what i can remember, is that since May 2013, i have officially became rafael nadal fan.
ahhh, this boyish man is really really interest me in a way i never thought before.
and I am eager finding out his stories and updated news.
well, tonight i've just found this letter, awww so cute of him :D
Here is his first installment
http://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
http://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
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