AP
Spain's Rafael Nadal attends the draw for the Davis Cup tennis final at Sant Jordi stadium in Barcelona, Spain, Friday, Dec. 3, 2009. Spain and the Czech Republic will play their Davis Cup final from Dec. 4 to Dec. 6 in Barcelona.
|
1 |
Novak Djokovic SRB |
11200 |
|
2 |
Roger Federer SUI |
9430 |
|
3 |
Rafael Nadal ESP |
9105 |
|
4 |
Andy Murray GBR |
7500 |
|
5 |
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga FRA |
4930 |
|
6 |
David Ferrer ESP |
4460 |
|
7 |
Tomáš Berdych CZE |
4410 |
|
8 |
Janko Tipsarevic SRB |
3090 |
|
9 |
Juan Martin del Potro ARG |
2970 |
|
10 |
John Isner USA |
2725 |
|
1 |
Victoria Azarenka BLR |
9020 |
|
2 |
Maria Sharapova RUS |
7610 |
|
3 |
Agnieszka Radwanska POL |
7560 |
|
4 |
Petra Kvitova CZE |
6250 |
|
5 |
Samantha Stosur AUS |
5435 |
|
6 |
Serena Williams USA |
5300 |
|
7 |
Marion Bartoli FRA |
4945 |
|
8 |
Caroline Wozniacki DEN |
4936 |
|
9 |
Li Na CHN |
4405 |
|
10 |
Vera Zvonareva RUS |
3640 |
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11 comments:
Best. Face Of The Day. Ever.
Thank you, Craig!
Vamos, Spain!
Cutest man ever!
God, he's beautiful and he wants that cup so badly! I love Rafa so I'm praying he wins both his rubbers and Spain wins the whole thing.
Vamos Rafa and Spain!
Ditto to all 3 of you ahead of me!!
Flushing Meadows, Queens, NY, Sept. 5, 2009, Court 5:
He was wearing all-white, except this isn't Wimbledon. No Nike swoosh visible. Drenched with sweat in the 75+ degree noontime weather. He was hitting the ball with pace, with follow-thru to his right shoulders, instead of the mean topspin that follows-thru above his head. Grunting with every swing, he thwacks the ball so hard you can see fuzz flying. The blond young hitting partner sweating hard trying to match his stroke in the rally. He never mishits, but his partner does. He looks down whenever he strokes a ball to his partner to start the rally, as if offering a simple humble gesture.
Tio Toni, sitting in a folding chair adjusting to where the shade falls, looks up and barks something like, "Bueno, el servicio!" or something to that effect. Rafa goes to the extreme corners of the court and lifts his shoulders to put an added pace on the serve. He paints the ad- and deuce- service corner lines and moves forward to meet the return. Tio Toni stands up and motions with the racquet to meet the ball flat. He obliges by sending the ball like an arrow true to the body of the hitting partner, always moving forward to meet the return. As a lifelong Fed worshipful, I stifle a silent gasp: "OMG, he's adding S&V to his repertoire!".
After 2 hours, he towels off, removes his bandanna, and saunters by the horde of watchers to sign autographs. My son happily elbows his way in the crowd to get one.
Since that day, he seemed out of sorts, struggling to win. But you never can tell from his manner, or his face, or his gestures. The guy was born to win, no matter what. I hope I did not jinx him with that autograph.
Good luck at DC, Rafa.
Wow. Powerful stuff edma. Love your work. X
Wow. This match looks like the perfect setup for Rafa to regain his confidence, and that looks like exactly what is happening. At first he was hitting a lot of short balls, but he is starting to go for his shots and it's beautiful for this Rafa fan to see.
edma, you bring tears to my eyes cause i love Rafa so much and miss seeing him play at his greatest level.....I know deep inside that he will regain that level, but it's so hard watching him struggle. Thank you for such a wonderful personal insight!
Incredible performance by David Ferrer to win the second tie.
And bery gentlemanly of Stepanek to cross the net and embrace him after what must have been a devastating result for him.
Fabulous day of tennis all around!! Vamos Espana! Ferrer was beyond unbelievable!
Awesome!
That's all I can say. Rafa was great. Ferrer, I'll admit I had my doubts, and I was questioning Costa's sanity putting him after he hadn't played a match in a couple of months.
Right now Costa is a genius and Ferrer is a mental giant .. ahem .. today. lol
2-0 lead, hope the doubles is entertaining tomorrow. :)
Lovely writeup Edma. All champions have rough spots - he'll get through this one and the next one.
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