[Xristos]

So is Rafa playing Miami?

I mean...he has to.

[mallorn]

In this video taken on his way to Dubai he's speaking Catalan and all I can make out for sure is "Indian Wells and Miami" so I guess he's playing both.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYlxfMQRPeo (thanks Patxy)

[Xristos]

Is catalan different from spanish?

[mallorn]

Oh yes.

I don't speak either, BTW (I understand a tiny bit of Spanish), but even I can hear the difference.

[Xristos]

Hmm strange...

[rafagirlno1]

rafa should play sensible this time and avoid overpley and play more clay tours . he is the king of clay and is so close to win wimbledon last year .i love is never say die attitude and always respect everyone and loves to give 100% match after match.

i hope he remains 100 % fit througout his life and i pray for him everyday

leena

[BlueSwan]

Hi Nadal fans,

I'm a Fed fan gone astray here, but I want to ask if anyone here has any additional info on Rafa's post-Wimbledon schedule. There's no such info on www.rafaelnadal.com. At one time I heard a rumour that he was playing a couple of clay events after Wimbledon, but I don't know if there's any truth to this.

The reason why I'm asking is that I'm doing the Federer vs Nadal ranking points thread in the Federer forum. Feel free to view it if you wish: http://www.menstennisforums.com/showthread.php?t=102238

[Lopaka]

There was a new release stating Rafa had agreed to play Stuttgart. Beyond that plug in the manditory events. It is doubtful he would elect to play any other non-required events because he could not count the points.

[spriwi]

Originally Posted by Lopaka

There was a new release stating Rafa had agreed to play Stuttgart. Beyond that plug in the manditory events. It is doubtful he would elect to play any other non-required events because he could not count the points.

come on his 5th best is 20 points, supposing he wins stuttgart its 55 for QF of artois. if he wants to be no1 at the end of this year he should get as many points for the 5bests as possible, winning something like bastad would be nice. 175-55=120 which still may be of use.
i know it would be a bit tiring etc, but if rafa plays his best on the hardcourt, it may be the matter of each and every point at the end of the season to maintain the no1 in the race

[Lopaka]

Originally Posted by spriwi

come on his 5th best is 20 points, supposing he wins stuttgart its 55 for QF of artois. if he wants to be no1 at the end of this year he should get as many points for the 5bests as possible, winning something like bastad would be nice. 175-55=120 which still may be of use.
i know it would be a bit tiring etc, but if rafa plays his best on the hardcourt, it may be the matter of each and every point at the end of the season to maintain the no1 in the race

Perhaps Rafa is hoping to repeat 2005 when he played Stuttgart as a lead in to winning Montreal. Also Stuttgart offers potentially more points than Bastad. I think we can expect Rafa to take a few days off after a successful Wimbledon competition and Stuttgart would seem a good familiar location to start his journey to the NA hard courts.

As much as I look forward to the day when Rafa has his turn at No. 1 I don't expect it to be just yet. Looking at the ATP Race points is an attractive picture but I'm not ready accept them as a year end expectation. Roger is not going to suddenly fade away and drift down the ranking ladder. I expect to see Rafa continue to chip away at his lead. Rafa has improved his tennis on all courts and I am certainly going to be cheering for him to make an even stronger showing at the USO than he has in past years.

[anon57]

I known this is the 2007 schedule thread but I had a question about Rafa's 2008 schedule and didn't feel like opening a new thread. so I'll ask here. What will Rafa's spring schedule be like for 2008 because I remember reading earlier in the year that he had agreed to play a couple of SA clay tournaments in 08 but here in the Netherlands Krajicek tournament director for the Rotterdam tournament has anounced that Nadal has agreed to play Rotterdam (18-24 february) in 08, so I was wondering what Nadal's spring schedule was going to be.

[Tess Gray]

Originally Posted by anon57

I known this is the 2007 schedule thread but I had a question about Rafa's 2008 schedule and didn't feel like opening a new thread. so I'll ask here. What will Rafa's spring schedule be like for 2008 because I remember reading earlier in the year that he had agreed to play a couple of SA clay tournaments in 08 but here in the Netherlands Krajicek tournament director for the Rotterdam tournament has anounced that Nadal has agreed to play Rotterdam (18-24 february) in 08, so I was wondering what Nadal's spring schedule was going to be.

Sorry, that's all I know as well.

[Sunset of Age]

Originally Posted by anon57

I known this is the 2007 schedule thread but I had a question about Rafa's 2008 schedule and didn't feel like opening a new thread. so I'll ask here. What will Rafa's spring schedule be like for 2008 because I remember reading earlier in the year that he had agreed to play a couple of SA clay tournaments in 08 but here in the Netherlands Krajicek tournament director for the Rotterdam tournament has anounced that Nadal has agreed to play Rotterdam (18-24 february) in 08, so I was wondering what Nadal's spring schedule was going to be.

Same here, that's all I know for now.

Must say that I'd be quite surprised to see him indeed turn up in Rotterdam. Would be great if he did, but the tournament has quite a reputation for announcing top players who all withdrew in the end... I guess it'll highly depend on the rest of Raf's schedule, and how well he'll be doing there.

[l_mac]

I read on vamosbrigade that Toni Nadal said Rafa won't be doing the SA clay swing now, even though more clay tournaments would be better for him than the hardcourts.

[hra87]

It would be better for his body, but I wonder whether doing clay almost all year round will cause his hard court game to get worse. He already has a tendency to revert to clay court tactics when put under pressure...