I had to post this analyzation of RF's and Rafa's press conferences that I found on the official Rome Masters site...I have to take offense to the very last line...because in my humble opinion...I think that there is NO ONE who treats tennis with more respect than Rafa and I believe he has NEVER taken tennis for granted...PERIOD. Does this person even know who Rafael is?? Geez.


ROGER AND RAFA: A CONTRAST IN STYLES
Federer breezes, Nadal broods in press conference

While the top seeds at Masters 1000 tournaments are given a bye in the first round, they still have work to do while their slightly less illustrious counterparts are out on court – they are called on to speak at pre-tournament press conferences. Gatherings such as these are seen by most players as a necessary evil, and most of them (with the odd exception such as the truculent David Nalbandian) are well versed in giving stock answers, deflecting pressure and feeding the media neutral lines.

Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal have obviously had more practice at this art than most, having annexed virtually every major title between them over the past half a decade. On Sunday, they delivered an illustration of how different their styles are. On the court, Federer conserves his energy and can usually be relied on to deliver a master-class in smooth tennis – even when he doesn’t win. Nadal on the other hand is all-action, scrambling around and wearing opponents down. In the press room, they are equally contrasting.

The Swiss world No.1 one was first up, and wasted no time in heaping praise on his rival – a tried and tested tactic of his. “Rafa’s been on a tear these last five years, he’s never lost a shock result, only ever to top 10 or even top 5 players. He should’ve won in Qatar this year but when he had to drop out of the Australian Open due to injury, everyone wrote him off. I suppose he is the number one on clay,” said Federer of his rival who has dropped to No.3 in the ATP standings after injuries and a lean spell up until his recent win in Monte Carlo saw him lose precious ranking points.

Federer was as smooth as his trademark backhand throughout the 15-minute conference. He joked with the assembled journalists about playing doubles here with Yves Allegro and not his gold-medal winning partner Stanislas Wawrinka (“We just used each other for the Olympics, me and Stan!”), happily regaled them with tales of setting up the hotel room differently now that his twin daughters come on tour and was his usual charming and urbane self.

Half an hour later, it was Rafa’s turn. This time last year, he was (if results are to be believed) on unstoppable form. He had won in Monte Carlo, was about to cruise to victory in Rome and was being hailed as the man to take Federer’s crown (a case of “when”, not “if”). His English was improving with every tournament he won, and he was getting more at home in press conferences, cracking the odd smile and showing a good line in wry humour. Injury then blighted the rest of 2009, and though he returned to winning ways in the principality a week ago, the fact that he now can only go as far as his overworked knees will carry him seems to be weighing on his personality.

When told that Roger had declared him the favourite, the old (or rather younger, care-free) Rafa would have praised his opponent to the hilt with a self-effacing smile. 2010 Rafa gave the kind of broody stare he usually reserves for on-court opponents, exhaled loudly then launched into his best impression of a teenager being forced to apologise for crashing his parents’ car. “It only starts today, I only arrived yesterday. It’s a very difficult tournament and the best in the world are here so it’s impossible to say.”

“I felt I didn’t really play well in 2009. I had great results without playing at my best,” he continued, to the surprise of the roomful of journalist who had watched him sweep all before him up until Roland Garros 11 months ago. “For the past one-and-a-half years I’ve had more physical problems that I would have liked to have had. This makes it more important that I run well and practise well now that I have physical problems.”

Questions about approaching the French Open differently now that he is not the defending champion, and the relevance of changing seedings based on past performances at the tournament in question as opposed to basing them purely on current rankings, were met with almost monosyllabic indifference, and only when talk turned to the new centre court here at the Foro Italico did Rafa allow himself to relax a little.

The physical problems he regularly refers to have obviously affected him mentally to a similar extent. Who knows, perhaps if he retains his title here then storms back to reclaim “his” French Open crown, we will see the return of the carefree young Majorcan that so many grew to appreciate in 2008 and 2009. The last year or so has seen him realise that he can no longer take tennis for granted though – a harsh realisation for someone who lives and breathes the sport like Nadal...

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