The draw for the Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships in Tokyo is out. Rafa is seeded first and anchors the top half of the draw. He faces Go Soeda in the first round. The other seeded players in Rafa's half are Janko Tipsarevic (6), Mardy Fish (4) and Viktor Troicki (5).
The bottom half of the draw is anchored by second-seed Andy Murray, and contains the tournament's third (David Ferrer), seventh (Radek Stepanek) and eighth (Juan Monaco) seeded players.
No day off, back to practice hard! Today at Qizhong Tennis Center in Shanghai! At the background you can see the old Masters Cup's Stadium, spectacular!
ราฟารีบร้อนมาเซี่ยงไฮ้ เพราะน่าจะห่วงเพื่อน Marc ที่ตัวเองจะลงตีประเภคคู่ด้วยในวันพรุ่งนี้ คู่แข่งเลย แข่งกับ C. Kas/A. Peya ราฟารีบซ้อมทันทีวันนี้ คงกลัวตกรอบแต่หัววัน เพื่อนจะได้ตังน้อยไปด้วย ส่วนประเภทเดี่ยว ราฟาลงตีรอบ 2 กับ Garcia Lopez คนที่ราฟาแพัที่กรุงเทพเมื่อปีที่แล้ววันพุธนะ
มีคู่น่าสนใจให้ติดตาม รุ่นเก๋าอเมริกันมาเจอเด็กดาวรุ่งทั้งคู่ Tomic vs Fish Dimitrov vs Roddick
แล้วก็มีรุ่นเก๋าชาวฝรั่งเศส พบกับเด็กแคนาเดี้ยนที่หมููทองชอบ Raonic vs Llodra แล้วเด็กดาวรุ่งอเมริกันแฮริสัน เจอกับวิคเตอร์ R. Harrison vs V. Troicki อยากบอกว่าหมูทองเชียร์เด็กหมดทุกคู่เลยโดยเฉพาะคู่สุดท้าย
"I believe Rafa 2010 had something more special than Rafa 2011, especially in tough situations.
"Winning or losing depends on very, very, very small things," expanded Nadal, who finished runner-up to Novak Djokovic in the Wimbledon and US Open finals. "And probably these very, very small things I did a little bit better in 2010 than 2011. It is hard to win big matches. I lost a lot of finals this year. This year I lost 7 out of 10." ราฟารู้ตัวดีว่าเล่นได้แย่กว่าปีที่แล้วเยอะ โดยเฉพาะแต้มสำคัญ และความผิดพลาดเล็กๆน้อยๆ มันก็เป็นตัววัดแพ้-ชนะ ในแม็ทช์สำคัญๆ กับคู่แข่งที่ยากๆ
"I dont think the level has been better than 2010 or 2009. I think it has been similar," said the Mallorcan. "For my part and Roger's part a little bit worse for the moment. "I played worse than last year. I was very consistent, probably even more consistent than last year, but I played a little bit worse, I think. I think Roger played well, but he lost a few matches that in the past he never would have lost." ราฟาคิดว่า ระดับของเทนนิส ไม่ได้สูงขึ้น แต่ตัวเค้าและเฮียเฟดเล่นได้ระดับแย่ลงกว่าเดิม
"If you are not improving every year more and more, your chances are less," said Nadal. "Don't forget this is my seventh year on the tour being Top 2. That's happened because, first thing, I was in perfect conditions mentally all these years, but second thing because I always try to improve and play better and better. That's the goal and that's what I have to keep doing if I want to keep being here for long time. ราฟาเตือนให้ผู้คน แฟนๆที่บ่นโน่นนี้ ได้เห็นว่า เค้า (จริงๆ รวมทั้งเฟดด้วย) อยู่ใน Top 2 มาปีที่ 7 แล้วนะ แล้วมันไม่ใช่เรื่องง่ายๆ ที่จะอยู่ตรงนี้ได้นานๆ เพราะคุณต้องอยู่ในสภาพจิตใจที่แข็งแกร่ง และต้องพัฒนาตัวเองตลอดเวลา
"This is not one of the most demanding moments of the mental part for myself because I am happy about how I am doing," he explained. "I understand everything is a transition, everything is a part of your career. You cannot expect to play perfect every time. I did very well this year, not perfect. That's why I lost a few important matches. I understand that maybe that can be positive for the future or negative. You never know. ราฟารู้สึกว่า เค้าไม่สามารถเล่นได้สมบูรณ์แบบตลอดเวลา ปีนี้อาจเล่นไม่ได้ดีนัก แต่ก็ดีนะ ไม่ห่วย และรู้สึกว่าตัวเองมีกำลังใจที่ดีที่จะฝึกซ้อมอย่างหนัก แล้วก็หาคำตอบที่จะเล่นให้ได้ดีขึ้นกว่าเดิมในปีหน้า (แฟนๆ ราฟาฟังท่อนนี้ แล้วคงสบายใจขึ้นมากนะจ๊ะ)
"The only thing that is going through my mind now is I have enough illusion to keep practising hard, enough motivation to keep trying my best and to keep finding solutions to be a better player for next year.
"Djokovic this year already won a lot of tournaments, three Grand Slams, he didn't lose matches. I don't believe that he changed his game unbelievably. He did a few small things better than a few years ago and that's why his big success this year. That's what I am going to try." ส่วนเรือ่งที่โนลชนะอย่างมากมายนั้น ราฟามีความเห็นว่า โนลไม่ได้เปลี่ยนอะไรมาก แต่มีการปรับปรุงรายละเอียดเล็กๆน้อยๆ ให้คมขึ้น เจ๋งขึ้น และนั่นมันก็มากพอให้เค้าประสบความสำเร็จมากในปีนี้ แต่ผมก็จะพยายามทำเช่นกันในปีหน้า
"He played really well," said Nadal. "I didn't. I felt that I was not playing bad from the baseline. But my return, when he was serving the first serve, was terrible tonight. I only won four points in whole match [on his] first serve. So I cannot expect win a match when the opponent is playing well, is serving well, is doing very good serve and volleys, returning, and only winning four points with returning the first serve. [I] congratulate him.
"For me today is [a] disappointing day. I think I was doing everything right, practising with good motivation, practicing well in general. I had a good result [at the] US Open. I had a good result last week. Today is a tough lose, that's the truth. [It] was not my day. I am out of the tournament. I am going to work hard for the next tournament."
ส่วนเมเยอร์ก็ดีใจเหมือนขึ้นสวรรค์ เพราะคิดไม่ถึงว่าจะชนะราฟาได้ แต่ก็ยังหยอดหวานไว้หน่อย "It's a really nice feeling," said Mayer. "He's such a great competitor on court. For sure it is the biggest win in my career. I cannot actually believe it right now. But the tournament goes on tomorrow so I have to stay focused for the rest of the week.
"I just am maybe a little bit fitter mentally and physically [than before]. Maybe that's two per cent or three per cent more. I'm serving very well. Mix it up with serve and volley."
Kudos to Mayer who played the best tennis of his career and totally deserved to win yesterday. But today he couldn’t keep it up and lost. So, in sports anything can happen.
As for our Rafa, he has been playing ok after DC but not well enough or at the level that we would see him win any trophy, let alone hard-court tournaments. With that being said, of course I was disappointed with the result. But I'm glad that he gets to go home, be surrounded by those he loves and stay away from tennis for awhile.
To be honest, I kind of hope he'll skip Paris and spend as much time as he needs to rest and recharge his batteries. I’ll look forward to seeing fully fit / motivated Rafa. Hopefully, he’ll be able to fine tune his game in time for WTF so that he won’t extend himself/his energy too much since DC is only a few days away.
Whatever will happen – win or lose, I’ll always be with Rafa. No one can replace him. Still, I truly believe in Rafa. If he can manage his schedule well (be kinder to his body and a bit less considerate/committed by withdrawing from some tourneys like what RF and ND do from time to time), he’ll come back like he did last year.