Rain doesn't dampen Nadal's spirits
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NEW YORK -- On the court, Rafael Nadal is mature beyond his years , both in his game and his reactions, no matter the circumstances or the venue. So it was noticeable when another sort of emotion was splashed across his face yesterday as evening approached and his first - round match, against Mark Philippoussis, was shoveled off to today.
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Erasing a two-set deficit despite playing on a fourth consecutive day, Rafael Nadal beat Mikhail Youzhny in five sets yesterday to reach the Wimbledon quarterfinals.
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Second seed Rafael Nadal survived an early test of his Australian Open credentials, battling to a 7-6 7-5 6-1 win over Viktor Troicki, a Serbian qualifier in his first grand slam appearance.
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World number two Rafael Nadal wants to win the Olympic title at Beijing, but has distanced himself from trying to topple Swiss champion Roger Federer from the pedestal.
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FLUSHING MEADOWS, N.Y., Sept. 5 -- The U.S. Open slumped into the doldrums after Andre Agassi bowed out in defeat over the weekend. On Tuesday, rain moved in to dampen spirits that were already low.
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Rafael Nadal, who has tendinitis and inflammation in his left knee, quietly gritted out a first-round victory, 7-5, 3-6, 6-4, 6-1, that cast a shadow on his remaining Open path.
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Rafael Nadal says Wimbledon officials "did not think about the players" after his rain-interrupted win over Robin Soderling.
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World number two Rafael Nadal is taken to a fifth set by big-hitting Swede Robin Soderling when rain brings play to an end on Monday.
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Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic closed in on a mouthwatering Wimbledon semi-final clash with marathon fourth round triumphs on Thursday before heavy rain caused a ninth day of disruption.
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Second seed Rafael Nadal continued to overcome knee problems at the U.S. Open on Sunday when he outclassed Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 7-6 6-2 6-1 to reach the fourth round.
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The rain interrupts Roger Federer's return to Wimbledon but there are wins for Rafael Nadal and Venus Williams.
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If Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal are going to build a rivalry for the ages, it wouldn&#039;t hurt the TV ratings or buzz factor if there were a bit of animosity &amp;#151; or at least a difference of opinion. Well, it looks like they&#039;ve got the latter.
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Rafael Nadal endured a second day of Wimbledon water torture as rain once again prevented him from completing a third round match with Sweden&#39;s Robin Soderling.
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Rafael Nadal's shots were off the mark and, more shockingly, even his boundless energy seemed to fail him. After one miss-hit, the man usually in perpetual motion hunched over, hands on knees, to catch his breath.
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NEW YORK -- For all of his success on clay, Rafael Nadal clearly is much more than a surface specialist. He reached the Wimbledon final on grass last month, and now he's intent on showing he can succeed on the U.S. Open's hard courts, too.
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Rafael Nadal made a successful transition to grass, beating Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina 6-4, 6-4 Wednesday in the second round at Queen's Club.
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It feels almost unsporting to characterize the best rivalry in men's tennis as anticlimactic. But that's what the showdowns between world No. 1 Roger Federer and No. 2 Rafael Nadal had approached over the past two years, with Federer holding sway on grass and hard courts, and Nadal peerless on clay.