#nadal

[useless-catalanfacts]

#tió de nadal #tradicions #nadal #christmas #christmas traditions #catalunya #catalonia #culture #cultures #cultural exchange #coses de la terra

[heaveninawildflower]

‘Group of Fairies’ (1890-1900). Photograph by Atelier Nadal.

Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Département Estampes et Photographie.

#Nadal #fairies #fairy #19th century photography #antique photograph

[carloskaplan]

Trafalgar Square, 1948

#londres #nadal

[fedaltennistv]

When we fell, something died... cuz I knew that, that was the last time 💔

#fedal #fedaltennis #nadal #federer #rafael nadal #roger federer #fedal tennis #tennis #rafa #fed #adele #set fire to the rain #tennis edit

[zingaplanet]

hi new tennis fan here, do you mind explaining the 2011 fedal fallout? I tried looking around but couldn't find much. Thanks in advance!

Oh ho ho mutual, thanks for the question altho I fear this might get too complicated too political too quickly hahaha I'll try to keep my answer neutral. Tennis politics is an underworld of nasty nasty business and as much as it is fascinating, it is unfortunately very different from the clean, elegant, prestigious look the sport is presented as at front, as is expected when big prize money is on the line. This is going to be quite long, as usual, so be prepared hahaha

There's a good NYT article about this whole Nadal-Federer-Djokovic council debacle which I highly reccommend (around their 2019 return to the council), but let me provide a bit of a back story to that as well.

Now this all started back in the early 2010s, Federer and Nadal were still world number 1 and 2 (oh the good old days), and they were also the leaders at the players' council (Nadal was Federer's VP). So the gist of it by end of 2011, there was a bit of a dispute, esentially about prize money, but quickly turned into a bit of everything.

Basically, after the ATP finals of that year, there was talk of changing ATP into a 2 year ranking system. This is a bit unconventional but it's actually related to how points are accumulated throughout the whole tour and the accessibility of the sports to newcomers.

Everyone kinda knows that tennis is one of the most difficult sports to break into, not only because tournament seedings are based on rankings (unlike in football for instance where it's random), meaning top players will always have preference to go all the way to the final, but also because prize money has also been reported as highly unequal. Players at the top level like Serena, Federer, Sharapova, Nadal etc earned a gazillion times more than even the top 20 players, this is because of sponsorship, but also because of the gap in prize money. More reports have been coming out on this recently, where the top 5 players in India and other countries can't even sustain themselves with prize money alone and has to take up side jobs.

The idea is that with a 2 year ranking, points will be distributed more evenly, rankings will be much more accessible and players in the top 50 will have access to better prize money. It's a bit complicated to explain technically but that's the gist of it as far as I understand.

Now the problem starts when in November that year, the players meeting saw all players (including Nadal) except Federer, the president, support the 2 year system. They were also planning to boycott the Australian Open, that they deemed were far too unfair in terms of prize money distribution as all other Grand Slams.

The dispute between the two of them also has another layer into it however. Unsurprisignly, the ranking debate is related to discussions about scheduling, in which Nadal has been strongly advocating for change since the beginning of his career.

I managed to dig up some quotes on this, it's pretty nasty (hmu if you want sources):

“"For him, it's good to say nothing, (His attitude is) "Everything is positive. It's all well and good for me, I look like a gentleman,' and the rest can burn themselves. He likes the circuit. I like the circuit. It's better than many other sports, but that doesn't mean that it couldn't be better.”

Rafa and some other players are protesting about the number of mandatory events a pro player is required to compete in during the year, arguing this is not actually sustainable for an athlete's physical condition which he himself has felt the brunt too many times.

"I love the game and there are a lot of things I'm grateful for,” Nadal said. “The game has allowed me to lead a fantastic lifestyle. But to finish your career with pain all over your body, is that a positive? No. Maybe (Federer) has got a super body and he'll finish his career like a rose. Neither myself, nor (Andy) Murray, nor (Novak) Djokovic are going to finish our careers like a rose. Tennis is an important part of my life, but it's a tough sport. We're not like him, where it's effortless to play. For all of us, it's a battle."

I believe this is the period Federer was referring to when he said "He used to follow me around with everything but then he grew to be his own person," etc.

Federer and Nadal before this period were strangely civil towards each other, even after those French Open and Wimbledon finals back to back - but this seemed to be the beginning of their souring relations. Federer handled it very discretely and only said he had “no hard feelings” toward Nadal for the comments, and Nadal also later admitted that his comments “must stay in the locker room.”

I'm not saying one player is right and the other is wrong, there is always 2 sides of the coin. A 2 year ranking system will mess a lot of things up in terms of the sport's competitiveness and spectatorship, but there is also a real pay gap problem in tennis, especially in Grand Slams, it's a very top heavy sport. It's very evident that Nadal and Federer's frustrations with each other relate a lot to their different career trajectories and playing style. Nadal said many times from the beginning that his style of play is too physicaly disruptive and I remember him saying he'd be very surprised if he's still playing in his 30s and it's obvious that Federer's injury-free career bothered him a bit, while Federer, I think is always the perfect middle-man between the players and the tournament organisers (he has very good relationship with all of them), and he understood nuances of the sports' politics and that it's never that simple to change everything, something a lot of young players don't really get I think (Nadal is a bit more politically diplomatic nowadays).

The story of the 2019 council dispute is a bit more complicated, and it actually shows how much they've built bridges over their differences as this time it was more the case of Novak vs the two of them, quite literally haha. Nadal and Federer were no longer part of the council then. I think it started with the firing of the ATP chief executive, Chris Kermode (Djokovic was the president at that time I think). Nadal and Federer were very unhappy about this and that they weren't consulted on the decision.

Federer said: “I tried to meet Novak on the deadline; unfortunately, he had no time, That’s hard to understand for me.” Nadal, who met with Federer at that tournament to discuss tour business, also echoed his displeasure.

Very spicy, huh? This actually ended up bringing both Nadal and Federer back together into the council. Federer agreed to rejoin, and he talked about it with Nadal: "I would only do it if you were going too. And he said: I also only participate if you are there too."

See his cute full interview here:

The sweetest cherry on top is actually Andy Murray, bless his little heart (he is unsurprisingly quite uninvolved with the drama hahaha). He also left the council recently and actually was really happy Federer and Nadal the duo managed to get back together into the fray. “Despite the sport’s current success we live in chaotic times,” Murray wrote on Twitter. “My biggest achievement on the council may well prove to be being part of the group of resignations that presented the opportunity for this to happen. Good luck!!!”

Anyhow, there you go, a few thousand? words on tennis politics that you clearly did not ask for but hey! nothing better to start saturday morning than some spicy drama between the world's top athletes, eh?

#was actually fun to look back and dig into the history books a bit #ooh this period was soo nasty #federer #nadal #fedal #tennis #novak djojovic #andy murray #politics #atp tour #australian open

[karlrincon]

There will never be another Roger Federer .

310 weeks at N 1. 237 consecutive weeks at No 1!

1526 singles matches no retirement!

1251 career wins.

28 ATP, 20 GRAND SLAM. 103 Career Titles.

Thank you legend 🎾

#roger federer #my favorite #tennis #nadal #sports #rfoverer #fedal #goat #laver cup #thank you #best #players #world tour champion #grand slam #master champion #olympic games #world sport man #davis cup #us open #andy murray #novak djokovic #casper ruud #stefanos tsitsipas #matteo berrettini #cameron norrie #europe #usa #game #player #legend

[bunsnposes]

Nadal by Christian van Duuren

#nadal #Christian van Duuren #chris van duuren

[thesunwillshineonusagain757]

I said what I said ! I’ll do a part 2 if required

#she should’ve been with anyone else but these are the ones I would’ve like the most #shakira #anti piquet #alejandro sanz #beyoncé #henry cavill #rafael nadal #nadal #rihanna #claramente #salpique

[almostfantasy]

Rafael Nadal is quizzed on his Wimbledon knowledge

#rafa nadal #rafael nadal #2013 #wimbledon #mine #my gifs #tennis #do not reupload #nadal #tennisedit #tennis gif

[kliofyart]

Portraits in progress - part three (and the last part)

I'd made Nadal a few weeks after the announcement that, likely, 2024 will be the last year of tennis for him. After I'd finish him, I taked a little break because my exam.

Anyway, I hope i will post Aziraphale and Crowley by the end of the week. Everyday, it's a-getting closer!

#drawing #my art #art #pencil art #portrait #portrait drawing #nadal #rafael nadal #rafa nadal #tennis

[tennis-shenanigans]

Father has returned

#never doubted you king #i am actually sobbing i missed him so much #rafa nadal #nadal

[useless-catalanfacts]

The traditional music and performance of El cant de la sibil·la (The Sibyl's Song) has gone further than the walls of the churches where it has been sang for centuries and has inspired many modern Mallorcan singers and musicians such as Maria del Mar Bonet or, more recently, Júlia Colom (in this video you can see a snipet of her performing the role of Sibyl in Valldemossa, Mallorca). Júlia is a singer-songwriter who makes both urban music and songs based on traditional Mallorcan music.

Video posted by Alex Sobron Jewellery, who made the golden fingertips.

Find out more about the Sibyl's Song in this post.

#el cant de la sibil·la #tradicions #música #arts #mallorca #illes balears #júlia colom #christmas #christmas traditions #nadal #music #gregorian chant #medieval

[ariesrain]

the historic comeback of nadal ♡

#rafael nadal #nadal #tennis #tennisedit #sportsedit #sportedit #that's my goat #i will never love an athete as much as i love him

[carloskaplan]

Greco: A adoración dos pastores

#greco #nadal

[fedaltennistv]

Let's play again....for the first time 🌠

#tennis #fedal #fedaltennis #federer #nadal #rafael nadal #roger federer #wimbledon #rafa #roger

[zingaplanet]

I've seen bits and pieces of Nadal's movistar interview and it's very fascinating. He's always more open and expressive in Spanish but there's just something that's different. I knew he was a realist and has a very grounded/realistic outlook on his life, I just can't help feeling a bit sad on this one. Though he's literally stating nothing but facts, it hits too close to resigned acceptance this time and feels a bit like a retirement interview.

I've always seen him as the accept-the-problem-let's-move-on kinda guy, you can see this a lot in his tactic discussion during laver cup matches and it's what makes him a great player I suppose. He's a problem solver, he doesn't really worry about things outside his control, "He's hitting a good serve, that's fine nothing you can do about it, you have to wait it out," "the wind is not perfect today but that's tennis, nothing you can do you have to adapt" etc etc. He was never really one to dwell on the past, always with the it happened let's move on kinda attitude, which I think is crucial for top level atheletes to not get bogged down by your wins or losses.

But it seems like he talks a lot about regret in this one. He said there are times he prioritised his competitive urges more than his health and life, like in Roland Garros this year where he shouldn't have stayed that long. He talks about pain, about the tiredness of living with chronic pain, about not being able to walk down the stairs, about making life choices of what really matters and what doesn't.

He's very honest and raw, he said he didn't congratulate Djokovic yet on his 24th slam because it honestly hasn't crossed his mind and because he might also had to adjust to someone new having the most GS.

What's perhaps more painful is what seems like this feeling of resigned acceptance that the sport is moving on without him. He's being very realistic, fair and honest about it. He said he's very proud of Alcaraz and congratulated him for his achievements but then admitted he's not that in the field anymore. Tennis will always be a part of him, but he doesn't really have friends left in the sport, except for Federer, who he calls from time to time. It's fascinating that he referred to tennis in general instead of just the current next generation ATP players who he never really competed against (and hence wouldn't have known anyway) as Federer is clearly also no longer in the sport.

I have no idea what his life is like these days but it gives the impression that he's seemingly trying to make peace with no longer having any relations with professional tennis (apart from his secluded academy of course) and Roger's the only one he still occassionaly keeps in touch with. He talks about the future a lot, about the many things he could decide to become tomorrow if he wants to, about being president of Real Madrid, about his academy that he cares deeply for, about maybe one day getting into coaching.

If I'm to make something at all out of this, Rafa seems.. ready. He says an illusion is for him to come back and win another Australian Open or Roland Garros (still with that little twinkle of hope in his eyes 🥺), but what's not an illusion is him trying his very best one last time to go back on court, to enjoy the ride, play the sport that defined his life, compete in the stadiums he loves the most, to properly say his goodbye.

#ah this interview will end me i think #it feels truly like the end to an era #everything is changing #when he said i don't have any acquaintances on the tour anymore and you realised most players you grew up with already retired #man this one's gonna hit hard #rafael nadal #tennis #fedal #roger federer #nadal