Rafael Nadal

[SAFINNO1]

Misery for Roger

But what can u say about this boy except VAMOSSSSSSSSSSSSS!

[avalon]

I'm sorry I missed the match [some of us need our beauty sleep ] but I saw the highlights this morning. No offence to Roger but it's good to see some *competition* finally, hopefully this will carry over to the other surfaces as well.
Well done Rafa. ;D

[safinette]

It was more than five hours of absolutely awesome tennis! Lovely Rafa did it again!!! I hope this time Roger can admit that Rafa won because he played better and not because Federer's mistakes!

[iman]

wow that sounded like such a great game...i really need to get eurosport!
welcome safinette:)

[yse]

Rafael & his mother at Laureus Award ;D

[lau]

Awwwww, that´s sweet ;D

[Annie]

Congrats to Rafa for getting the Newcomer of the year award at Laureus ;D

Federer, Nadal Claim Prestigious Laureus Awards

Tennis’ 1-2 punch of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal captured the most prestigious awards in sport Monday evening at the 2006 Laureus World Sports Awards. Federer collected Laureus World Sportsman of the Year honors for the second year in a row, while Nadal claimed the Laureus Newcomer of the Year following stellar 2005 seasons in which each captured a circuit-best 11 titles and a record four ATP Masters Series shields.

Hollywood celebrities Teri Hatcher and Cuba Gooding Jr. hosted the seventh annual award ceremony staged at the Parc del Fòrum, honoring the achievements of the world’s best sportsmen and sportswomen in the period between February 1, 2005 and February 28, 2006 as chosen by the Laureus World Sports Academy – a 42 member jury made up of sports legends, including Boris Becker.

Federer took top honors over an elite field of sportsmen comprised of Fernando Alonso, Lance Armstrong, Ronaldinho, Valentino Rossi and Tiger Woods after producing a remarkable 81-4 season in 2005. He became just the fifth player in the Open Era to hold down the INDESIT ATP No. 1 Ranking for the entire year and also established an Open Era record of 24 finals won in a row. The 24-year-old Swiss once again rose to the occasion at Wimbledon and the US Open, successfully defending his titles to become the first man in almost 80 years to win both in back-to-back years.

“This is such a huge honor for me to win the Laureus Award for World Sportsman of the Year for the second consecutive year. Most importantly is the fact that I am being recognized outside of the sport of tennis on such a global stage alongside enormous sporting icons and legends as the other nominees,” said Federer.

Meanwhile, Nadal was selected over fellow tennis teen Andy Murray and nominees Paula Creamer, Lionel Messi, Danica Patrick, and Ben Roethlisberger. The Spaniard put together one of the most prolific seasons in ATP history, capturing a season record of 11 teenage titles, including the Roland Garros crown. The 19-year-old clay court king won 79 matches — 39 more than his 2004 total — and became the first teenager to finish World No. 2 since Boris Becker in nearly two decades

Said Nadal: "Wow, it is great to receive an award like this. I never thought this past year would be so good and I definitely did not expect anything of what's happening. I want to thank a lot of people but I guess I don't have enough space so I will thank the academy members of the Laureus for nominating me and to all the people who voted and normally follow what I do on court. I have a lot of fun playing but also enjoy these kind of achievements because it is something that goes beyond the world of tennis."

Professional tennis players figured prominently in each available category, with the Croatian Davis Cup team nominated for Laureus World Team of the Year, Kim Clijsters and Martina Hingis for Comeback Players of the Year, and Clijsters again for Sportswoman of the Year.

[Annie]

LMAO ;D ;D ;D ;D

[nicole1224]

hehe... the first pic's adorable

[alsl]

yse said:

Rafael & his mother at Laureus Award ;D

theres one very proud mother there folks! ;D she looks like Kirsten Cohen from the O.C.

[kristen]

great pics!

[SAFINNO1]

VAMO RAFA

[SAFINNO1]

This should be interesting, really interesting

[alsl]

indeed..*scratches chin*..will it be in Spanish tho?

[sabz]

SO the blog had begun!!
i didnt know whether to post it or not, but thought i might as well
Here is his first installment
www.atptennis.com/en/blog/nadal.asp

¡Hola todos! Hello everyone!

I'm looking forward to writing the blog to be simultaneously posted at ATPtennis.com and on my home page www.rafaelnadal.com during Roland Garros so you can follow my progress and see what my days are like. It's the first time I've written a blog and it will be a lot of fun. A lot of people want to know what I do, especially at Roland Garros, and the blog will be a good way for them to find out.

But first let me tell you about a great night at the Laureus Awards last Monday and my week so far leading up to the start of Roland Garros. Last Monday was a very hectic day that started with a press conference in Palma de Mallorca to promote an exhibition scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday. After the press conference I rushed to do a TV interview on IB3 with Carlos Moya - it's the first time I can remember doing a live TV show together with him.

Then I rushed to the airport to fly to Barcelona for the Laureus World Sports Awards but when I arrived I saw that my plane had been delayed by a couple of hours, which caused me to panic a little. I was able to get on a different flight that got me there at 4pm since I was due to be at the awards at 6.30. I was very happy that I could take my whole family with me - my mother, father, sister, Toni and my four grandparents. I also got invitations for my sponsors.

For the first time in my life I had to get dressed into a black tie suit, as did all of my family. (The ladies wore full-length dresses.) There were so many sports stars staying at the hotel. When I was getting ready to get dressed I was rushing out of the elevator and I crashed into Formula 1 driver Mika Hakkinen. I said 'Wow, there are so many famous people around.'

Driving in the car to the awards we got into a deep conversation about the Da Vinci Code, which is the latest movie that I have seen. I got into an argument with my mother and father and Benito from the ATP because we had different perspectives on the movie.

We arrived at the awards on time and our car was just about to pull up to the red carpet when a lot of cars overtook us. It's King Juan Carlos and his entourage! So, you know we stopped and wait for my turn. We stayed in the car for three or four minutes. We actually were joking with the police, asking them to give the King a ticket for speeding.

When I stepped out of the car I was amazed at how many journalists, photographers and TV people there were on the red carpet. I had to decide who to walk down the red carpet with: my sister or my mother. Both are beautiful ladies, but I thought that if I walked out with my sister the media who didn't know her may speculate that she was my girlfriend and also she is a bit shy, so I decided to walk with my mother. I think she was overwhelmed with all the media attention so I let her go while I made some interviews for TV.

One of the best parts of the night was seeing so many famous people you only get to see on TV, such as Moto GP world champion Valentino Rossi, who I admire a lot, and skier Alberto Tomba and so many other sportsmen and sportswomen. I chatted with Spanish golf legend Seve Ballesteros, Spanish cycling legend Miguel Indurain, famous model Valeria Mazza and Spanish actress Elsa Pataky.

I asked Benito to introduce me to Rossi and when we were walking towards him he said, "Hey, Nadal! I always watch you play on TV!" I was surprised, you know, I wanted to get introduced to him, but it was him asking me to take a picture. Rossi said he'd send the picture but I'm still waiting. So Valentino, if you're reading the blog, send it through! He's really a nice guy and I would love to go and see a GP live.

But before that at the ceremony itself, when my name came out as the winner of the Newcomer of the Year award it was amazing and then I got really nervous, wondering what I would say. On top of that the King gave me the award, which is really an honor for me. One thing that makes me so proud to win the award is that it goes beyond tennis and the first thing that came to my mind was to thank a lot of people, all of the people who have helped me, the Academy members for voting for me and of course all my fans.

After the awards and the interviews we went into the ballroom to have dinner. I was lucky to be seated next to one of the King's daughters, Princess Cristina, (she and her husband are the Duchess and Duke of Palma) who I knew from before since they are the ones who gave me the trophy in Barcelona. And also sitting next to me was Flavio Briatore, the boss of the Renault Formula One team. He told me a lot of things about F-1.

Roger Federer, who won the World Sportsman of the Year Award for the second year, was also at the same table. Everyone knows I like Roger. We speak to each other in English. Also at the table was the coach of FC Barcelona, Johan Cruyff, who also got an award. He also was the coach/manager of the team when my uncle Miguel Angel played for Barcelona. (Laureus Photo Gallery)

After dinner people had some drinks and went to the disco, but I had a 9am flight back to Palma so I didn't stay out late. The exhibition with Moya, Mirnyi, Malisse, Panetta and Kuznetsova was rained out Tuesday, which is very strange because it doesn't rain too much in Palma. Tuesday night we had a Hugo Boss party and a lot of my friends from the island were there.

I flew to Paris on Thursday and that was the first day in a long while that I didn't have any media commitments scheduled. I had a practice at Roland Garros with Moya. On Friday it was back to Roland Garros for the draw ceremony. I pulled out the women's seeds and Justine Henin-Hardenne did the men's seeds. Then there was a media day at 4pm. On Saturday I went early to the Champs Elysee for a Nike clinic and then did a charity exhibition with a good friend of mine, Juan Monaco. After that there was an interview with Mary Jo Fernandez for ESPN Magazine. But of course my most important job has been to practice, and there has been a lot of that! I always try to schedule the other activities around practice.

So it's been a busy lead-up to Roland Garros, where I am hoping to defend my title. Please keep reading my blog this week. I hope to make my next post on Monday night after my first match.

Rafa