Nadalites – Rafa Nadal Talk

[MargaretMcAleer]

Happy News,
Rafa's wife Mery is 5 months pregnant with their second child, expecting their new baby this Summer.
The pregnancy has been significantly easier for Mery compared to her first, which was marked by complications that led to her being hospitalized just weeks before giving birth

 

[Front242]

Happy News,
Rafa's wife Mery is 5 months pregnant with their second child, expecting their new baby this Summer.
The pregnancy has been significantly easier for Mery compared to her first, which was marked by complications that led to her being hospitalized just weeks before giving birth

Is that the cause of the hip injury?

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

The tribute to Rafa will be held at Roland Garros on Sunday 25th May after the 3 day matches.
Amelie Mauresmo didnt elaborate on the nature of the ceremony though she did confirm the Nadal will become an Ambassador for the tournament.
There will also be an exhibition dedicated to Nadal running throughout the tournament at the Roland Garros Tenniseum

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

How 'Ironic" the tribute to Rafa at Roland Garros May 2025, it was the 25th May 2005 on Philippe Chatrier Rafa played his very first match, second round against Xavier Malisse

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

Rafa will be in Madrid, on Monday April 21st, to attend the Laureus Sports Awards.He's been named an ambassador for the awards.
Rafa is the only person to ever win all 4 major awards.
Breakthrough of the Year
Comeback of the Year
Sportsman of the Year
Sport for Good Award

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

Rafa Nadal has received the "Laureus Sporting Icon Award for 2025', Rafa was given a standing ovation from the crowd!
Rafa is the 'Only Athlete' to complete the 'Laureus Slam"
( The only other sportsperson to ever win the Laureus Icon award is Valentino Rossi, back in 2022)

 

[Moxie]

Today is the day for the tribute at Roland Garros, fellow Rafa fans. I'm looking forward to it. In the spirit of looking back, I had a random thought yesterday, as they were recounting Novak's H2H with Rafa and Roger during his final in Geneva. With Rafa: 31-29. Which put this in my mind: What if Rafa had won just that 2021 SF v. Novak, which, at least on paper I thought he should have won? (He'd just beaten Djokovic in the postponed pandemic RG 8 months before, in straight sets, and including a bagel.) That would have the H2H at 30-30. It would also, all but certainly, have the tally for Major titles at 23-23. I'm going to feel pretty confident that Nadal would have beaten Tsitsipas in that final, too.

But for ONE match....

 

[Federberg]

Damn! Watched the Rafa tribute. Moving stuff. How is it that an unapologetic Fed fan can miss Rafa so much once he's gone. What an era we've enjoyed.

 

[Kieran]

Great to see the bits I saw of the tribute to the incomparable Rafa. His 14 will stand forever as tennis greatest achievement. But why the feck was Andy Murray wheeled out with Roger and Novak? I’ve won exactly as many FOs as Andy Murray, and I did it effortlessly. He’s not a rival, the H2H is lopsided, and it only scares and confuses little children. Big headed kids will think we adults know nothing, “it’s big 4, dumbass, I saw them all in a reel.”

Andy had to be embarrassed today, as the other 3 surely were.

Nobody will ever have what Rafa has. You can see it when he’s with the others (the other 2, that is, Murray can go back to anonymity tomorrow) - he’s the daddy and they watch him…

 

[Moxie]

Great to see the bits I saw of the tribute to the incomparable Rafa. His 14 will stand forever as tennis greatest achievement. But why the feck was Andy Murray wheeled out with Roger and Novak? I’ve won exactly as many FOs as Andy Murray, and I did it effortlessly. He’s not a rival, the H2H is lopsided, and it only scares and confuses little children. Big headed kids will think we adults know nothing, “it’s big 4, dumbass, I saw them all in a reel.”

Andy had to be embarrassed today, as the other 3 surely were.

Nobody will ever have what Rafa has. You can see it when he’s with the others (the other 2, that is, Murray can go back to anonymity tomorrow) - he’s the daddy and they watch him…

Ah, go easy! I was glad to see him there. You could tell he made Rafa laugh, as he does. And the four mirrored nicely the Four Musketeers. You can appreciate that kind of historic harmony. You could see he was happy to have them out there with him. Because it was a bit awkward, I thought, that they left him out there alone to watch a video of himself. But he's been comfortable basically alone on Chartrier so many times, so I guess he was prepared. I've never seen him cry so much. I was bawling. I thought the footprint plaque on the court was a nice gesture.

 

[Kieran]

Ah, go easy! I was glad to see him there. You could tell he made Rafa laugh, as he does. And the four mirrored nicely the Four Musketeers. You can appreciate that kind of historic harmony. You could see he was happy to have them out there with him. Because it was a bit awkward, I thought, that they left him out there alone to watch a video of himself. But he's been comfortable basically alone on Chartrier so many times, so I guess he was prepared. I've never seen him cry so much. I was bawling. I thought the footprint plaque on the court was a nice gesture.

I like Andy and I think he was great - but he’s not in the Big 3. All attempts to make it a 4 only emphasise how many floors above him they are. They’re special to tennis and he’s defacing photos by skulking along as if he fits.

 

[Moxie]

I like Andy and I think he was great - but he’s not in the Big 3. All attempts to make it a 4 only emphasise how many floors above him they are. They’re special to tennis and he’s defacing photos by skulking along as if he fits.

Well, it was Rafa's day, and he was involved in the planning, so if he wanted him there, I'm fine.

 

[PhiEaglesfan712]

I like Andy and I think he was great - but he’s not in the Big 3. All attempts to make it a 4 only emphasise how many floors above him they are. They’re special to tennis and he’s defacing photos by skulking along as if he fits.

For me, there was a huge drop off from 3 to 6 in this era. We had a clear Big 3 (in Federer, Nadal, and Djokovic), a clear 4th best player (Murray), and a clear 5th best player (Wawrinka). Then, you had a pool of players that have an argument to be the 6th best player in the era (Ferrer, del Potro, Cilic). I'm not sure if Safin and Hewitt fit in this era here because they peaked early and the bulk of their accomplishments were before Nadal, Djokovic, and the others had developed. But Safin and Hewitt did bridge the gap in between the Sampras/Agassi era and the Big 3 era.

 

[Federberg]

Great to see the bits I saw of the tribute to the incomparable Rafa. His 14 will stand forever as tennis greatest achievement. But why the feck was Andy Murray wheeled out with Roger and Novak? I’ve won exactly as many FOs as Andy Murray, and I did it effortlessly. He’s not a rival, the H2H is lopsided, and it only scares and confuses little children. Big headed kids will think we adults know nothing, “it’s big 4, dumbass, I saw them all in a reel.”

Andy had to be embarrassed today, as the other 3 surely were.

Nobody will ever have what Rafa has. You can see it when he’s with the others (the other 2, that is, Murray can go back to anonymity tomorrow) - he’s the daddy and they watch him…

lol! I confess I did wonder why Andy was there from a merit standpoint, but I get the sense that Andy has a more genuine friendship with Rafa than Novak (nothing compared to the relationship with Roger of course), so perhaps he was asked if it should be a Big 3 or 4? Still... I did wonder if Andy himself felt like an impostor!

 

[Kieran]

lol! I confess I did wonder why Andy was there from a merit standpoint, but I get the sense that Andy has a more genuine friendship with Rafa than Novak (nothing compared to the relationship with Roger of course), so perhaps he was asked if it should be a Big 3 or 4? Still... I did wonder if Andy himself felt like an impostor!

He had to feel that way! And I know Rafa likes him but Rafa likes so many players who weren’t there. He’s very good friends with players and ex players, and there weren’t there. It would have been much more effective and moving a tribute if he’d stood on court with the other 2, both also champions at RG. It would emphasise the uniqueness of these men..

 

[Moxie]

He had to feel that way! And I know Rafa likes him but Rafa likes so many players who weren’t there. He’s very good friends with players and ex players, and there weren’t there. It would have been much more effective and moving a tribute if he’d stood on court with the other 2, both also champions at RG. It would emphasise the uniqueness of these men..

Yes, but Federberg kind of got it right...Murray was there to camouflage the fact that Rafa likes Roger a helluva lot more than he does Novak.

 

[Kieran]

Yes, but Federberg kind of got it right...Murray was there to camouflage the fact that Rafa likes Roger a helluva lot more than he does Novak.

Well one thing I love about Rafa, he’s easy with Novak. You can see that Novak still looks up to Rafa, and that Roger and Novak are a “process” but I’d imagine in the future that Novak will get his big wish that they’ll invite him to dinner.

Even if he’s paying.

As for Andy…it’s a bad fit. He could have waved from the stand. Off camera. Uncle T ought to have been there instead.

It’s not a big deal, but I thought it immediately and so did many others. People are even fighting about it, on social media…

 

[Moxie]

Well one thing I love about Rafa, he’s easy with Novak. You can see that Novak still looks up to Rafa, and that Roger and Novak are a “process” but I’d imagine in the future that Novak will get his big wish that they’ll invite him to dinner.

Even if he’s paying.

As for Andy…it’s a bad fit. He could have waved from the stand. Off camera. Uncle T ought to have been there instead.

It’s not a big deal, but I thought it immediately and so did many others. People are even fighting about it, on social media…

i agree it's not a big deal and certainly not worth a fight, (and we are not fighting about it.) I know Murray is polarizing, but I can remember when there was a legitimate Big 4, and I didn't mind seeing all 4 together, especially because I don't think Rafa did.

I minded much more the staging. Why not have had a dais of some kind, with Amelie and Gilles Mouretton sitting with Rafa while he watched that video, and lectern for his speech. Then he would have had someone to talk to, at least. You could see how relieved he was when they brought out other humans, in the form of Roger, Novak and Andy. They could also have skipped that weird dance sequence. Which he had to just stand there and "appreciate" all by himself.

I think you said you only saw highlights. I hope there is a video now, with subtitles, but he spoke movingly about his family and friends, but particularly of Uncle Tony. All of that was in Spanish. Rightly. If they'd had a dais, Tony could at least have been sitting there, but I don't mind if he preferred to stay with the family. RG has already honored him.

 

[Kieran]

i agree it's not a big deal and certainly not worth a fight, (and we are not fighting about it.) I know Murray is polarizing, but I can remember when there was a legitimate Big 4, and I didn't mind seeing all 4 together, especially because I don't think Rafa did.

I minded much more the staging. Why not have had a dais of some kind, with Amelie and Gilles Mouretton sitting with Rafa while he watched that video, and lectern for his speech. Then he would have had someone to talk to, at least. You could see how relieved he was when they brought out other humans, in the form of Roger, Novak and Andy. They could also have skipped that weird dance sequence. Which he had to just stand there and "appreciate" all by himself.

I think you said you only saw highlights. I hope there is a video now, with subtitles, but he spoke movingly about his family and friends, but particularly of Uncle Tony. All of that was in Spanish. Rightly. If they'd had a dais, Tony could at least have been sitting there, but I don't mind if he preferred to stay with the family. RG has already honored him.

I remember when there was a Big 2. I remember people vainly trying to make a Big 4 because to be fair, Andy was always close to raising his level, but the “Big 4” talk was based upon hope of what might be, rather than what actually was.

He’s not in the same category as them, at all. It’s funny in the social media spats about it, people are saying things like, “uh, 2 Wimbledons, a US Open, world number one, uh, Olympic gold medal, all during the time the others played - THAT’S why he’s there!”

Now when you scan that logic you see quickly that this actually is why he shouldn’t be there!

 

[PhiEaglesfan712]

Andy Murray and Stan Wawrinka were on clear tiers by themselves. Not only was there talk about there being a Big 4, but around 2016 and the beginning of 2017, there was even talk about there being a Big 5. Stan even played well during the first half of 2017, he almost surpassed Andy's slam total. All of the slams in the 2010s (with the exception of Marin Cilic's win at the 2014 US Open) were won by either Roger, Rafa, Novak, Andy, or Stan.