2006: A look back at 12 months of excitement
by cincimini
Another season over, another list of accomplishments, and another collection of anecdotes and stories surrounding our favorite tennis player- this was Rafa’s 2006 (from our point of view of course).
Full of confidence, Rafa flies to Dubai, where he makes an incredible run to the final, only to find himself across the net from Roger Federer. In what will become one of the best matches of the year (in my personal opinion), Rafa comes back from one set down to win the title- and a commanding record against the number one. Besides Rafa’s sobbing into the towel after the win (how anybody cannot cry along with him I’ll never understand), the most memorable occurrence is Rafa’s shirt change during the trophy ceremony, when the whistling and cheering from the crowd forces the tournament director to interrupt his- very boring- speech.
Rafa then continues his journey to Miami, where he wins the ATP Award for “Most Improved Player 2005”. Overjoyed and excited, Rafa apparently parties a bit too much (remember him bobbing his head to the music and that...ahmm…alcohol-infused interview with Murphy Jensen??) and then loses his first match at the Miami Masters Series event against his friend Carlos Moya with 6-2, 1-6, 1-6.
The press has a field day, but we as fans know that his eyes are already on what’s ahead…
Back on his favorite ‘sur-fraze’, Rafa immediately puts to rest any doubts that may have been muttered under people’s breaths. He reaches the final at the Monte Carlo Masters without problems and crushes Roger in four sets to win his first Masters shield of the season. But just as things settle into comfort-zone for us fans…
Barcelona holds one of the biggest surprises of the year in store! News of a “Rafa girlfriend” appear and rumors fly through cyberspace until it is confirmed: Rafa is off the market! All around the world, Rafanatics cry themselves to sleep over the missed opportunity while others try to overcome their sorrow by undertaking detective work that would make the secret service proud. Within days details are revealed and Xisca becomes a permanent member of the Rafa fan-family.
More drama occurs in Barcelona, but this time on court, during one of Rafa's early matches! Contrary to popular opinion, the woman handcuffing herself to the net is NOT sent by the Brigade to distract Rafa’s opponent…she turns out to have a political message that nobody cared to hear.In the meantime, Rafa himself goes on to defeat Tommy Robredo in the Barcelona final and once again demonstrates why he is the King of Clay.
If Wimbledon was Boris Becker’s living room, Roland Garros is Rafa’s bedroom and we as fans get excited weeks before it actually starts. Coming off two victories against the world’s number one, nobody doubts that Rafa will take home the trophy for the second time in a row, but the competition is tough and then there is that clay-court record….
With his first-round victory at Roland Garros against Robin Soderling, Rafa beats Vilas’ 53-match clay court winning streak!!! Truly ‘unbelievable’ as he would say.
The prospects of a potential Rafa-Roger showdown in the final of Roland Garros dominate the headlines and tennis fans get their wish when the two take center court on final Sunday once again. All of Roger’s pathetic attempts to stop Rafa on his way to the final are unsuccessful (rumors suggest that he convinced Hewitt to hit Rafa with one of his nasty hard serves, which unfortunately causes a bloody nose in a ball boy, and then he corrupts a malicious piece of banana to try and suffocate Rafa). Needless to say….Rafa dominates the final and sweeps Roger off the court to claim his second French Open title- and we as fans are riding the high-wave!
With all pressure off his shoulders and expectations low for his grass season, Rafa advances to the quarterfinals of the Stella Artois Open where he is forced to retire against Hewitt with a wrist injury. Memories of the Rafa-drought during his foot injury at the beginning of the year creep through our minds, but we are reassured that Rafa will play in Wimbledon. There are reports of spontaneous celebrations in several cities around the world!
In the final, Rafa puts up a good fight but Roger (once again on the other side of the net) is too strong on his signature surface and Rafa loses in four sets. Still, we as fans are excited and convinced that all the talk about Rafa being a one-surface wonder will finally evaporate….How wrong we are!
Following Wimbledon, Rafa takes a long and well-deserved break. But not to keep his fans disappointed, pictures of Rafa and Xisca vacationing and enjoying time off at the beach of Porto Christo soon cause a great deal of excitement (and despair) among Rafaholics. But whether depressed or happy for him, at least we have something to talk about during Rafa’s off-month!
In Cincinnati, Rafa advances to the quarterfinals, playing at a good level but once again losing- this time to his fellow Spaniard Juan Carlos Ferrero. But Rafa continues to be in good spirits and spends the days following his elimination golfing and eating (a lot) at Applebee’s- much to the amusement of the waiter staff there.
Reunited with Uncle Toni in New York, Rafa prepares for the US Open, reveals his latest outfit (black and red combination), participates in a NIKE promotional match with Roger, and spends an entire day posing for photos and giving interviews. The video “Power and Looks” is posted on the ATP website and becomes an instant classic among the newly created VamosBrigade - home of the truest and most loyal Rafa fans!
While Rafa takes some time off to work on his game (he is changing his serve motion and his shot technique to become more aggressive), things are starting to get wild in cyberspace. Rumors spread that NIKE is planning to bring back Rafa’s piratas for the Australian Open 2007 - much to the excitement of us fans, who have long figured out that Rafa has not won a tournament since they were discarded after Roland Garros. VAMOS PIRATAS!
In addition, a VB member posts the link for a fun vote on the TennisChannel website to determine the hottest tennis player- little does TTC know what mayhem they will cause with this innocent idea….
Rafa enters the Stockholm Open after almost one month without competing. He wins his first round match, but loses against Pim Pim Johansson in two sets. Disappointing as the loss is, Rafa reassures everybody that he is still working on his game and that results will come from it eventually.
A week later he plays the Madrid Masters event where he is the local hero, male protagonist, and fan-favorite. Despite massive support from the crowd, Rafa is unable to pull off a win against Thomas Berdych in the quarterfinals- his third consecutive loss against the Czech. There is a lot of controversy surrounding the match and Berdych’s attitude towards the public haunts him when he is booed off court in his next match. Berdych is then crowned “Most disliked Rafa opponent 2005/6/7/8” by VB members.
What is supposed to be the last victorious stretch of the season looks increasingly like a repeat of 2005. Rafa withdraws from the Paris Masters with an abdominal muscle tear and it is not clear if he will be able to play the Masters Cup in Shanghai. But for the mental and emotional health of his fans, Rafa pulls off a medical miracle and recovers in time to end the year in style.
In his second match he defeats Tommy Robredo in straight sets, giving all of us hope for the next match. Knowing that Davydenko comes off a strong streak, we all sweat and nail-bite along with Rafa when he fights his way to a close three-set victory to advance to the semi finals.
Rafa’s final ATP level match of the year is the semi final against Roger Federer - one last blockbuster match, much to the delight of all tennis fans. Even though Rafa loses in two sets, the quality of the match is high. Afterwards, Rafa declares that he is back at his best level of tennis and ready to train hard for next season.
Rumors about a growing Rafa-Roger relationship-crisis are dispersed when they fly to Seoul for a friendly exhibition match, which Roger wins in three sets (although some fans are convinced that Rafa loses so that Roger can end his second season as King of Tennis with a victory).
He defended his Roland Garros title, made the finals in Wimbledon- on a surface nobody would have bet a penny on him. He won two Masters shields, two additional tournaments, and handed Roger Federer four defeats in one season (which, by the way, are 80% of all of Roger’s losses this year). He won 4470 ATP ranking points, collected a nerve-calming stash of cash, served 240 aces, and won 86% of all his service games. He got himself a girlfriend and a new physio, survived a car accident (ok, so maybe it was just a fender-bender), changed his piratas for basketball shorts, won the prestigious Laureus Award for Best Newcomer and a number of other awards, and has improved his English remarkably.
Yes there were low points and there are things he needs to work on, but in the end all that matters is that he is healthy and ready to compete in 2007. And most importantly…he is still the same sweet, polite, well-mannered young man he was in 2005 and he still says “surfraze” and “I have just 20 years old” in that adorable accent. What more can we ask for?
January:
The New Year begins where the old one ended. Rafa is still injured and unable to play the Australian Open. And while the Australian fans are disheartened and disappointed, we all get teary-eyed when we hear about Rafa sitting at home and crying in front of the TV while Roger books yet another Grand Slam victory. We put our hopes in Rafa’s hands (or rather, feet) and send plenty of good karma to the Nike headquarters in Oregon, where Rafa stops by to pick up his new insoles. Anticipation builds when Uncle Toni announces Rafa’s return to the ATP circuit for February.February:
Rafa’s first venture back into professional tennis in Marseille ends in the semi finals, where he loses to local favorite Arnaud Clement in three sets. Many fans believe that things could have ended differently if it wasn’t for the kamikaze bee that attacked Rafa during the match and stung him in the stomach- even though Rafa denies that it affected his play. But in the end, we are all happy just to see him back on court!Full of confidence, Rafa flies to Dubai, where he makes an incredible run to the final, only to find himself across the net from Roger Federer. In what will become one of the best matches of the year (in my personal opinion), Rafa comes back from one set down to win the title- and a commanding record against the number one. Besides Rafa’s sobbing into the towel after the win (how anybody cannot cry along with him I’ll never understand), the most memorable occurrence is Rafa’s shirt change during the trophy ceremony, when the whistling and cheering from the crowd forces the tournament director to interrupt his- very boring- speech.
March:
Rafa begins his first assault on US soil in 2006 by reaching the semi-finals of the Masters Series event in Indian Wells. He is defeated by James Blake, who soon becomes the arch-nemesis of Rafa supporters around the globe (he will of course be surpassed by Berdych, following the Madrid Masters in October).Rafa then continues his journey to Miami, where he wins the ATP Award for “Most Improved Player 2005”. Overjoyed and excited, Rafa apparently parties a bit too much (remember him bobbing his head to the music and that...ahmm…alcohol-infused interview with Murphy Jensen??) and then loses his first match at the Miami Masters Series event against his friend Carlos Moya with 6-2, 1-6, 1-6.
The press has a field day, but we as fans know that his eyes are already on what’s ahead…
April:
CLAY SEASON!!!Back on his favorite ‘sur-fraze’, Rafa immediately puts to rest any doubts that may have been muttered under people’s breaths. He reaches the final at the Monte Carlo Masters without problems and crushes Roger in four sets to win his first Masters shield of the season. But just as things settle into comfort-zone for us fans…
Barcelona holds one of the biggest surprises of the year in store! News of a “Rafa girlfriend” appear and rumors fly through cyberspace until it is confirmed: Rafa is off the market! All around the world, Rafanatics cry themselves to sleep over the missed opportunity while others try to overcome their sorrow by undertaking detective work that would make the secret service proud. Within days details are revealed and Xisca becomes a permanent member of the Rafa fan-family.
More drama occurs in Barcelona, but this time on court, during one of Rafa's early matches! Contrary to popular opinion, the woman handcuffing herself to the net is NOT sent by the Brigade to distract Rafa’s opponent…she turns out to have a political message that nobody cared to hear.In the meantime, Rafa himself goes on to defeat Tommy Robredo in the Barcelona final and once again demonstrates why he is the King of Clay.
May:
Rafa’s dominance on clay continues when he reaches the final of the Rome Masters, giving up only 27 games in 5 matches. Rafa fans are also making their presence felt throughout the tournament and one of them even manages to proclaim her/his love for Rafa on international TV (see picture). Rafa is unfazed by such distractions and proceeds to win one of the longest and closest matches of the year when he saves two match points to defeat Roger Federer for the title.
With his first-round victory at Roland Garros against Robin Soderling, Rafa beats Vilas’ 53-match clay court winning streak!!! Truly ‘unbelievable’ as he would say.
June:
Happy 20th Birthday Rafa!!!The prospects of a potential Rafa-Roger showdown in the final of Roland Garros dominate the headlines and tennis fans get their wish when the two take center court on final Sunday once again. All of Roger’s pathetic attempts to stop Rafa on his way to the final are unsuccessful (rumors suggest that he convinced Hewitt to hit Rafa with one of his nasty hard serves, which unfortunately causes a bloody nose in a ball boy, and then he corrupts a malicious piece of banana to try and suffocate Rafa). Needless to say….Rafa dominates the final and sweeps Roger off the court to claim his second French Open title- and we as fans are riding the high-wave!
With all pressure off his shoulders and expectations low for his grass season, Rafa advances to the quarterfinals of the Stella Artois Open where he is forced to retire against Hewitt with a wrist injury. Memories of the Rafa-drought during his foot injury at the beginning of the year creep through our minds, but we are reassured that Rafa will play in Wimbledon. There are reports of spontaneous celebrations in several cities around the world!
July:
Much to everybody’s surprise, Rafa improves his grass court game with every match and defeats Andre Agassi in his last Wimbledon match of his career, prompting rarely-spoken words of approval from many TV announcers. Later Rafa admits that he cried in the locker room after his victory - and once again we are just moved to tears by him (well, I was anyway). His incredible run on grass continues and he reaches the final of Wimbledon by defeating Marcos Baghdatis in what Rafa himself calls ‘maybe my best match of all the year’.In the final, Rafa puts up a good fight but Roger (once again on the other side of the net) is too strong on his signature surface and Rafa loses in four sets. Still, we as fans are excited and convinced that all the talk about Rafa being a one-surface wonder will finally evaporate….How wrong we are!
Following Wimbledon, Rafa takes a long and well-deserved break. But not to keep his fans disappointed, pictures of Rafa and Xisca vacationing and enjoying time off at the beach of Porto Christo soon cause a great deal of excitement (and despair) among Rafaholics. But whether depressed or happy for him, at least we have something to talk about during Rafa’s off-month!
August:
In August, Rafa travels to the US for the second time in 2006 to take on the American hard courts. His title defence in Toronto ends with a tough three-set loss to Thomas Berdych in the quarterfinals (at this point Berdych is promoted to the position of almost-least-favorite-Rafa-opponent). And even though Rafa claims lack of match practice to be the reason for his form slump, things do not get better from there on…In Cincinnati, Rafa advances to the quarterfinals, playing at a good level but once again losing- this time to his fellow Spaniard Juan Carlos Ferrero. But Rafa continues to be in good spirits and spends the days following his elimination golfing and eating (a lot) at Applebee’s- much to the amusement of the waiter staff there.
Reunited with Uncle Toni in New York, Rafa prepares for the US Open, reveals his latest outfit (black and red combination), participates in a NIKE promotional match with Roger, and spends an entire day posing for photos and giving interviews. The video “Power and Looks” is posted on the ATP website and becomes an instant classic among the newly created VamosBrigade - home of the truest and most loyal Rafa fans!
September:
The month of September is eventful in many regards. Rafa reaches the US Open quarter finals, where he loses a tough match against Youzhny. It is undeniable that he is not playing at the same level he has before, but he reclaims his great form during the Davis Cup tie against Italy, winning both his single matches and the doubles match together with Fernando Verdasco. The on-court celebration of Nando and Rafa will remain forever cherished by many of us...and Spain will compete in the world group of the Davis Cup where they will play Switzerland in the first round early 2007.While Rafa takes some time off to work on his game (he is changing his serve motion and his shot technique to become more aggressive), things are starting to get wild in cyberspace. Rumors spread that NIKE is planning to bring back Rafa’s piratas for the Australian Open 2007 - much to the excitement of us fans, who have long figured out that Rafa has not won a tournament since they were discarded after Roland Garros. VAMOS PIRATAS!
In addition, a VB member posts the link for a fun vote on the TennisChannel website to determine the hottest tennis player- little does TTC know what mayhem they will cause with this innocent idea….
October:
For almost three weeks, Rafa fans from all over unite to compete with the Roddick and Roger fans of the world for the top spot on the Tennis Hottie list. Fans spy on each other’s message boards, VBers neglect work, school, social life, and sleep to vote until their fingers bleed…only to find the Roger-fans to outnumber us 1:100. On several occasions the TTC website crashes and voting is suspended for the night, but with sheer determination and willpower we crown Rafa the number one “Tennis Hottie”!!!Rafa enters the Stockholm Open after almost one month without competing. He wins his first round match, but loses against Pim Pim Johansson in two sets. Disappointing as the loss is, Rafa reassures everybody that he is still working on his game and that results will come from it eventually.
A week later he plays the Madrid Masters event where he is the local hero, male protagonist, and fan-favorite. Despite massive support from the crowd, Rafa is unable to pull off a win against Thomas Berdych in the quarterfinals- his third consecutive loss against the Czech. There is a lot of controversy surrounding the match and Berdych’s attitude towards the public haunts him when he is booed off court in his next match. Berdych is then crowned “Most disliked Rafa opponent 2005/6/7/8” by VB members.
What is supposed to be the last victorious stretch of the season looks increasingly like a repeat of 2005. Rafa withdraws from the Paris Masters with an abdominal muscle tear and it is not clear if he will be able to play the Masters Cup in Shanghai. But for the mental and emotional health of his fans, Rafa pulls off a medical miracle and recovers in time to end the year in style.
November:
Rafa flies to Shanghai to compete in the Masters Cup for the first time in his career. He is drawn into the Gold Group together with Tommy Robredo, James Blake and Nikolai Davydenko. His campaign to advance through the round robin stage gets sidetracked when he loses his first match against Blake, who now has a 3-0 record against Rafa. Because of his injury Rafa was unable to practice his new service motion intensively, but he is giving it his best.In his second match he defeats Tommy Robredo in straight sets, giving all of us hope for the next match. Knowing that Davydenko comes off a strong streak, we all sweat and nail-bite along with Rafa when he fights his way to a close three-set victory to advance to the semi finals.
Rafa’s final ATP level match of the year is the semi final against Roger Federer - one last blockbuster match, much to the delight of all tennis fans. Even though Rafa loses in two sets, the quality of the match is high. Afterwards, Rafa declares that he is back at his best level of tennis and ready to train hard for next season.
Rumors about a growing Rafa-Roger relationship-crisis are dispersed when they fly to Seoul for a friendly exhibition match, which Roger wins in three sets (although some fans are convinced that Rafa loses so that Roger can end his second season as King of Tennis with a victory).
December:
We as fans are finally given the chance to take a deep breath, and reflecting back on the year it’s not difficult to see why Rafa can be proud of his achievements.He defended his Roland Garros title, made the finals in Wimbledon- on a surface nobody would have bet a penny on him. He won two Masters shields, two additional tournaments, and handed Roger Federer four defeats in one season (which, by the way, are 80% of all of Roger’s losses this year). He won 4470 ATP ranking points, collected a nerve-calming stash of cash, served 240 aces, and won 86% of all his service games. He got himself a girlfriend and a new physio, survived a car accident (ok, so maybe it was just a fender-bender), changed his piratas for basketball shorts, won the prestigious Laureus Award for Best Newcomer and a number of other awards, and has improved his English remarkably.
Yes there were low points and there are things he needs to work on, but in the end all that matters is that he is healthy and ready to compete in 2007. And most importantly…he is still the same sweet, polite, well-mannered young man he was in 2005 and he still says “surfraze” and “I have just 20 years old” in that adorable accent. What more can we ask for?