Crisis Center has made the ESPN tennis home page

http://espn.go.com/tennis/

"Rafa always seemed like an animal person to me."

I too feel that Rafa is half animal, half human ;)

If it's true that most guys don't like cats, then I don't like most guys. My fantasy is to grow old in a house with 12 cats.

Beckham - IS there a Baby Punter/Fed tiff? As Dorothy Parker said when informed Calvin Coolidge had died, "How can they tell?" I mean everyone and their pets seems to dislike the Sod and Fed seems to get along with about everyone except Mrs. Djokovic, so it would be hard to tell if there was anything especially askew there.

Er, Fb. Just wanted to ask because a friend of mine just got chairman for the undergraduate assembly or something like. Plus he raves on and on about the place. And it's an option for my exchange.

Pspace - gee, hope you are ok...not feeling 'swine-ish' or 'porcine' or anything I trust?

What? Why? I much prefer cats to dogs. Not too friendly, which is kinda nice.
-----------------------------
sorry pspace for the generalisation but i've always thought cats were a girls thing.
anyways, animals scare me

Nic, yeah, it's a good place. I'm kinda sick today, so can't work up the enthusiasm to type multiple sentences. But, you should definitely consider it. If there are specific questions, shoot me an e-mail via facebook. Though, I hardly know anything outside the computer science department....we're a kind of anti-social bunch.

Who is Baby Punter??

CL, hehe, yeah that has me worried a little. If I'm still this sick tomorrow, I'll go see one of those medical people.

CL: it was the tight match in Halle, I believe the Fed won 7-6 in the 3rd, Sod got angry at something, I don't even remember what, the Fed was asked about it after the match, the Fed replied, I have no idea or something to that effect, and moved the hail on...no need to dwell, no??? I wouldn't even have mentioned it, except someone asked, I think? More pressing is the lack of the serve...baby Punter I find amusing, Lucifier and Belthazar is taken, so he's stuck with baby Punter/Sod...I was looking forward to the Djoker/Fed angst providing of course the Fed made it that far, and then I see a pic of the Fed and Djoker smiling together and it took all the wind out of my sails...pfffttttttttt...if you can't tell, I've joined the haterade bandwagon...

mea culpa...so many errors, I promise I CAN speak the English Language!!! I guess reading my post, you may disagree...

I just watched the youtube clip of the rafa-sod incident and I couldn't believe he did that. I also couldn't stop laughing. Rafa was so cute during the whole thing. Makes me love him even more.I dont see many others taking it so well in the moment and if anyone asks me I'll say Rafa was way too nice to the guy today

lol, rafa the half-animal-half-human-half-clay-court-machine
ok, i've my math wrong

Yeah, real animal. Only 50% of humanity in this person:
http://tinyurl.com/djqnz4

And his tennis is ugly & brutal:
http://tinyurl.com/c3t3ny

Vanessa: but don't you just bet that Soderling hated being patted on the back, however politely, after today's defeat?

I'm looking forward to seeing Nole play Del Potro tomorrow. I think Novak was playing pretty well today - expect him to take that one.

ava,

I'm no expert as to guy feelings re: cats.

However, you may want to revise your generalization to: "Most uncool guys don't like cats."

Winston Churchill and Samuel Clemens adored cats. And those two were among the coolest cats around. (Definite successful attempt at lame word play and proud of it.)

Lol, people I was just joking about Rafa being not human.
Everyone knows I love Rafa!

Rosangel, jerks always hate it when others are nice especially to them. Oh, but revenge is sweet.

"Winston Churchill and Samuel Clemens adored cats."

Also, having a cat can make you feel like a Bond villain, which is pretty sweet.

Lol, manuelsantanafan.
Sorry but not a Churchill fan.
Samuel Clemens! YES!

BTW, to avoid further controversy I'm not anti-men or anti-cats.

Well, well. Seems like there was a bake sale today that I happened to miss.

Who, Rafa talks about the match:

"""
World number one Rafael Nadal thrashed Sweden's Robin Soderling 6-1 6-0 in Thursday's late match.

"I think the match was really tough, if not the result," said Nadal. "In the beginning I was winning 4-1 but at the same time I could have been losing 4-1.

"I think I played really well. It was one of my best matches on clay this year or maybe even in my career."
"""

I guess he was awesome?

Pennetta leads Petrova by a set and a break 6-2,3-2

Sorry, forgot the link:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/tennis/8027640.stm

Ava, no controvery. Just a cute little side discussion now that the real tennis is over for the day.

Sod, I think did not want to shake Rafa's hand after match.
he did not look at Rafa. He just merely touched Rafa's hand....Why does he hate Rafa so much??
In fact, how can anyone hate everyone's beloved Rafa(sarcasm), lol?

ava: Your comment on the baby bulls was hilarious.

What's the deal with calling Rafa an animal? I recall Pete Sampras, shakira and several others do that regularly. Always makes me wince. His 5000 rpm fh is a thing of beauty. I don't think anyone's produced that much of spin, depth and pace (simultaneously) on any shot in the history of tennis.

""What's the deal with calling Rafa an animal?""

It's meant as a compliment. Rafa's uncle, Miguel, was known as the Beast of Barcelona. Although I doubt Sampras et al were refering to this, it's usually a compliment to a guy who plays a very physical game.

"I think the match was really tough, if not the result," said Nadal. "In the beginning I was winning 4-1 but at the same time I could have been losing 4-1."

That's way too much credit to Soldering, who, of all the people in the tour, deserves it the least.

"I think I played really well. It was one of my best matches on clay this year or maybe even in my career."

What? Was Rafa feeling charitable on a beautiful night?

Thanks Pspace for your 5:39 PM and also for posting Rafa's match comments.

I've always been a Sampras fan, but some of his comments on Rafa are very surprising.

Thanks imjimmy, I knew at least 1 person would find that funny!! lol

Like I said, I only used the "animal" word as in he who likes animals. The other usage was sarcasm. yeah, Sampras I think really dislikes Rafa unsurprisingly. whenever he talks about him the word "animal" always makes an appearance.
I don't know how shakira used it.

I don't mean to start a huge controversy or anything. But after reading a lot of posts in many tennis websites and people's comments I feel a lot of times "animal" is used in a negative sense, sometimes even derogatory. I dunno, it's probably because I'm paranoid, but I've detected some racist tinges from a few comments of people. I mean, the fact that he's from Spain and all. Obviously not here but I think some time back there were non-explicit usages in ESPN.
Like I said, no accusations or anything, just a feeling. And you all know how crazy I am. So don't take it too seriously.
*scared*

Pspace thanks for that...

i am in awe sometimes oh his humbleness...and to think he already comes from a rich family before his fame!!

Friday Order of Play(all times TW):

Rome
Juan Martin Del Potro vs Novak Djokovic at 7 AM
Mischa Zverev vs Roger Federer
Rafael Nadal vs Fernando Verdasco
Juan Monaco vs Fernando Gonzalez at 2:30 PM

Stuttgart
Marion Bartoli vs Elena Dementieva at 8 AM
Svetlana Kuznetsova vs Gisela Dulko
Jelena Jankovic vs Flavia Pennetta/Nadia Petrova winner at 12:15 PM
Dinara Safina vs Agnieszka Radwanska

Fes
Ekaterina Makarova vs Alisa Kleybanova at 9 AM
Anabel Medina Garrigues vs Melinda Czink

Ros @ 4:45 - thanks for the Youtube link.

Yikes - glad Rafa gave it to the Sod. Too bad it wasn't a double bagel.

imjimmy you said

"I've always been a Sampras fan, but some of his comments on Rafa are very surprising"

please elaborate!!

if its something bad-- rememebr sampras and fed are good friends plus sampras style is so different than nadals

Rafa comes from a rich family???
He's supposed to be a middle-class guy, right???

imjimmy, I wouldn't be surprised if Sampras thought of himself the same way. His game was all about intimidation with his serve. I really don't think he considers himself a finesse kind of guy. Of course, as with Rafa, every time someone makes a comment like this, the fans will gather to say that he has a lot of finesse, e.g., in his volleys. I mean, these guys are all super-talented, and can pretty much play all shots. However, if you had to take away one thing from each of them, it would be Sampras' serve and Rafa's topspin. All beast! ;-)

ava - Yep, at least that's the sense I've gotten from the articles I've read. Maybe not Papa Gulbis rich, but it sounds like they made enough money from the glass/window biz to live quite comfortably (and to have been able to pass up the funding Rafa would've gotten by training in Barcelona).

Ok,well its the end of my workday here in Jamaica so I'm gonna log off and head home. See you guys in the a.m

yes, sblily.
i think they were well-off.
fed and rafa throw out of the window, the stupid you have to be really poor and struggling to have desire to succeed crap some people suggest.

bye vanessa...

All men hate cats? Umm, no. I love cats, and dogs, for that matter.

But not Soderling.

ava -- rafa's dad is a successfuly entreprenuer and finance his tennis training when he was young- and he also has a famous uncle- maybe not super well of-- but well enough!!

i wish i hadn't brought up the cat-men issue......

anyway, rafafans, did you guys read Rafa's TIME 100 mini-article by Serena.?
so nice for Rafa to be included. Fed was in it in 2007 i think.
i haven't got their yet as i've started reading from the beginning. 20 down 80 more to go!!!

frances :)

ava:) i think eeverybody is sleeping already- on my way to leave work i cant wait to watch the replay of the game!!!!!i like replays coz i dont get nervouse anymore and i can really enjoy his game and analyze it more!!hahah

Which TV channels are showing the replays please?

Ava, I don't know if two examples disprove the poor-desire theory. But I know what you're saying. :)

imjimmy what did sampras said about rafa?

yeah, i get that sherlock.
nole in an interview said he had a really different and tough life than muzz, rafa and fed and than made him work harder or something like that.

Sic LOL!

Re the 'animal' thing, I generally think of it as a compliment, like 'that guy was so good a grizzly bear couldn't stop him'. But maybe I've been watching too much NBA. :)

FWIW, my dad just adopted a stray kitten. He always said no more pets, I don't want to deal with animals, but the thing shows up on his doorstep and he turns into a giant marshmellow. Adorable.

Hi Everybody!

Just saw the score in the Rafa Sod match. Nice!

That's great, Hart. :)

I love cats. Dogs are great fun, but too needy after a while. :)

Agreed on animal being complimentary. Very much so, I think. "LeBron is an animal/beast" gets said all the time, and rightly so. :)

So Rafa, Roger and Novak combined to serve out 5 bakery products today, the ATP men must be hungry and Mr Zverev (the bracket burster) added one more to make the total 6 (5 breadsticks and 1 bagel). The ladies in Stuttgart however, seem to be watching their weights as only one bakery product (1 breadstick) was served by Elena D to Agnes ;-)

Ava: I haven't heard much of what Sampras has said about Rafa, but in a recent tennis magazine article, he said," ...I have tons of respect for that kid...". Later on he says, people should go more to net against him, which is funny because that's what he use to say about Roger.

Imjimmy: you still in the house?

Usually I condemm anyone that actually like seeing anyone get thrashed,smashed,buried,slogged mercifully on court but in this instance I say,

Yes,Yes,Yes,and more Yes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

PS Sorry God please forgive me just in this instance ok?

I guess some may mean animal as a compliment while others may mean it to demean but what matters is that the racket talks and sure talks good and serves out bakery products and gets wins :) I just read my sweetheart goalie is stingy and I take that as a compliment too, no? ;-) I mean he is so stingy he does not allow the opposing team to score ;-) Go LUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!

Me and you both Margie.

I'll have what Aussiemarg is having. :)

For those who were only scoreboard-watching Rafa vs. Sod.

Highlights (highlighting Sod's frying-pan FH):
http://tinyurl.com/cphya6

Match point (death & taxes inevitable), handshake (limp), shirt removal (catcalled), stats (cruel):
http://tinyurl.com/dl6gno

Sherlock :) Nice reference to When Harry Met Sally.

AM: I agree it's usually bad form to gloat about a beat down, but in this case we're both willing to make an exception!

frances: Maybe I shouldn't have said that bocz these days Sampras usually says good things about Rafa. Most recent interview which I saw in 2008: he said Rafa was a stud.

But in 2006 (and early 2007), I think he said something to the effect that you could serve-volley against Rafa in Wimbledon and do very well. I don't think he expected Nadal to be what he is today. And of course he's called him a 'animal on court' before. Anyway his style of play was in sharp contrast to Nadal's so maybe his initial skepticism was understandable. And he's a Roger fan, so..

**I don't have a link to the comments and I can't quote verbatim, so there's no point in arguing over this more. **

meanwhile, Jon Wertheim in his recent mailbag said outright that Rafael Nadal is the greatest competitor tennis has ever seen. Very true, his ability to come back from 0-40 holes is unmatched.
that will be rafa's biggest legacy.

From the ticker:

* "Lleyton Hewitt has received a wildcard into Rome."

I think this is a mistake and should read Madrid, no?

* "Rafael Nadal joins American golfer Tiger Woods and Filipino boxer Manny Pacquiao as the only athletes on Time magazine's annual list of the 100 most influential people. Nadal is featured in the "Heroes & Icons" category.

The tribute to the Spaniard in this week's 'Time 100' issue is written by Serena Williams, who says, "I want to be like him... What makes him so good? I think it's that he's the hardest worker... you don't just wake up and — bam! — you're No. 1. It takes work, effort, desire, dedication — all qualities that Rafa has. I could be wrong, but I don't think I am far off."

Roger Federer, who made the list in 2007, this year writes the tribute to Woods."

So they get other athletes to write the tribute to the times top 100 most influential people. The one posted earlier was what Serena wrote on Rafa and here is a link to what Roger wrote on Tiger.

http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1894410_1894289_1894279,00.html

here's the link:
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/jon_wertheim/04/29/mailbag/1.html

>>>I think. "LeBron is an animal/beast" gets said all the time, and rightly so. :)

...*grumbles*... I suppose... (Hey, I'm from LA. Talk to me after the playoffs and I'll be more reasonable. Promise :-) )

I love dogs, and cats, and most animals. Which is good, cause I've got a collection starting. Two horses!

It's funny but the tennis star Rafa most reminds me of is Serena. She's got a very strong will and is also a death cheater.

One thing that was interesting about Jon W's comments about Rafa being a great competitor was that all of his other examples of great comeptitors in the sport (Serena, Seles, etc.) were from the WTA. No other dudes?

But I do think it is very appropriate that Serena wrote the article for Time regarding Rafa. They both share the ability to come back from the brink. If it wasn't her- I was thinking maybe Pau Gasol as they are good friends and Pau gushed a bit in an NBA interview recently.

Nikki V has to qualify for Rome now? damn.

malimeda: thanks for the vids. the second one shows that little smile he gave to the fans, it was cute. liked it.

yes, avid that is how it usually is.
the lists are very good barring the annoying inclusion of either Brad Pitt or Angelina Jolie for too many years in a row.

and not being american, i want to know what a 'stud' means. Anyone?

>>I was thinking maybe Pau Gasol as they are good friends and Pau gushed a bit in an NBA interview recently.

where was that Carrie? I missed it. BTW, anyone seen Pau's blog for the LA times? I will bet that he is the only NBA player who talks about going to the opera...

...or at least the only one who isnt' the practice-court whipping boy.

Now, I flove Nadal, and think he's a great competitor, etc, etc, etc, but I can't help it: every time someone comments on how he is amazing at pulling himself out of 0-40 holes, I can't help but think, yeah, but we're forgetting he put himself in the hole in the first place! This doesn't seem like a backhanded compliment to anyone else?? ;-)

Connors wasn't a bad competitor.

Though I kind of have an issue with that anyway. Why is a tough competitor always a top player? :)

There could be a guy with Nadal-like ferocity when down 0-40, but he just has 80% of the talent and is ranked 178. :)

LOL, Hart. Sorry. Bad timing for my example. :)

hi, guys
very busy day here today and cannot stick around
but , I wanted to say hooray !
I almost got my wish - seems Nadal handed a beat down to the Sod that was exactly what I wanted
See that Reeshie played well too - he lost , but it was a good close match
much better than the debacle in IW against Verdasco

Rafa's post match presser on tennistv

http://tinyurl.com/cu7zhj

"""I think I played really well. It was one of my best matches on clay this year or maybe even in my career."""

Did Rafa actually say this?

Dinara Safina vs Agnieszka Radwanska

I looked up H2H and found to my amazement, these two have never played before.

Vaidisova in qualifing for Rome.

Of course Rafa would never say anything but I don't think he's a big fan of my countryman Robin, think it has something to do with the wedgie mocking Robin did of Rafa. I love all the Scandinavian players and cheer for them all, but Robin is my least favorite. He has the personality of a wet mob.

Meant to say mop.

Samantha Elin Gee in the past all the Swedish players have never acted like this at all.

Soderling has a good game,though being a big.flaqt hitter especially when it come to clay he has to learn more controlled agression.

Gee his mental side of the game boderlines on Maniac at times

Example the way he was carrying on with the Umpire and linesmen with that call.

Methinks his Mum and Dad maybe siblings are the only ones that have love for him.
.

AM, I saw in play once in Sweden and I just remember him shaking his head no when a few kids asked for his autograph, since that time, I have never really liked him. Still I will cheer for him but only out of patrotism.

Well Sam if he does that with kids wanting a autograph?

I just rest my case.

He sure has got some Big,Big,Problems.

Well I missed the matches with computer problesm. When I try to find out about the Rafa match, all I find are stories about Roger. It reminds me when Sampras was the dominant number 1, but all the coverage was about Agassi. Very disrepectful to not even have the Rafa result make the news page on this site.

reading all those posts earlier today id say 'enthralled' describes a lot of em very well indeed!

my whole posse of Fed fans have disappeared from TW, where have they done? its just Rafa fangurrls left, guess Im the only one who's noticed its a bummer!

fangorina rafa's lost ONE friggin game in a total blowout, do u realy expect that to be the lead story of the day on the site?

"fangorina rafa's lost ONE friggin game in a total blowout, do u realy expect that to be the lead story of the day on the site?"

Look, when I go to the Scientific American site I expect to see "Report: Fire Still Hot", when I go to the Weather network site I expect to see the banner headline "Sun to Set in West Tonight", and when I come here I expect the lead story to be that Rafa has won his clay-court match.

i'm here tim! just haven't been able to read to easily... :(

and fwiw. hail, is that right? anyhow - i think referring to someone in sports as as animal is generally considered an admiring sort of thang. referring to someone at the dinner table as an animal, not so much. in the sack, mhm, could go either way...

Rafa on his match vs. Sod:

"I think the match was really tough. Not the result, but the match. At the beginning I was winning 4-1, but at the same time I could be losing 4-1. I think I played really well - one of my best matches on clay this year. I'm playing at the very good level today, so I'm very happy. Very happy about my level today, and very happy about this victory."

and when I come here I expect the lead story to be that Rafa has won his clay-court match.''

Or : "That Grant kid. He's quite funny"

ok I just watched the ball out issue on youtube. Soderling did point to the wrong mark (he pointed way right of the actual mark) and when the umpire came down he pointed to the right one. But it was definitely a late call from the linesman.

imjimmy- agreed on what you said -- i did point out earlier and i think u didnt read it that (a) sampras is Federer's friend and (2) sampras game/style is very different of nadals and like you said-- he didnt expect nadal to evolve at this level..

thanks imjimmy!!!

thanks for the youtube links everybody!!!! i will watch the repeat later cant wait!!!

so I just came back from my tennis lesson, today was the serve. Funnily enough, it was the one day that I really kept thinking about pro players while hitting--specifically Ana and Ernie, hehehe. So, I didn't find the service motion as difficult as I thought it would be, in fact that might have been my problem because I really threw myself into it, and I could really feel the forward momentum my body was giving the ball. Unfortunately this meant that I kept hitting the ball WAY long (hence the thoughts of Ernie). Any thoughts on how not to do this? Was it my toss? I occasionally would toss the ball too low (especially when the instructor came by to inspect...don't you hate how this always happens?) and that would result in the ball going into the net, but in general I hit the ball long.

np, frances, you're welcome. Pete was always pitting Roger to get like 18 slams or something like that. He(like a lot of us) has been obviously surprised by Rafa's evolution. But yeah, his initial comments about Rafa in 2006 just showed that he considered Nadal nothing more than a dirtballer. I was a more than a little miffed to see stuff like that from what used to be my all time favorite player.
On another note: Which channels broadcast repeats? Is it Sky Sports?

The lead story should have been: playing 3 weeks in a row, back-to-back Monte & Barcelona and no flaming out in Rome so far, no blisters, no knee tapes, shorter matches, more aggressive game, easier wins.

But, that would have required a morsel of tennis analysis. Instead, we have: Rafa won his clay-court match, fire still hot, sun to set in west.

imjimmy: he's also said that he thinks Rafa's going to win 9-10 French Opens and probably beat his record of grand slams.

Correction C1 he said that in 2008 AFTER Rafa had win Wimbledon. I saw that interview. I was talking more about his 2006 and early 2007 comments.