For those of you who haven't seen it yet, this is a fun video interview that a Brazilian TV station did with Roger, since he is planning a South American exhibition tour in December. The part about his head-to-head with Nadal is particularly humorous:
Roger funny Brazil interview
This weekend is Davis Cup, which will be on clay for the American guys in Monte Carlo, and then we move firmly into the clay court season with no looking back until we get to the grass in June. I think this clay court season is quite important and will show a lot, particularly for one named Rafa Nadal. Rafa withdrew from his semifinal in Miami against Andy Murray with knee pain. According to reports the knee is now fine. Hmm, awfully quick recovery. Obviously Rafa's focus is on the upcoming clay season, He is very aware of the fact that he hasn't won a tournament since last year's French Open (just as a side note, he hasn't won a hard court tournament since October 2010!!!!). Last year Novak Djokovic had the nerve to beat Nadal on his beloved clay in two back-to-back big clay Master's 1000 tournaments. Rafa is going to want to be very sure that doesn't happen again. On the other hand, Novak is going to want to take this opportunity to prove his validity as #1 on all surfaces. Not only that, Nadal has NEVER lost in Monte Carlo (coming up the middle of this month). How much Djokovic would like to change that, even more so due to the fact that he now resides there. Although Roger Federer currently isn't playing in Monte Carlo, which takes a bit of the joy in the tournament away for me, I will still be watching with interest to see if Djokovic can wrestle this one away too or if Nadal can figure out a way to finally beat this guy after losing to him in, what, 6 finals in a row? I would think Rafa will figure out a way to win at least one of the three upcoming Master's 1000 clay tournaments. What about the French Open? Is he going to win it for the 7th time or is Djokovic going to come through and win his fourth major in row? Or Federer was very close last year - maybe he can make his way to a second French Open title for his 17th GS trophy, which is certainly what I would like to see happen! :) Lots of drama upcoming in the next two months - and that's all before the excitement of Wimbledon and the Olympics! Lots to look forward to, tennis fans!
I would love to hear some thoughts and opinions on what you see happening during the clay court season and where you think Rafael Nadal is at in his health, passion for the game, etc., as he gets closer to his 26th birthday.
Kim (Majorfedfan )
4 comments:
I think it´s going to be very interesting to see how the claycourt season is going to start in Monte carlo, especially as you say to see how Nadals knee is holding up. But I think it will be Novak and Nadal final and I think the whole claycourt season will be dominated by them and Roger Federer, I don´t see who else should give these three guys troubles. Murray is going to struggle on clay again this year I think. The only two guys who can be a threat besides Roger, Nadal and Novak is Del Potro and David Ferrer, both of them are in great form and they are excellent clay courters, and maybe I will put in Almagro also to stur things a little bit up.
And I´m still a little bummed about Rogers exit in Miami to Roddick. He had the chance to take number 2 spot in the rankings in that tournament and that would have been a blessing in disguise for him I think. Then Nadal and Djokovic could have been drawn in the same half in some of the tournaments and Roger could face Djokovoc in some finals where I think he has good chances to win instead of Nadal. Wouldn´t a Roland Garros final between Roger and Novak be great? Of course a Fedal final would be the best if Roger would win it, but I just don´t see it happend but I´m hoping for him to prove me wrong :)
Mark Wandy Nielsen (FedMark)
I was hoping to wake up and find someone had commented, so thanks! :) I'm still thinking it's a possibility Roger will decide to take a wildcard into Monte Carlo, though I'm not expecting it. Yeah , it would be great if he could somehow get back to #2 and play Novak in the final - that would be awesome. I don't think that will probably happen though. I figure his best chance is Wimbledon for a major this year if he can get past that quarterfinal jinx he's had the last couple years. At some point someone besides the top 4 are going to break through and start making more of an impact. There have been some glimpses of it but it never goes anywhere. This can't keep going on like this forever, though, with just those 4, so in a way it will be kind of exciting when it changes a bit (as long as Roger is still right up there!).
If you have any suggestions for getting this blog out there more let me know. It's really fun to communicate with people about tennis!
I love reading and talking about tennis, so it´s me who´s thanking you :)
Yes it could be great if Roger took a wildcard into Monte Carlo, but I don´t see it happening. With the schedule he has had in the beginning of the year and whats ahead in the rest of the year I think it´s not on his mind, but it would be great though. I think he´s going to have a great clayseason.
But yes Wimbledon is where he neeeds to take a win, it would really send a signal around the world.
I think a good a place to make a little attention about your blog could be at a another blog called FedererFan07. It´s a relly good site with a lot of followers.
And Bleacherreport.com is a site for many sports including tennis where members write their own articles and other members comment on them. The members there are relly eager to talk about sports and tennis, a really great site to mention your blog in I think.
Thanks - I just went on that fedfan07 site and made a comment. I had heard of it but never really went on it before. Looks like another good site! Even if mine doesn't do too much, it's fun just to have a place to put down as many of my tennis thoughts as I want, even if not too many people read them. :)
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