Rafa gave a short interview for the ATP before his first singles match in Hamburg.

(*nom nom nom*)

Photo by Bodo Marks/dpa via AP

Rafa will play Verdasco in a match that follows one scheduled for not before 1:30pm Hamburg time on Tuesday.

Also, as an FYI, I can’t promise how much time I’ll have for posting this week. I’m going to be going straight from work to World Team Tennis matches Tue-Thu and then staying up all night processing my photos (well, I’m averaging 4am) before heading back into work the next day. Fun!

Articles:

• Week in Preview: Hamburg, Atlanta, Gstaad, Baku – by Steve Tignor (tennis.com)
  

  All eyes, of course, will be on Rafa, as he attempts to find his forehand, boost his ranking, and build some momentum before traveling to North America next month. Nadal will have to be ready right away; his opening-round opponent is Fernando Verdasco, who beat him earlier this year in Miami.

• Rafael Nadal’s quest for faith and form continues at Hamburg Open – by Les Roopanarine (theguardian.com)
  

  Yet, however remote Nadal’s chances of claiming a third US Open crown come the second Sunday in September, the speed with which he has been dismissed in some quarters remains astonishing. From carving a niche in tennis history at a time when Federer was bestriding the world like the proverbial colossus, to rebounding from the loss of three successive major finals to Djokovic between Wimbledon 2011 and the following year’s Australian Open – a psychological blow from which a lesser competitor might never have recovered – the Spaniard has answered every question asked of him in his career. Whatever the outcome of his week’s work in Hamburg, it would be foolhardy to write him off.

• Rafa Returns To Hamburg, Summer Hard-Court Swing Begins – via atpworldtour.com
  

  Nadal is looking to extend his streak of having won at least one European clay court title every year since 2004 when he captured his maiden ATP World Tour crown in Sopot.

• ATP-Hamburg: Was der Start über die psychische Verfassung von Rafael Nadal verrät – via insideout-tennis.de (mangle)

Video/Audio:

• Flashback: 2003 Interview with Rafa
• More from 2003 – I’ve linked to this before, but Ines tweeted this today and I still love that, “MY TROPHY” walk away move.

Photos:

• There’s some Rafa at Roland Garros in this flickr set.

Rafa does social media:

Seguimos entrenando en Hamburgo… Verano o Invierno?? ;) Practicing in Hamburg… Is it summer or winter?? ;) pic.twitter.com/S2dqnK9krO

— Rafa Nadal (@RafaelNadal) July 27, 2015

Social media related to Rafa:

Other stuff:

• Monaco Reports Behind The Scenes At Bastad Player Party – “Rafa takes 90% of the courts.” (Pico on playing doubles with Rafa.)

Photo by EFE

After a slightly shaky (and a bit shanky) start, Rafa buckled down and defeated Fernando Verdasco in the first round of the Hamburg tournament. The turning point seemed to be a 12 minute hold Rafa struggled through in the first game of the second set. After he managed to close that game out and hold, there was no turning back. It must have felt great to be able to turn the tide on the match.

Rafa defeats Verdasco: 3-6, 6-1, 6-1.

Thanks to rain, we don’t know who Rafa will play in the next round yet.

Photo by EFE

Rafa defeated Jiri Vesely today in Hamburg. I only got to see about 10 minutes of the match, so don’t really have a lot to say except: holding serve? Still a bit of an issue. And double faults? Oye.

By Daniel Bockwoldt/dpa via AP

Rafa defeated Pablo Cuevas 6-3, 6-2 in the quarterfinals of the Hamburg tournament today. You can read a match report and see some highlights on the ATP site.

Rafa seems to be happy with his play (and the weather):

Photo by Daniel Reinhardt/dpa via AP

Today in the Hamburg semifinals, Rafa played #26 Andreas Seppi. The match was pretty one-sided with Rafa dominating. Up 6-1, 2-0, however, Rafa sat down mid-game for an injury time out. Needless to say, this caused a lot of concern. People listening in heard mentions of issues ranging from tummy issues to breathing problems to tachycardia. So, no one’s really quite sure what happened. His serve seemed worse after the injury break (not as much bend and jump into it), but other than that, seemed to move fine as he finished out the match. Rafa’s into the final: 6-1, 6-2.

The time-out took place soon after this fun point:

Video of the time out:

(Posted by Nadal Power.)

Rafa spoke a bit about the injury time out during his post-match interview for the ATP:

 
From the quotes in this ATP report, Rafa seems to be happy with his form:

“From the beginning I played great, since the first game that I hit a few winners,” Nadal added. “I was very comfortable on court today, feeling the ball well, with topspin to his backhand and then changing to his forehand down the line – a very important shot for me. In general it was a very positive match.”

Photo by Daniel Reinhardt/dpa via AP

The most important thing: Rafa plays Fognini in the Hamburg final at 1pm local time.

Here’s a bunch of catch-up lint!

In future scheduling news, Rafa has confirmed he’ll play Beijing.

As Rafael Nadal confirmed today he will play in Beijing, there are two committed players to @ChinaOpen – Novak Djokovic & Rafael Nadal.

— Michal Samulski (@MichalSamulski) July 31, 2015

And a maybe/probably on the schedule:

Nadal on playing @DavisCup vs Denmark: "Probably yes, if the captain has the confidence in me. Probably I will be very open to play."

— Petra Philippsen (@PPhilippsen) August 1, 2015

Articles:

• Nadal Seeks Revenge In Hamburg Final – via atpworldtour.com
• Nadal sets up Hamburg Open final against Fognini – AP via tennis.com
• Nadal Sets Seppi Hamburg Clash – via atpworldtour.com (Includes a highlight video)
• Post quarterfinal on-court interview.
• Nadal Sets Cuevas Clash – via atpworldtour.com (Includes a highlight video)
• Rafael Nadal beats Fernando Verdasco in Hamburg opener – via skysports.com
• Nadal Battles Past Verdasco In Hamburg – via atpworldtour.com
• Nadal tops Verdasco in three sets at clay-court Hamburg Open – AP via tennis.com
• Nadal drops doubles match in Hamburg – via tennis.com
• Nadal’s Numbers on Break Points, Tiebreakers Point to a Lingering Lack of Confidence – via tennisnow.com
• Book your tickets – it’s Federer vs Nadal in Delhi on December 12 – via ibnlive.com

Video/Audio:

• Rafael Nadal medical timeout vs Andreas Seppi
• Presser excerpt – Rafa says his shoulder is hurting a bit.
• More Rafa practice videos have been uploaded to bernietanzen’s YouTube channel.
• Semifinal presser excerpt
• Post-semifinal on-court interview
• Semifinal interview
• Semifinal highlights
• Semifinal hotshot
• iB3 report on the quarterfinal
• Quarterfinal highlights
• 3rd round interview
• iB3 report on the 2nd round match (with presser excerpt)
• 2nd round interview
• 2nd round highlights
• Players’ Party
• iB3 report on the 1st round match (with presser excerpt)
• Verdasco Out Thinks Nadal In Hamburg Hot Shot
• 1st round highlights
• Another 1st round highlight reel
• Doubles highlights
• Hamburg: Monday highlights
• Here come the Indian Aces! – Rafa’s IPTL team is the Aces…like my home town WTT team. I think this is a good sign (of what, I dunno, but still).

Photos:

• Semifinal photos

Social media related to Rafa:

Photo by Daniel Reinhardt/dpa via AP

Rafa met #32 Fabio Fognini today in the Hamburg final. Rafa was attempting to extend his streak of consecutive years with at least one European clay finals and Fabio was trying to be the first person with 3 clay court wins over Rafa in 1 year. Who would prevail?

The match started with 4 consecutive breaks of serve. Rafa was the first to hold and start a trend. It looked like the hold streak might end in the 11th game, but Rafa survived a very nervy serve game to force Fognini to serve to stay in the set. In the next game, Rafa earned multiple break points. On the 4th opportunity, Rafa hit a forehand return winner off a second serve and the set was his: 7-5.

Rafa started the 2nd set with a love hold. He went on to break in the 4th game, but couldn’t consolidate as Fognini broke in the next game to put the set back on serve. In the 5th game, Rafa saved one break point against, but on the 2nd, he didn’t stop play when Fognini’s return was wide (and not called). His reply was a bit tentative and Fognini hit a drop shot winner to break and go up 4-3. Having learned that lesson the hard way, Rafa did stop play when he had a break point in the next game. He was right, Fognini’s ball was out and the set was back on serve. Didn’t last long, though. Down a break point in the next game, Rafa hit a drop shit into the net and was broken – giving Fognini the chance to serve for the set.

Things got odd on the changeover after that. Fognini stepped over towards Rafa’s side and had some harsh words. People attempting to translate said he kept saying “don’t break my balls”. So…who the heck knows what was going on. Whatever it was, perhaps it helped fire Rafa up because he fought from set point down in the next game to break back and level the set at 5-5. In the next game, Fognini had double break point. He lost one with drop shit. Rafa saved another with an ace. Rafa went on to hold for 6-5. Given how the match went overall, it’s only fitting that Rafa broke in the last game to take the game, match and title.

Rafa defeats Fognini 7-5, 7-5.

Trophy biting photo once one becomes available. Sorry for the oodles of typos that probably exist in here. It’s early. I’m tired. And I’m too happy to care. :D

Quick interview Rafa gave after winning the Hamburg title.

(Posted by ATPWorldTour)

Daniel Reinhardt/dpa via AP

Tomorrow, Rafa travels to Montreal. He practiced today in Manacor – see the Storify for reports from a fan who was there.

In schedule news, Rafa will play doubles in Montreal with Fernando Verdasco (source). It was announced that Rafa will be seeded #8 in singles for Montreal. Since then, Ferrer has withdrawn due to an elbow injury, so Rafa will move up to #7.

Tickets are still available for the exhibition Rafa is doing at John McEnroe’s tennis academy the week before the US Open. You can buy them here.

Rafa has been added to the Arthur Ashe Kids’ Day line up. Taking place the Saturday before the US Open, Arthur Ashe Kids’ Day benefits the USTA Foundation which helps fund the National Junior Tennis & Learning Network (NJTL), a nationwide group of more than 500 nonprofit youth-development organizations that provide free or low-cost tennis, education and life-skills programming to more than 225,000 children each year. You can buy tickets here.

Lastly, Rafa is scheduled to play in the IPTL this winter. Tickets are now on sale and can be purchased here.

Post Hamburg final press conference excerpt:

(Posted by Rafael Nadal King of Tennis)

Articles:

• Summer Intrigue – by Steve Tignor (tennis.com)
  

  This doesn’t mean Nadal is in decline, or won’t win more majors. It means that there’s a good chance we’ll see more weeks like Hamburg in his future. The world will wonder what’s wrong with Rafa, why he’s missing so many forehands, and why his levels go up and down—and he’ll find a way to win anyway.

• Nadal Records a Must Win in Hamburg – by Steve Flink (tennischannel.com)
  

  Nadal is in the process of recovering his confidence. He has never taken anything for granted, not even when he was celebrating his finest seasons and largest triumphs. Considering that he is clearly among the best ever to play the game of tennis, Nadal is an uncommonly modest man, a fellow with deep humility, and an individual who readily admits that it is his nature to wrestle incessantly with inner doubts and insecurities. But the fact remains that he knows what he has already achieved and is not content to rest on his laurels. The guess here is that the “Essential Nadal” will be back in full view next year, but we will get more than a few glimpses of his greatness before the curtain closes on 2015.

• Rafa Nadal’s Hamburg win analysed by Mark Petchey – via skysports.com
• Nadal Beats Fognini For Hamburg Crown – via atpworldtour.com (includes a highlights reel)
• Rafael Nadal battles past Fabio Fognini to claim Hamburg Open title – by Reem Abulleil (sport360.com)
• Nadal wins 47th clay title with 7-5, 7-5 win over Fognini in Hamburg – AP via tennis.com
• “Let’s forget the best Nadal” – via marca.com
• Spain’s Nadal willing to play Group I Davis Cup tie – via tennis.com
• „Wir müssen uns fragen, welches Spiel wir sehen wollen“ – interview with Toni in German (mangle or here’s a translation by @bellezzavitale on Twitter.)
• Francis Roig: “Nadal tiene que hacer un esfuerzo mayor para ganar ahora” – an interview with Roig via tennistopic.com (mangle)
• Nadal: “Luché con la mentalidad correcta” – via europapress.es (mangle)
• Rafael Nadal to lead Indian Aces in IPTL 2015 – pdf file via iptlworld.com

Video/Audio:

• Hamburg victory speech (or this version)
• 2015 bet-at-home Open – ATP Hamburg Story of the Tournament
• Audio of a post-Hamburg interview (Spanish – here’s the mangle of the text on the page)
• Rafa and Fognini’s spat (another version)
• Hamburg Final Highlights
• Rafa Nadal and Fabio Fognini play fantastic rally in Hamburg final – via skysports.com
• iB3 report on the Hamburg final

Photos:

• There’s some Rafa in Hamburg in this flickr set by Ottmar H.

Social media related to Rafa:

Other stuff:

• US Open press center to be renamed in honor of Bud Collins – by McCarton Ackerman (usopen.org). Linked because…picture of Rafa and, well, Bud’s cool.
• Tour Wife Tales with Kelsey Anderson: Travel 101 – interesting column about life on the tour