RafaLint: April 13th

Photo by Beth Wilson

Sorry I haven’t been posting much. I’ve been busy and, well, having some personal motivation problems.

Rafa’s not on Tuesday’s Monte-Carlo OOP, so I’m thinking his first match will be on Wednesday. Once again, I’ve started updating the Current Tournament twitter list. Keep that url loaded for updates from peeps onsite. Onsite yourself or know of someone who is? Let me know so I can add them to the list.

Articles:

Nadal: ‘I’m Not The Favourite For Anything’ – via atpworldtour.com

“The most important thing for me is to feel well on court again, feel confident, feel I am improving,” he said. “I was improving every week before Miami, and in Miami I played bad… If I’m able to find the confidence, to find the tennis here on clay, then it makes everything a little less difficult.

“I am working to be playing well as soon as possible, and if I didn’t believe that I could, I would not be here… If I am here it’s because I have the motivation, the passion, the emotion to keep playing tennis.”
«Debo estar tranquilo, mi carrera ya está hecha» – an interview with Rafa via abc.es (mangle)
Djokovic, Federer & Nadal Descend on Monte-Carlo For First Clay Masters – via atpworldtour.com
Rafa quoted in Gazzetta dello Sport and translated by @markalannixon.
Can Nadal remain the King Of Clay this year? – by Carole Bouchard
King of Clay: Nadal back to favorite surface in Monte Carlo – AP via tennis.com
Seeing Red Again – by Steve Tignor (tennis.com)
Clay season preview: 7 questions ahead of French Open, lead-up events – by Courtney Nguyen
Novak Djokovic’s dominance could be threatened by Rafael Nadal in Monte Carlo, says Barry Cowan – skysports.com
Monte-Carlo blogs: Day #1, and Day #2 – by tennistrotteur.com
How does Rafael Nadal beat his on-court anxiety? – by Leif Shiras (skysports.com)
Toni Nadal: “Rafa no se ha acomodado nunca” – interview with Toni (mangle)
The clay season may be a short-term fix for Rafael Nadal’s slump – by Ben Rothenberg (theguardian.com)
‘Nervous’ Nadal: ‘Something I Need To Fix’ – via atpworldtour.com
Nervous Rafael Nadal worried he is losing mental edge – by Simon Briggs (telegraph.co.uk)
Rafael Nadal, not Novak Djokovic, is the man to beat, says Mark Petchey – by Mark Petchey (skysports.com)
Toni Nadal’s Good Tips: Everything you need to know about Babolat Play and Connected Tennis – via tennisconnected.com

Videos/Audio:

Be sure to check out raficionada’s YouTube channel during MC. She often gets nice practice videos. (You might know her better as @creamola_foam on Twitter.)

Monte-Carlo practice footage
Teenage Rafa
rtve.es report on a Manacor practice.
iB3 report on Rafa’s practice in Manacor. And, then he traveled.
Rafa’s helping promote Spanish goods – promo video one, two and behind the scenes.
How’s Rafa’s karaoke game?
Miami presser footage – and a funny moment from the conference
Rafa takes part in this tribute to David Cal.

Photos:

Monte-Carlo photos by Marianne Bevis on flickr
Rafael Nadal for Sabadell United Bank
Check out Dianne’s IW pics.
My pics of Rafa from IW.
A couple of nice Rafa photos in this Miami set.

Rafa does social media:

Entorno muy agradable para entrenar! :) Great environment to practice! :) pic.twitter.com/bBsOl8Dvlo

— Rafa Nadal (@RafaelNadal) April 6, 2015

Último entrenamiento en casa antes de salir hacia Monte-Carlo! Last practice session before leaving for Monte-Carlo! pic.twitter.com/GmcSWvYiHv

— Rafa Nadal (@RafaelNadal) April 9, 2015

Ya en Monte Carlo… :) Already in Monte Carlo… :) pic.twitter.com/kqUNc4jUHV

— Rafa Nadal (@RafaelNadal) April 10, 2015

Congrats @andy_murray & Kim for your wedding. I wish you all the best!

— Rafa Nadal (@RafaelNadal) April 12, 2015

Incredible view of the #MonteCarlo Tournament. One of the most beautiful places of the year! pic.twitter.com/RvYIMlCtWX

— Rafa Nadal (@RafaelNadal) April 13, 2015