Monte Carlo 2010

For a VBer this tournament was important for many reasons: It is the first big European clay court tournament of the season and we wanted to see a healthy Rafa sliding on clay again after a difficult, injury-filled year; we looked forward to enjoying MAC's witty and wonderful "Monte Carlo or Bust" blog and photos (many of which appear below); the we felt every time a commentator mentioned that Rafa hadn't won a title in 11 months so that we wanted Rafa to win the tournament just to get them to shut up about it; the almost overwhelming desire and hope that Rafa would make history by winning this title again; and the sympathy we felt for the members that had booked tickets and passage to Monte Carlo but could not get there because of the disruptive effects of the volcanic eruption in Iceland.

As someone living on the other side of the Atlantic, who had to get up early in the morning in order to catch any bit of Rafa's matches during the week, I have to say that the lack of sleep and inconvenience were all worth it.

For the archives: A quick re-cap of the tournament before we get into some of the memorable moments and glorious pictures.

Round 2: Opponent: Thiemo de Bakker, former Wimbledon Junior Champion. This was their first meeting. Rafa dispatched him, 6-1, 6-0, in just under an hour.

Round 3: Opponent: Michael Berrer. This was the second time they had played; Berrer had beaten Juan Monaco in order to have the chance to face Rafa. Rafa dispatched him in less time than it had taken him to beat de Bakker, with a reverse scoreline: 6-0, 6-1.

Quarterfinal: Opponent: Juan Carlos Ferrero. This was Rafa's first real test; Ferrero was resurgent and had won the most clay court matches of anyone this year so far. A squall blew up out of nowhere near the start of the first set and the match had to be suspended for a bit. It took longer than his first two matches, but Rafa steam-rolled the ATP player with the best record on clay this year, 6-4, 6-2.



Semifinal: Opponent: David Ferrer. A lot of VBers were worried about this one. It was closer than the scoreline suggests, but Rafa was unstoppable, winning it 6-2, 6-3.

Final: Opponent: Fernando Verdasco. Again, the scoreline (6-0, 6-1), is deceptive. Verdasco played well but Rafa was both an irresistible force and an immoveable object. So many of the gets Rafa made were amazing - even for him - that I think the smiley was one of the most frequently used ones in the cheering thread. Rafa's performance inspired commentator Robbie Koenig to suggest the coining of a new word: "phenomnadal."

The win seemed to mean so much to Rafa and it was wonderful to see them smiling together during the trophy ceremony.



And now, some (of what I consider) memorable moments from the tournament - most of which come from MAC's blog.

During the first set of the quarterfinal, after the weather kicked up, a young ball girl came of age. Poor thing, she didn't know where she was supposed to look while Rafa changed his shirt in front of her.

MAC caught this endearing shot of Rafa touching the hand of a ballkid as he left the court.
Rafa adjusting his towel.
MAC took some great pictures during Rafa's practices. Here is a beautiful ghostly one.
After he had won his semifinal match, Rafa popped in to watch the other one. MAC caught a wonderful series of expressions.

I can't decide, but this is definitely one of my favorite expressions.

CONGRATULATIONS, RAFA!
Enhorabuena!