I’m baaaaaack.

And whether you like it or not, so is tennis. What better way to kick off the year with a Fedal final, right?

The final match of 2010 was Fedal, we had the Fedal charity matches, we start 2011 with a Fedal exho final (Fedal bank accounts charity match)… isn’t there anyone else out there who matters?

No doubt commentators will have their panties in a bunch with “a possible preview” this and “the greatest rivalry evar” that, but they do have a point. They’ve won the past 13 of 15 slams dating back to Marat in AO, 2005, and swept the calendar last year.

The good news? The pressure is off everyone else, come AO time. Fed is defending, and Rafa is trying for his “Rafa” slam. Nole will be written off for his drama, Muzz for his choking, and no one will even bother to breathe a word about guys like Sod or even a returning Delpo. Fine by me. Bring it, 2011.

It’s been a long time since I’ve posted here. Brodie has a lot of work right now, so we thought I could help and give the blog some love. There’s a lot of catch up to do, so let’s get this thing started.

First of all, congrats to Caro for winning Beijing and being the new No 1. Although I’m not her biggest fan, it is deserved. She’s been the most consistent WTA player and it paid off. Sunshine hasn’t lost a final since IW. That’s saying a lot, right? Also, I’m happy for Bepa. Great results in the 2nd half of the season.

Next, I’m glad Nole got to defend his title in Beijing. I think the USO was a turning point so I’m hoping for good things to happen for the remaining of the season. Last but not least, Rafa won the 7th title of the season in Tokyo after beating Monfils in straight sets. What else can I say? I hope you have energy left for London.

Next stop, Shanghai!

He was The King of Clay. The unstoppable Spaniard… but only on the comfort of his lovable clay. Then he started doing well on grass. Could he really win it? Third time was the charm. But there would be no way he would win it on the hard courts, the bounces were too high, unlike clay and grass. Then he won the Australian. But there would be no way he could break through in New York. It was too fast after a tough summer swing.

Haters to the left.

The real hilarity of this story is that those criticisms weren’t hate. In fact, they were entirely fair. And for those who read the post below this, that’s the beauty of it.

Rafa has found a way to alter and improve his game for each surface and each major. The key being improve. Years ago, the idea of Rafa playing aggressively in New York behind the power of 135mph serves down the tee would have been hilarious. “Maybe you’re thinking of Andy Roddick?” Not anymore.

Nine slams, the seventh with the career slam, and the second with the career golden slam, and the most Masters tournament wins to boot. And what will get lost in this? The fact that he only dropped one set all faaaaacking tournament. Insanity.

He’s sealed up the number 1 rank going into 2011 and has over 10,000 points right now, an absolutely mind numbingly large amount. In fact, if Rafa only had RG, Wimby, and USO points… he’d be ranked third.

Well done, son. Take it easy until London, will ya?

RAFAEL NADAL: Well, because I always thought I always can keep improving. That’s why I am playing, to keep improving and to feel myself better player than before. I go to practice every day not to practice; I go to practice every day to try to learn something and to keep improving my level. I already won on hard, so that’s not nothing new for me to win on this surface. But the conditions in every tournament are different, and I need to have more options to do to try to win against difficult players like today.

Like in the past, I had a lot of problems against Youzhny in the past, because I was playing before two meters behind the baseline or three meters behind the baseline, all the balls higher with topspin, and he had always the chance to come inside. Now I can change the rhythm. I can play a slice backhand. I can serve, win a little bit more free points with the serve, and I can play more close to the baseline.
So the position on court improved, the slice backhand improved, and it was important shot for me to stop the rhythm of that player. For sure the forehand always was good. The true, I think I am more close to the baseline now.

I really don’t think enough is properly said about Rafa’s work ethic, and his practice routines. We’ve heard the Rafa cliches before, he gives everything on each point, he plays the match point by point, he goes 110% during practice… what does that all mean?

I can honestly say I’ve never seen Rafa practice live (though I have watched videos) but that really doesn’t matter. The key to his success lies in this fantastic quote. Does Rafa go 110% in practice? Sure. The important part is that he’s self-evaluating and improving.

It would be simply moronic for someone to go out and practice, emulate a match situation (or play as hard as during a match) and not be your own worst critic. It would be exhausting and get you very little, other than a rough workout. The real point is that Rafa (and Toni) knows what he needs to win. This is why he has improved his serve over the year, and took the risk of changing his serve grip two days before the tournament started.

It’s not all about hitting the ball harder, though. In his quote about Youz, you can see that Rafa is always preparing, thinking, and adapting. Which is why I hate it when people say that he plays every point hard regardless, goes point by point, etc. Not really. His improvement, changes, and intensity in practice are what help him stay calm under pressure and allow him to adapt during matches and set him up for success during matches. That means adapting to the surface, the opponent, and even the time in the match. Rafa doesn’t play every single point the same, regardless of when it is. That’s the whole point.

This may seem strange, but as a musician, this reminds me of a great Steve Vai quote, that went something like this. “Some people are born with great ears and feel for music, but have trouble naturally picking up instruments. Some pick up instruments quickly, but don’t have an inner ear at all. Others are just freaks and have both. For the rest of us, we have to practice these things.” Vai, being one of my favourite musicians, admitted that he had neither, and had to get good at things by practicing, and practicing a lot. And that quote always sticks in my head when I hear about Rafa practicing. Fed is one of those freaks. His natural talent is unparalleled. For Rafa, it’s about putting in the work. Hell, from the get go, he learned to play with his non-dominant hand.

So this post goes out to all the people who say “Rafa will never be able to play late into his career because of how he plays, and the strain he puts on his body”. Sure. But that’s what Rafa is all about, and he’s not stupid. It’s that strain and work that has put him in a position to win his ninth slam, third of the year, and complete the career slam.

If you’re an Armada fan (which I know many of you reading this are) last night was absolute heaven (well, unless you’re a diehard Ferru fan).

Quite honestly, through the first two sets of Fer/Ferru, I thought Fergasm was the better player. I was hoping he’d take the second to extend it longer… but he dropped it in the tiebreak, and that seemed to be it. A somewhat typical loss for Fer, being the better player but digging himself an insurmountable hole.

But then news came that he won the third set. No surprise. Still, Ferru is used to five setters, he wouldn’t give up so easily. Er… fourth set Fernando? OK? Then Fer harnessed the magic of the fifth set tiebreak to take it in one of the most memorable match points in recent history.

If I asked you at the beginning of the season which player would go four rounds in a slam without being broken, who would you put your money on? Ivo at Wimbledon? Fed at the Australian? Probably not Rafa at the US Open. Granted, Rafa hasn’t had the toughest opponents, 12 sets without being broken is pretty ridiculous.

Feli had his chances last night, even 0-40 where he essentially gifted Rafa the hold, but Rafa continues to show that he’s not interested in messing around on serve. The real beauty of the whole thing is Rafa’s improved serving. Again. He showed it off in AO last year, that he could use his serve as a weapon. In New York, he’s moved from using it as a weapon to showing that he can be in the upper echelon of bomb serving elite. That means cranking the 130+ missiles when he needs them. Nummy. And that’s what’s really going to make the difference down the road against the big boys (I don’t think I need to bring up the Rafa/Delpo semi from last year).

In case you haven’t figured it out, both these matches are from the same quarter, so we have another Fernando/Rafa slam throwdown. The good thing is that Fernando gets a day off (those with a quarterfinal match today won’t) however Rafa has pretty well exerted the minimum amount of energy over the first week and a bit, so he gets the big edge in that category.

Seriously everyone. Rafa’s kit alone deserves one post.

Thumbs up to Nike because they really did an excellent job with his night kit. It looks amazing. I wish he could play in it forever.

Back to tennis now. Rafa beat Gabashvili 7-6(4), 7-6(4), 6-3. It wasn’t an easy match for Rafa. It took him until the 7th game of the third set to break the Russian. Really, he needs to start converting those break points. It was a little frustrating. Overall, it was a solid performance by Rafa. The biggest difference was that he played better in the crucial moments. His forehand is solid but he’s still not that confident on the backhand.

Let me just point out what surprised me the most. 131 MPH serve. I’ll repeat it. 131 MPH. Where was that hidden, Rafa? That being said, it’s obvious Team Nadal has been working on the serve.

Of course there’s always room for improvement but Rafa is looking good out there. And he will get better. Trust me on that.

Sad face. If I were going to Toronto, this probably would have ruined my day. Great that he’s gonna be back for Cincy and USO though. I miss him dearly, obviously.

I also love how he says he’s “not ready to Toronto” like it’s a dance. “Alright everybody… DO THE TORONTO! CHA CHA CHA!”

Le win! Word on the Twitter street is that Nole asked Rafa around Wimbledon. It’s also the first time the top 2 ranked men have teamed up since 1974. For those who are going to be in Toronto, I really recommend heading out to this. They’ll likely be stuck on the smaller grand stand, which means that you can get close, front row seats if you go early, and regardless of what type of ticket you have. Almost all of my pics of doubles on the MTR Facebook page are from that court, and you can be damn close. Really don’t see them getting on centre court early in the week, though I suppose it’s possible with that kind of star power.

And lastly, according to the always fantastic OnTheBaseline, Ana has accepted a wildcard into New Haven. That will make it 6 tournaments in a row for her, once she hits the US Open. Good move. The girl is playing well, and only seems to be improving. She seems to be only a few points or a game or two there from nabbing a couple big wins. Assuming that she’s still playing Montreal. Hoping a few wins in the qualies there will give her some confidence there and going into New Haven and eventually USO. Do it up.

Couple vids up of Rafa who has been practicing with buddy Marc Lopez back home. He leaves for Toronto on Thursday and is doing the draw in the CN Tower on Friday. Win! He practices a whole bunch of random stuff, and it’s cool to see, especially if you need your Rafa fix.

Thanks to Your One Stop Shop For Rafa, NadalNews.

It is now being officially reported that Rafa will indeed only play one Masters event before the US Open… he’s just not decided as to which one he’ll skip.

Rafa has won the Rogers Cup twice, the last time it was in Toronto in 2008, and in Montreal in 2005. Cincy remains the only Masters tournament where he has failed to make the final. Toronto is the week of the ninth, Cincy is the week of the 15th. If Rafa feels like he’s more comfortable in Toronto has the sort of defending champ, he may decide to play there for the confidence. However, Cincinnati is two weeks before the US Open, not three, which he might prefer considering it will be the only tournament he will play before the Open. Though I won’t be at the tournament, as an entirely unbiased Canadian, I’m hoping he hits up Toronto.

Q. Pau Gasol wanted me to say hola to you. Congratulations. Can you compare this to what he did, back‑to‑back Lakers championships and your own as well, two straight here at Wimbledon for you?
RAFAEL NADAL: Thanks a lot. Everything is difficult, and very difficult compare, two different sports, no? But I am in contact with him all the time. For sure to have unbelievable sportsman like Pau inside the court, inside the court and outside the court is very, very good for our country.

Q. How does it feel to be so popular with the crowd here at Wimbledon?
RAFAEL NADAL: You know, probably is the best crowd of the world, no? More respect. They have a lot of respect for every player, I think.
If I speak about myself, was always amazing with me, the crowd, especially yesterday or two days ago when I played against Andy Murray, a British player. For sure the crowd support him, but the same time was supporting me a lot, no? That’s unbelievable. Just can say thank you very much.

Q. How hungry are you regarding winning the US Open? How important is it for you to win the US Open, as well?
RAFAEL NADAL: Right now I’m very happy to win Wimbledon. Yeah (smiling). We gonna think about US Open in one month. Right now we just relax and enjoy for me this amazing season.
Was very difficult for me to be back at my best. I did, so is very important and emotional moment for me. I want to enjoy that. For sure, keep working to try to be in the US Open finally ready to try to win. But for sure US Open gonna be one of my goals for rest of my career.
But right now is enjoy the beach, fishing, golf, friends, party, and Mallorca.
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