in English.
- Rafael Nadal makes history with title - AP via ESPN
- Nadal battles past Ferrer to seize seventh Barcelona title - from CNN
- El rey de la tierra batida tiene su condado en Barcelona - by David Menayo (marca.com). And here’s the mangle.
Videos:
- On court post-match interview in Spanish.
- This rtve.es report on the final includes some footage of Rafa in the pool
- The final: part 2, the winner
Photos:
- Photos tweeted by the tourny…before I lost count: practice; another from the practice/warm-up; oh look, another one; in presser; Cava battle; in the pool one, two and three.
- Non-instagram filtered versions of the above and many more on the tournament’s Facebook page. Best pool photos I’ve seen!
- This set includes some pool photos (via @adel1609)
- A decade of Rafa photos - via @genny_ss
- Inés uploaded quite af ew screen grabs from the final.
- The tournament has uploaded many photos to flickr.
Rafa does social media:
- Rafa shared a photo from his pre-final practice.
- He also let us know about the contest on his website.
Random:
- Before his injury side-lined him, Pico had planned to go to Mallorca and train with Rafa after Barcelona: (mangle). Thanks, @diannada.
Videos from today’s final against Ferrer.
Posted by genny_ss
Posted by TennisVadim46.
Posted by vamosrafelnadal.
ATP post-match interview in English:
Posted by ATPWorldTour.
The “not cruel to Daveeed at all” duel post match on-court interview:
Posted by channty14.
Posted by genny_ss.
Photos from the trophy ceremony.
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Photos by JOSEP LAGO/AFP/GettyImages, David Ramos/Getty Images, REUTERS/Albert Gea, and REUTERS/Gustau Nacarino
