The Australian Open

As the first Grand Slam of the year draws to a close it's time to reflect on the highlights of the tournament for Rafa fans.

Most importantly it was his first hard court Grand Slam semi final. This is a great start to 2008.

Here are some thoughts from Vamos Brigade members who were there.

ria4161 "I have returned from spending the best week in Melbourne watching Rafa play and train and I am struggling big time being back at work wanting to be back in Melbourne. The whole tournament was great and there is just not enough time to see and do everything."

Tess "I had corporate seats for today. DAMN were they good spots!!! Right behind the players entrance, and much better than any normal tv view too!!! I felt like I was meeting him again, or watching him train!!! I think fans like us should be VIP's and given corporate seats... It was definitely the best seat I've ever had in a match!! Rafa's match, just awesome! The seat I was in made it so much better, and easier to watch the match! He played really well, and it was so exciting to see him get into the semis!!!"

Aside from the tennis - which frankly was going pretty well until an inspired Tsonga played the match of his life - the thing that most delighted us occurred in Rafa's press conference after his quarter final. Once again he was asked about his physical condition. In all innocence, with his relatively limited English, he replied "My body is perfect, no?" which elicited predictable laughter from the press. The way he rolled his eyes as he clarified "physically speaking" was perfect Rafa.
How can we forget the joy of Rafa's blog for ELMUNDO.ES? Huge thanks are due to nou.amic for her impeccable translation especially for Vamos Brigade. Her words brought it so much more alive than any online translator can manage. We are very privileged to have her.

It would have been great to have a home page celebrating Rafa winning this tournament but there's always next time. Every year so far he has gone one better than the year before.

Rafa - make it two better next year, eh?