Rafa is Back!

I am hooked on tennis again after watching the recently concluded French Open on LIVE TV. (I managed not to mind at all that the commentary was in Arabic.) It was sweet revenge for dear Rafa, who won all sets during the finals against the one who holds the reputation of being the only player who stunned him at Roland Garros. Like all of his fans out there, I jumped on the couch, rejoiced at the proof that his wobbly knees are healed and he seemed emotionally recovered from his parents’ divorce – well at least emotionally okay enough to concentrate on his tennis. Rafa is back in the game!

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Rafa's Blog

I just discovered this gem in the internet - http://www.rafaelnadal.com/nadal/en/blog - the Rafael Nadal's official blog! To all fans out there add it to your Google reader or whatever it is you are using.

Because I just did :) It's sitting right there in my Friends' Blogs folder. Well who knows, he might be my friend someday. Anything is possible. I just have to apply what I read from The Secret… :-|

His blog lets his fans into his world as a tennis idol. He is very diplomatic of his rivals. He speaks nothing but praises and respect for them. And what a tremendous passion he holds for tennis. He never acts pompously by saying he wins by sheer talent alone. He always stresses he puts a lot of hard work into every match. All the hard work, the dedication I put into it was well worth it. And that is what sport is really about. A victory tastes amazing only if it is the result of hard work, he blogged, after he won the recently-concluded Australian Open.

At just 22 years of age he has won an Olympic title (Beijing), 4 French Open titles, 1 Wimbledon title and the most recent, an Australian Open title, making him the only Spaniard to win AO and the 4th male tennis player in history to have won Grand Slam titles on 3 different surfaces. Amazing!

Now he is ranked as the World No. 1 ousting Roger Federer from that position, which he held for 237 consecutive weeks. His reign is just beginning. The sky is the limit for this new king.

... And he also has knocked off Brad Pitt from the #1 rank of my all-time Celebrity Crush List. After all, aside from his legendary tennis skills and world-class sportsmanship, he is muy caliente. Translation? Very hot!

The video below is an excerpt from the Australian Open 2009 awarding ceremony. This again proves what an amazing champ Rafa is. He showed an impressive gesture of compassion over Federer's emotional breakdown. He was more concerned to rush to Fed's side to offer consolation to the Swiss rather than raising his hard-won, very well-deserved trophy.

It is also heartbreaking to see a grown-up man, a legend himself, cry. Fed broke down because he has been aiming to beat Sampras's record of 14 Grand Slam titles. He is on his 13th. Yes it is just 1 title away but with a better-than-ever shaped (not to mention, his bum is gorgeous as ever too - *sigh*) Rafa, the road to that finish line is getting more and more difficult. You can't certainly blame Fed for literally crying out of frustration.

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Vamos Rafa!

Well it seems that I have chosen the perfect year to be hooked on Wimbledon, because the 2008 championship game was nerve-wracking and so full of drama that I reckon will make a mark in sporting history. It was an excruciating 4-hour and 48-minute match, now hailed the longest final in history. And that is not counting the 2 interruptions in between because of the rain. Yeah I spent the whole afternoon and evening watching tennis that my head even ached. But it was all worth it. It was amazing to see how well matched Nadal and Federer were, reminiscent of the glorious rivalry between Sampras and Agassi. In sheer skills both physically and mentally, they were each other's nemesis. To say that it was a close competition is an understatement. In every serve I was unsure who would win the point, almost every game reached a deuce and there were 2 set tie-breaks. Well one could say that it wasn't about tennis anymore. It wasn't about the technique, the backhands or the forehands anymore. Instead it became all about giving their all, heart and soul, and the spirit of fighting on and never giving up. Both players played as if their lives depended on it, as if the title was the only thing they wanted more than anything. I didn’t even care who would win because both truly deserved the title.

Roger Federer (Switzerland) and Rafael Nadal (Spain)

But there could only be one winner and it turned out to be Rafael Nadal. His first Wimbledon, ending the 5-year consecutive record wins of Roger Federer. Papa Rafa proved to be a very graceful winner. After shouting for joy and rolling on the ground after being proclaimed the champion, he immediately went to Roger to pat his shoulders. Then he literally climbed up to the guest box to embrace his parents and his uncle who is actually his tennis coach since he was 4 years old. (Hmmm so no girlfriend?) Then he crossed over to the Royal Box to shake the hands of the Prince and Princess of Spain who were apparently in attendance to support him. In his interview he was still all praises for his opponent, saying that Roger in his opinion is still the best player having won the Wimbledon 5 times, and he still has a long way to go with 1 Wimbledon win. Such humility for someone who won another Slam (the French Open) this year, making him the first after 28 years to win two Slams (French Open and Wimbledon) back-to-back in a year. He's truly an inspiration.

2008 seems to be Spain's year. First the Euro Cup, now Wimbledon.

Oh yeah, I noticed Rafa's wedgie move, the one Otep pointed out. I find it cute, really. I think he yanks down his shorts down because it hikes up to his butt. Well it's not his fault he's got a very defined butt. What a fine specimen of manhood Papa Rafa truly is. I have no trouble imagining him as a Spartan warrior. He'll give those 300 army a run for their money!

Rafa in action

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Hooked on Wimbledon

I have caught the Wimbledon fever. I now officially love Tennis because it's like watching Troy all over again. Remember that fight scene between Eric Bana and Brad Pitt? Well it's like that. It's two men fighting against each other and it's soooo hard to decide which one to cheer on because both of them are gorgeous!

The first Wimbledon match I watched was on Monday, live on BBC 1. It's a match between gangly-but-cute Scot, Andy Murray (Britain's number 1), and ooh-la-la French Richard Gasquet (World #7 in 2007).

Richard Gasquet

Andy Murray

Cute Andy on that match was able to come back from two sets down and won the 4-hour epic match. Because of the win he was slated to a match against Spain's Rafael Nadal today.

Of course I watched the Nadal vs. Murray match. Before turning on the telly I was set on rooting for Murray because he's the underdog, but I immediately changed my mind when I saw Papa Rafa play. His backhand, forehand or whatever you call those hands were simply powerful... blazing hot! My hats off to cute Andy for not running away from the speeding balls. Papa Rafa literally crushed cute Andy, closed the match in just 3 sets. And the Spaniard is not bad looking either. Ooohhh the biceps, sigh...

Rafael Nadal

If I had known Tennis would be this pleasing to the eyes, I would have gotten hooked on this eye-candy sport a long time ago!

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