Nadal, the best of the year

Nov 12, 2013, 12:00:00 AM

Nadal, the best of the year
This week, Andy Murray made a revelation about Rafael Nadal: The World No. 1 is a great prankster. Discover the joke he made to the Scottish by reading the Journal of We Are tennis, the best of the Tennis week.

This week, we saw Rafael Nadal at a football stadium in London, Andy Murray with a very big racquet, Steffi Graff doing trapeze and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga playing rugby. Normal.

 

Nadal cheats on his club

 

We know that Rafael Nadal is a Real Madrid fan. But since he was in London for the Masters, the Spaniard went to Stamford Bridge to see Chelsea, Jose Mourinho's new club.

 

 

The number 1, it's Rafa

 

After his victory against Wawrinka at the Masters, the Spanish player is guaranteed to finish the season as world number one. Not bad for a guy who hasn't played the Australian Open and was knocked out in the first round at Wimbledon. A machine.

 

A funny Iberian

 

Speaking on the Jonathan Ross Show on ITV, Andy Murray made ​​a revelation about Rafa Nadal. The Spanish player loves text pranks:

 

«He did prank me once in New York. Basically I was sitting at dinner with my girlfriend and, during the meal I was checking my phone and I looked at one of the messages and it was from a number I didn’t recognise and it said something like, ‘Oh my God, Andy, you look so sexy tonight. It’s a shame you’re here with your girlfriend. So I obviously didn’t tell my girlfriend at first, I didn’t want to ruin the meal. So I put it back in my pocket. Then on the way back from the meal it clicked who it was, and obviously the whole time he’d been watching me from a distance looking at this message and seeing my face. »

 

Funny.

 

Meanwhile, in the rest of the world…

 

Wawrinka’s panties

 

Who said that Swiss people had no sense of humour? The website Minipeople.ch is known for its corrosive strips on tennis news. This week, it's the local stars Roger Federer and Stanislas Wawrinka who made the headlines. Some panties story.

 

 

Del Potro keeps the faith

 

A heavenly story. Before his opening match at the London Masters, Juan Martin Del Potro had his bag stolen in a Paris train station. And this robbery shook the player. The Argentine didn't care about his racquets or money, no, he was devastated by the loss of the rosary offered by his compatriot, Pope Francis.

 

«One of my things was the rosary. But I had a few things, which mean a lot in my life. I don't have them anymore. I hope to see Pope again. I will never recover this rosary, but a meeting with Pope will be an honour. It is tough to enjoy the fantastic tournament after my really bad Saturday, I like to play tennis and I enjoy my work a lot, but someone took some part of my life.  It's tough not to think about that. »

 

So, the fifth player in the world publicly called for the thieves to give back his precious possession:

 

« I just wish, please, that you return my rosary and the things that are very important to me in this bag. I will try to stay positive and feel better every day. It's difficult for me to enjoy this fantastic tournament after what happened last Saturday in Paris.»

 

Amen.

 

Graf takes the high road

 

As a player, Steffi Graf was already above the competition. Retired, this is still the case with this little photomontage of the German doing some trapeze with her kids. Her net game is still ethereal.

 

 

Andy Murray and the big head

 

Andy Murray and his equipment manufacturer, Head, introduced the latest racquet model of the brand, the famous Radical. To showcase it the best way possible, the racquet manufacturer decided to think big.

 

 

Benoit Paire in the sun

 

When Benoit Paire isn't on a tennis court, he's making us jealous with his holiday's pictures. At the moment, the French is chilling in Mexico with a compatriot, Edouard Roger-Vasselin. At Cancun. Easy.

 

 

The number: 11.65 million

 

Even after a lacklustre season, Roger Federer remains the richest tennis player of all time. After his twelfth participation in the Masters, The Swiss can boast of having collected 11.65 million dollars in his career... Just with the Masters. It's already much more than Ana Ivanovic throughout her career (10.77 million dollars).

 

Wawrinka, London’s darling

 

Stanislas Wawrinka, surprise guest at the Masters, quickly became the tournament’s darling. For Le Matin, a Swiss newspaper, the player tried to explain this sudden popularity.

 

«Good question. I don't know. I just try to be natural on the courts. The fact that I'm here for the first time, that I'm the new guy, maybe makes more people want to see me and support me. I'm the only one who went from the 17th to the 8th place. The others were already in the Top 10. It's as if the public had somehow discovered me this year. I think that people like the way I play. It's a bit different with my one-handed backhand. I vary a lot. I do things that not everybody does I always try to be positive and natural.»

 

And obviously, it pays off.

 

Wilson is advertising

 

While Head has made of Andy Murray the face of the brand, Wilson is loyal to its luxury ambassadors. Already turned to next season, the "W" brand posted this little making-of featuring Roger Federer, Grigor Dimitrov, Milos Raonic, Serena Williams, Victoria Azarenka and Laura Robson. A fine team.

 

 

100% Becker 

 

In the first round of the Ortisei Challenger, chance offered to the public a little "family" reunion. Benjamin Becker, 66th in the world, was facing Richard Becker, qualifier. Rest assured, there are no actual family ties, besides their nationality. Match Result? Benjamin defeated Richard, 7/6 6/3.

 

Graf/Agassi, the exceptional couple

 

The Japanese company Nintendo released its new advertising campaign for the Wii U. We know that Steffi Graf and Andre Agassi love video games. So, for the needs of this spot, mainly distributed in England, the Kid of Las Vegas had to lose on purpose. Well, at least we hope...

 

 

Tsonga converts the try

 

Present at the London Masters as a substitute, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga was a little bored. Not a problem, he found something to do thanks to his equipment manufacturer. Moreover, he received the new France rugby team jersey flocked with the number seven, his lucky number. A beautiful baby.

 

 

Petkovic tried her hand at table tennis

 

Like many of her colleagues, Andrea Petkovic is on holiday. However, the player always has a racquet in her hand. She just changed of screen size. On Twitter, the German posted a picture of her playing table tennis. Easy. Not sure that she’s easier to beat on such a small surface.

 

 

By Mathieu Faure